Overview
The following list highlights the nine countries with the most Latter-day Saint stakes that currently have only one temple—either dedicated or announced. Stakes are among the most reliable predictors of temple announcements, as they reflect sufficient membership, activity, and leadership to sustain both stake and temple operations. In recent years, due to the Church’s rapid pace of temple construction, all countries with at least 24 stakes now have multiple temples announced or dedicated. This is not a traditional “Top 10” list, as four additional countries or territories (American Samoa, Haiti, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland) each have five stakes and one temple. Including them would extend the list to 13 entries, so this post focuses on the nine countries with the highest stake counts under that threshold. Countries with the Most Stakes and Only One Temple (Dedicated or Announced)
| Country | Stakes | Districts | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Côte d’Ivoire | 23 | 8 | Most likely to receive a second temple; Yamoussoukro or western Abidjan are likely candidates |
| Nicaragua | 12 | 4 | Low growth in recent years may delay second temple; nearly all stakes are in Managua |
| Paraguay | 11 | 9 | Stakes are concentrated in Asunción |
| Sierra Leone | 11 | 3 | Bo, with 4 stakes, is a strong candidate for a future temple |
| Zimbabwe | 11 | 2 | Bulawayo (3 stakes) is the top prospect for a second temple |
| Costa Rica | 10 | 1 | Nearly all stakes are in San José |
| France | 10 | 0 | Southern France (e.g., Toulouse) could be considered for a future temple |
| Panama | 7 | 4 | Slow growth; second temple unlikely soon as nearly all stakes are in Panama City |
| Liberia | 7 | 2 | Likely remains a one-temple country for the near future, as all stakes are in Monrovia |
Outlook
Among these, Côte d'Ivoire is by far the most promising candidate for a second temple due to its high number of stakes and geographic spread. Sierra Leone and Zimbabwe follow, based on stake density outside the capital. France also presents a realistic medium-term possibility, while other nations may require more growth and geographic diversification to warrant an additional temple.
247 comments:
1 – 200 of 247 Newer› Newest»In my opinion France is a strong candidate to get a second temple. Other European countries with similar number of stakes already have 2 temples. Portugal (7 stakes) and Italy (10 stakes but fewer congregations) already have a second temple anounced. There advantage was they had an obvious second city for a temple. You mention Toulouse, wich is a good location, but it could also be Lyon, Bordoux or Marseille. France also has 5 wards and 3 branches in Swiss stakes this would about add up to an 11th stake in france.
How do the overseas France territories factor in? We include those territories, France would be at four temples. Do the territories have a similar status or not as, for example, Hawaii for the United States? Or a similar status as Puerto Rico and Guam? Or even even less such as the status as American Samoa for the United States where they're not really citizens?
Well first of all I know most people still don't know this but Hawaii is a state it's been a state since 1959 the same with Alaska Puerto Rico and Guam are territories and yes the citizens there are US citizens.
American Samoa is the only U.S. Territory of the Five inhabited territories where they are not U.S. citizens. Plus two states that are separated geographically from the other 48. But my question was on the status of overseas France. Apart from the Paris temple. There are two temples in French Polynesian in Paeete Tahiti and on announced for Uturoa. And the recently announced temple in New Calendonia.
France has different legal statuses for its territories. In most cases, localities are classified as overseas territories or overseas departments. The latter is the case of French Polynesia. New Caledonia is in a different situation, as it is a country annexed to France with sui generis status, something more similar to the situation of Puerto Rico.
The French overseas territories that have temples (French Polynesia and New Caledonia) are more like Guam or Puerto Rico. The overseas territories most equivalent to Alaska or Hawaii would be Martinique, Guadeloupe, or French Guiana, for example, which are somewhat like US states.
If we follow the Church's pattern, then France is definitely next for Western Europe: Spain gets its first temple first, then Italy's first is announced, then Portugal's, and finally France's. For second temples, Barcelona was first, then Milan, then Porto...
We may be jumping the gun here. Milan, Barcelona, and Porto all have 2 stakes in the city and have 4+ in the potential temple district. That's not a ton but it makes sense for a LDS community (and provides some workers). France has no city that even comes close to meeting those conditions, unless I am overlooking something?
My guess is that we will see a temple in Tirana and one or two more in Spain, maybe even another in Germany or/and Britan, before another is announced in France. Most cities in southern France with a stake are relatively close to a temple'd city across a border- in a continent that doesn't hold much of borders. None have more than a single stake.
(Note that the Rapid City Stake is likely larger than the Bordeaux Stake as a carry over for differences in requirements to create stakes in the Northamerica to the rest of the world.)
I mean, one of Porto's stakes has 4 wards and the other has 6, so barely two stakes. And the distance from Porto to Lisbon is half the distance of Toulouse to Paris. The borders aren't the issue; the distance is. Even Toulouse to Barcelona is significantly farther than Porto-Lisbon.
For continental Europe: Southern Spain, in particular the area around Murcia, I think is the most likely with having as much as six stakes for its temple district. Southern France is the 2nd most likely with Tirana Albania not far behind due to its isolation.
For France, Bordeaux France Stake with 8 wards and 6 branches, is the largest in southern France and would get an extra stake for its temple district (Vitoria Spain)
Puerto Rico has never been its own country, at least not since Europeans landed there.
The Kingdom of Hawaii was a longstanding country prior to being overthrown and annexed by the US. Texas, Vermont, and California were also their own country prior to joining the US.
Speaking of the new Porto Portugal Temple, I would personally include these 4 Stakes.
A Coruña Spain
Coimbra Portugal
Porto Portugal North
Porto Portugal
I also feel this will be the case.
I used the term "country" but not the term "independent". Therefore, I never said that Puerto Rico was once an independent nation. I simply used the terminology in the Wikipedia entry to compare the status of New Caledonia in relation to France and the analogous situation between the United States and the Caribbean island.
From a legal perspective Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guiana, as well as Mayotte and Reunion in the Indian Ocean are just as much a part of France as Corsica, Nord, or the area around Lyon or Toulouse. Technically Guadeloupe has less independence than Hawaii. Departments are not at all seperate political entities like US states.
That Saud, Hawaii is in the United States West Area not the Pacofic Area, while Martinique is in the Caribbean Area not Europe Central. And Reunion is in the Africa South Area.
Another factor to consider though is the France Lyon mission includes a bunch of Switzerland.
It might make sense to but a temple in Lyon to take in Geneva and other parts of French speaking Switzerland and also one in Bourdeaux.
The Kalispell, MT Stake just had a boundary realignment. I heard tell that 3 new wards were created, plus the Lakeside Branch was upgraded to a Ward.
I only made part of the stake meeting, so I didn't get all the deets, but I'm sure they'll be posted somewhere soon.
I noticed this while browsing the meetinghouse locator early this week. The new wards are the Batavia, Creston, and West Valley wards. With these new wards, plus the branch upgrade, the stake now has 11 wards and a branch, elevating it to a stake that is likely to split in the foreseeable future.
Thanks, Caleb!
A few hours ago, the Fairview Texas Town Council approved a conditional use permit for the Fairview Texas Temple with conditions. Those conditions include: no more than 44 feet 7 inches for the roof and facade and 120 feet for the steeple and spire, that the floor area may not exceed 30,742 square feet, that the exterior lighting must be turned off between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m, and other conditions relating to lighting brightness and sewer connections. Since I think the Church wants to do what it can to move this project forward, I'm sure those conditions will be met, Hopefully the acceptance of these conditions will allow the temple to move forward. My thanks once again to you all.
You guys are right. Bordeaux is not that far-fetched. Hamburg and Hannover together have 16 wards, Bordeaux and Toulouse have 13, all have a ton of branches. A district for Hamburg and Bordeaux would be very similar. Maybe I just need to get over my prejudice against the French.
I think your figures for the Porto stakes are a bit off. Looking at the meetinghouse locator, each stake shows one ward more than your listing, so one stake having 5 wards and the other 7.
My understanding is that the conditions in the approved agreement are ones representatives of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints agreed to before the vote was done. The height and size were agreed to in mediation that ended in December. The turning off the light at night think is a newly agreed to provision. Other than that provision the city engineer has already affirmed that the plan for the temple is in accordance with Fairview's dark sky ordinance.
At the city council meeting 44 people spoke in favor of approving the temple as passed by the city council. 19 opposed it. Many of those opposing made down right false claims. One compared it to a 12-story-building. This is an absurd claim. A narrow spire, especially what you get at the top of the temple, is not the same as a useable building to that height. The height of the usable building is only 32 feet.
However I also do not believe 120 feet is 12 stories. Most public buildings has ceiling height above 10 feet. Even when you have a ceiling height at 10 feet, the ceiling itself and the floor of the next level take up some space. So you are rarely building at 10 feet a story. Floors actually average about 14 feet, which would end up with more like 8 stories, but as said above a small spire is not the same as a building.
One person who said she works in real estate claimed the temple would drive down property values. Besides ignoring it is unclear that going from 2 to 3 religious buildings in a row, with a 4th planned, would actually change property values much at all, the evidence of past experience is that property values tend to rise after a temple is built.
Several supporters of the temple talked about how the 8 acre grounds could be a place of quite contemplation. Those who opposed the temple seemed unwilling to listen to this point, and seemed to claim that people other than members of The Church would not be able to use the grounds. This is not true.
