Thursday, October 2, 2014

New Stakes Created in Arizona, Brazil, Guatemala, Pennsylvania, Philippines, and Texas; New Districts Created in Ghana and Venezuela

I have gotten a bit behind with making posts on new stakes and districts created. Hopefully this includes all of them.

NEW STAKES
Arizona
On September 21st, the Church created a new stake in Arizona. The Queen Creek Arizona West Stake was created from the Queen Creek Arizona, Queen Creek Arizona Chandler Heights, and the Queen Creek Arizona North Stakes and includes the following eight wards: the Cortina 1st, Cortina 2nd, Cortina 3rd, Cortina 4th, Hawes, Ocotillo, Remington Heights, and Sossaman Estates Wards.

There are now 97 stakes in Arizona.

Brazil
On August 31st, the Church created the a new stake in Minas Gerais State. The Ipatinga Brazil Stake from the Ipatinga Brazil District. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Bethânia, Esperança, Governador Valadares, Ipatinga, and João Monlevade Wards, and the Caratinga and Coronel Fabriciano Branches.

There are now 11 stakes and six districts in Minas Gerais, and 251 stakes and 40 districts in Brazil.

Guatemala
On July 6th, the Church created a new stake in western Guatemala. The Huehuetenango Guatemala Central Stake was organized from a division of the Huehuetenango Guatemala Calvario and Huehuetenango Guatemala Zaculeu Stakes and includes the following five wards and two branches: the Cerrito del Maíz, El Centro, El Prado, La Viña, and Las Flores Wards, and the Malacatancito and Tojocas Branches.

There are now 43 stakes and 17 districts in Guatemala.

Pennsylvania
On September 7th, the Church organized its third stake in the Pittsburgh area. The Pittsburgh Pennsylvania West Stake was organized from the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Stake and includes the following six wards: the Pittsburgh 2nd, Pittsburgh 5th, Pittsburgh 6th, Washington, Wheeling, and Wintersville Wards. The last new stake to be created in Pittsburgh was in 1978.

There are now 12 stakes in Pennsylvania.

Philippines
On September 14th, the Church created two new stakes in the Philippines.

The Davao Philippines West Stake was organized from the Davao Philippines Stake and includes the following five wards and two branches: the Calinan, Mintal 1st, Mintal 2nd, Toril 1st, and Toril 2nd Wards, and the Ladian and Tamugan Branches. The Church has experienced rapid congregational growth in western Davao within recent years, and Davao now appears as a likely candidate for a temple to service Mindanao.

The Escalante Philippines Stake was organized from the Escalante Philippines District. No information is currently available on which of the seven branches became wards. The Escalante Philippines District was originally organized in 1994.

There are now 92 stakes and 80 districts in the Philippines.

Texas
On September 14th, the Church created a new stake in the Texas Panhandle. The Lubbock Texas North Stake was organized from the Lubbock Texas and Roswell New Mexico Stake and includes the following five wards and three branches: the Clovis, Frenship Mesa, Heritage, Portales, and Shadow Hills Wards, and the El Llano (Spanish), Plainview, and Quaker Heights (Spanish) Branches. The new stakes becomes the first new stake in the Texas Panhandle since 1981.

There are now 62 stakes and three districts in Texas.

NEW DISTRICTS

Ghana
On September 14th, the Church created a new district in Ghana. The Ho Ghana District was organized from the Kpong Ghana District and includes three branches: the Ho 1st, Ho 2nd, and Tsito Branches. The Church has experienced rapid growth in the Volta Region of Ghana and the new Ho Ghana District becomes the first district in this administrative division of more than 2.1 million people. The Church has also recently opened to member groups in Kpando and Hohoe, which may also become integrated into the district when these member groups become branches.

There are now 12 stakes and nine districts in Ghana.

Venezuela
On September 28th, the Church created a new district in Venezuela. The La Fria Venezuela District was organized from the San Cristóbal Venezuela Pirineos Stake and includes the following three branches: the Coloncito, La Fría, and La Grita Branches. The Church once operated a district in La Fria from 1999 to 2012. The reestablishment of the district may indicate problems with stake leaders effectively administering these three branches, resulting in a need for mission leaders to undertake this task.

There are now 34 stakes and seven districts in Venezuela.

7 comments:

  1. Thanks for the extensive updates! :) It`s really good to see that many new stakes created with, at the same time, just one discontinued for the year. We might very well end up with somewhere around 65 or even 70 new stakes this year, which is also a great success after struggling a bit last year.

    I noticed the column on the right and another stake created in Texas, as well as two in West Africa. Does anyone know about where those new West African stakes are situated? My feeling would be Cote d`Ivoire because there seemed to be quite a few districts ready to mature into stakes. But either way, it`s a wonderful development!

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  2. The upcoming 'The Woodlands Texas' stake is in an area near the IAD airport, and probably is between Beltway 8 and the under construction Grand Parkway.

