Given the number of stakes and districts organized and discontinued in Utah recently, I have made a separate blog post to summarize these developments and put them into context with broader trends on church growth in Utah.
NEW STAKES
Three new stakes were created in Utah.
The Cedar City Utah South Stake was created on November 3rd from a division of the Cedar City Utah Stake (organized in 1948), the Cedar City Utah Cross Hollow Stake (organized in 2008), and the Cedar City Utah West Stake (organized in 1960). The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Harmony Mountain, the Hidden Hills, the Kolob Canyon, the Meadow Ranch, the New Harmony, the Old Sorrel, the South Mountain, and the Westview Wards. There are now 11 stakes in Cedar City (including the two stakes in Enoch).
The Highland Utah North Stake was created on November 3rd from a division of the Highland Utah West Stake (organized in 2001). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Highland 27th, the Highland 32nd, the Highland 36th, the Highland 41st, the Highland 44th, and the Highland 45th Wards. There are now six stakes in Highland.
The Spanish Fork Utah Legacy Farms Stake was created on November 10th from a division of the Spanish Fork Utah Palmyra Stake (organized in 1924). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Legacy Farms 1st, the Legacy Farms 2nd, the Legacy Farms 3rd, the Legacy Farms 4th, and the Legacy Farms 5th Wards. There are now 12 stakes in Spanish Fork. Spanish Fork appears highly likely to have its own temple announced in the near future given significant growth in the area.
NEW DISTRICTS
Two new districts were created in Utah. The Great Basin Utah (Correctional Facility) District was created on August 29th from correctional facility branches throughout central and southern Utah. The new district includes the following 11 branches: the Canyon Creek, the Fillmore 5th, the Heber Valley, the Kanab, the Manti 7th, the Nephi 11th, the North Main, the Panguitch 5th, the Richfield 12th, the Southcreek, and the Washington 12th Branches.
The Green River Basin Utah (Correctional Facility) District was created on September 1st from correctional facility branches throughout eastern Utah. The new district includes the following seven branches: the Castle Dale 4th, the Center, the Duchesne 5th, the Monticello, the Price 12th, the Vernal 11th, and the Vernal 12th Branches.
The decision to create these correctional facility districts was likely to better streamline administrative needs for correctional facility branches which operate in prisons, jails, and detention centers. There are now five correctional facility districts in Utah - one of which is for detained youth (which has 14 branches). Correctional facility branches help with meeting the ecclesiastical needs of incarcerated Latter-day Saints. Given its large Latter-day Saint population and high percentage of members, Utah is the only state that has correctional facility districts, although correctional facility branches operate in many states in the United States.
DISCONTINUED STAKES
Nine stakes were discontinued in Utah.
Two of these discontinued stakes were on the southeast side of Salt Lake City. The Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch Stake (organized in 1978) was discontinued and most retained units were reassigned to the Cottonwood Heights Utah Butler Stake (which now has seven wards and one branch). Nearby, the Salt Lake Little Cottonwood Stake (organized in 1971) was
discontinued and retained units were reassigned to the Salt Lake South
Cottonwood Stake (which now has seven wards and one branch). The Cottonwood area has arguably experienced one of the steepest declines in the number of wards and stakes in Utah within the past
Two of these discontinued stakes were in the Cache Valley. The Smithfield Utah YSA Stake (organized in 2010) and the Providence Utah YSA Stake (organized in 2010) were discontinued. The Smithfield Utah YSA Stake had six wards, whereas the Providence Utah YSA Stake had five wards. The decision to discontinue these two YSA stakes does not appear to be due to a decrease in active membership. Instead, this decision was attributed to a redistricting of YSA congregations so they were all part of the nine YSA stakes based in Logan (one of which was just organized in September of 2024). Given the small number of wards in each of the YSA stakes that were discontinued, it appears that Church leadership wanted to provide a more equal number of congregations in the nine YSA stakes in the Logan area.
The Ogden Utah Lorin Farr Stake (organized in 1952) was discontinued and consolidated with the Ogden Utah Rock Cliff Stake (which was renamed the Odgen Utah East Ridge Stake). The former Ogden Utah Lorin Farr Stake had six wards and one branch, whereas the original Ogden Utah Rock Cliff Stake had five wards and one branch.
Four of these discontinued stakes were in the Kearns and Western Jordan area. The Kearns Utah Central Stake (organized in 1979), the Kearns Utah East Stake (organized in 1978), and the Kearns Utah West Stake (organized in 1984) were discontinued. The Kearns Utah East Stake and the former area of the Kearns Utah Western Hills Stake (which was discontinued in 2023) were combined with the Kearns Utah Stake which is now called the Kearns Utah North Stake. The Kearns Utah Central Stake and the Kearns Utah South Stake were combined with the Kearns Utah Central Stake which was renamed the Kearns Utah South Stake. Thus, the Church in Kearns has gone from six stakes to two stakes within less than two years, and each of these stakes now has eight wards (the Kearns Utah South Stake also has one branch). The West Jordan Utah East Stake (organized in 1975) had four wards and was consolidated with the neighboring West Jordan Utah Stake (which previously had five wards). There are now seven wards in the West Jordan Utah Stake.
ANALYSIS OF STAKE GROWTH IN UTAH
As of year-end 2024, there were 639 stakes and six districts in Utah. In 2024, there were a total of 17 new stakes created and 11 stakes discontinued in Utah, resulting in a net increase of six stakes for the year. Between 2000 and 2024, the Church in Utah organized 215 new stakes and discontinued 34 stakes. The net number of stakes has increased every year in the 21st century, although this number widely fluctuates from as low as two (2012) to has many as 12 (2011). Rates of growth for the number of stakes, congregations, and members in Utah have been commensurate for many years, although percentage growth rates have fluctuated. In 2000, the average stake had 3,461 members and the average ward or branch had 421 members. In 2023, the average stake also had 3,461 members, although the average ward or branch had 404 members. The average stake had 8.22 congregations in 2000. In 2023, the average stake had 8.56 congregations.