Others claimed that the temple is a "commerical" building, and should be built in a commercial zone, where no one would have a problem. This is a clear misuse of language. Religious worship buildings are not commerical buildings and have been historically built in residential areas. The temple does not even have a small cafeteria so there is no grounds to claim a temple is a commercial building. Also, contrary to the claim., temples in commercial areas do get opposed. Many cities outright do not allow religious strictures in commercial areas, and people will complain about it taking away from space for businesses that seem to generate more jobs, and that as a tax exempt religious structure it will reduce real estate revenue for the city.
One person pointed out that the Dallas Temple today serves about twice as many members as it did when first built, even though 9 or so additional temples have been built taking away from what was first served by the Dallas Temple.
I strongly suspect 2 new temples will be needed in the northeast region of Texas in the near future. A 4th in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex and one in the northeast area of Texas, in Longview or Gilmer.
Interesting update on the Meetinghouse Locator site today. Now, when you click on a meetinghouse, you are not only able to see the wards that meet there and what times, but also a photo of the building.
Thanks, Caleb. Also, something i hadn't seen on the site before today, when you click on the Meetinghouse marker. Not only does it show a photo of the building, but also a link added that says Activity Share.
The Lethbridge Alberta North Stake will have stake conference this weekend May 3rd-4th, and was rumored to be realigned or changes also.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/527564
The Lethbridge Alberta Stake is also scheduled conference this weekend May 3rd-4th. It may just be a coincidence.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500860
Same with the Lethbridge Alberta East Stake on May 3rd-4th.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/507431
It would be interesting to see if the 3 Stakes become 4.
With 25 Wards between them, I could see 4 Stakes of 6 +1.
Coutts Ward
Fairmont Ward
Henderson Ward
Redwood Ward
Sequoia Park Ward
Six Mile Ward
Stirling 1st Ward
Stirling 2nd Ward
Stirling 3rd Ward
Bridge Drive Ward
Bull Trail Ward
Crossings Ward
Garry Station Ward
Park Meadows Ward
Sheran Park Ward
West Highlands Ward
__SPANISHCoalbanks Ward
Canyons Ward
Centennial Park Ward
Chinook Ward
Copperwood Ward
Coulee Ridge Ward
Miners Landing Ward
Riverstone Ward
Rutgers Park Ward
This Church News article https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2025/04/30/fsy-school-kits-service-argentina-chile-paraguay-uruguay/ talks about FSY in the South Anerican South Area. What struck me is almost 500 more youth, nearly 50% more, were in FSY in Paraguay than in Uruguay.
To be fair the Uruguay Temple being so far to one side of the country, and the new temple being right on the Brazil border are factors.
I have also been thinking more about France. I believe the Brussels Belgium Temple may end up with part of France assigned to it.
Greenville South Carolina may indicate the day of 3-stake Temple districts id upon us. I know we have Okinawa that is just 1 stake, but Greenville South Carolina and Norfolk Virginia may be the first 3 stake districts that are not super isolated.
This gives me hope for a lot of 3 stake places getting temples.
It is a blessing to live close to the temple. I can take my grandson to do baptisms for the dead after work.
I read that there were 44 people who spoke with 25 for and 19 against. That equals 44.
Looking at Google maps It appears that the Fairview Temple is in a mixed zone not specifically a residential or commercial zone. There are houses behind it, but also right across the street there appears to be a shopping center and storage company. On the next block next is another commercial center. As far as religious structures it has a meeting house and another denomination on one side of the property and on the other side another church is planning to be built. This same street has lots of business West of the temple site. And more churches to the east on or near the same street.
@Ryan This just chaned somtime this year. In one stake one ward was divided and in the other a brach was upraded. On the maps on cumorah the changes are not done yet. Maybe he checked it there.
Talking about Lethbridge, it appears the Cardston Temple will only have three stakes in its temple district. Am I seeing this correctly?
The Cardston Alberta Temple is the 2nd largest temple outside the continental US (behind Mexico City). It has 88,562 square feet of floor space. For comparison, it's larger than most temples in Utah.
Could be a possibility of Cranbrook and Fort Macleod staying with Cardston for the sake of balance. With that possibility, there would be 7 stakes for Lethbridge (though it seems rumored of another stake in Lethbridge being created in this comment section) and 6 stakes with Cardston (until the eventual dedication of Missoula taking the Kalispell stake).
If this possibility does not happen and Cardston is left with only 3 stakes attending a huge temple, I worry about a similar future with Manti if Richfield gets announced.
For reference (to anyone, not specifically David), for dedicated temples, Cardston (88,562) is larger than Idaho Falls (85,624) and smaller than Layton (93,539). As far as not-yet dedicated temples, Cardston is closer in size to Syracuse (88,886) than Layton on the larger end and closer in size to Lindon (87,005) than Idaho Falls on the smaller end. I would include Heber Valley, but there's currently no structure to reference compared those I have already mentioned.
Does Cardston have an assembly room? The size of a temple and the usable ordinance space are not directly linked. Temples that have laundries primarily to support the baptism with the expectation that most patrons other than young full-time missionaries will bring their own temple clothes have less area devoted to laundries.
On the other hand Indonesia is getting a temple of over 40,000 square feet.
Of course the other extreme is Nigeria with 80 stakes and one temple of 11,500 square feet. I believe Eket and Lagos will be both just under 20,000 square feet and Benin City about 30,000 square feet. We still do not have areas for Calbar, Abuja and Uto. I also strongly suspect that Nigeria will have at least 3 more temples announced before Lagos or Benin City is completed.
It's worth pointing out that much like Manti and Los Angeles, a lot of Cardston's floor space is taken up in ways that don't necessarily impact patron capacity. It still only has one set of four-stage ordinance rooms, for example. I suspect that if it does go down to three stakes in its district, it will just cut back the number of sessions it runs and continue with business as usual.
I also suspect that, as a historic temple, it will probably retain significant popularity with members even after Lethbridge opens, so it might not lose all that much attendance. If living in Utah County and working in the Provo Temple taught me anything, it's that most of the time, when a new temple opens in a member-heavy area, temple attendance rates increase to fit the available temple space rather than distributing more evenly among other temples. The City Center Temple didn't even dent Provo's business. Manti will probably be more impacted by Ephraim because it will lose a lot of students from Snow, but I still expect that as a famously beautiful and historical temple, it will find plenty of patrons.
Very interesting data. This kinda reminds me of looking for possible NBA expansion cities. I’m a sports writer, so naturally my brain goes there.
I served my mission in Minnesota. One temple in St. Paul and 8 stakes in the state. A possible temple up north in Duluth could happen, though it would likely take a while for that to happen.
I think Jonathon F. has some very good points. It appears that Cardston is functionally only really about the size of Dallas, at about 45,000 square feet.
The point about outside visitors is also very well taken. This is the first Canadian Temple, so Canadians from elsewhere will travel there. Especially from further north in Alberta. Same with many Canadians who live in the US.
When I was a BYU student with no car I went to the Manti Temple at least once, and it was not the time I went to an event at Snow College it was a totally different time. I went to the Provo Temple nearly every week, and on a few occasions did 2 sessions or otherwise multiple ordinances. So Provo was not hurting from my occasional journeys to Salt Lake City, Manti etc.
One potential issue is that temple workers can only be called from stakes assigned to a temple.
In the case of Minnesota 8 stakes is enough to justify 2 temples. St. Paul Temple is only 10,700 square feet. Maybe like Detroit they have enclosed the entry and so are just around 11,000 or so square feet technically, but still not very big. Cleveland Ohio Temple is just under 10,000 square feet, but with how things line up with the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Stake, at best that temple will have Kirtland, Cleveland, Akron and only about half of Hyrum stakes. The other half of Hyrum stake is closer to the Pittsburgh Temple, in the case of Lisbon, Ohio very much so, in the case of Youngstown not much so. Hyrum itself is a shorter drive to Cleveland Ohio Temple than to the Kirtland Temple, even though the distance is shorter.
Cincinnati Ohio Temple that looks to be taking in at least 6 stakes, will be 30,000 square feet on 35 acres. With that size of a property complaints about the temple will be low.
I am assuming the Cincinnati Temple will basically have the 3 Cincinnati stakes and the 3 Dayton Stakes. Huntington West Virginia Stake might also be assigned to the Cincinnati Temple. Although with Rapid City South Dakota having a temple announced, Charleston West Virginia looks like a strong candidate. That temple would take in Huntington, Charleston and at least some of Clarksburg Stakes. Clarksburg is about 2 hours 1 minute from Pittsburgh Temple, and only 1 hour 53 minutes from Charleston.
With Greenville South Carolina getting a temple I can see Greensboro North Carolina getting one. The temptation is to place it in Kernesville, which is about equidistant from the 3 stake centers. I think anywhere in the Winston-Sale/High Point/Greensboro area would work, and basically it would serve those stakes.
The 5 stakes in the greater Raleigh-Durham area are basically the right number for the temple there. Which leaves 6 more stakes in Eastern North Carolina. The big question is 1 or 2 temples right for what exists there now.
Morehead City/Harker's Island has a very long church connection, so I could see a temple there. On the other hand a temple in Wilmington might work, and pull in both Morehead City and Myrtle Beach stakes. Fayetteville is the only place in Eastern North Carolina with 2 stakes. If built today it would probably take in 6 stakes. However if paired with a temple on the coast it would take it 3, and leave Greenville North Carolina stake in the Raleigh Temple district.
Charleston South Carolina could get a temple that would take it 4 stakes, Myrtle Beach, Charleston, Hilton Head and Savannah, although I am not sure which way Myrtle Beach would go if there was a coastal North Carolina Temple.
