Updated Country Profile - Federated States of Micronesia

Click here to access the updated Reaching the Nations country profile for the Federated States of Micronesia. The Church has reported moderate growth in the country since its initial establishment in the mid-1970s. Today, Church-reported membership constitutes six percent of the national population. Since 2000, the greatest growth and progress has occurred in Pohnpei where the first stake in the country was organized in 2014 despite only four branches on the island in 2000 (today there are five wards and four branches). The Church in Chuuk has reported inconsistent progress and no new branches organized since the mid-1990s. However, the Church has tried for many years to strengthen the Church in Chuuk to organize a stake in the foreseeable future. See below for the future prospects section of the article:

The Church has achieved moderate growth in the Federal States of Micronesia despite high church activity and discipleship in other Christian denominations. Much of this growth has come with the Church concentrating large amounts of missionary resources on a nation with a small population that has been historically receptive to Christianity, and the greatest recent successes have been overwhelmingly concentrated on Pohnpei. Receptivity of the Church has varied by island group in recent years, with Pohnpei exhibiting the strongest receptivity and church growth as evidenced by the number of congregations increasing from four to nine since 2000, and other island groups showing little or no growth. Self-sustaining church growth in the coming decades will require less reliance on foreign full-time missionaries in an era of limited missionary manpower to staff island nations of just a hundred thousand like Micronesia. Consistent increase in the number of priesthood holders and the development of fully functioning branches entirely staffed by local members will be required for the district in Chuuk to become a stake over the medium term. Congregation planting approaches in Chuuk and on Pohnpei may lead to greater increases in active membership and national outreach. The few congregations on Yap and Kosrae make branches vulnerable to dissolution unless active members do not emigrate and active membership remains stable or increases. Outreach in the outer islands such as Mortlock Islands, Namonuito Atoll, Nomwin Atoll, Pulusuk, Ulithi Atoll, and Woleai Atoll may occur in the foreseeable future if primarily headed by local church leaders and mission leadership. However, many of these remote, sparsely populated islands will likely remain unreached for years or decades to come if any Church presence is established at all one day.