New Stakes Created in Idaho, Liberia, Michigan, and Ohio; Stakes Discontinued in Washington and Venezuela

Idaho

The Church organized a new stake in the Coeur d'Alene area on February 20th. The Post Falls Idaho Stake was organized from a division of the Coeur d'Alene Idaho Stake and the Hayden Lake Idaho Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Lakeland 1st, Lakeland 2nd, Pleasant View, Prairie Falls, Timberlake, and the White Pines Wards, and the Plummer Branch. There are now three stakes in the Coeur d'Alene metropolitan area.

There are now 137 stakes in Idaho.

Liberia

The Church organized a new stake in the Monrovia metropolitan area on March 13th. The Virginia Liberia Stake was organized from a division of the Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island Stake (organized in 2016 at the same time when the district was divided to create the Caldwell Liberia District). The new stake includes the following seven wards and one branch: the Banjor 1st, Banjor 2nd, Brewersville, Duala, Lagoon, St Paul Bridge, and Virginia Wards, and the Virginia Waterside Branch. The Church also redrew the boundaries of the neighboring Caldwell Liberia Stake and Gardnersville Liberia Stake so the Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island Stake now includes most of the wards in central and southern Bushrod Island. 

There are now six stakes in Liberia - all of which are located in Monrovia. There is also one district in the country located in Kakata. The creation of a second district in Liberia headquartered in Harbel appears imminent as there are now four branches in the Harbel area.

Michigan

The Church organized a new stake in Michigan on January 16th. The Holland Michigan Stake was organized from a division of the Grand Rapids Michigan Stake and the Kalamazoo Michigan Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and two branches: the Hastings, Holland, Spring Lake, St Joseph, Wyoming 1st, and Wyoming 2nd Wards, and the Allegan and South Haven Branches. The new stake is the Church's second new stake organized in Michigan during the past year. However, prior to 2021, the Church had not organized a new stake in Michigan since the Kalamazoo Michigan Stake was created in 1979. 

There are now 10 stake and one district in Michigan.

Ohio

The Church organized a new stake in eastern Ohio on March 6th. The Zanesville Ohio Stake was organized from a division of Akron Ohio Stake, the Columbus Ohio East Stake, and the Columbus Ohio South Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Athens, Lancaster, New Philadelphia, Newark, and Zanesville Wards, and the Cambridge and Coshocton Branches. The new stake is the Church's second new stake to be organized in Ohio within the past six months as the Dayton Ohio North Stake was created in November 2021. However, prior to 2021, the Church had not organized a new stake in Ohio since 2004.

There are now 16 stakes in Ohio.

Washington

The Church discontinued a stake in Washington State for the second time in the Church's history in the state. The Tacoma Washington South Stake (organized in 2016) was discontinued and the five wards that pertained to the former stake were reassigned to the Tacoma Washington North Stake and the South Hill Washington Stake. The Church discontinued a stake in Washington for the first time in 2020 (Kirkland Washington). 

There are now 60 stakes in Washington.

Venezuela 

For the first time since 2018, the Church discontinued a stake and reorganized the congregations into a member district. The Porlamar Venezuela Stake was reorganized as the Porlamar Venezuela District. The five wards in the stake were downgraded and reorganized into five branches. The Church in Venezuela has experienced significant struggles with growth and stability in its stakes and congregations due to political turmoil for many years. 

There are now 33 stakes and six districts in Venezuela.

UPDATED: The 10 Countries with the Most Members without a Temple Announced, Under Construction, or in Operation - March 2022

I have updated the list of the countries with the most members without a temple using year-end 2019 membership totals as the Church did not release country-by-country year-end 2020 membership data due to the interference of the COVID-19 pandemic on the accuracy of country-by-country Church membership data. Temples that service stakes, districts, and mission branches in each country are identified. Previous lists are also available for November 2020, April 2020, April 2019, October 2018, April 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2013, mid-2011, late 2008, and late 2007. I have put the country name in bold if that country has typically experienced rapid growth (annual membership growth rate of approximately 8% or higher) within the past two years with data available. Countries in Italics do not have a stake. It is very unusual for the Church to announce a temple in a country where there are no stakes, but there are multiple instances of this occurring (i.e., the Kyiv Ukraine Temple, the Bern Switzerland Temple, the Shanghai China Temple). Based on year-end 2019 membership data, the average country in the current top 10 countries with the most members without a temple had 8,880 members. Given this very low average, approximately half of the countries in the current top 10 list appear likely to have small temples announced in the foreseeable future, such as Uganda, Mongolia, the Republic of the Congo, Indonesia, the Marshall Islands, and Jamaica.