Based on where stakes are today however a Savannah Georgia Temple might make more sense. It would only take in 3 stakes, but you have a closer concentration of stakes.
The Atlanta Georgia Temple is 34,000 square feet, while Knoxville is being built about 29,000 square feet. There are basically 15 stakes in the core temple region. Macon and Columbus are outside the metro area, and maybe Cartesville, Athens and Newnan, at least in part. One possibility is putting a temple in Fayetville/Stockbridge. Or maybe even Jonesboro. Clearly in metro Atlanta. This would cut travel time for Macon and Columbus Stakes, and take 3 stakes.
The other is to do a temple somewhere like Winder. The problem there is Macon being right on I-75, there is no good way to get to things straight east of Atlanta. It almost looks like Gainesville Georgia would be a good place. You would get 4 stakes, but it is further north-east than any of the stakes. If you had Gainesville, Fayetteville and Atlanta, Atlanta would keep 6 stakes, and probably have people from others come because it is historic and central. Fayetteville would have 5 stakes, 3 metro Atlanta ones close by and then Columbus and Macon which would have much shorter travel times than at present. Gainesville would have 4 stakes. What I cannot tell from the church units map the the unofficial temples site is what stake includes Clarkesville and the northeast corner of Georgia.
The other possibility would be to do a Columbus Georgia Temple. This would take in 3 stakes, Montgomery Alabama, Columbus Georgia and Macon Georgia. It might also take in at least some of Newnan Georgia Stake. Of the 3 stakes besides Coloumbus, Newnan is by far the closest at just over an hour, but that is also its break even point to the Atlanta Temple. Although I am not sure where all the units are in Newnan stake, and moving the location further north on I-185 than Columbus proper would put Newnan closer. Evidently this is mapping to the area of downtown Columbus. If the temple was out in the area of Columbus, Georgia close to where I-185 and US-80 meet you would save about 10 minutes from both Macon and Newnan. However if you move any closer to one of those cities from that point, you increase the time from the other.
Looking at the meetinghouse locator, the most likely split will be the Whitefish Montana Stake. It would have the Columbia Falls, Creston, Eureka, West Valley, and Whitefish Wards. Though the new boundaries aren't updated yet, the Creston Ward shows to meet in Columbia Falls, while the West Valley Ward shows to meet in Whitefish.
That would leave the Kalispell Montana Stake with 6 wards (the YSA branch could go either way) with the Batavia, Big Fork, Kalispell 1st, 2nd, & 3rd, and Lakeside Wards. The new Batavia Ward shows to meet in Kalispell which makes 4 wards and 1 branch attending the chapel there. Seems they'll need a new chapel in Kalispell.
Behold! A Canadian! Better yet, an Albertan! Been lurking on this blog for awhile and saw in this comment section a lot of talk about the Lethbridge Tri-Stake Conference coming up and also the Cardston temple. Thought I would share some information about these as I have knowledge about both. Yes, it's a Tri-Stake Confernence coming up in Lethbridge. Just recently the Lethbridge Stake Presidency issued a letter back in April about the need to reduce the size of wards in the stake and thus created a new ward in April. Last year the Lethbridge East Stake created two new wards for simillar reasons. Not 100% sure if the third Lethbridge stake created anything or when but likely. The Tri-Stake Conference is, so far as is known, mainly to adjust the boundaries of all the stakes in response to these new units created, no new units of any kind are anticipated, though I guess nothing happens unitl it happens, but as mentioned, new wards have already been created in the stakes leading up to this meeting.
As for the Cardston temple, yes it has an assembly room, a very big one at that. It also has very inefficient space usage compared to new tempels. It has one set of endowment rooms (4 + Celestial), and there is a staircase and small hallways between each one, with them somewhat recently putting an elevator in to help less mobile people between them. The endowment rooms also have the old stages for live performances still, that don't get used of course, and there was a very large cafeteria, but that's closed now, not sure what it gets used for anymore. There is one baptistery, but the baptistery is massive, I cannot emphasize how much empty space is in the baptsitery. The font is elevated above the floor, there is a second floor balcony to look into the font, you can walk all the way around the font, etc. You could easily fit 100 people in that room. So yes, that, and other examples showcase how Cardston is quite large, but rooms were designed with the idea that entire wards/stakes/groups would be making pilgramiges to this temple from across the continent, so each room is now way bigger than it needs to be. And while yes, this is a very historic temple and many saints still hold a lot of tradition to it, nobody is crossing provinces to attend it. While the US also has large distances between cities/towns like Canada, and thus we are very proficient at driving them, the #1 cause for joy when a new temple gets built is the significantly reduced drive many will expereince to get to the temple from that point on. The only people in other temple districts that still go to Cardston are the ones that have a hsitory of going there and live an equal distance from their new temple as the Cardston temple. I have at least one relative like that.
Anyway, hope this helps.
Cardston does not have an assembly room
https://www.templefacts.org/post/assembly-rooms
With Jakarta being a very condensed city and the temple grounds being a little over an acre, I wonder if it will function as a multipurpose building like Hong Kong or Manhattan where you have a meetinghouse and/or church offices within the building.
The Aba Nigeria Temple took a little under 2 years to get to groundbreaking. It seems like the subsequent announcements within the country are having a much harder time getting to groundbreaking.
Bea, Thank you for that explanation of the Lethbridge Tri-Stake Conference. I appreciate it.
Thank you Bea! This does help. One question about what you referred to as the assembly room. Is it a chapel or assembly room?
From multiple sources, I find it stating Cardston being the first temple designed without an assembly room. Only 8 temples have assembly rooms (Kirtland, Nauvoo, St. George, Logan, Manti, Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, and Washington D.C.). Most large/medium sized temples I've been to have a room called a chapel that is used as a waiting area prior to going through the instruction rooms. Assembly rooms are typically used for special leadership meetings. They're designed with Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood pulpits, and will typically span most, if not all the floor they're located on.
https://themormoneagle.blogspot.com/2010/12/lds-temples-and-their-priesthood.html
Whoops, sorry, I forgot it was called a chapel and not an assembly room. My bad, yes, no assembly room in Cardston.
I wish to correct one of my assertions in a previous thread: In view of some new information of which I became aware a short time ago, not only do I now believe we will see the San Diego California Temple rededicated before the end of this year, but it is also likely that 2-4 additional new temples will have dedications scheduled to occur before the end of this year as well. My thanks once again to you all.
I once read that Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, also had an assembly hall. I just don't know why.
For those interested, Matt and this blog have been quoted in this article on the Salt Lake Tribune newssite earlier today. About the Growth of the Church in Spain, not being because of the local Spaniards.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/lds-church-is-growing-in-spain-but-not-because-of-native-spaniards/ar-AA1E3fsf?ocid=socialshare&pc=U531&cvid=9b58cc853fdd487eb464d0cae1769626&ei=18
Chris D. I have no idea how to do this, but I think there is a way to write some code to automate the process of going to each unit number and pulling the info you want. Probably could save a bunch of time.
The Church News just published this article of John Amos. https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/05/03/elder-john-amos-general-authority-seventy-bio-2025-preparation-life-service/ He was raised in Opelousa, Louisiana, which is the heart of Zydeko music. He is African-American and was raised Catholic. He first began investigating the Church in about 1987, age about 26 introduced to the Church by his southern university classmate also in the engineering program there in Boton Rouge, Michelle Wright. They had begun dating. Over 2 years John Anos investigated the Church. He was baptized in 1989 and they were married in Atlanta Georgia Temple in 1990. There is a Wikipedia article on Michelle Amos that mentions John Anos is her husband but does not mention he is a general authority seventy. The article could be updated using the linked article as a source.
Look, I'm not an engineer or anything... but when I look at the photos of the remaining structure of the Kona temple, I'm amazed at how that entire roof is supported by so few, thin columns.
The Portland Oregon Temple has an Assembly Room and was the last built with one. The original Boston Temple design was larger and grander and included plans for an assembly room.
Looks like I'm making a lot more corrections than I anticipated about my initial comments. Today in the Lethbridge Tri-Stake Conference a new stake was indeed created. The list of stakes in Lethbridge are now:
- Lethbridge North
- Lethbridge Henderson Lake
- Lethbridge South
- Lethbridge West
- Lethbridge YSA
Not sure which one was the new stake as some got renamed as well.
Exciting news about Lethbridge! I did some more math about our upcoming multi-stake conference in west-central Germany. Creating a new stake would be possible but it would require additional wards to be formed most likely. There are candidates for that in the Frankfurt and Friedrichsdorf stakes that I know very well; I'm less familiar with Kaiserslautern and Heidelberg stakes to make valid judgments. Candidates for new wards would be:
- A third ward in the Wetterau created from Wetterau 1st and 2nd wards
- A second ward in Darmstadt or a nearby city like Griesheim or Groß-Umstadt, possibly absorbing the Michelstadt branch
- A second International ward in Frankfurt
- A ward in Gießen or Marburg split from Wetzlar - possibly mutually exclusive with creating a third Wetterau ward
Generally, I would expect a consolidation of Offenbach or Michelstadt as both of these branches are struggling with members moving away. Langen or a new Frankfurt International ward could use the vast Offenbach building along with Wiesbaden 2nd, and give it much better utilization.
Today a member of our stake presidency was at our meetings. He said that last year we had about twice as many convert baptisms as we have had in the past. We are on track to double that number again this year.
We had a woman and her turning 12 this year son baptized today.
Other Matt here...
