Florida
The Church organized a new stake in south Florida on January 10th. The Vero Beach Florida Stake was organized from a division of the Cocoa Florida, Sarasota, and Stuart Florida Stakes. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Fort Pierce, Palm Bay 1st, Palm Bay 2nd, Sebring, and Vero Beach Wards, and the Lake Placid and Okeechobee Branches.
There are now 30 stakes in Florida.
Nevada
The Church organized two new stakes in Nevada in December.
The Las Vegas Nevada Skye Canyon Stake was created from a division of the Las Vegas Elkhorn Springs and Las Vegas Nevada Lone Mountain Stakes. The new stakes includes the following six wards and two branches: the Centennial Pointe, Egan Crest, Grand Teton, Providence, Skye Canyon, and Valley Crest Wards, and the Beatty and Indian Springs Branches.
The Las Vegas Nevada Shadow Mountain Stake was organized from a division of the Las Vegas Nevada Tule Springs and the Las Vegas Nevada Highland Hills Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Aviary Park, Copper Crest, Deer Springs, Los Prados, San Miguel, and Waterfall Wards.
There are now 37 stakes in Nevada.
Taiwan
The Church organized a new stake in southern Taiwan on December 20th.
The Kaohsiung Taiwan North Stake was organized from a division of the Kaohsiung Taiwan East (renamed Pingtung Taiwan Stake) and Kaohsiung Taiwan West Stakes. The new stake includes the following five wards: the Chishan, Kangshan, Nantzu, Sanmin, and Tsoying Wards.
There are now 16 stakes and one district in Taiwan.
Texas
The Church organized its sixth stake in the San Antonio area on January 10th. The San Antonio Texas Cibolo Valley Stake was organized from a division of the San Antonio Texas East Stake. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Cibolo, Converse, Garden Ridge, Live Oak, Randolph, Schertz, Universal City, and Woodlake Wards. One or two additional stakes appear likely to be organized in the San Antonio area within the near future.
There are now 65 stakes and three districts in Texas.
Uganda
The Church organized its second stake in Uganda on November 29th. The Jinja Uganda Stake was organized from the Jinja Uganda District (organized in 1993). The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Bugembe, Iganga, Jinja, Mpumedde, and Njeru Wards, and the Lugazi and Walukuba Branches. Missionaries report preliminary plans to organize a third stake in Uganda from a division of the Kampala Uganda Stake (organized in 2010) although the stake currently lacks a sufficient number of wards to create a second stake in the city (7 wards, 5 branches) unless several branches become wards.
Utah
The Church discontinued a stake in Salt Lake City in early January. The Salt Lake Sugar House Stake was discontinued and its wards and branches were reassigned to surrounding stakes. The Salt Lake Sugar House Stake is the twelfth stake in Utah to be discontinued since 2002. Stake growth in Utah nonetheless remains steady despite a dozen stake consolidations within the past 13 years. 111 new stakes have been organized in Utah since year-end 2001.
There are now 579 stakes and one district in Utah.
Bolivia
The Church recently discontinued the Titicaca Bolivia District. The five branches that previously pertained to the district now directly report to the Bolivia La Paz Mission. These branches operate in Aymara-speaking rural communities on the southeast shore of Lake Titicaca. The decision to discontinue the district appears attributed to problems with local leadership development and member inactivity.
There are now 27 stakes and nine districts in Bolivia.
46 comments:
In general these are quite encouraging developments. Especially the new stakes in Florida and Texas.
I am thinking right now the majority of the world population lives in countries that have LDS missionary presence, but enough live in parts of India, Nigeria, Indonesia and a few other countries where the presence is very limited that the majority of the world population has no potential exposure to missionaries.
You are adding mainland China to the majority of Muslim nations to get a majority of 7 billion w/o LDS missionary exposure?
Perhaps that math is right, considering at least a billion in India with at least 200 million between Nigeria and Indonesia who are not reached yet.Then again, the church is progressing in good and measurable ways in all three nations with numbers of Muslims.
Vietnam may have pushed the world on to the positive side of 3 and a half billion, that would be an interesting count.
Admittedly, the Church not being in non-Muslim places like Guinea or Guinea-Bissau hurts the total, but bigger nations like Mozambique and Ethiopia have turned for the good.
Interesting...
Hey Matt if your reading this, I was wondering if you could do a "LDS outreach of chinese in the united states" because I want to see how the church is doing with the chinese in our homeland. The reason why is because 1/3 of the world speaks the chinese language, so I would think that Heavenly father would want to see how is children are joining the church. If you wanted, matt.