The year 2024 was the year that the Church discontinued the most stakes it has ever discontinued in a single year. Approximately one-third of all discontinued stakes in Utah in the past quarter century occurred in 2024. The year 2023 was the previous year with the most stakes discontinued in a single year (seven). Thus, 53% of all discontinued stakes in Utah since 2000 were closed in the past 2 years. These recent trends in stake consolidations are unsurprising given migration patterns for Latter-day Saints in Utah during the past quarter century, as older urban areas and lower income suburban communities built in the 1970s and 1980s have had steady streams of active Latter-day Saints that relocate to newer communities on the outskirts of the greater Salt Lake City area, Utah County, or other states, such as Idaho. Stakes discontinued in the past 2 years have experienced stagnant or declining numbers of active members for many years, and the number of wards in these former stakes had reached a point to a consolidation of stakes was warranted. It is also important to note that the Church in Utah has gone through previous waves of stake consolidations. Prior to the past two years, the year with the most stakes discontinued was 2011 when six stakes were discontinued. However, there have also been years in the past quarter century when no stakes were discontinued in Utah, such as 2005-2010, 2012-2014, 2017-2020, and 2022.
Here is a table of the number of stakes discontinued by year in Utah:
| Year | Number of Discontinued Stakes |
|---|---|
| 2024 | 11 |
| 2023 | 7 |
| 2021 | 1 |
| 2016 | 3 |
| 2015 | 2 |
| 2011 | 6 |
| 2004 | 3 |
| 2003 | 1 |
See below for a table of all discontinued stakes in Utah since 2000:
| Discontinued Stake | Year |
|---|---|
| Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch | 2024 |
| Kearns Utah Central | 2024 |
| Kearns Utah East | 2024 |
| Kearns Utah West | 2024 |
| Midvale Utah North | 2024 |
| Ogden Utah Lorin Farr | 2024 |
| Providence Utah YSA | 2024 |
| Salt Lake Little Cottonwood | 2024 |
| Sandy Utah YSA | 2024 |
| Smithfield Utah YSA | 2024 |
| West Jordan Utah East | 2024 |
| Salt Lake Foothill | 2023 |
| Salt Lake Cottonwood Heights | 2023 |
| Sandy Utah Crescent Park | 2023 |
| Kearns Utah Western Hills | 2023 |
| Salt Lake Jordan | 2023 |
| Salt Lake Hunter South | 2023 |
| Midvale Utah East | 2023 |
| Roy Utah Central | 2021 |
| Salt Lake Sugar House | 2016 |
| Magna Utah Central | 2016 |
| Salt Lake Monument Park North | 2016 |
| Salt Lake 1st | 2015 |
| Salt Lake Wells | 2015 |
| Blanding Utah West | 2011 |
| Salt Lake Mount Olympus North | 2011 |
| Taylorsville Utah West | 2011 |
| Bennion Heights Utah | 2011 |
| West Valley Utah | 2011 |
| Salt Lake Park | 2011 |
| Ogden Utah Mount Ogden | 2004 |
| Ogden Utah Canyon View | 2004 |
| Salt Lake University 4th | 2004 |
| Salt Lake Eagle Gate | 2003 |
114 comments:
I live in Utah County and I see a lot of indicators of growth-- large wards, lots and lots of temple appointments full, and, based on meetinghouse locator, units in Vineyard and Eagle Mountain that are driving far to get to church because closer meetinghouses are full. Yes, some of this is new homes are being built and the original Provo Temple has been torn down and the replacement isn't built, but that doesn't account for all of the growth.
The same can be said for places where housing growth is large in other areas-- Idaho, as Matt mentions; St. George/Cedar City; Davis County; Gilbert/Queen Creek, Arizona; and even Northwestern Arkansas and the eastern Kansas City, Missouri metro to some smaller degree. Between these areas and others I may be forgetting, there have been tens or hundreds of stakes created over the last 20 years.
At the same time, the trends Matt documents here are similar to those in other large metros-- Los Angeles shrinks near Santa Monica, yet the church has two buildings next to each other serving three wards each in Temecula, and other buildings as well.
I'm grateful for these statistics Matt has compiled, both in this post and over the past many years, that provide context and suggest the church keeps on growing. Recent reports about Seminary, Institute and CES school statistics also support a more general increase in activity as well, and if rumors are to believed, convert baptisms are way up.
(I believe the "rumors" and think we'll see 290,000 or more convert baptisms for 2024.)
At stake priesthood meeting our stake president said we had 140 covert baptisms in 2024. About a decade ago it usually ran about 75. He gave area and church wide numbers, but especially the last one may have been preliminary. I think he said it was the second highest year ever Church wide.
Our stake president emphasized young men (this was stake priesthood meeting) should plan on getting endowed once they graduate high school, if they are 18 then, even if they plan to do a year of college before their mission. This is not a new message now, but it is still not registering with everyone. Back before I broke my ankle I was at the temple and there was a dad of a sister about to get endowed there. Another temple worker asked if she was about to get married or go on a mission. I pointed out that one does not have to wait for either of those to get endowed as long as one is 18, past high school, and I did not say it but you have to have been a member a year. Sister Dennis said this in April general conference, it may have been reiterated in October and the handbook change was over a year ago. It is a huge change, although the changes on this from have been gradual over decades.
Back in 2000 the rule was mission call, engaged to be married in the temple, and what the age was when you could get endowed otherwise was not very clear, but I think in most cases about 22 and even that was not a hard and fast rule.
Now with the base formula being 18 and out of high school, the mission and engaged to be married in the temple exceptions are rare. The mission exception seems odd since men have to be 18 and out of high school to go on a mission, women have to be 19. However I think because of when some people get their mission calls, the mission exception may allow a few to go to the temple a few weeks before planned. The number of 17-year-olds who are engaged yo be married in the temple is probably very low.
Walmart recruits heavily from BYU and BYU-I and we have seen a swath of people not wanting to stay in Utah due to affordability. We have one family in our ward where both grew up in American fork. Moved out here for Walmart, bought a house, got a new remote job with a company based out of Utah and had the opportunity for them to pay him to relocate back to Utah or stay in Arkansas. Even with all their family out in Utah they didn't have a desire to move back.
Works great for us. Our branch was upgraded to a ward and split within three years thanks to all the Utah exports.