Here are the updated stake and ward boundaries in Lethbridge, Alberta.
https://oqg-primary-prod-content.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/pdf/1745872699513_680fe723debfa.pdf
We also had our stake conference today for the Anchorage Alaska North Stake. Nothing major, only change was we got a new councilor in our stake presidency (our bishop who was released last week, he had been bishop for over 8 years) and the Maplewood Branch (Spanish) was renamed the Borealis Branch (Spanish). Guess branch members wanted a different name since they no longer meet at the Maplewood building. Wonder if the same thing could happen with the Lake Hood Ward (Tongan) since that ward no longer meets at the Lake Hood building (though once the new stake center next to our new temple is build, they might go back to that building).
I guess I can also mention our stake now has 2 patriarchs that are both active. The new patriarch was approved and called to provide patriarchal blessings for those in the Samoan and Tongan speaking wards, while our other one would primarily be for the English speaking wards (and presumably the Spanish branch and Filipino group).
@Ben Parker:
My Wishlist for NBA Expansion:
Vegas, Seattle, Mexico City and (possibly) Louisville
Based off these maps, the 4 Stakes would be Henderson Lakes with 7 Units, the other 3 with 6 each. Total 25 Wards affected.
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Coutts Ward 51055
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Henderson Ward 99422
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Redwood Ward 51659
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Stirling 1st Ward 51365
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Stirling 2nd Ward 179418
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Stirling 3rd Ward 2038587
Henderson Lake Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Park Meadows Ward 118273
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Bridge Drive Ward 50652
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Bull Trail Ward 2102390
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Crossings Ward 172413
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Garry Station Ward 210641
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) West Highlands Ward 548022
North Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) __SPANISHCoalbanks Ward 2160463
South Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Fairmont Ward 225738
South Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Sequoia Park Ward 2253593
South Lethbridge Alberta East Stake (507431) Six Mile Ward 2102412
South Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Centennial Park Ward 51667
South Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Chinook Ward 51195
South Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Coulee Ridge Ward 51632
West Lethbridge Alberta North Stake (527564) Sheran Park Ward 266981
West Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Canyons Ward 154350
West Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Copperwood Ward 1643975
West Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Miners Landing Ward 2293749
West Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Riverstone Ward 172405
West Lethbridge Alberta Stake (500860) Rutgers Park Ward 2102404
Chris D. about your current project about updating units/stakes I'm interested in helping out. But I can't seem to find the message with the link.
https://1drv.ms/x/c/1db9589a4503c3cf/Ec_DA0WaWLkggB2JtwQAAAABbX4b3j096ZFB9l20BX9Egg?e=1qLp0K
Rocky, I have the Areas of Africa Central and Africa South completed.
and the old 2018 Wards/Branches listed by area + Stake/Districts/Missions, for the Areas from Asia up to Europe Central, just need to add the May 2025 Wards for each from the Meetinghouse Locator. I copy and paste the current Ward/Branch names next to the Stake names. then hover over each name on the list to manually type the Ward/Branch Unit number from the URL that appears in lower left corner of the Meetinghouse site.
Then I will continue to Ctrl+F search for the old 2018 names by Stake number in the other columns to cut and paste for the rest of the Areas.
I have recently jumped ahead to the United States Central Area and have been adding the columns today for the State + Map each would be located on Matt's Cumorah.com Int'l Atlas. So, I can later assist him in updating old names and new stakes and boundaries.
Let me know if you have any questions or suggestions to automate the process like someone here had suggested. Then i deleted the link off the feed.
The exterior rendering for the Colorado Springs Colorado Temple has been released today:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rendering-released-colorado-springs-temple
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2025/05/05/rendering-released-for-colorado-springs-colorado-temple/
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2025/05/breaking-temple-news-exterior-rendering.html
My thanks once again to you all.
Looks like two other new stakes were created in the pioneer corridor yesterday
Snowflake Arizona Pioneer Stake
Burley Idaho Central Stake
3 new stakes created Last weekend. Does anybody knows which are the new stakes ? I only hardware about a new one in Lethbridge, Alberta ... And the other two ?
hardware = heard
Lethbridge Alberta Henderson Lake Stake (2293757) - organized 4 May 2025
- Coutts Ward (51055)
- Henderson Ward (99422)
- Park Meadows Ward (118273)
- Redwood Ward (51659)
- Stirling 1st Ward (51365)
- Stirling 2nd Ward (179418)
- Stirling 3rd Ward (2038587)
Burley Idaho Central Stake (2283336) - organized 4 May 2025
- Burley 8th Ward (23337)
- Burley 9th Ward (87637)
- Burley 2nd Ward (2267861)
- Burley 3rd Ward (24422)
- Burley 6th Ward (2267888)
- Burley 7th Ward (23329)
- Cassia Ward (Spanish) (207748)
Snowflake Arizona Pioneer Stake (2272601) - organized 4 May 2025
- Pioneer 1st Ward (36331)
- Pioneer 2nd Ward (35653)
- Pioneer 3rd Ward (79944)
- Pioneer 4th Ward (2091038)
- Pioneer 5th Ward (190012)
- Pioneer 6th Ward (2091011)
Posted on 5/5/2025 — The São Paulo Brazil Cotia Stake became the Cotia Brazil Stake.
Posted on 5/5/2025 — NEW UNIT – The Snowflake Arizona Pioneer Stake was added to the Snowflake Arizona Temple District.
Posted on 5/5/2025 — NEW UNIT – The Burley Idaho Central Stake was added to the Twin Falls Idaho Temple District.
Posted on 5/5/2025 — NEW UNIT – The Lethbridge Alberta Henderson Lake Stake was added to the Cardston Alberta Temple District.
Posted on 5/5/2025 — The Lethbridge Alberta Stake became the Lethbridge Alberta West Stake.
Posted on 5/5/2025 — The Lethbridge Alberta East Stake became the Lethbridge Alberta South Stake.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/1038079
Tks a lot Chris D. !!!
The rendering of the Colorado Springs Colorado Temple was released today.
Do we know how many stakes have been created in 2025 so far and how that compares to 2024?
Per my count, 29 new stakes have been created - the most created this early in the year since 2016 when 100 new stakes were created for the whole year.
A stake was discontinued? The increment (balance) of new stakes would be 28?
43 news stakes last year !!!
JPL, thanks for making sure everyone saw that update. I thought I had commented on that above at 3:45 PM yesterday, but I could be mistaken.
The first stake in Cameroon will be organized on June 1st, 2025 from the Yaounde Cameroon District, as per reports on Facebook.
Technically two stakes have been discontinued, although one was just downgraded to a district. So, net stakes gained so far this year are 27. But, in the way it is tracked here and referred to here, that still means 29 new stakes have been created, and there has been a net gain of 27 stakes.
Caleb - can you provide the link or more information about this report?
Hey Matt, it was reported in the Facebook group "The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (members around the world)" by an account that appears to by a Cameroonian Latter-day Saint.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/250403624988170/user/100095120401361
Tks Caleb ! I I saw that 2024 ends with 3608 stakes and right now we have an amount of 3636. Are these numbers correct ?
Also, recently organized this week,
Arizona Central District (Correctional Facility)
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2295334
Arizona Northwest District (Correctional Facility)
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2295326
Arizona South District (Correctional Facility)
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2295369
All under the direction of the North America Southwest Area.
Was 43 the total new stakes last year, or net new stakes last year?
The number we track ignore things that are renames. Even when significant shifts in boundaries occur with renames.
Is Cameroon the first country to get its first stake since Malawi last June?
I have seen indications that baptisms are up through much of the North America Northeast area. The Boston area may be one key focus of this. This may lead to a 3rd Temple in New England soon. Although both Maine and New Hampshire getting temples soon seems possible. Vermont seems a long shot.
I also saw a post that the two missions in Papua New Guinea baptized about 380 people, it might have been 387, in I believe April but maybe March.
In further updates to the Meetinghouse Locator Website.
Today, under each Mission Address is a Map drawing of the approximate Mission Boundary. That can be found by logging in with LDS account, and search by the mission number.
For example, Here the link to the Adriatic North Mission.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/missions/2010550
Oh cool! I've been wanting a good map of mission boundaries!
Got it! Thanks Caleb - Very exciting. I heard about 6-12 months ago that the district in Yaounde was really close to becoming a stake.
Interesting. I didn't know the Church had enough correctional facility branches to create districts in Arizona as well. I imagine Idaho will create correctional facility districts sometime soon as well, following the trend in Arizona and Utah.
And to follow up on that comment.
Here is my link to the 2025 LDS Missions Spreadsheet, with both Meetinghouse Locator links and the unofficial Mission Call game links to each of the 450 Missions.
https://1drv.ms/x/c/1db9589a4503c3cf/EfODfzsBTJFDuwCyResJoUEBeeiXTq3zXkKpVseddlVgsA?e=zwhTQT
Not necessarily. Looking at the new districts on the meetinghouse locator, this is a breakdown.
Arizona Northwest District (Gilbert) - 7 branches
-Desert Canyon (Phoenix)
-Jacks Canyon (Winslow)
-Little Reservoir (St Johns)
-Maricopa County (Phoenix)
-Phoenix West (Phoenix)
-Sacramento Valley (Kingman)
-Sawmill (Flagstaff)
Arizona Central District (Gilbert) - 10 branches
-Eyman Meadows (Gilbert)
-Gila River (Casa Grande)
-Heritage Park (Florence)
-La Palma (Eloy)
-Lewis (Buckeye)
-Perryville (Goodyear)
-Poston Butte (Florence)
-Ranchview (Casa Grande)
-Sweetwater (Queen Creek)
-Oak (Phoenix) - listed as a Transitional branch
Arizona South District (Queen Creek) - 5 branches
-Kimball 3rd (Safford)
-Silver Lake (Tuscon)
-Tuscon Wilmot (Tuscon)
-Whitewater Draw (Sierra Vista)
-Yuma County (Yuma)
Eastern Idaho only has two - the Kinport (Pocatello) and Caribou (Soda Springs) branches.
