Monday, March 28, 2022

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.

48 comments:

L. Chris Jones said...

Could the struggles of Venezuela be do to migration from the country? If so, could that contribute to growth elsewhere?

Eduardo said...

A lot of Venezuelans, (as well as Haitians), have resettled in Chile. Church growth would be nice as a result.

Test.

Daniel Moretti said...

The Church sponsored the mass migration of Venezuelans to Brazil, in a move that relied on the full-time job of a corrupt Mormon businessman linked to Bolsonaro's fascist government as a "humanitarian missionary for the transfer." This must have greatly affected member activity rates in Venezuela.

James said...

Daniel, do you have any links or additional information on this? Seems super interesting.

Sergio Tourinho said...

A igreja não patrocinou a migração em massa dos Venezuelanos para o Brasil. Um grande número de Venezuelanos entraram no Brasil (em Roraima) e lá foram encaminhados para o programa, (se não me engano "Acolhida" que é patrocinado pela Igreja.
Quanto ao irmão que você citou, se tem provas contra ele, acione ele na justiça. Se não tem provas, não deve acusá-lo de corrupto.

Daniel Moretti said...

Some articles in portuguese about this:

https://veja.abril.com.br/mundo/carlos-wizard-martins-o-bilionario-que-abracou-a-causa-dos-refugiados/amp/

https://folhabv.com.br/noticia/CIDADES/Capital/Operacao-Acolhida-ja-interiorizou-mais-de-12-mil-venezuelanos/54395

https://g1.globo.com/google/amp/politica/blog/octavio-guedes/post/2021/05/15/cpi-tem-indicios-de-que-carlos-wizard-liderava-ministerio-paralelo-da-saude-e-vai-convoca-lo-a-depor-diz-senador.ghtml

https://www.cnnbrasil.com.br/saude/apos-polemica-sobre-dados-da-covid-19-carlos-wizard-deixa-o-ministerio-da-saude/?amp

www.correiobraziliense.com.br/brasil/2021/05/amp/4925733-cpi-da-covid-quem-e-carlos-wizard-bilionario-citado-por-pazuello.html

www.bbc.com/portuguese/brasil-57670995.amp

Daniel Moretti said...

Eu não preciso citar prova alguma. A Comissão Parlamentar de Inquérito do Senado Federal já fez isso. O homem foi indiciado e as provas de seu crime estão nas mãos do Ministério Público.

J S A said...

Hyde Park Utah North Park Stake (2189062)
27 Mar 2022
Pioneer Branch (Retirement) (380466)
Aspen Meadows Ward (168629)
Green Canyon Ward (156310)
Greenville Ward (156329)
Hyde Park 3rd Ward (123838)
Hyde Park 9th Ward (375217)
Hyde Park 10th Ward (1826174)
Meadow View Ward (241539)

MainTour said...

A new district in Dakar Senegal? That has to be a first - what is the story there?

Eduardo said...

Without having done much research about it, I know that the outflows of Venezuelans due to the incompetence and corruption within Venezuela has forced millions of their citizens to flee the country, without the help of Colombia, Brazil or others. I am not saying that there are not corrupt members of the faith, as alleged, in Brazil, or those in our faith that support the current president of that great country, but I do know that the former president, Chavez, and the current, Maduro, have been awful, and therefore many more of their inhabitants have left.
Colombia has received the most. I wonder what percentage of them are members, that is an interesting question.

Congrats to Michigan and Ohio for creating more stakes. This is awesome to see. The Midwest has a ton of good people that would be a great part of the Restoration.

John Pack Lambert said...

Here https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.deseret.com/faith/2022/3/2/22956971/the-wizard-of-hope-carlos-martins-brazil-billionaires-refugee-crisis%3f_amp=true is an article about the situation with Bos Vista. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints did not sponsor the people there leaving Venezuela. They already had left Venezuela and arrived in Brazil.

The Church did send a businessman and his wife as service missionaries there. The character assassination engaged in above I find unjustified. These service missionaries like other service missionaries worked with a broad network to try and bring about the best results for the people who had arrived as refugees.

This largely involved finding ways to relocate them away from their initial place as refugees.

Valenzuela y Escobar said...