Adam...are you in the Bentonville Area? My cousin moved there several years ago and loves it!
Yes I am. The Bentonville and Rogers stakes just created new wards in November, so the 4 buildings in the immediate area are housing 20 units and others are having to travel further away to more rural chapels to meet until a new stake center is set to open later in 2025.
I've lived in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Utah, and Virginia. You'll be hard pressed to find a better quality of living between crime, traffic, and affordability then you get in NW Arkansas. One ward in Centerton is literally a one mile by two mile rectangle. Think you'd be hard pressed to find a smaller ward boundary east of Utah.
New Dulles Stake in Virginia. Likely at least two new units to be created.
Just announced open house and dedication dates for the Nairobi Kenya Temple, and the Brussels Belgium Temple rendering.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/temple-open-house-dedication-nairobi-kenya-brussels-belgium-rendering
Was that already organized or a future event?
Is that a split of the Ashburn Virginia Stake? Near the Dulles Airport? I couldn't find a Dulles Ward.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/523259
Here is what I think I know: Oakton Stake is losing the Sterling Park and Algonkian Wards, which are in the Sterling building. There should be a new Spanish unit in Sterling, either a branch or a ward.
I am not sure where the Dulles Stake center will be, maybe the Franklin building?
Looks like a new ward for the Ashburn stake has been created, probably called Broadlands.
Things are not all known by most yet. But I am confident that many stake leaders know.
Maybe the YSA ward building of Reston will get a new unit?
To be continued and determined...
There is a Broadlands Ward in the Ashburn Stake. Unknown Start date.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/2180197
With the Nairobi temple getting a dedication date, the Harare Zimbabwe Temple is, as far as I can tell, the last temple announced by President Monson that doesn't have a dedication date set.
There is also a Loudoun Branch (Spanish), as mentioned above. Although unknown how new. And located in Leesburg, not Sterling.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/2150247
Alabanga however you say that town in the Philippines doesn’t have a date set either and it doesn’t show construction completed or nearing completion on either of them. So that’s two with no dedication date announced during his tenure.
The Nairobi Kenya Temple will be dedicated on May 18, 2025 by Elder Soares. I think this will be the 4th temple dedicated by Elder Soares. The others are Forteleza Brazil, Arequipa Peru and Feather River California. I might be missing some.
Also the Belgium Brussels Temple had an artistic rendering released. It looks like the existing office building is mainly glass. In the section that will be made the temple thry will add some stone of concrete work on the exterior.
This puts us to 1 rendering for 2025, and 3 dedication dates.
Nairobi Kenya Temple was the last temple announced by President Nelson to have a ground breaking. It seems it will not be the last to be dedicated, and I believe will be dedicated a month before Abijan Ivory Coast.
Nairobi had had a president announced. I do not believe thry have announced temple presidents for either Alabang or Harare. They normally announce the president and matron before they announce dedication dates, although I think Coban Guatemala had dedication dates announced first.
On the other extreme President and Sister Allen of Abijan Ivory Coast Temple had their call announced 47 months (1 less than a full 4 years) before the temple is scheduled to be dedicated.
Broadlands Ward created 06.13.2021. The Loudoun Branch created 09.29.2019
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2277506
Eastern Idaho seems yo have had a significant uptick in stakes over the last year. I know Rexburg is getting a 2nd temple. I still wonder if we will see one announced for Rigby or somewhere like that.
I was thinking about making a temple prediction list. If I do I think I will wait until March to do so. There might not be a super large number of new stakes by then, but in some places just 1 more stake would make a temple seem more likely. For example is Yamosoukro stake splits that temple would seem much more likely. Same with Charleston South Carolina stake.
I served in the Oklahoma Tulsa Mission 87-89 and served in both Fayetteville and Fort Smith while Elder Bednar was Stake President. Even back then, the wards in NW Arkansas (Fayetteville, Bentonville and Rogers) were strong. Great experience serving there.
I personally see Caldwell/Nampa, Blackfoot, and Rigby as being the three most likely candidates for another temple in Idaho. If you split a stake, you've got double the stake leadership that has to be filled, maybe pulling prospective temple positions. However, if a stake splits, it's usually means the church is growing in that area.
It looks like you can now see which area a stake is assigned to in the Meetinghouse Locator, as well as any branches that are administered by missions. That might be useful to cross reference for anyone who keeps track of that data, specifically thinking of Chris D.
Thanks, JTB. That is exciting news update. I haven't logged into the Meetinghouse Locator site for some time.
JTB, you can also see a complete list of the Stakes/Districts assigned to each Area. Or see the Mission Boundaries or Stake/Mission Stake Offices, or other church programs nearby. For example, Family History Centers, or
For example, the North America West Area:
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/areas/790036
Or the Los Angeles California Temple:
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/790583
or the Los Angeles California Home Storage Center
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/homestoragecenters/3305538
These are just some examples.
Very cool, thanks Chris!
One interesting thing I noticed with the new functionality in Meetinghouse Locator is that now there are only 2 mission branches in Texas (Rio Grande and Roma branches). The Raymondville and Zapata branches were assigned to local stakes (Harlingen and Laredo). Not sure how many other mission branches there are in the US these days.
Also while adding the Temples to the Meetinghouse Locator maps, similar to how it was in the old "Classic Maps", before it was taken offline a few years ago. They have also included the "Announced Temples" with no official site announced. With a temporary placement marker added until site announced.
For example, the Huntsville Alabama Temple marker.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/temples/2286718
Other Matt here...
In Southern California, some new growth to report.
In the Pasadena California Stake, the Valley Branch (Mandarin) got upgraded to a ward.
And the Anaheim California Stake created a new Samoan branch, Stanford Branch. This is the 2nd Samoan unit in the stake, split from the Loara Ward (Samoan) .
I could see a net decline because the conditions needed for closing a ward haven't really changed, but the conditions needed for creating a ward have become more difficult. This could occur even if the church as a whole is getting stronger
I have the 3 locations in Idaho listed above on my list as well. In addition, I have one other on my radar for long term, that is in Ammon.