Western Idaho has two, but can have a third one included - the Pleasant Valley (Boise West), Barrister (Boise Central), and Snake River (Weiser, based in Ontario, OR)
43 net new stakes... Total 3608.
Interesting, the meetinghouse locator shows the Moroni 5th and 6th branches are not part of any of the Correctional Facility districts, while branches in nearby Nephi and Manti are. Odd that they appear to be excluded. As far as I can tell, they are the only two branches in Utah not part of the districts.
There were 3,608 stakes at year end 2024 according to the official statistical report from the Church. So yes, that's correct. Adding the net gain of 27 stakes so far this year would give 3635, so that seems to me to be one off, but I don't know what the discrepancy would be. Perhaps a stake formed at the very end of last year will be recorded with this years' new stakes in the official report? Or perhaps you're including the fact that Matt added the Yaounde Cameroon Stake to the list of new stakes this year, even though it hasn't been officially organized?
Arizona has a far larger population than Idaho, but kess church members. I wonder if there is a potential for corrections districts in other states as well, maybe California?
On the other hand, I fhavd to wonder if there are some correctional groups in Idaho that could easily switch to correctional branches if a correctional district existed.
I don't know if all areas of the Meetinghouse Locator map are affected by this update that i just discovered while searching the map.
For example, without logging in with my church account. In the search box i typed the words "Oklahoma City, Ok" and click the link to the city, not the wards, etc.
It now appears similar to the old Classic Maps with additional "Assigned for this Location" an extensive list of other types of facitlies including the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple, and Family Search Centers, Etc. that are not meetinghouses. I've tried a few more Cities to search like Salt Lake City, UT. but it gives a result of Too General to be more specific. Meaning too many locations to list for that city. I also tried Kansas City, Ks and Chicago, IL. with similar results as OKC.
You can all tell me if this info is useful in finding other units that are not Stakes and Wards in a given City.
You are welcome.
I also don't know if it will remain this way. Hopefully slowly go back tgo the old Classic Maps format of organizing in Unit Types on the Left hand side bar icons. I really loved that format also with Mission and Area boundaries drawn back then. I can only hope and pray the powers that be will make this happen again for us enthusiasts.
I also just added a 2nd page on my above posted Missions link, which includes all 382 Temples of the Lord, and 380 of those with a link to the Meetinghouse marker on the map. Not needed to login. But unable to search on the map by name or number of the Temple. Only by entering the full URL listed in the link. If you click on any of the 380 links it will take you to the Temple marker on the Meetinghouse website. (To exact location if a working temple or under construction, all the rest as a temporary marker in the general location until after groundbreaking.
The Syracuse Utah Temple which will be dedicated next month may become the first with two baptistries. Three of the speakers who addressed the media were youth, although one 18 and thus almost graduated from high school and already with a mission call.
Yes, Syracuse was the first announced to have two baptistries, and as far as I can tell, will be one of four temples that upon completion will also have two baptistries, the others being Salt Lake, Lindon, and Smithfield.
Also Heber Valley (with the current design) and possibly Lehi since its floorplan looks similar to the Provo Rock Canyon Temple, and is over 10k square feet larger than the temples sharing the same floorplan as Orem.
CURRENT PERU TEMPLE STATUS:
Peruvian Regions with a Temple: (8)
Total Peruvian Temples: (10)
Peruvian Regions without a Temple: (17)
Peruvian Regions/Capitals:
Amazonas/Chachapoyas
Ancash/Huaraz
Apurimac/Abancay
Arequipa/Arequipa (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/arequipa-peru-temple/
-Arequipa Peru Temple
Ayacucho/Ayacucho
Cajamarca/Cajamarca
Cusco/Cusco (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/cusco-peru-temple/
-Cusco Peru Temple
Huancavelica/Huancavelica
Huánuco/Huánuco
Ica/Ica
Junín/Huancayo (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/huancayo-peru-temple/
-Huancayo Peru Temple
La Libertad/Trujillo (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/trujillo-peru-temple/
-Trujillo Peru Temple
Lambayeque/Chiclayo (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/chiclayo-peru-temple/
-Chiclayo Peru Temple
Lima/Lima (3)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/lima-peru-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/lima-peru-los-olivos-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/chorrillos-peru-temple/
-Lima Peru Temple
-Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple
-Chorrillos Peru Temple
Loreto/Iquitos (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/iquitos-peru-temple/
-Iquitos Peru Temple
Madre de Dios/Puerto Maldonado
Moquegua/Moquegua
Pasco/Cerro de Pasco
Piura/Piura (1)
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/piura-peru-temple/
-Piura Peru Temple
Puno/Puno
San Martín/Tarapoto
Tacna/Tacna
Tumbes/Tumbes
Ucayali/Pucallpa
Constitutional Province of Callao/Callao
New Branch in Havanna Cuba District - Cabezo Branch 2294508
Glad to hear about the progress in Cuba.
Some non-LDS Church News: there was a new Pope elected today.
Connecting that news to the Church is the following statement from the First Presidency, which was released a few hours following the announcement of the new pontiff:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-message-new-pope
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2025/05/08/first-presidency-statement-new-pope-leo-x14/
Although the new pope, Leo XIV, was born and raised in Chicago, he also lived a long time in Peru. He was born the same year as Elder Gary E. Stevenson, just a month later, and so comparing them seems a good a thing as any. Between his time as a missionary, mission president and area presidency member/area president Elder Stevenson lived for 8 or so years in Japan, 2 as a missionary, 3 as mission president and about 3 in the area presidency, although that included Korea and Micronesia as well, so he would at times travel outside Japan.
Pope Leo XIV was in Peru for a total of about 24 years. He went there as an Augustine missionary after completing his training to become a priest in Chicago, after getting an undergrad degree from Villanova University in Philadelphia (which I believe is run by the Augustinians) in a science field. Pope Leo has a degree in canon law earned in Rome and then in about 1985 he went to Peru. He eventually became the head of the Augustinian seminary to train new priests in Trujillo. Then in 1999 he returned to the US to head the Augustinian province based in Chicago. Then in 2001 Pope Leo was made head of the Augustinian Order, based in Rome and having over 2600 members.
In 2013 he left that position and returned to Peru, become the bishop of the diocese of Chiclayo.
I and others have elsewhere argued that Catholic dioceses are more equivalent to areas in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than to stakes. To support this view, when head of the diocese in Chiclayo now Pope Leo oversaw about 1.1 million Catholics. The Asia North Area has just under 250,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. About 8 areas currently have over 1 million members, only Utah Area exceeds 2 million.
The Archdiocese of Los Angeles has 4.3 million Catholics. The diocese of Lansing has 227,000 Catholics, so just a bit smaller than the Asia North Area. The Diocese of Rome has 2.3 million Catholics, the Utah Area about 2.2. million (the Wikipedia table just runs the membership stat for Utah, San Juan and Grand Counties are in North America Southwest Area, as is the small area on the Nevada border around Garrison, Utah; but the area of Wendover, the area around Preston and Malad Idaho, and some of southwest Wyoming are in the Utah Area, so I suspect the membership of the Utah area is a little higher, but not very much so.) A Utah area comparison and a diocese of Rome comparison makes the most sense, although it would be more equivalent if the Utah Area President was the president of the Church.
The Archdiocese of Lima has 3.2 million Catholics. Several others have over 1 million Catholics, but a few have under 200,000, although ones that small are more often Territorial Prefectures or Apostolic Vicarates. The leader of an apostolic vicarate is still designated a bishop.
So areas in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Catholic dioceses are about the same size, and cover about the same area. Bishops are seen as the guardians of the doctrine of the church, similar to the role of general authorities, which is the office held by all except one area president. There are people who are bishops who are not over dioceses, so the equivalency works generally. The analogy is not exact but it is way better than a stake to a diocese.
I disagree with this view. It is infinitely easier to administer the basic Catholic program than the program of the Church of Jesus Christ, which is much more structured. A regular Mass lasts the same amount of time as a sacrament meeting, but there is no Sunday school attached (unless a separate Bible study is conducted by members of the community, whose presence is not necessarily endorsed). A pastor does not have the same responsibilities for each soul as a bishop; he does not need to know them individually, more than superficially. There are no auxiliary organizations under his direct supervision (if there is no community support, additional programming simply does not need to occur), nor does a confession have the same value as a personal interview between the member and the leader.
That said, the fact is that the logic is reversed in the Catholic Church in relation to the Church of Jesus Christ: we need to go to the members, while there the members need to go to the church. This alone makes the burden heavier for an LDS leader than for a priest, and the same is true for the higher echelons. Finally, the Catholic Church's levels of inactivity are infinitely higher than ours: the parish where I live administers 30,000 baptized people, but only 200 attend Mass. The area covered by the parish is practically the same as our ward, except that we only have 500 records in the system, for the same population of 30,000.
I continue to follow the comparison made by the church's own newsroom, which equates Stake with Diocese, Ward with Parish, Area with Ecclesiastical Province.
The diocese is similar to a coordinating council. The diocese of Pittsburgh has 60 parishes (some big others small), the coordinating council has some 50-ish wards and 10+ branches. The wards in the region vary in size, so do the parishes. The diocese of SL has 48 parishes while a Utah coordinating council will have some 100-odd wards.