The Church has made significant progress during the past 15 years with bringing temples closer to members who live in countries with the most members without temples. To put the current list into perspective, nine of the 10 countries with the most members without a temple in late 2007 (the first list I made on this blog) had more members of the Church than all but one of the countries on the current list of the countries with the most members without a temple. Per year-end 2006 membership data, the average country among the top 10 countries with the most members without a temple had 25,365 members.

It is also important to note that the Church announcing temples in locations with few members is not a new trend. For example, the 10 countries with the most members without a temple as of year-end 1985 included:

1. Uruguay (40,700 members)
2. Bolivia (35,600 members)
3. Venezuela (24,000 members)
4. Honduras (18,600 members)
5. France (16,500 members)
6. El Salvador (15,100 members)
7. Hong Kong (12,200 members)
8. Italy (12,000 members)
9. Spain (11,600 members)
10. Dominican Republic (9,300 members)

The average country among the top 10 countries with the most members without a temple in 1985 had 19,560 members. Also, there were a number of countries with temples announced or dedicated in 1985 that had relatively few members such as South Africa (13,100), Taiwan (11,600), French Polynesia (9,800), Sweden (6,800), and Switzerland (5,600). Nevertheless, the Church has clearly entered a robust and solid trend in announcing small temples in countries with relatively few members, especially if these countries are in areas far from the nearest temple. Furthermore, the Church in the past five years has also announced temples in countries or territories where there have never been so few members and had a temple announced. More specifically, the United Arab Emirates had only 1,699 members as of year-end 2019 - slightly fewer members of the Church than the Church in Switzerland in 1952 when the Bern Switzerland Temple was announced - a few months prior to the announcement of the Dubai United Arab of Emirates Temple in April 2020.

1. Uganda

• 17,887 members
• 3 stakes, 3 districts
• 37 congregations (18 wards, 19 branches)
• Johannesburg South Africa Temple (Nairobi Kenya Temple under construction)

2. Mongolia

• 12,261 members
• 2 stakes, 1 district
• 23 congregations (12 wards, 11 branches)
• Hong Kong China Temple (Shanghai China Temple announced)

3. Malaysia

• 10,845 members
• 0 stakes, 5 districts
• 28 congregations (28 branches)
• Hong Kong China Temple (Singapore Republic of Singapore Temple announced)

4. Republic of the Congo 

• 8,542 members
• 4 stakes, 0 districts
  
• 31 congregations (23 wards, 8 branches)
  
• Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple

5. Indonesia

• 7,561 members
• 2 stakes, 1 district
• 24 congregations (16 wards, 8 branches)
• Hong Kong China Temple (Singapore Republic of Singapore Temple announced)

6. Marshall Islands

• 6,976 members
• 2 stakes
• 13 congregations (12 wards, 1 branch)
• Suva Fiji Temple (Tarawa Kiribati Temple announced)
  

7.  Jamaica

• 6,668 members
• 1 stake, 1 district
• 18 congregations (6 wards, 12 branches)
• Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple

8.  Federated States of Micronesia

• 6,307 members
• 1 stake, 2 districts
• 22 congregations (5 wards, 17 branches)
• Cebu City Philippines Temple (Yigo Guam Temple scheduled for dedication)
  

9.  Guyana

• 6,264 members
• 0 stakes, 2 districts
• 11 congregations (11 branches)
• Caracas Venezuela Temple
  

10.  Belize

• 5,485 members
• 2 districts
• 12 congregations (12 branches)
• Guatemala City Guatemala Temple (Coban Guatemala Temple announced)
  

February 2022 Newsletter

 Click here to access the February 2022 newsletter for cumorah.com.