Craig H
James - We will see what the official 2024 numbers show. I would not be surprised if we have a net decline for the year for units, but as I indicated in this post, the long-term trends have shown that the average number of members per congregation has been quite stable over time. We would need to see several years of net decline to convince me that we are actually seeing a net decline in active membership. Membership growth rates in Utah have slowed considerably to less than 1% a year which is indicative of many problems going on with low birth rates, active members moving out of the state, and relatively few new converts among the many nonmembers moving to the state.
The conditions needed for creating a ward have become more difficult? I don't know that I agree with that.
To create a stake:
Membership: Was 3,000 for U.S./Canada, now 2,000. Was 1,900 for others, now 2,000.
Full tithe-paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders: Was 180 for US/Canada, now 150. Was 120 for others, now 150.
To create a ward:
Membership: Was 300 for US/Canada, now 250. Was 150 for others, now 250.
Active, tithe-paying MP holders: Was 20, still 20 for US/Canada. Was 15 for others, now 20.
I suppose there could be cases where a ward would have been created but wasn't because of slight changes, but if you look at the US/Canada, the conditions for creating a ward have actually become EASIER. The new requirement for participating adults may make things a bit harder, I suppose, but the bar is so low for a US unit especially that I don't see that being a significant factor (100 for a new ward, 500 for a new stake). 500 participating adults for a new stake? That's a small stake.
Let's put it this way: in the last year, the members required in the US for 5 wards are now sufficient to make 6 wards. I have no idea if the report I saw is even true about net wards declining in the US in 2024, but if they are, I don't see how the new requirements could explain it.
James, are you getting those numbers from the reddit sub r/MormonShrivel? I noticed a report there that claimed what you described, but I would be seriously dubious if that guy got the numbers right. He claimed that US Stake Growth was only 13, when it was in fact 15 this year, and claimed that worldwide stake growth was only 16, when it was in fact 44. If he can't get the stake numbers right, I highly doubt he got the ward/branch numbers right. And, as you can tell, he underestimated Church growth on the two stake levels, so it's likely he underestimated Church growth or shrivel at the ward/branch levels. That being said, I also agree it's possible total wards and branches is slightly less in the US this year, but want to wait until official numbers are out to make any conclusions.
Thanks for the report Matt. Did this ward upgrade just happen? That would be crazy, as the Pasadena Stake covers the area most devastated by the Eaton Fire. I pray the Saints there, and all the people there, will be safe from the fires.
I also don't see how anyone outside of perhaps Church HQs could have these numbers before February, at least with the required precision. CDOL takes a while to update sometimes. Further, unit creations have been very robust in places like Idaho, and there hasn't been the usual drain on numbers from California. I would be surprised if we ended up with an appreciable decrease in US units this year.
The upgrade of the Valley Branch (Mandarin) to a ward happened before the Eaton fire. Chinese areas of the stake are more in Alhambra and Monterey Park, unaffected by the fire. Mainly Altadena (which is in Pasadena Ward boundaries) was the hardest hit.
As for the Palisades Fire, miraculously the Pacific Palisades Ward Chapel survived the fire.
In Pittsburgh, the church consolidated 6 wards into 4, across two stakes, 3-into-2 in the northern suburbs and the same in the city center. Before, 2 buildings had two english family wards, now only one meetinghouse has more than one congregation, the additional congregations being a YSA Ward and Spanish branch. This was done even though there was no real short-term decline in member numbers (the Pittsburgh 1st ward had been tiny for eons), rather in effort to free-up members to staff and attend the temple. I remember similar consolidations were discussed in this blog in relation to other new temples (Tallahassee specifically).
Even though the numbers are still out, we could see in coming years that, in addition to stagnation/memebership decline, the church aims to have larger wards across the board, but as Matt said, we shouldn't jump the gun on this.
Of course, there are consolidations in Pittsburgh, urban LA, and other places. But, as I said at the top, growth in Utah, Idaho, Arkansas, etc. is just constant. It would be difficult for someone outside church HQ to add up both the consolidations and the numerous new wards and get a new number.
But I really suspect the growth in units outweighs the decline. While some units are obviously in membership decline, the church as a whole in the US, from a wide variety of sources, is growing, in active and nominal membership.
The guy on shrivel got the data from the meetinghouse locator. It is possible to get all the data on the meetinhouse locator as a json file. But zhe data is difficult to analize and the meetinhouse locater shows changes delayed.
The new ward requirement for a 100 participating adults for wards, is a difficult one.
Interesting. I'd be interested to see much more detail.
I have significant issues with the "Mormon Shrivel" Reddit page. It exemplifies confirmation bias at its peak, particularly when discussing the growth of the Church. The content often presents a skewed and distorted view of the topic, designed to reinforce the biases of participants who seem eager to see the Church fail. While the page can occasionally provide valuable data on specific unit consolidations, its overall intent and the one-sided presentation of data are deeply problematic. It often becomes fodder for anti-Mormon internet trolls who lack the critical thinking skills necessary to evaluate more reliable data. Instead, they fixate on anecdotal stories found on social media, further perpetuating misinformation.
For example, while there were numerous new units created in the United States in 2024, there were also many consolidations. From my observations and firsthand tracking, I’d estimate we had a relatively even, net-zero year overall. It appears that the Church has placed greater emphasis on consolidating struggling units rather than prolonging their existence in hopes of eventual improvement.
Miro – I agree that the current focus on participating adults and youth as a metric is a more stringent requirement than the previous standards based on nominal membership numbers for creating wards and stakes. Much of the criticism suggesting that new units in 2024 are the result of "reduced standards" for artificial growth doesn’t hold water. The new standard of requiring 100 participating adults would disqualify many units that could have been created under prior rules. This is particularly notable in international areas, where many congregations don’t even have 100 total active members.
In the United States, this shift presents a challenge in regions with large families, where total church attendance may be high due to significant numbers of youth and children, but the number of participating adults is relatively low. Overall, the new criteria reflect a more rigorous and thoughtful approach to establishing new wards and stakes, ensuring a stronger foundation for these units moving forward.
Will the "North America..." areas change their names to "United State..."?
I would add that most other denominations, especially of the size of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or larger, aren't in a position to assert that nominal or active membership in the United States is growing. There's no dispute that nominal membership in the United States is growing, and, for many of the reasons Matt lays out in his comment critiquing the reddit, active membership in the USA is likely-- very likely-- growing as well, though we'll need to wait to see that played out in unit numbers over the next several years.