While the Catholic units in the newsroom comparison are almost always way larger in faithful, baptized and devoted members, some parishes are the size of an LDS branch while others are more like stakes. Some 4-ward Utah buildings are the size of a large suburban US parish while the same LDS building is the holds the same number of active faithful as a rural upland diocese. We should recognize that the Ward-Parish comparison makes some sense, the diocese-stake comparison is not super apt, and that the province-area comparison is probably the most similar.
I still think the Duocese to Area Parish is spot on. The fact that the Diocese of Rome and the Utah Area have roughly the same number of members works out is strong indicator.
The fact that the Los Angeles Archdiocese has roughly twice as many Cathlics as the Utah Area, the biggest by membership Area, has members tells you that Diocese alone can exceed areas.
In fact with some modern parishes being multi site locations, there are parishes that functionally have the same number of places to do mass and numbers of mass services on the weekend, if not more so than most stakes.
There are a few parishes in metro Detroit with in excess of 10,000 Catholics. I am not sure any stake has even 5,000 members.
Coordinating councils are more like deanaries. Not just because we have some with 6 or so stakes, but because they are somewhat low profile like deanaries. Stakes and areas get published announcements of when they are created, and who their leaders are.
While the area seventies are announced, their assignments to coordinating council are not. We now sustain Area presidential as ward and stake conference, but not coordinating council leader.
To be fair, Catholic dioceses do differ a lot in size. I believe there are some in India with well under 100,000 Catholics. Although the Middle East/North Africa and Eurasia Areas each have under 10,000 members.
The Episcopal Church does have some very small dioceses that are similar to stakes. The dioces of Northern Michigan of the Episcopal Church I believe is under 1000 in weekly attendance.Even in the Catholic Church the size of dioceses has exploded. There have been no new dioceses formed in the US for decades, but the number of Catholics has grown.
A commentator here at one point argued a stake is a lot more like a multi-location Mega Church than a Catholic Diocese.
A stake is also more like some of the local Parish families and groupings that some Catholic dioceses have formed in the US, in part to deal with the priest shortage.
The Mega Church analogy is particularly apt since you have meetings of all kinds on a stakewide basis.
These analogies are somewhat inadequate. The comparison of the bishop's role to any role in another organization is going to be inadequate.
However I think the office equivalence of a general authority and a bishop is vaguely similar. There analogies are always somewhat imperfect.
Comparing bishop's to Catholic proests, even on a vague comparison is not quite right. The bishop, and also in some ways the stake president, are equivalent to Catholic rectors. Rectors are the head proests with responsibility for the Parish. At one time they often oversaw several other prorsts, but now they often are the only priest at more than one Parish. The analogy is in many ways inadequate on both sides.
It is actually tempting to say a bishop is like a youth pastor, since he is the leader of the Aaron's priesthood. However since he has oversight also of all the functions of the ward, that is a clear case of putting a square peg in a round hole. The analogy obscures more and misleads more for both sides than it reveals.
The Detroit Archdiocese has 237 parishes with 390 priests with parishes assignments. This however is after several decades of closing parishes, in some cases leaving some parishes with multiple chaples.
However in the last 3 years of so the Diocese has organized all parishes into 51 families. The number of parishes per family is nit even. There are some with 6. There families might in some ways be equivalent to stakes. Priests operating within them is more common than crossing family boundaries. Vaguely like high council and other stake officers going throughout the stake to speak. It is a vague equivalence, but it has some equivalence.
The newly formed Canada Area will have about 54 stakes, so that number works out to about the same.
The key issue to me is that stakes are not even remotely like dioceses. Areas and dioceses have some vague similarities.
A harder thing is to try to define office equivalence. I think the equivalency of general authorities and bishop's is vaguely similar, and not just because if it was accepted by Wikipedia editors we could go back to having articles on all general authorities.
In this vague analogy an area president becomes vaguely like a diocesan bishop and his counselors are vaguely like the assistants to a diocesan bishop who have the title bishop.
These are vague similarities though. Catholic bishops in general serve much longer in a position than an area president does. Catholic bishop's tend to actively serve linger than general authorities. In part because thry actively serve to age 75 at least, not just 70. They often serve in just one bishopric, and even those who change assignments will serve a decade or more. Also general authority seventies I think average a little older at start time. Everyone called for at least the last 3 years was at least 45. However it looks like the youngest current bishop in the US is 46. I am not sure there are many newly appointed bishops who are 63, which is the age of Elder John Amos who is the oldest of the general authorities called this year.
On the other hand it is tempting to see the Cardinals as equivalent to general authorities. They are a Church wide body, and at 251 they are more similar in number to general authorities, than the roughly 3,000 Catholic bishops. On the other hand since the Cardinals choose the Pope, and for a long time Pope's have been chosen from among the Cardinals, seeing Cardinals as vaguely, and here I can not say vaguely enough, like apostles is a temptation. Inter religious term comparisons need to emphasize that equivalence tend to be weak and often using a term to tell people about something is not as helpful as describing it.
It is far better to say that a stake is a college of roughly 5 to 14 local congregations with a leader appointed over it, than to say a stake is like a Diocese.
Actually my statement on the Episcopalian Dioces of Northern Michigan above was off. That Diocese has 968 members. Not attending, total members. The Episcopalian Church practices infant baptism, so I think this could include children. The Episcopalian Church has a very high average age of membership. It was 58 in 2000, so may well be about 61 today.
A stake must have 2000 members to be formed. I have never been clear if you only count baptized members, ot if you can count children 0-8 who are on the record but not yet baptized. I know you remove urbanized on their 9th birthday. Does anyone know if these children count towards the member number?
There may be stakes under 2000, but I doubt any stake exists that is under 1000.
However Episcopalian Dioceses are not even vaguely similar in size. The Episcopalian Diocese of Virginia, one of 4 that are at least partly in the state, has 68,000 members.
Michigan has 3 Diocese of the Episcopal Church. The Northern Michigan 1 with 968 members. The Michigan Diocese based in Detroit, and taking in metro Detroit, and a few counties to the west and south, but not even St. Clair County, with 13,000 Episcopalians. Then the Diocese of the Great Lakes, that was formed in 2024 by merging the old Western Michigan and Eastern Michigan Diocese and with about 6,000 members. Why they left the Northern Michigan Diocese off by itself and did not merge it in I have no idea. The Great Lakes Diocese has very vague similarities in voundsries to the Michigan Lansing Mission, although the Detroit mission goes a little forward north, the Lansing mission has the eastern end of the upper Peninsula and also some of the area in Michigan just north of South Bend is in the South Bend Stske and the Indianaoolus Mission. The Episcopalian Diocese of Michigan has less area than the Detroit Mission, in part because it does not go as far north, but mainly because the Detroit mission includes the Toledo Stake, which takes in much of northwest Ohio.
Although Episcopalians draw dioceses across political lines a little more than Catholics, it is a lot less than Latter-day Saints, when the Michigan/Ohio boundary bring also the northern edge of the Toledo Stake is one of the longer boundaries between two US states where the whole boundary is a stake line.
Sorry I have made so many comments.
I promise this will be the last for a while.
Although the number of Cardinals is bigger only 133 were involved in the conclave. This is because only Cardinals under 80 participate. So that is the number most comparable to the number of general authorities. Because when people report that number they normally do not include those with emeritus status.
One other interesting observation, Pope Leo XIV is not only the first American Pope, but he might be the first black Pope. He is without doubt black, even if he does not really look it, but I am not sure we can say definitively there was no Pope in the very early centuries who might be in some way black.
Pope Leo XIV on his dad's side has grandparents from Frqnce and Italy. His Dad was the 1st generation on that side born in the US. His mom was born in the area of Louisiana known as the 7th ward. She was a creole of color, and then at some point moved north to Chicago. Her maiden name was Martinez, her dad from the Dominican Republic, with at least partial African ancestry. I am almost tempted to say that Pope Leo XIV is more Latino than Pope Francis. Pope Francis was an ethnic Italoan born in Argentina. Some are unconvinced white Argentines count as Latinos. People from the Dominican Republic since they are clearly not white cause less doubt.
Pope Leo XIV's mother's mother was born in Louisiana and her ancestry was apparently mixed European and African.
I am surprised I have not seen more news articles covering this angle of Pope Leo XIV's origin. In part because he lived a total of about 24 years in Peru and gained citizenship there, that link to Latin America seems more relevant than his grandfather being born in the Dominican Republic.
Also even though his mother's maiden name was Martinez, it is unclear how fluent she was in Dpanish, and even less clear if Pope Leo XIV was taught any Spanish by his mother.
OK. This really will be my last comment. The ancestry of Pope Leo XIV's mother is more disputed than what I suggested. The Pope's brother said the family does not claim black ancestry. It appears his mother had ancestors who came from Italy to what is now the Dominican Republic to Louisiana. It was probably not her father who came to Louisiana but further back. That either of her parents had any black ancestry is a matter of dispute. At least initially it seems that she was counted as a member of white society growing up in Louisiana with her birth in 1911, bit the evidence here is a little weak. All mentions of anything further back than his parents have been removed from the Wikipedia article.
LOL
Any hint about new stakes creation tomorrow ?
Breckenfeld, I'm also interested to know. Thanks.