It is great to see that despite all the obstacles the church grows even if it is little. It is sad to see when there are stakes that are discontinued, or churches closed and for sale.
In Chile, we know a lot about this growth without a support and decrease, still the church does not manage to take off as it should be, it is assumed that Chile would become a beacon, it is to be hoped that this moment will happen as soon as possible.

I attend the Republic stake in Santiago de Chile, and we have many foreigners, well throughout the country, they have come to give strength to the neighborhoods, and in some cases to be a real support.
Hopefully in this new general conference many temples will be announced, especially in places where there are not yet. There is enough money to bring the temples closer to the faithful throughout the world, obviously, there is planning and nothing is random.

For the baptized to stay in the church, or for the inactive to return to the church, help is required, not to criticize, to collaborate with love, a lot of service is needed towards the baptized themselves.
I long for the day that leadership learns to be more like Jesus, and stops being like owners of the Company.

John said...

I went to high school in the Tacoma Washington South Stake in the 90s. I'm pretty sure that stake has been created and discontinued twice now.

Matt said...

There used to be a Tacoma Stake and Tacoma South Stake. The old Tacoma Stake also covered Gig Harbor.

Then the Tacoma Stake split into Tacoma North and Gig Harbor Stakes.

With Tacoma South Stake discontinued (due to changing demographics), it basically leaves the area the same number of stakes, before the stake split.

Сњешко said...
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James G. Stokes said...

I don't have any particular inside information that would lead to this question, but I know that there are known areas of the Church that are struggling right now. In his comments here and on my blog, Omar (Historia Familiar Valenzuela Escobar) has referenced the current problems of the Church in Chile. Venezuela has likewise experienced problems, based on reports here. I know that in the early 2000s, parts of Europe, and the entire nations of Chile and the Philippines had sufficient issues that the Church sent Elder Holland to Chile and then-Elder Oaks to Chile from 2002-2004, and Elder Perry to Europe from 2004-2005. Given what we know about Church growth (and the lack thereof) in certain areas, and what we know about some of the current apostles' past ties to certain areas (unless I am mistaken, Elders Uchtdorf, Cook, Christofferson, Andersen, Rasband, Stevenson, Renlund, Gong and Soares have all served in area presidencies outside the United States), could the Church potentially look at sending current members of the Quorum of the Twelve to directly supervise current regions where long-term problems have prevented Church growth?

I know that in the early 2000s, it was likely more feasible to send 1 or 2 apostles to directly preside over areas than might be the case now, but it's just a thought I wondered about. I am looking forward to seeing whether there are any major Church announcements later today (Wednesday) and what might be announced in the General Conference Leadership Sessions and during this upcoming General Conference weekend. I'm grateful we can discuss so many aspects of Church growth here.

The Spencers said...

When I was in Panama in 2012, the stake president of the Panama City stake was a Venezuelan immigrant. He left the country after the Venezuelan government nationalized his multimillion dollar business.

Noah said...

Expo 2020 will wrap up tomorrow. It wouldn't be surprising to see an announcement for the Dubai Temple in the coming days.

L. Chris Jones said...

I wonder how much time will be needed for cleanup and clearing out the exhibits before Dubai hands over any properties. My hope is that a groundbreaking could happen by the end of the year, maybe sooner.

Noah said...

Many properties have already been transferred to various organizations and countries, but from what I've read, they appear to be gradual transfers. I saw that the handover Chilean Pavillion was 87% complete. I'm not really sure what that means.

James G. Stokes said...

L. Chris Jones and Noah, if the Church of Jesus Christ Temples page for Dubai is correct, the handover of the property in question to the Church will not occur before late 2022. At that point, construction can begin on the temple and an adjacent meetinghouse. With that in mind, we may not have any official announcement on the Dubai UAE temple until sometime in early 2023, especially if the Church is planning on a timeline that had previously been agreed to when the site was first offered to the Church:

https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/dubai-united-arab-emirates-temple/

Barring anything miraculous, I would not anticipate a handover of the property in question until late 2022 as indicated.

Daniel Moretti said...

Would any pavilion already built have the appropriate technology to be quickly converted into a temple, just adapting the interior spaces? It would be wonderful if the temple in Dubai tried out a modern design in contrast to the consecrated model of the other areas...