On LDS Maps, the branches are part of the Bolivia La Paz El Alto Mission. I think it would have made sense for 4 of these branches to join the Achacachi Bolivia District which would then have 8 branches. The 5th branch that is over the mountains, could become part of the La Paz Bolivia Constitucion Stake.
Most estimates of the number of Chinese speakers (meaning they speak one of the dozen or so languages in the Chinese language family) is about 1.4 billion. There would need to be almost 2.5 billion to be 1/3.
Mandarin is an official language in China, Taiwan (57,889 members and 105 congregations as of the end of 2014), and Singapore (3,590, 11) with stakes. Taiwan and Singapore have a solid foundation for the Church. As does Hong Kong (24,746, 37), an autonomous region of China, and which speaks Cantonese
Two other countries with a significant Chinese presence are Malaysia (9,476, 34) and Indonesia (7,016, 23).
In China, there are a number of foreign and native branches and districts. Estimates of the number of native members is around 11,000, but the Church does not publicize figures in China (outside of Hong Kong and Macau).
Mesa, AZ will see a new stake created in the next two weeks, likely this coming Sunday. Between last weekend and this coming weekend, 4 members of the Quorum for various purposes including making at least one new stake in the area.
I just heard news that another stake will be created in San Antonio this Sunday. I assume it would be from the West and the Hill County Stakes, which currently have 12 wards and 11 wards/2 branches, respectively.
2 dedications and 1 re-dedication announced today!
http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/open-house-dedication-dates-sapporo-frieberg-philadelphia?cid=social_20160121_57477646&adbid=10153643088572013&adbpl=fb&adbpr=53305042012
Sapporo - August 21
Freiberg - September 4
Philadelphia - September 18
Exciting news! I wonder why they didn't announce Ft Collins yet though.
When will the Philadelphia open house be? How young can the visitors be?
In all temple open houses, we have had a young child or baby present in our family. Only the dedication is limited to baptized members of the church (8+).
Philadelphia Open House from August 5 - September 3
The Church does have multiple Chinese-language wards in the US and some branches as well. Some are Mandarin specific, and some are general Chinese, often incorproating members who speak multiple Chinese languages. However with Chinese nationals so heavily present in so many university towns in the US, much of the teaching of Chinese-speakers is facilitated by people who served Chinese-speaking missions aiding the local missionaries. I know this was how things largely occurred on that front when I was in what is now the Ann Arbor YSA Ward.
I went to the Chicago Temple Open house when I was 4. As far as I know there is no minimum age for the open houses. By their nature temple open houses allow everyone to come in.
Thanks for the answers, I look forward to taking the kids this year. How many temples are so close to a downtown like that? Not even Manhattan is that close, right?
Yeah, I took my 1 yo to the Ogden open house a couple years back.
Also, not sure on the downtown thing. Philly is super downtown. Haven't been to all heavy metro area temples like Dallas and Chicago, but I don't remember any really feeling as downtown as Philly, except maybe Manhattan. Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, San Diego are all not close to downtown areas. SLC is probably up there with Philly and Manhattan for being in a downtown area.
Yeah, I took my 1 yo to the Ogden open house a couple years back.
Also, not sure on the downtown thing. Philly is super downtown. Haven't been to all heavy metro area temples like Dallas and Chicago, but I don't remember any really feeling as downtown as Philly, except maybe Manhattan. Phoenix, Houston, San Antonio, San Diego are all not close to downtown areas. SLC is probably up there with Philly and Manhattan for being in a downtown area.
And that makes me so happy for San Antonio. Thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
Manhattan is right in the heart of the city - Lincoln Center is across the street - bus, subway stops right across the street.
Super easy access for anyone traveling on public transportation in both NYC and Philly.
(air, train, bus, subway, SEPTA, taxi etc.).
While waiting for Hartford Temple to be dedicated - it would be easy to 'commute' to either one - sleeping the whole way on Amtrak ... rather then driving the (almost 3 hrs) to Boston (Belmont) MA Temple. Then its a 3 minute cab ride to the Philly Temple - or a quick cab/subway trip to the Manhattan Temple.
Having Temples in the heart of the city is a real blessing.
I really love having temples in city centers. Of course, it increases accessibility, which should be the priority. However, I really appreciate the sense of belonging that it provides. Of course, many enjoy the quiet that a suburban or rural temple can provide.
While the Dallas Temple is technically in Dallas City Limits and not a far drive, it is not even within sight of the downtown skyline with the tree cover around it, so it feels more like a suburban Temple than a city Temple.
While the Dallas Temple is technically in Dallas City Limits and not a far drive, it is not even within sight of the downtown skyline with the tree cover around it, so it feels more like a suburban Temple than a city Temple.