On a similar note, I just completed my excel spreadsheet list of the known 2806 Wards and Branches in the United States Central Area as of today. Comparing it to my old 2018 partial list with the name or boundary or merger changes since highlighted in column K. Including the many that were missing from my old list or had not been created yet. The units that start approximately after #2100000 were created later.
https://1drv.ms/x/c/1db9589a4503c3cf/EV703h5MszROsFIOiSx2RlkBv5L9KuE44vhhHjARWt1DaQ?e=CZra6d
Let me know if this was useful. I am continuing to work now on the United States Northeast Area the same way.
Happy Mothers' Day to all of you female readera/followers of this blog to whom the title of mother rightfully belongs, whether or not you have been blessed with children. Chris D., could you email me? I may have a project in mind for you. Thanks.
For those of you who are able to keep the records and prognosticate a little bit, I wonder how soon it will be before the Abilene Texas stake splits and there’s also a stake in San Angelo? Any thoughts?
Gary, thanks for that insight. I hadn't even thought about Abiline split yet. But looking at the meetinghouses for the locations. of the 13 congregations. I could also see the future San Angelo Stake, taking in the Big Lake Branch from the neighboring Odessa TX Stake. But i for one have no idea how far down the road that may be. Thanks for helping me put it on my radar.
I only see 7 wards as part of the Abilene Texas Stake, so I'm skeptical about a split unless a few new wards are made or some of the 6 branches become wards.
Abilene Texas Stake would likely have 4 wards and 4 branches:
-Chimney Rock Ward
-Eastland Branch
-Fort Phantom Ward
-Lytle Lake Ward
-River Oaks Ward
-Sweetwater Branch
-Abilene YSA Branch
*Snyder Branch [Lubbock]
San Angelo Texas Stake would likely have 3 wards and 4 branches
-Brady Branch
-Brownwood Ward
-San Angelo 1st Ward
-San Angelo 2nd Ward
-San Angelo YSA Branch
-San Angelo 3rd Branch (Spanish)
*Big Lake Branch [Odessa]
I see the Odessa Texas Stake far more likely to split with the possibility of the discontinuation of the Fort Stockton Texas District (we'll see).
The Odessa Texas Stake would have 5 wards and 1 branch without the branches from the Fort Stockton Texas District and 5 wards and 5 branches with (also depends which of those branches might be large enough to become a ward):
-Andrews Branch
-Midlands 3rd Ward
-Midlands 6th Ward (only if none of Fort Stockton's branches become wards)
-Odessa 1st Ward
-Odessa 2nd Ward
-Odessa 3rd Ward (Spanish)
*Alpine Branch
*Fort Stockton Branch
*Monahans Branch
*Pecos Branch
The Midlands Texas Stake would comprise of 5 wards and 2 branches (one branch included with the hypothetical San Angelo Texas Stake), 6 wards if at least one of Fort Stockton's branches becomes a ward:
-Big Lake Branch
-Big Spring Ward
-Greenwood Ward
-Midland 1st Ward
-Midland 2nd Ward
-Midland YSA Branch
-Midland 4th Ward (Spanish)
*Midland 6th Ward (otherwise staying with Odessa)
In the Dallas/Fort Worth immediate area, there are currently 204 wards, 13 branches, and 23 Stakes. Estimating growth trends over the next year, I expect 5 new Stakes (Rhome, Argyle, Euless, Greenville, Melissa). Also think there will be five-seven new wards created. With the population growing by over 150k per year, this area has apprx 8 million people. Older areas are LDS about 1-200, Newer areas are LDS about 1-50.
Groundbreaking services for the Singapore Temple to be held on Saturday, June 28, 2025!
(coincidentally, my Dad's 80th birthday)
Additionally, ground was broken for the Lagos Nigeria Temple on Saturday as scheduled, and the public tours kicked off for the Antofagasta Chile Temple today:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/news-releases
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2025/05/breaking-temple-news-next-major-temple.html
The area north of Dallas is in desperate need of more chapels. I have been told that is a limiting factor in the creation of new wards in places like McKinney, Melissa, Frisco, Allen, etc. There are several wards in various stakes around DFW that have to meet in a building outside of their stake since there is no room. The Forney stake has to use the Dallas East stake center since they do not have a chapel large enough for their stake conference. There will certainly be continued growth in the area, but there needs to be room for those congregations.
Thanks. Matt, for the update. I indeed see the Matadi Democratic Republic of the Congo District (2168448), originally organized January 10th, 2021. Has recently become a Stake and updated on the Meetinghouse website this week.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2168448
Does anyone know what day this took place?
Looks like it was organized on May 4, 2025 and has just gone unnoticed until now. Here's the facebook page of the 1st counselor in the stake confirming that it was organized May 4. https://www.facebook.com/dady.tekasalamukiese
I'm surprised it didn't take the 2 Branches in Boma, just to the west of Matadi, from the Mission also.
I am not at all surprised they have not placed the Boma branches in the Matadi stake. It is a 2 hour 13 minute drive with tolls. It might be faster to go by boat if you have one, and if there was a road along the river that would be better. Even that would be a good 45 minutes though. I hope Boma will get a district soon though.
Matadi is the first stake formed in DR Congo west of Kinshasa. It is a 7 hour drive from the Kinshasa Temple, and a 9 hour drive from Luanda. The road is not very direct that way either.
I expect there to be a temple in Matadi. To put this in perspective Lome, Togo is less than 4 hours from the Accra Ghana Temple. Although being in country avoids border delays and the cost of crossing international borders and getting documents, so it may in some ways be easier for those in Matadi to get to the temple than those in Lome.
Speaking of Dallas metro, Charles and temples. I think building a temple somewhere around Kewisville Lake in the northwest section of the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex would be good. If they choose a site where thry built a chapel/stake center and a temple that would at least a little relieve the pressure on existing buildings.
Interesting. I thought the new requirement for the creation of a Stake called for a minimum of 5 Wards. The meetinghouse locator lists this new Stake as having 1 Ward and 5 Branches. I wonder if some of these Branches were upgraded to Wards, and not yet updated.
There are 5 wards in the new stake, it'll just take awhile to update. For example, the Kyulu Kenya Stake took at least 6 months to update all the wards I believe, and it was only organized last year.
JTB, Same with NW Arkansas and a number of other areas. In my stake in a different part of the state, we have buildings built for small branches that have an attendance beyond normal capacity. I was told that the we're holding back building chapels in order to fund temple construction.
Also, you don't want to strain new stake leadership with large distances - especially in Africa where leadership is the limiting factor.
I would put it somewhere in the Alliance Stake area. Maybe potentially if they were to create an Argyle stake as was suggested above it could go on the same site as the stake center. Would cover Denton, Alliance, North Fort Worth, Colleyville, Lewisville, and probably Carrollton stakes as well as the potential Argyle and Rhome stakes.
There's 5 wards at each meetinghouse in NW Arkansas, and I don't see that many in DFW meetinghouses.
Also, large pieces of land in already developed areas is hard to come by. While the Church is known for its wealth, I'm hearing we're holding back building meetinghouses for temples (which shows there's limitations).
Also, with the new larger congregation size outside the US/Canada, I wonder if the church plans on reconfiguring meetinghouses to handle the increased attendance.
There are many places in DFW that should have more wards but they haven't bothered splitting since they don't have meetinghouses for them. If you look at the Sherman stake for instance, the Anna wards are meeting way down in McKinney since the Melissa building is full. That's just from one quick observation. That area is exploding in growth too so I would expect several new wards to be needed within the next few years.
A similar thing happening in the Kansas City Area. They recently split the Far West Stake, and there are currently rumours that 2 more stakes could be added here, but there hasn't been a new meetinghouse built since likely the dedication of the Kansas City Temple in 2012, while new wards continue to be added.
@Bea
Cardston is my currently assigned temple here in Montana (until Missoula gets built).
I bet they'll renovate Cardston once Lethbridge is completed and repurpose some space. (It's probably one reason they're building Lethbridge in the first place).
I'm sure you've noticed, but the Cardston font itself especially needs a redo. The current inner walls of the font are sloped, so I have to be very careful when baptizing not to hit someone's head on them. 😀
@Bea
In fact, since as you mentioned, the baptistry room itself is quite massive (and the current font is so small), they could probably even fit two fonts in that room side by side (or maybe put a new one in the cafetería space)...
Yesterday the county board of commissioners met and some minor proposal changes to the Tampa Florida Temple site were unanimously approved!
Hopefully, with the law school already torn down and with this approval, the groundbreaking can now be scheduled.
Elder Anderson was in the Tampa area the end of April and discussed how as he was traveling to the first site location, the traffic was so bad that he told the temple department to move the location. He said he took out a map, and drew a circle around the area and said it needed to be built within that circle. No locations were available at the time, but then the law school site became available. The Church purchased the site, and leased the school building back to the school until they could completely move to their new location. The school vacated the building the end of 2024 and started new classes in Jan at their new site. The Church has bulldozed the building and had the commissioner meeting yesterday. Hopefully that is now the end of the delays.
In the case of the Cardston Temple I think it would make sense if you were going to go to two fonts to have them in 2 rooms. That would make it so 2 groups could start at different times. Or 2 sets of individuals. Also I think a recorder would only do one font at once, two fonts in the same room would seem to be a way to confusion.