Interesting looking at places that have mission branches and seeing the boundary on the meetinghouse locator. I don't always see which missions have branches, so I was wondering which countries aren't fully covered by stakes and districts (don't need an answer).
I was looking at the Africa West Area Branch and saw it didn't cover Guinea-Bissau at all, so clicking on Guinea-Bissau shows it's in the Cape Verde Praia Mission Branch. Interestingly, the shown boundary is only Guinea-Bissau plus an uninhabited island in Cabo Verde.
I also discovered that "Verde" in Spanish and Portuguese are not pronounced the same (I have not heard much Portuguese spoken aloud, and probably 95% of it is Brazilian Portuguese). In Spanish, it's "verday," while in Portuguese, the "e" is silent, so "verd."
It's much funnier to compare the 'true and best' Portuguese language (Brazilian) with European/African than comparing British English with American English. They are practically not even similar
The "Labasa Fiji District (2101939)" has been recently merged with the "Taveuni Fiji District (617768)" and been renamed to "Vanua Levu Fiji District (2101939)". And the Taveuni Fiji District has been discontinued in the process.
Maybe you can verify the merge date from CDOL leadership change dates for the 2 Districts?
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2101939
I've heard European Portuguese described as "drunk Russian trying to speak Spanish."
A new district organized recently in Liberia.
The "Harbel Liberia District (2286521).
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2286521
These links doesn't seem to work for me with exception of Los Angeles Home Storage Center.
Also, a new district recently organized in the Uganda Kampala Mission.
Ther Lira Uganda District (2282526)
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2282526
Noticed that the meetinghouse locator now has a designated meetinghouse, though not yet a branch, in Batumi, Georgia. Likely a group is operating there now, which represents a small, but meaningful step forward in that country.
For me, this looks like, it was done to prepare the creation of a stake
My cousins daughter and her husband are both returned missionaries and the husband plays professional basketball basketball in Georgia now. To me that’s an exciting step to have both adults in marriage as return missionaries there in Georgia and hopefully be able to open up a lot of new doors for the missionaries there.
@cfunk - No, I didn't get the numbers from there, but I'm guessing that was the original source. Thanks for sharing - interesting methodology to track units, whether that was a user error or some misunderstanding of the data provided by the meetinghouse locator, IDK. Several comments in that post seemed to express concern with those numbers, too. In either case, I too saw discrepancies between what had been reported here and the numbers reported. That's why I tried to hedge my words with "if these numbers are true" - I definitely don't know whether they are, but am interested in if they are.
@Matt - I TOTALLY agree with you about the Mormon Shrivel page. It is entirely one sided. I rarely go there, although I will say that oftentimes other sources I go to have a skew to the optimistic lens, too. Most often I see this in the form of focusing on temple growth, discounting census data, using church reported membership instead of proxies for active membership, etc. Problems on both sides. To me, the notion that the church as a whole (globally) is shrinking is not supported by any evidence I've seen. I do think there has been evidence that shows the rate of growth has slowed substantially and stagnated in some places. Also, good thoughts on the participating adults requirement. I do think that makes it harder to create a ward, particularly internationally, although I will say from experience in two different stakes that how local leaders are defining "participating adults" is...let's say...very idealistic and not at all resembling what one might think is a regular active, regularly attending member. Whether that is a universal behavior, I couldn't say.
@Michael - I don't think nominal membership is a meaningful number at all, particularly when comparing to other churches where their bar for "counting" someone as a member, even nominally, is often quite higher than the Church's. Active membership in the United States? I'm honestly not sure. If I had to guess, I'd say it is growing at an extremely low rate, outpaced by population growth in the country, but yes - still a + growth rate. Not "shrinking" in raw terms.
Also, let me offer my thanks to all of you for contributing to the conversation here without making accusations about my intent. It's hard to have conversations about these things!
And Matt, if you are right that the consolidations this year were driven by a greater emphasis on consolidating units on life support, it could be interesting to see if the church as a whole goes through phases like that. It seemed like there was a year (maybe 2018?) when Mexico did that, IIRC. If what you're hypothesizing is true, that would be a really big deal IMO. It is a real burden to be in a ward that is constantly struggling to keep its head above water, and eventually becomes immensely demoralizing (as a former Bishopric member of one of those wards, I know how the morale of low-attendance wards can permeate through every member for years). I'd love to see an emphasis on larger wards in general, with supporting stakes more driven by geography than by size (i.e., having a 12-ward stake in Utah county may be ideal, but it would be better to have 2 5-ward stakes in the midwest to limit sprawling geographic boundaries).
James, I have a hard time seeing temples full in Utah, overflowing meetinghouses/lots of news stakes/wards in at least 4-5 states (Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Missouri, and Arkansas), widespread reports of near-record annual baptisms this past year, and impressive seminary, institute, & church schools numbers, and not conclude there's some growth. I want to say it outpaces population growth, but not sure there.
Well, for Utah, Matt himself has provided the answer in his latest newsletter, which is that even the percentage of NOMINAL members as a proportion of total Utah population has been on a steady decline. And since it appears that the number of nominal members per unit is relatively unchanged over time, we could still see raw growth (I do think there is positive growth in Utah, but it is very small), but not real growth that outpaces population growth.
Utah has so many members as a base upon which to grow, that you could end up with less than 1% growth in a year and still create robust units (for example, in this year, 6 new stakes in Utah). That's positive growth. But it's also a very low growth rate. Just as an example, Matt provided that in 2022 NOMINAL membership growth in Utah was just 0.56%. That's positive in raw terms, but not by much. And it wouldn't take much to turn a 0.5% nominal growth into a negative real growth rate if there were some demographic shifts.
When you mention metrics like baptisms (a rumor so far, but unit growth should follow), church school numbers (a function of enrollment limits being adjusted, not necessarily the number of members in general) - those seem like fixations on metrics that aren't great proxies for real growth. I could just as easily point to chapels that are being put up for sale in Utah, temples with constant openings and difficulty with staffing, a net closure of 21 wards in the US last year, and empty meetinghouses in at least 4-5 states (California, Washington, Oregon, Vermont, Illinois). Just offering that the data can't be cherry-picked either way.