James G. Stokes said...

Daniel, the same construction page I referenced above notes that, following the handover of the property, "construction can begin on the temple and a meetinghouse at the designated site." So they will be constructing a new temple and meetinghouse in the area in question, not converting the existing space into a temple. Hope that helps.

brycen said...

My stake, the Exeter New Hampshire Stake just had its Stake Conference last weekend, but we have another special Stake Conference in 6 weeks, on May 15th. I just found out why tonight.

President M Russell Ballard will be in the area, he is dedicating some kind of site associated with the Smith Family Homestead, meaning the property in Topsfield, Massachusetts where several generations of the Smith family lived, including Joseph Smith Sr was born there. It's located inside our stake, in the Georgetown Ward in northeastern Mass.

I didn't even know there is a marker there - the property itself is privately owned but there is a marker talking about the history of the location. https://ensignpeakfoundation.org/smith-homestead/

I'm not sure what exactly is being dedicated, but it will be an exciting time. President Ballard is doing a youth devotional for the whole region on the Saturday night, and then apparently the Exeter Stake will be the only ones to meet with him on the Sunday. Or possibly it will be broadcast from Exeter to the other stakes in the region. My bishop wasn't sure. I can post more when I find out more.

I'm very excited to see what news and announcements we will have this weekend at Stake Conference. And the talks will be wonderful too.

L. Chris Jones said...

Is it possible that the property in question may be transferred to church ownership?

Cody Quirk said...

There we go.
That other commentator seems to have a political/religious axe to grind. 🤔

Cody Quirk said...

At some point, there needs to be a temple for northern Idaho/northwestern Montana, IMHO.
Wonder if there might be a Missoula temple announcement this conference?

Matt said...

I'm excited locally in the Orange County California area the Spanish Ward in South Orange County split into 2 Wards (new La Paz Ward [Spanish], Laguna Niguel CA Stake) and the new Tagalog branch in Cerritos (Cerritos 3rd Branch [Tagalog], Cerritos CA Stake.

Not to mention our Mandarian Ward in Irvine also split into create the new Mandarin branch in Tustin (Pioneer Branch [Mandarin], Orange CA Stake)

So 3 new units in the past few months. Good to see the new growth in California.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@Cody Quirk:

Hear hear!

brycen said...

Certainly - I know the marker was dedicated, by President Ballard, back in 2019. So something else is happening in May.

Daniel Moretti said...

I do not intend to argue with you which of the two is worse, even though in the Brazilian case there are 700,000 deaths that prove my point. But my opinion is that Venezuelans went from the frying pan to the fire

L. Chris Jones said...

I sometime I think central Idaho could use a small temple someday. One that could serve stakes in Carey, Moore and Salmon. Several of the 12 U.S. states that don't have temples could get one soon over the next few years. And I hope most of the top ten countries without one get one announced this year or next.

L. Chris Jones said...

I hope for Ceour'd'lane or Missoula or both.

Nephi said...

The church has done a lot in the last 4 years bringing temples to remote places. The church has gone to great lengths recently to bring temples to the island nations. I would love to see the church build a temple in the Navajo Nation. The roads in the Navajo Nation are not great and many of the Native Americans do not have as easy access to transportation as most of us do. I would love to see a temple announced in Tuba City or Chinle, AZ

Matt said...

Farmington NM is getting a temple, first bigger city just outside the Navajo Nation.

Zefu said...

Don't forget the one in Monticello as well.

L. Chris Jones said...

Anybody think that Santa Ana El Salvador is a temple prospect?

James G. Stokes said...

It's on my list.

EP said...

@L Chris Jones It's a good idea at first glance. That said, a temple in Moore is not significantly closer for Carey or Salmon to their currently assigned temples. You're shaving off maybe 20 minutes on each, which is helpful, but maybe not yet significant enough. Perhaps if a second and third stake show up in Moore, it would be enough, but I think there are other stakes that would sooner see a temple to cut distance, like perhaps Lewiston/Moscow if they can find a third stake between the two. I think the next temple in Idaho will be a Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls/Hayden temple to help relieve Spokane. After that, I see a slight pause before another round of expansion in the Treasure Valley and then Preston/Soda Springs to cut distance and dangerous drives for the southeastern Idaho stakes like Paris, Montpelier, Arimo, Grace, etc.