    They refer to the area locally as 'The Woodlands', but I'm not sure if it is an actual town or if it is a regional name for a grouping of unincorporated areas. I-45 'North Freeway' through the region is often heavily congested now on account of fast growth and the state not being able to keep up with it in transportation infrastructure buildout, and I think we will see more unit growth in that area as well as all of west and north Houston.

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    Replies
    1. The Woodlands is a master planned community is Montgomery and Harris Counties. The community is a township with the option to incorporate before the year 2057 per their agreement with the city of Houston to withhold annexation. The Woodlands Stake includes the 4 wards within the Woodlands (The Woodlands 1st Ward, The Woodlands 2nd Ward, College Park Ward & Glen Loch Ward) along with Sam Houston 1st YSA Ward, Montgomery Ward & Magnolia 2nd Ward.

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  3. The Goiânia Brazil South Stake was created on 21 September. There are 5 wards in the stake:

    Aparecida Ward
    Garavelo Ward
    Hidrolândia Ward
    Independência Ward
    Vila Brasília Ward


    The Hobble Creek 16th Ward, Springville Utah Hobble Creek Stake, was created on 28 September. There are now 9 wards in the stake:

    Hobble Creek 7th Ward
    Hobble Creek 8th Ward
    Hobble Creek 9th Ward
    Hobble Creek 10th Ward
    Hobble Creek 11th Ward
    Hobble Creek 12th Ward
    Hobble Creek 14th Ward
    Hobble Creek 15th Ward
    Hobble Creek 16th Ward


    The Kasapa 2nd Ward, Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake, was created on 28 September. There are now 9 wards in the stake:

    Bel-Air Ward
    Bongonga Ward
    Kasapa 1st Ward
    Kasapa 2nd Ward
    Luano Ward
    Lubumbashi 1st Ward
    Lubumbashi 2nd Ward
    Ruashi 2nd Ward
    Ruashi 1st Ward


    The Maeser 6th Ward, Vernal Utah Maeser Stake, was created on 28 September. There are now 9 wards in the stake:

    Ashley 2nd Ward
    Dutch John Ward
    Maeser 2nd Ward
    Maeser 3rd Ward
    Maeser 4th Ward
    Maeser 5th Ward
    Maeser 6th Ward
    Maeser 7th Ward
    Vernal YSA Ward


    The Malueka 2nd Ward, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Ngaliema Stake, was created on 21 September. There are now 8 wards in the stake:

    Kimbuala Ward
    Kinsuka Ward
    Lutendale Ward
    Malueka 1st Ward
    Malueka 2nd Ward
    Mangungu Ward
    Mazal Ward
    Munganga Ward


    The Spanish Fork 24th Branch (Samoan), Provo Utah Wasatch Stake (Tongan), was created on 28 September. There are now 11 wards and 2 branches in the stake:

    American Fork 2nd Ward (Tongan)
    Eagle Mountain 14th Ward (Samoan)
    Lehi 41st Ward (Tongan)
    Lehi 42nd Ward (Samoan)
    Orem 8th Ward (Tongan)
    Orem 9th Ward (Samoan)
    Orem 12th Ward (Samoan)
    Provo 10th Ward (Samoan)
    Provo 11th Ward (Tongan)
    Spanish Fork 21st Ward (Tongan)
    Sunset 12th Ward (Tongan)
    Eagle Mountain 13th Branch (Tongan)
    Spanish Fork 24th Branch (Samoan)

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  4. With two new stakes coming in West Africa, I thought I would post the stakes, districts, and missions with direct reporting branches, in the Africa West Area in a descending order of units (normalized with branches being counted as 1/3 of a ward):