Fair enough. However, (1) the Seminary & Institute numbers are a good proxy for real growth; we just don't have that split up domestic/internationally, (2) It takes a LOT of active members to fill up the new Utah County temples, and (3) stake growth continued in the US in 2024, including one new stake in 2 of the 5 states you named.
If the rumor regarding a net loss of 29 wards in the US is correct, there would be a total net loss of 112 wards from YE 2021 - YE 2024 (roughly 0.8% decline). I know Matt usually says that there is a 3-5 year gap between membership changes and the impact on the number of congregations, so we could be seeing the tail end of the impact caused by disruption in 2020-2021 (including the net nominal growth of only 42k from YE 2019 - YE 2021). I am most interested to see how the "spike" in increased nominal membership of 65k during 2023 in the US plays out in 3-5 years (and whether we see a continued trend during 2024). The number of convert baptisms means little if it doesn't translate to converted individuals who participate and strengthen their congregations.
Yamil, If you are asking, if the Church leadership on August 1st, when the Canada Area will be organized in Toronto, will change the other "North America Areas" to "United States Central, Northeast, Southeast, Southwest and West Areas" respectively. I personally don't have an answer to that until it is either posted through regular Newsroom channels, or when it happens on August 1st.
If instead you ask about my personal Google Earth maps i created. I have given the maps a name by Continent - Church Area format.
I hope either way I have answered your question.
The new Spanish unit in Sterling will be called the Loudoun Branch. There are more Spanish speaking units in northern Virginia than I knew. Like Cub Run, I think. Good baptism and growth going on.
Turkey is growing decently, from what I know.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently held a religious freedom conference in South Carolina with several other organizations. One of the speaks was the dean of the Rice Law School at the University of South Carolina.
The two representatives from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were Elder Ahmad Corbitt, area authority seventy and second counselor in the North America Southeast Area Presidency. He gave the keynote address and participated on a panel. There were Protestant, Cathokic, Jewish and Muslim people there.
Also present at the event was Elder John Amos, an area seventy who lives in Florida. Amos joined The Church of Jesus Cheist of Latter-day Saints in Baton Rouge while a student at an HBCU there. He is a retired military officer. His wife I belive worked for NASA.
Elder Corbitt and Elder Amos are both African-American. We have entered a new era.
Along those lines, the Church is also continuing Humanitarian Collaboration with the Seventh-Day Adventists.
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-jesus-christ-seventh-day-adventists-humanitarian-collaboration
I have since learned the merger took place on January 5th, 2025.
And the new Harbel Liberia and Lira Uganda Districts were organized on January 12th, 2025.
This week the first Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met with Portugal's Ambassador to the US on Wednesday and the Dominican Republic's Ambassador to the US on Thursday. Based on the pictures Elder Cook and Elder Teixera (who is from Portugal) were there for the meeting with Portugal's Ambassador.
Elder Soares was among others present for the meeting with the Dominan Republic's Ambassador. That Ambassador, Sonia Guzman, is originally from Santiago de los Caballeros, which had a temple announced last October.
Are you talking about the country of Georgia? L. Chris Jones
Yes, the country Georgia
The Deseret News published an article by Tad Walch covering Elder Clark G. Gilbert's address to the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.
From this article I learned that Alexander Dushku, a general authority seventy who before his call had a long career writing legal briefs, heavily for the Church, id the Church's general counsel. I am not sure who if anyone served between him and Lance B. Wickham.
I am also still not sure who succeeded Jack N. Girard as head of the public relations department.
Hello, Matt, my name is Hideyuki Hamada. I have had a couple of opportunities to post over ten years ago.
I currently belong to a branch in Mexico, and I am very curious about the stadistics of branches that have been upgraded to a ward, and which are those previous branches like that is mentioned in this post (the Valley Branch > Ward).
What I would be very intereted in knowing is what specifc activities and strategy led them to a Ward, and how long it took for them, etc. I would appreciate if you could share on that...
Elder Dushku directly succeeded Elder Wickman— Michael Worley
Anonymous, Ahmad S. Corbitt is a GA Seventy, not an Area Seventy. And the Church dropped the word "authority'" from the name of area seventies long ago. Not trying to be unkind or nitpicky here, just thought you'd want to know that.
I show Elder Matthew S. Holland as head of the communications department - not sure if that's the same position Elder Gerard held.
The Church Public Affairs Department has indeed been renamed the Church Communications Department. I was able to confirm that a while ago. So Elder Matthew S. Holland did succeed Elder Jack N. Gerard.
We had 2 Converts baptized in my branch today. The Michigan Detroit Mission president and his wife were there. Out branch president did the baptisms.
It would take a very ‘special couple’ to do so, but I think a bishop or branch president would be very wise to call a certain couple to be friend and oversee any new converts for at least the first six months after their baptism in the church. Places where I’ve been they really don’t have anyone that really put the time in to keep the new converts excited and help them with understanding what’s going on. Shadow, what good does it do to bring people into the church if they’re just gonna be members on the records and nothing more. I know that’s an individual choice but we could help a lot more than we do another thing that would help Bishop at least 4 to 6 weeks in advance what their topics for their sacrament meetings was gonna be The award leader at least four weeks in advance so that the missionaries can teach those songs to their investigators so that when the investigators come to church, they feel like they’re a part of the group, and not just observers. Also with some of our church songs that are really spiritual, it would be wonderful if the investigators knew the music at least and maybe some of the lyrics, but at least the music to carry with them throughout the day at work and everywhere else to kind of continually give them a spiritual boost while they’re being taught and even afterwards. I have never seen that happen and I’m 68 years old, and I think back to my mission in Argentina and had we known the songs to teach the investigators before they came to church. I think it would’ve made a huge difference in the day preparation of those investigators for our discussions and for attendance at church, and the Doctrine and Covenants said, those are a prayer under the Lord, and those investigators would be continually “praying” while going through discussions and while becoming an active part of membership in the church , any thoughts?