Chris D. said...

@L. Chris Jones, Santa Ana El Salvador is listed on Matt's Less Likely Prospects.

https://www.google.com/maps/d/viewer?mid=1W60CDwd4qDDMA3tW74z8g-2WxNw&ll=13.989697899999998%2C-89.5586386&z=8

John Pack Lambert said...

When Elder Ballard came and spoke to my stake in November 2019 the only broadcast recipients were buildings in my stake. I went to the stake center because in our September 2019 Elder Peter M. Johnson was our visiting authority. I was blessed to hear him speak at multiple meetings on Saturday. I went to the Chapel 1.5 miles from my house instead of traveling about 20 to the stake center. I never made a worse decision in my life. The broadcast did not come through and we did not hear Elder Johnson at all.

At one point when Russell M. Nelson was president of the 12 he spoke at my brother's stake conference in Lansing.

John Pack Lambert said...

They announced 45 new area seventies. One is 40 years old and from Angola. He may be the first from that country.

3 of the Brazilian ones are current mission presidents. One from DR Congo is head of translation services. I am not sure if this is for the Church or not. One of my more favorite is the institute and Seminary coordinator from Mexico whose current calling is Institute teacher.

Another is the first from the French department of Guadaloupe. Someone will say "but Brother Lambert, there was an area seventy called from Guadaloupe in 2013". You are right, and they just called him as an area seventy again.

L. Chris Jones said...

When considering temple distance, should we also look at the "round trip" travel time, especially for weekday sessions for those who attend a session after work even a half hour shaved off by a new temple cuts off an hour of travel round trip.

Eduardo said...

A second temple in El Salvador would be pretty amazing.

We must be waiting a while for the announced temples in Russia and China to gain any traction. Troubles with the governments and tensions against the West are no small thing.

A Mongolia temple could help both countries have some options to travel to a closer site. However, maybe Mongolia would become a target for outside forces to target? Heaven forbid, I hope they stay free. Sandwiched by two huge autocracies.
If Indonesia were to get a temple, maybe better in the new capital than the old, sinking one.
Great to see us get past the pandemic slow down.
Maybe 10 temples announced this weekend?

Cory said...

I think it is likely that the next temple announced in Central America will be Santa Ana. It would probably take 11 of the 22 stakes from the San Salvador temple. The cities are only around an hour apart, but its a significant grouping of stakes. Guatemala has two temples coming at the moment, but I could see Retalhuleu as a less likely prospect. It is a small city, but the density of members looks significant based on the meetinghouse locations.

I've seen some people commenting that any temples haven't had much public progress. Other than a handful like Russia, Shanghai, Managua, Cagayan de Oro, Lagos, and Budapest, most temples are progressing faster than they have in the past (even when there was less temples announced). The number of temples under construction has kept up with the number announced. The ones in the United States have progressed really fast and it has surprised me. Obviously some are going to take longer than others, but that should be expected. It's not simple to obtain property, get approvals, find a builder, and do this all in a country where the church lacks connections. It's possible the church has been working on a temple in Mongolia but has held off announcing it until they are further along with with the process.

Nate said...
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Nate said...

Of the 20 lists of anticipated temples that are included in the matrix for this weekend's conference, El Salvador is #22. Not in the top 10, but it was included in 3 of the lists. You can see where it ranks compared to the others at the Temple Matrix webpage:

https://sites.google.com/view/templematrix

Thanks to all who have posted a list of anticipated temples. I think that we will have 10-15 temples announced this conference. The top 5 in the matrix are all outside of the US and also 2 of the top 10 are in Utah.

President Nelson typically announces temples in the Sunday afternoon session. But he did announce them once during a Women's session. And there is a Women's session this weekend, so that is also a good possibility.

Johnathan Reese Whiting said...

@Cory

I wonder how oftem the process of making connections in new lands (where the Restored Church of Jesus Christ's presence isn't as strong) leads to missionary opportunities?

Such as: working with local and regional government officials, contractors, engineers, etc.