Dallas is on a side street a few blocks east of Preston Road and just south of LBJ (IH-635). Preston Road is itself a state highway (SH-289) and has a nearly direct exit off 635 and there's a toll lanes exit either direction for Preston Road off 635 as well.
Alex Compton said...
Mesa, AZ will see a new stake created in the next two weeks, likely this coming Sunday. Between last weekend and this coming weekend, 4 members of the Quorum for various purposes including making at least one new stake in the area.
Alex: what are you hearing about the new stake creating in Mesa, AZ? Any guesses on which part(s) of Mesa will be included in a new stake?
It depends on what you mean by and define as downtown. Salt Lake City Temple and Provo City Center Temples are essentially both at the focal point of their respective cities downtowns. The Ogden Utah Temple is also in the heart of downtown.
I think the Philadelphia and New York, New York temples may be the only ones other than Palmyra and Nauvoo in the eastern US that are in the cities they are named for.
The Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple is pretty close to the urban core of Omaha.
If we see a second stake formed in San Antonio before April general conference, which seems althogether possible, is there a possibility a temple will be announced for Austin in April? I am thinking recent stake growth in the Dallas Metroplex means that the Dallas Temple could loose a few stakes from its district.
Besides allowing for a more quite atmosphere temples outside of urban cores have other advantages. In some places the focal point of active membership, especially those who are in a position to be temple workers, is away from the urban core.
Some places the Urban core is very unconducive to a temple. Las Vegas comes to mind on that front. Other places the Urban core is not a safe place at all. In Detroit the heart of downtown may have moved past that point, but anywhere beyond the Boulevard I would not think is safe for a temple. The Belle Isle Branch building on Detroit's east side has a gate with a codepad on its parking lot. Also, somehow I am not sure people want to be able to take pictures of the temple and adjacent burned-out buildings.
In urban cores where abandonment, graffitti and arson are not problems there are other corcerns. Even the Salt Lake City Temple has a district that extends far beyond the scope of any public transportation system going to the temple, taking in the Elko Nevada stakes as it does. So there is a need for some sort of parking connected with any temple. While in the case of the Philadelphia Temple if I understand correctly this is coming from underground parking, that adds to construction time and cost.
In Philadelphia the temple also faced multiple review committees, more so than it would have in a smaller city.
Lastly in some urban cores it is hard to get land that will be big enough to put a temple on. The only way the Manhattan Temple ever came about was that the Church bought the site in the 1970s when the area was going through a change to more high class status long before it was completed. Even at that, both the Philadelphia and the Manhattan Temples have adjacent buildings owned by the Church that it rents out as apartments and offices on the open market. Well, in the Manhattan case that building dates to the 1970s and in the case of the Philadelphia Temple it is being built now. Although I seem to recall that the Kansas City Temple was part of a larger real estate development in park spearheaded by the Church. Those details somewhat escape me.
On the other extreme I believe the London Temple may hold the record of being furthest from its designated city.
6 of the 8 new mission presidents announced this week are from the United States. The other two are 1 from Mexico called to serve elsewhere in Mexico. In that case they are from Mexico City, both served in the Tuxla Guitierrez Mission, and are going to preside over the Reynosa Mission.
The other couple is from Spain and have been called to preside over a mission in Bolivia.
Vancouver Washington area is getting new stake this weekend.
John Pack Lambert, I'm not seeing an Austin temple happening yet. Dallas does have enough stakes that if it's busy it could split, but the temple district is mostly just Dallas-Ft. Worth with a couple stakes stretching east to Shreveport, LA. The only stake I could see moving from Dallas to an Austin/Round Rock temple is Waco. The Houston temple district is also concentrated enough to not be affected. All an Austin temple would do is split the much less stake-heavy San Antonio Temple district in half. Given that San Antonio only runs 4 endowment sessions most days when they can clearly run 6, they're not busy enough for Austin to be more than a dark horse candidate. I don't see an Austin temple happening until more stakes and more need in the area happen.
AZGuy, I've heard that cirrus heights, Hermosa Vista, and mountain view stakes will be involved. I forget the other one or two stakes. I know mesa eat will not be involved. Rumored that tempe might see a change, but more on the order of redrawing bodies without a new creation.
Today in the Grand Prairie, TX stake, it was announced to all the Wards in Sacrament that their stale will be splitting at their Stake Conference in two weeks. The Dallas/North Dallas area has several stakes that are 12-14 units big, so I imagine we'll be seeing more of this in the near future. I'm happy to report this good news!
^^Disregard me saying it was the Grand Prairie Stake. It is actually in Dallas, Texas Stake, which includes the Grand Prairie Wards. I'm a temple worker at the Dallas temple and my good friend (also an ordinance worker) is a member of the stake and he told me of the news.
