13 New Temples Announced - Analysis - Part I

One week ago, the Church announced plans to construct 13 new temples. This post provides an analysis of the first six of the 13 announced temples. I will provide Part II of this analysis within the next week.

Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple

The Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple will be the Church's second temple in Taiwan. The Church has maintained a presence in Taiwan for more than 60 years. The Church's first temple in Taiwan was dedicated in Taipei in 1984. The Church in Taiwan achieved significantly higher membership and congregational growth rates than other industrialized East Asian nations until the early 2010s. The announcement of the temple in Kaohsiung is a significant development given returned missionary reports have noted significant long-term challenges with leadership development and church growth in southern Taiwan for decades. For example, the Church discontinued the Pingtung Taiwan Stake (located immediately east of Kaohsiung) in 2019 - the first time the Church had ever discontinued a stake in Taiwan. The new temple in Kaohsiung will likely include at least four stakes in the new temple district (and perhaps as many as eight stakes if the four stakes in the Taichung area are included in the district). All of these stakes currently pertain to the Taipei Taiwan Temple district. Returned missionaries report that the greatest centers of strength of the Church in Taiwan are Taipei and Taichung. The Church organized its first stake in Kaohsiung in 1981, but it discontinued the Taiwan Kaohsiung Mission in 2009. There are now two missions in Taiwan. I added Kaohsiung to my list of less likely temple locations for future temples in September 2019.

Tacloban City Philippines Temple

The Tacloban City Philippines Temple will be the Church's eighth temple in the Philippines. The Church has maintained a presence in the Philippines for 60 years and reports more than 800,000 members on the records for the country. The Church in the Philippines has achieved an impressive turnaround with growth during the past decade after a decade of low membership growth rates and few new stakes and congregations organized. This has been evident by the number of temples in the Philippines (dedicated and announced) increasing from three in 2011 to eight today. The new temple will be the Church's third temple in the Visayas region of the Philippines after Cebu (announced in 2006 and dedicated in 2010) and Bacolod City (announced in 2019). Other temples recently announced by the Church include Urdaneta (2010), Alabang (2017), Cagayan de Oro (2018), and Davao (2018). The new temple will likely include five stake and six districts on the islands of Leyte, Samar, and Biliran - all of which are currently assigned to the Cebu City Philippines Temple. The Church organized the Philippines Tacloban Mission in 1990, and the Tacloban Philippines Stake was organized in 2007. I added Tacloban City to my list of more likely temple locations for future temples in September 2018.

Monrovia Liberia Temple

The Monrovia Liberia Temple will be the Church's first temple in the West African nation of Liberia. The Church has maintained a presence in Liberia since the late 1980s. The Church in Liberia has experienced two periods of rapid growth: 1987-2002 and 2011-present. Currently, the Church in Liberia has five stakes (all organized since 2016, albeit the original Monrovia Liberia Stake operated from 2000 to 2007). The Church continues to experience rapid membership growth notwithstanding the COVID-19 pandemic. Currently there are approximately 15,000 Latter-day Saints in Liberia. Rapid national outreach expansion has also occurred in the past five years with the number of cities/towns with an official congregation increasing from three in 2008 to nine at present. The new temple will likely include all five stakes and the one district in Liberia - all of which are currently assigned to the Accra Ghana Temple. Monrovia has ranked among the three most likely locations to have a temple announced on my prediction list for more than two years given the large number of stakes in the metropolitan area and continued rapid growth. The Church organized the Liberia Monrovia Mission in 2013. It appears likely a couple new stakes will be organized in Monrovia in the near future.

Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple

The Kananga Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple is the Church's third temple announced for the DR Congo after Kinshasa (announced in 2011, dedicated in 2019) and Lubumbashi (announced in 2020). Apostle Elder Neil L. Andersen visited the Kasai Region in 2016 (the area in the central DR Congo where Kananga is located) and counseled the members to prepare for a temple in the Kasai Region one day. The Kasai Region has experienced some of the most rapid growth of the Church in modern times. The first stake in the region was organized in 2011, and today there are six stakes. The creation of additional stakes appears imminent given steady growth in the number of congregations. The Church operates a mission headquartered in Mbuji-Mayi to service the Kasai Region which was organized in 2016. Kananga is currently the only city in Kasai with multiple stakes (3), and the first stake in the city was created in 2011. The new temple will likely include the six stake and one district in the Kasai Region, albeit many more stakes will likely be organized by the time a temple is completed. Previously trained construction crews utilized to build the Kinshasa temple will likely be utilized in the construction of the new temple in Kananga. The Kasai Region has been included on my list of likely temples for many years. Currently, the region pertains to the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple.

Antananarivo Madagascar Temple

The Antananarivo Madagascar Temple is the Church's first temple to be announced for Madagascar where there are approximately 13,000 Latter-day Saints. The Church was first established in Madagascar in 1990, and the Madagascar Antananarivo Mission was created in 1998. The new temple will likely service the Church's two stakes and three districts in Madagascar, its district in Mauritius, and its district in Reunion. Currently, Madagascar pertains to the Johannesburg South Africa Temple district. The first stake in Madagascar was organized in 2000. Antananarivo was added to the list of likely locations for new temples in September 2018.

Culiacán México Temple

The Culiacán México Temple is the Church's 17th temple to be announced for México where there are approximately 1.5 million members on Church records. I had included Culiacán on my list of more likely locations to have a temple announced until September 2018 when I transitioned the city to less likely locations for a temple to be announced as a result of concerns with violence in Sinaloa State and many ward/stake consolidations in the region. The Church organized a stake in Culiacán in 1977 and a mission in 1987. Stakes in Sinaloa State currently attend the Hermosillo México Temple. The new temple will likely service six stakes and four districts in Sinaloa and Sonora states. The Church in México has previously dedicated or announced the following temples: the México City México Temple (dedicated in 1983), the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua México Temple (dedicated in 1999), the Ciudad Juárez México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Hermosillo Sonora México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Oaxaca México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Tuxtla Gutiérrez México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Tampico México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Villahermosa México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Mérida México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Veracruz México Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Guadalajara México Temple (dedicated in 2001), the Monterrey México Temple (dedicated in 2002), the Tijuana México Temple (dedicated in 2015), the Puebla Mexico Temple (announced in 2018), the Querétaro Mexico Temple (announced in 2021), and the Torreón Mexico Temple (announced in 2021).