Sorry, I’m fighting off the flu tonight and obviously my talk to text is not working very well… But I must say I love coming to this blog and reading all of your news especially about the baptisms that are going on everywhere. Thank you guys for keeping me uplifted as you do here on this blog.
And one final post and then I’ll leave all of you alone… Like I said, I really enjoy reading everybody’s comments and I served a mission in Argentina and it’s been 50 years since I first started there. Obviously, I was very excited to see about the temples in Cordis Mendoza, because that’s where I serve my mission. With this being the 100 anniversary of Elder Ballard‘s dedicating Argentina for the gospel, I pray, and this may be a bit selfish of me, but I pray that there are at least three for if not for a new temples announce for Argentina.I would love to see one in Tumon, one in San Juan, one in Bariloche or Necochea area, and one down in Ushuaia. The area would be a bit difficult and it would have to serve members of the church in both Chile and Argentina, but the Church could come up with a very good name for it so it wasn’t the temple of the Chilean Saints nor the Argentine Saints. Thoughts from many of you?
Cape of Good Horn Temple?
It's named Cape Horn. There i no good in the name. You are thinking of the Cape of Good Hope in Africa.
At the University Hospital in Niš, Serbia, the Videoendoscopic Center has been renamed the "Brigham Young Videoendoscopic Center" this last Thanksgiving Day ceremony, in thanks for the equipment donations made by the church.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2025/01/20/church-medical-donations-brigham-young-hospital-serbia-bolivia-ghana/
You are right. My bad. Like I said, I’ve been fighting the flu and I tell you attention to detail is not something. My brain does right now very well. Thank you for the correction.
I would guess 125-150 is the sweet spot. Maybe a little more if there are large families.
Some updated temple news for 3 temples https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/temple-groundbreakings-tacloban-city-philippines-birmingham-england-huntsville-alabama
60% Ministering. I don’t know the stats here. But I have not been diligent the last 7 years. I used to. However in the 25 years living where I am, I would imagine I have had a dozen contacts. I live outside US, when I hear about slow growth in area, I question why would God give us more sheep to tend, when we struggle to tend to our current flock.
Hey, Elder Scott D. Whiting (my distant cousin) will preside at the groundbreaking services for the Birmingham England Temple (in the land of our ancestors)!
That makes me smile. :)
I don't know if it is just my computer. But, it appears the new updates on the Meetinghouse Locator site have reverted back to the way it was before. It doesn't show anymore the "Other Programs" on the site.
I have tried on both the Edge and Chrome browsers, and I have cleared the Cache and cookies on both to load any new updates on the website. And still only showing the basic information about each Meetinghouse site. No other programs.
Anyone else having the same error? Or is it just my PC?
FYI, the Makurdi Nigeria District, has just been updated finally to Stake on the Meetinghouse website.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2104423
And the Dulles Virginia Stake has still not been added. Does anyone know when it was organized? Or is it just planned for a future Stake?
The Dulles Stake should be officially formed this Sunday. The new stake will be composed of the two Sterling Wards, the newly moved Spanish Loudoun Branch from Leesburg to Sterling, and the stake center appears to be the Tall Cedars building in South Aldie.
Even though Ashburn Stake center will/should still be the stake center of the smaller Ashburn Stake, it may let a ward or two be part of the Dulles Stake.
To be determined.
What ten states will create the most stakes this year? Usually Utah, Idaho, Texas, Arizona. What about Washington? Florida? Which will lose stakes? California.
How many states will add stakes in Nigeria? Brazil?
Yeah I think it has reverted back since I cannot see the new updates either.
As far as Nigeria, I have Ibadan, Port Harcourt, and Uyo in my top 30 prospective temple locations. I could also see Aba being closed and dramatically expanded once a couple more temples are operating in Nigeria.
It will be interesting to see how the Church treats Hinckley temples over time--they've renovated several (Baton Rouge, OKC, Memphis, Montreal, and others) but Anchorage and Kona are the only two I know of that will be meaningfully expanded as part of that process. The others, as far as I know, basically kept their original floor plans.
Beyond the Hinckley temples, there are 80s-era temples that I also think we could see expanded in the same way Buenos Aires was. Lima Peru is the big one I'm thinking of--given how many stakes it serves even after the construction of the Los Olivos temple, it's still catastrophically undersized (only 9600 square feet--smaller than Helena, which is a modular temple!). Taipei is another very small temple from the 80s, but it sits on such a tiny lot that I'm not sure there's room to expand it unless they just, IDK, tear it down and build a multi-story temple in its place.
Just a heads up, in the first paragraph under the "ANALYSIS OF STAKE GROWTH IN UTAH" heading, there's a typo:
"The net number of stakes has increased every year in the 21st century, although this number widely fluctuates from as low as two (2012) to has many as 16 (2021)."
It should say there were 16 in 2011. 2021 had a net growth of 8 stakes.
On a side note, I was doing some analysis of stake growth in Utah. I don't have any stake closure details before 2000, but I expect they're low enough to not throw my numbers off too much. Going by decade, the 1970s grew by an average of 10.6 stakes per year, with 1978 having the most at 26 stakes. The 80's dropped to 9.9 stakes per year. The 90's was a strange decade, with only 6.2 stakes (although 19 were created in '96). 2000's had 7.4, 2010's had 7.1, and 2020's so far is averaging 6.8. So, aside from the 1990s, Utah has been showing a steady decline in average stake growth per year.
Sorry, the above was my first comment here. I didn't have my name set correctly.
JPL, when you say the Detroit Temple is really not big enough, do you think it will be big enough when the Grand Rapids temple is dedicated? It looks like Grand Rapids will take 4 stakes and a district from Detroit, leaving Detroit with only 6 stakes.
Some temples such as Birmingham Alabama could be enlarged if we reconfigure the rest of the property. There is a lot of space on the other side of the meetinghouse. If we rebuild the meetinghouse on the remainder of the lot and expand the temple , it could work. The same for Taipei the adjacent church owned builing could be removed or have a multipurpose multistory building. If zoning does not allow building up, depending upon the water table, we could build more basement space using the same footprint. Or build underground parking for areas with limited lot sizes or in areas with limited public transportation.