Some comparisons between AZ & TX. Arizona's last published statistics put it at 416,192 members with 5 Temples in operation, and a 6th under construction. AZ has 113,998 square miles. Texas had 334,772 members with 4 Temples and 268,580 square miles. It will be interesting to see when and where a 5th Temple gets announced in Texas :)
From stats obtained through ldschurchtemples.com: The Lubbock Texas Temple currently has 6 Stakes (1 being from New Mexico) and 1 District. The Dallas Texas Temple has 23 Stakes (1 being from Louisiana). The Houston Texas Temple currently has 20 Stakes. The San Antonio Texas Temple currently has 16 Stakes & 2 Districts. The Lubbock & San Antonio Temples are very similar in design both having between 16k-17k square feet (the San Antonio Texas Temple is bigger by about 302 square feet).
Just found this map view of the Stakes in Texas:
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/statistics/units/united-states/texas/map/ very helpful :) Hover over the points to see the number of Wards/Branches. From Waco/Killeen to San Marcos/Kyle it looks like there are currently about 6 Stakes that could be assigned to an Austin Temple from the San Antonio Texas District:
Austin Texas Oak Hills Stake
Austin Texas Stake
Corpus Christi Texas Stake
Eagle Pass Texas District
Harlingen Texas Stake
Killeen Texas Stake
Kyle Texas Stake
Laredo Texas District
McAllen Texas Stake
McAllen Texas West Stake
Round Rock Texas East Stake
Round Rock Texas Stake
San Antonio Texas Cibolo Valley Stake
San Antonio Texas East Stake
San Antonio Texas Hill Country Stake
San Antonio Texas North Stake
San Antonio Texas Stake
San Antonio Texas West Stake
If a Temple was announced in Austin, it could take the Waco Stake and the College Station Stake too from the other Temple Districts to give it 8 Stakes.
I can see a Temple being announced in Austin (thanks for the detailed insight, by the way, Deivisas!). It may be a couple of years, but the Church is growing just fine in most parts of Texas. Generally, the south-central U.S. has a lot of potential for three or four more announcements before the end of the decade. In addition to Austin, I suggest Little Rock, Bentonville/Tulsa, and McAllen.
The OKC Temple runs six endowment sessions from Tuesday to Friday, and five on Saturday. To me, that looks like it is operating fairly close to capacity. One percent of Arkansas' population is LDS, yet, there is no Temple announced or operating. Little Rock is the choice for the general center of population, but in the medium term, LDS population growth may suggest another Temple in either Tulsa or Bentonville.
Also, even though the Church is fairly small in that area, McAllen and Brownsville (along with Laredo and perhaps Corpus Christi) are pretty far away from currently operating Temples. Four stakes and one district at the moment, with decent growth potential, could or could not be considered enough for a small Temple.
I keep wondering when the Laredo Texas District will become a stake.
At the end of 2010, the Church reported to the ARDA that there were 4 congregations and 3,436 members in Webb County, Texas. Today, there are 7 branches--3 English, 3 Spanish, and 1 YSA in two buildings in Laredo. Membership is there. The number of Active Full-tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders must be the factor holding back stake creation. Why branches would be split in recent years, would imply that they were of decent size. 5 would have to become wards for it to become a stake.
Bentonville / Rogers / Fayetteville, Arkansas would be the ideal location for a temple in Arkansas because there are not only the 4 stakes in NW Arkansas but also another 4 stakes in nearby SW Missouri (Joplin, Monett, 2 in Springfield, and possibly a 5th in Branson in the not so distant future). The temple could also serve stakes in the Tulsa area, serving 8 to 11 stakes total.
At least, a NW Arkansas Temple would leave the OK City Temple with 8 stakes.
Little Rock has only 3 stakes in the area and the fore-mentioned stakes are quite a distance geographically.
Plus, the Memphis Temple serves the Little Rock stakes and only three other stakes. A temple in Little Rock would leave the Memphis Temple with only three stakes. Not going to happen.
I favor Betonville—in the area where the stake center and mission office are located.
7 Stakes in San Antonio now!
San Antonio Texas Cibolo Valley Stake
San Antonio Texas East Stake
San Antonio Texas Hill Country Stake
San Antonio Texas La Cantera Stake
San Antonio Texas North Stake
San Antonio Texas Stake
San Antonio Texas West Stake
The Winnipeg Manitoba Temple is splitting a temple district with 3 stakes, so I would avoid saying anything is "not going to happen." However I think Fayetteville/Bentonville likely to get a temple long before Little Rock.
I am hoping to see a stake in Laredo. Once there is a stake in Laredo I would not be surprised to see a temple announced for McAllen.
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