    Aba Nigeria Stake (13 wards; 2 branches)
    Abobo Cote d'Ivoire Stake (13 wards; 1 branch)
    Takoradi Ghana Stake (11 wards; 5 branches)
    Tema Ghana Stake (11 wards; 5 branches)
    Eket Nigeria Stake (11 wards; 3 branches)
    Cape Coast Ghana Stake (11 wards; 2 branches)
    Port-Bouet Cote d'Ivoire Stake (11 wards; 1 branch)
    Abuja Nigeria Stake (10 wards; 3 branches)
    Benin City Nigeria Ugbowo Stake (10 wards; 1 branch)
    Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Toit Rouge Stake (10 wards)
    Benin City Nigeria New Benin Stake (10 wards)
    Lagos Nigeria West Stake (9 wards; 3 branches)
    Cocody Cote d'Ivoire Stake (9 wards; 2 branches)
    Etinan Nigeria Stake (9 wards; 2 branches)
    Ikot Akpaden Nigeria Stake (9 wards; 2 branches)
    Kumasi Ghana Bantama Stake (9 wards; 2 branches)
    Uyo Nigeria Stake (7 wards; 8 branches)
    Calabar Nigeria Stake (9 wards; 1 branch)
    Lagos Nigeria Stake (8 wards; 4 branches)
    Lomé Togo Stake (8 wards; 4 branches)
    Benin City Nigeria Ihogbe Stake (9 wards)
    Port Harcourt Nigeria West Stake (9 wards)
    Accra Ghana Adenta Stake (8 wards; 2 branches)
    Accra Ghana Kasoa Stake (8 wards; 2 branches)
    Nsit Ubium Nigeria Stake (7 wards; 5 branches)
    Accra Ghana Christiansborg Stake (8 wards; 1 branch)
    Owerri Nigeria Stake (5 wards; 10 branches)
    Port Harcourt Nigeria East Stake (7 wards; 4 branches)
    Aba Nigeria Ogbor Hill Stake (7 wards; 3 branches)
    Assin Foso Ghana Stake (7 wards; 3 branches)
    Benin City Nigeria Ikpokpan Stake (8 wards)
    Freetown Sierra Leone Stake (8 wards)
    Kumasi Ghana Dichemso Stake (7 wards; 3 branches)
    Lagos Nigeria South Stake (7 wards; 3 branches)
    Accra Ghana Tesano Stake (7 wards; 2 branches)
    Port Harcourt Nigeria Stake (6 wards; 5 branches)
    Warri Nigeria Stake (7 wards; 2 branches)
    Benin City Nigeria Siluko Stake (7 wards)
    Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon North Stake (6 wards; 1 branch)
    Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon South Stake (6 wards)
    Accra Ghana Kaneshie Stake (6 wards)
    Umuahia Nigeria Stake (5 wards; 3 branches)
    Winneba Ghana Stake (5 wards; 3 branches)
    Enugu Nigeria Stake (5 wards; 2 branches)
    Ibadan Nigeria Stake (5 wards; 2 branches)
    Yamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire District (13 branches)
    Ghana Kumasi Mission (12 branches)
    Cotonou Benin District (12 branches)
    Ghana Cape Coast Mission (10 branches)
    Ekpoma Nigeria District (10 branches)
    Onitsha Nigeria District (10 branches)
    Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island District (9 branches)
    Abak Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Abeokuta Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Ile-Ife Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Okpuala Ngwa Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission (7 branches)
    Abomosu Ghana District (7 branches)
    Akamkpa Nigeria District (7 branches)
    Asamankese Ghana District (7 branches)
    Ikot Ekpene Nigeria District (7 branches)
    Kenema Sierra Leone District (7 branches)
    Kissy Sierra Leone District (7 branches)
    Nigeria Enugu Mission (6 branches)
    Asaba Nigeria District (6 branches)
    Ibiono Nigeria District (6 branches)
    Koforidua Ghana District (6 branches)
    Monrovia Liberia District (6 branches)
    Twifu Praso Ghana District (6 branches)
    Nigeria Benin City Mission (5 branches)
    Bo Sierra Leone West District (5 branches)
    Ibesikpo Nigeria District (5 branches)
    Ijebu-Ode Nigeria District (5 branches)
    Ogwashi-Nsukwa Nigeria District (5 branches)
    Okrika Nigeria District (5 branches)
    Oron Nigeria District (5 branches)
    Paynesville Liberia District (5 branches)

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  5. The rest:

    Asaga Ohafia Nigeria District (4 branches)
    Bo Sierra Leone East District (4 branches)
    Gagnoa Cote d'Ivoire District (4 branches)
    Jos Nigeria District (4 branches)
    Kossoh Town Sierra Leone District (4 branches)
    Kpong Ghana District (4 branches)
    Mbaise Nigeria District (4 branches)
    Obuasi Ghana District (4 branches)
    San Pedro Cote d'Ivoire District (4 branches)
    Sunyani Ghana District (4 branches)
    Yenagoa Nigeria District (4 branches)
    Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission (3 branches)
    Liberia Monrovia Mission (3 branches)
    Sierra Leone Freetown Mission (3 branches)
    Ho Ghana District (3 branches)
    Nkawkaw Ghana District (3 branches)
    Benin Cotonou Mission (2 branches)
    Nigeria Lagos Mission (2 branches)
    Agbor Nigeria District (2 branches)
    Ghana Accra Mission (1 branch)
    Ghana Accra West Mission (1 branch)
    Nigeria Calabar Mission (1 branch)
    Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission (1 branch)

    plus the Africa West Area Branch covering all parts of the Area not in stakes or missions.

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  6. In addition to the stakes at the top of the list with 11 to 13 wards and some branches, which could be getting ready to divide (especially if two such stakes are adjacent so that two stakes become three), my methodology of counting a branch as 1/3 of a ward, pushed the following into the middle of the long stake:

    Yamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire District (13 branches)
    Ghana Kumasi Mission (12 branches)
    Cotonou Benin District (12 branches)
    Ghana Cape Coast Mission (10 branches)
    Ekpoma Nigeria District (10 branches)
    Onitsha Nigeria District (10 branches)
    Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island District (9 branches)
    Abak Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Abeokuta Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Ile-Ife Nigeria District (8 branches)
    Okpuala Ngwa Nigeria District (8 branches)

    It is not known (by me) what the sizes of these branches are, but if any district has 5 branches capable of becoming wards, these would be candidates as well. I am intrigued by the Ghana Kumasi Mission, created only a few years ago, with 12 direct report branches. I would think that a district would first need to be created before it would mature into a stake, but who knows.

    ReplyDelete