I Think we may see New stakes in Brazil in Ceará, Sergipe, São Paulo, Paraná, Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. I hope we may see another new stakes in other states. In the Last two years 6 new stakes were created, but, only in the states located in south region, half of then in Paraná State.
Matt, Thanks for your hard work on tracking these changes. However, you said "Two of these discontinued stakes were on the southwest side of Salt Lake City. The Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch Stake (organized in 1978) was discontinued and most retained units were reassigned to the Cottonwood Heights Utah Brighton Stake (which now has seven wards). Nearby, the Salt Lake Little Cottonwood Stake (organized in 1971) was discontinued and retained units were reassigned to the Salt Lake South Cottonwood Stake (which now has seven wards and one branch). The Cottonwood area has arguably experienced one of the steepest declines in the number of wards and stakes in Utah within the past" This information is incorrect, while the "Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch Stake" is no longer , it merged into the "Cottonwood Heights Utah Butler Stake" keeping the name of the older of the two. Wasatch was not reassigned to the Cottonwood Heights Utah Brighton Stake. I have heard that the Brighton stake received at least one ward from the Cottonwood Stake when it was discontinued. They have been moving wards around in the Cottonwood Heights area for almost 10 years now. Our ward was in the Brighton Stake and in order to keep the Wasatch stake open they moved the entire ward to Wasatch about 10 years ago. Also. I didn't see the Salt Lake Hillside Stake that was discontinued and moved into a newly named/formed Salt Lake Wasatch Stake in the Sugar House area. It created more than one problem with two Wasatch Stake in the valley. Family History Centers in each stake had to use the same account for communications.
Forgot to add - you said ""Two of these discontinued stakes were on the southwest side of Salt Lake City. The Cottonwood Heights Utah Wasatch Stake (organized in 1978) was discontinued and most retained units were reassigned to the Cottonwood Heights Utah Brighton Stake (which now has seven wards)." Cottonwood Heights and those stake are on in the "southeast" part of the valley not the southwest.
Underground parking is a good idea in some locations. The Salt Lake Temple uses that. So does the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple. I wonder if there are other temples that do as well. I suspect there are.
On another note the new missionary preparation curriculum was just released.
Tanzania will have its first stake created this Sunday January 26, 2025, the Dar es Salaam Tanzania Stake from the district.
Another correction, your table shows 8 stakes closed for 2023, but the chart on your website only lists these 7:
1. Salt Lake Foothill
2. Salt Lake Cottonwood Heights
4. Sandy Utah Crescent Park
5. Kearns Utah Western Hills
11. Salt Lake Jordan
14. Salt Lake Hunter South
15. Midvale Utah East
Thank you for the corrections - this has been fixed.
Thank you! What happened was that the official totals did not include 2020, so the 16 was for the net increase in stakes from 2019-2021. There was actually a net increase of just 12 stakes in 2011 (which is the highest year in the past 15 years).
No, some of those are awful metrics for real growth. Institute and seminary numbers are a function of resources, marketing, demographic availability, international openings to new markets, etc. I’ve not once seen metrics that show where that growth in enrollment comes from broken down, so we can’t assume it comes from growth in membership or active membership.
It takes a lot of active members to fill up Utah county temples. But we don’t know what the pent up supply of temple going members was before those temples were created. It’s entirely possible the number of active members remained constant and that the new temples simply allow more of them to attend.
Lastly, stake growth is a tricky one. The strategy employed for stake size (in geography and membership) changes over time. The creation and consolidation of stakes is time-lagging and more time-lagging for consolidations than creations. And stakes are large units. Most years they won’t change even with fairly large changes in membership. So at the very least I think you need to take a look back 5 years or so and take the aggregate change in those states. I’m guessing you’re pointing to Washington and California?
Matt, thanks for the great work.
I moved to the Twin Cities of Minnesota in 2004 from Seattle. I have only lived here 11 of those years, having spent 7 years in China and HK and 3 years in Saudi Arabia and Israel working for locally headquartered global companies.
That said, I have noticed growth in the Twin Cities area, but mostly by people moving here generally from out west. I happen to be a member of a ward that during these years has averaged about 15-16 convert baptisms per year. There were of course a slow down during the Covid 19 years of 2020-21. Why does this ward have so many convert baptism: immigrants and refugees in two words. If left to the legacy immigrants of the Twin Cities you would see the 0-2 convert baptism that we see in suburban wards in the area.
On the positive side we don't see the closing of wards that you are talking about in this article. Neither do we see much growth. The exception are the addition of two Spanish-speaking wards to the 5 stakes in the metro region.
Also on the positive have been the addition of Burmese and Mandarin speaking branches. On the negative side has been the closing of three Hmong branches about 10 years ago.
I have observed a phenomena of the closer to the city center wards in large metropolitan areas outside of the western US. This is fewer people moving into wards than are moving out. An example is our ward which 11 years ago had 440 members and now has 290. The number of convert baptism has been steady---the only change is fewer people moving in. Why is this?
It is principally due to the changing demographics our ward of approximately 130,000 population becoming move racially diverse with people from 80 countries in principally Africa (west, east and south), Asia (southeast and south), and Latin America, though there are some from Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon and other places in the ward.
I don't see the church closing our ward or two similar wards with lots of convert baptisms even though their membership is getting smaller as ours is. I have talked to friends in city wards in Detroit, Philadelphia, Chicago, and New York City where the problem is very similar to our ward. It is very much a racial issue. White members from out west do not "want to have their children go to school with black or brown children and don't want to have such colored neighbors". This a quote from many members from out west telling LDS realtors. This is a big problem.
Temples with underground parking that I know of: Rome, Seoul, and Bangkok. You would think Hong Kong and Tokyo would, but they have most people coming by mass transit, and then walking. This is sort of what you have with Manhattan Temple, but using the underground parking in the Lincoln Center area.
Ah, ok. I was combining my data from another source describing stakes created in Utah, and I found 4 that were not listed on your page:
Salt Lake Pioneer YSA Stake 5-May-2011
Riverton Utah YSA Stake 1-May-2011
Salt Lake Bonneville YSA Stake 1-May-2011
Salt Lake Holladay YSA Stake 1-May-2011
That must be why my count was off from yours. I'm not sure if my source is wrong, or if you missed these.
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