Not entirely Church Growth related. But another current event between India and Pakistan today, the leader of Balochistan (self described as occupied by Punjabi military from Islamabad), according to this article. Has just declared Balochistan an independent nation and called on world leaders to accept the independence from Pakistan.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/we-re-not-pakistani-baloch-leader-declares-independence-from-pak/ar-AA1EM3z9?ocid=msedgntp&pc=U531&cvid=25886a22dfb64943a08ea534ab660a89&ei=48
In context this is the Wikipedia article about the Pakistan Province of Balochistan, with capital in Quetta.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balochistan,_Pakistan
I've heard a long time ago that this could spell bad news for Pakistan because there are a few different ethnic groups (said it could lead to the "Balkanization" of Pakistan), including one group that has people living in Afghanistan. I think it was also said Balochistan has some people living on the Iranian side of the border, so this could certainly rile things up there.
But on the other hand, for those like myself like to follow Statistical changes in the church. Here is the link to a spreadsheet from 2022. From "that other site" that went down in October 2022. That shows detailed year by year growth from 1830 to 2060 projections in various categories.
You may enjoy them posted again as a comparison resource.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1n_M_kvV2jdVsGqCPkE6twRFb3IoV06lSvkfB7sUC8rE/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0
It was found on that "other Sites" web page, under the link Membership Statistics Data.
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/units.php
Good Job Chris D. !!! Looks like one more Stake created last sunday... Is that right ?
Yes, As posted above, the Matadi DRC District became a Stake a week ago, but wasn't updated on Meetinghouse till this week.
Caleb, posted the Facebook post of the creation.
https://www.facebook.com/dady.tekasalamukiese
And today, Matt just added a new DRC District to the list.
The Lubunga DRC District (2293765), unknown date of creation. Located on other side of the river from Kisangani.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2293765
Interesting thing about the baptistry in the Cardston temple, there once was an endowment session I was waiting to go into, but there were so many people they split the session into two groups and the group that waited got the opportunity for the temple president to come speak to us about the history of the temple. He mentioned that the baptistry of the Cardston temple was designated as a church historic site, so even if they renovated the temple, it wouldnt change ever. I have no verification of this beyond that one person, and it was appraoching ten years ago now that it was said, so do I think the Cardston temple needs a big renovation? Absolutely, but if that statement is true, I am incredicly interested to see what happens if they do renovate.
Matt, per a check on CDOL, the Lubunga DRC district was created/became active on May 11 2025.
Lubunga is technically part of the city of Kisangi. However it is across the Congo River from the rest of Kisangi. Although that fact is tagged as lacking a citation in the Wikipedia article. Keep in mind the new president of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple come about September will be a man who was born in Kisangi. However he has lived in Kinshasa for quite some time and his wife is a native of Kamina, which is in south-east, not north-east DR Congo.
Does anyone know of a pilot experiment that aimed to have only 1 hour of Sunday meeting? True or rumor?
Rumor, and a false one at that.
I only found it mentioned on sites and forums that are decidedly and blatantly against the Church.
Tks James Stokes !!!
No problem.
It is in trial. I know of people involved with the trial, but it is only in a trial phase. I don't know much of any details, that has been kept fairly quite, and we will see if anything comes of it. Just because it 8s being tested does not mean it will be implemented.
I don't think I would like 1 hour Church. A lot of the time, I miss 3 hour Church.
1 hour church would be a disaster. I also miss 3 hour church, but the 2 hour block is fine. It just weakens the ward community.
Agreed.
I agree. The way it is now is probably the best it's been when we think about global Church membership. We've also already removed most other opportunities to meaningfully and socially connect with other ward members. Removing second hour would be a disaster and it would also leave a very large number of people without callings and ways to participate.
Some testing is only sacrament meeting, while other testing is a sacrament meeting that is just the sacrament, and then the "2nd hour" class, or a mixture of both.
Also the State of Franklin in what is now northeast Tennessee.
If we go to 1 hour church we might as well just become like all the other Christian church's. Coming in our shorts and go to the beach afterwards.
The only time I've seen one hour church was when I was in a serviceman's group in Iraq (2004-2005). It was essentially a combined Sacrament Meeting and Sunday School.
Note: this group was all adults, and small in size and fluctuated somewhere between 2 and 30 each week. This worked great for a smaller-than-branch congregation with members working around the clock. I don't see it working the same way for a ward-sized congregation.
Tomorrow the Nairobi Krnya Temple will be dedicated by Elder Ulisses Soares. It will be the second temple in the Africa Central Area and the first in East Africa.
At present their is also a temple under construction in Lumbumbashi, and temples planned for Kananga, Mbuji-Maye and Kampala. That is for the Africa Central area. Madagascar with a temple planned and Mozambique with 2 planned also are often considered to be in East Africa.
With how things have been moving forward all across East Africa and the Africa Central area, I would not be surprised if by 2030 at least 5 more temples have been announced for what is now the Africa Central area and for the Africa South Area if another 5 temples have been announced as well,although that might be bold forward thinking that seems less likely.
For what it is worth at most there are only 3 countries where general authorities have been from that do not yet have temples. The third example is pushing it. The clear examples are Jamaica where Elder Kevin Brown is from, although he lived in UtH the last few years. Botswana is also an example, where Elder Matswagothata is from. The third example is questionable. Elder Uchtdorf was born in what is now the Czech Republic, but to a German customs officer at a time when it was under German occupation.
JPL, I think the concern is whether it gets enough utilization post-Lethbridge.
I guess you can thank the British for dividing up the world regardless of ethnic divisions.
It is possible that during the time that Pope Leo XIV is pope we will reach a point where there is an American pope but not an American prophet. It is possible that while Leo XIV is pope either Elder Uchtdorf, Elder Soares or Elder Kearon will be president of the Church. By far the most likely, while Leo XIV is pope, is President Uchtdorf.
However Leo XIV is younger than all current American apostles. He is 1 month younger that Elder Gaey E. Stevenson. The only apostles younger than Pope Leo XIV are Ulisses Soares and Patrick Kearon.
Of the living apostles senioity Iis President Nelson, 100; President Oaks, 92, Elder Holland, 84, President Eyring, 91, Elder Uchtdorf, 84 and then Elder Bednar, I think 72 but turning 73 next month. Elder Uchtdorf at least seems to be in better health than Elder Holland. Pope Leo XIV is 69, he will be 70 in September.
It might well be several years until anything happens. It is possible that President Oaks will still be alive in 2035, and I have no way to even President how much longer President Nelson will be with us. Same with President Eyring and Elder Holland.
Or not even coming at all, like most self identified Christians.
Presidents of the church tend to live longer than Popes, but that may partially be because those that pass away before becoming most senior apostle are already weeded out. I'm not going to speculate or bet on who lives longer, but it would be interesting to see.
When President Nelson became president, I didn't expect that he would live this long. Even with his age and physical issues, he's still healthy enough to administer and lead the church.
Back injury and advanced age aside, President Nelson has still reportedly been thinking, acting and moving with a vigor energy and urgency of someone 20-30 years younger than he is. He's been quoted as saying of President Oaks that "when I'm gone, he's the next president of the Church." So barring anything unexpected with President Oaks' health, he will at some point succeed President Nelsonn.
If we were talking about 2023 Elder Holland, I would have been inclined to believe that Eldert Uchtdorf was likely to succeed President Oaks. But we're looking at 2025 President Holland, who is a month younger than Elder Uchtdorf, and who affirmed last month that "priesthood and prayers are restoring my life", so I wouldn't count out President Holland.
President Eyring is just 7 months younger than President Oaks but is in considerably worse health than his counterparts in the First Presidency. So Presidents Oaks and Holland's health will determine who comes after them.
I believe Elder Bednar will at some point be the prophet, as he's young for his apostolic seniority. But after Elder Christofferson, there are clusters of Apostles older,, younger, or near in age to Elder Bednar, so it's hard to predict who might be potential prophetic successors to Elder Bednar
Just my thoughts, for what they are worth.
Speaking of Church Growth, Are there any rumors of any new Stakes for tomorrow? Or new Districts? We know the Nairobi Temple will be dedicated tomorrow.
Here is my personal prediction for tomorrows Temple District:
8 Stakes:
Dar es Salaam Tanzania
Jinja Uganda
Kampala Uganda North
Kampala Uganda South
Kyulu Kenya
Nairobi Kenya East
Nairobi Kenya South
Nairobi Kenya West
17 Districts:
Addis Ababa Ethiopia
Arusha Tanzania
Bujumbura Burundi
Busia Kenya
Busia Uganda
Dar es Salaam Tanzania Chang'ombe
Eldoret Kenya
Gulu Uganda
Kigali Rwanda
Kilungu Hills Kenya
Kisumu Kenya
Kitale Kenya
Masaka Uganda
Mbale Uganda
Mombasa Kenya
Mwanza Tanzania
Vihiga Kenya
The Church Temples site suggests the following: https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/nairobi-kenya-temple/district/
If memory serves, the Church Temples site has been pretty accurate about projected districts.
The Church News just posted this side-by-side 3-year comparison of the Church's major statistics:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2025/05/17/compare-church-statistical-reports-2022-2023-2024/
Does anyone have any analysis on this data? Thanks.
This makes sense. In otherwards, it's going to be all of EAC countries (with exception of most of DRC). The East African Community (EAC) is a regional intergovernmental organization of eight countries namely:
Republic of Burundi
Democratic Republic of Congo
Republic of Kenya
Republic of Rwanda
Federal Republic of Somalia
Republic of South Sudan
United Republic of Tanzania
Republic of Uganda
Essentially, the EAC wants to be the EU of central Africa.
We just got word from our bishop that our stake (Lehi Cold Springs Ranch) is set to split here in June. Not sure how many other stakes involved but it could be just ours. There are 13 wards I believe and our area continues to develop rapidly so there is merit to just our stake being involved
Being on the equator and a little more than a mile high in elevation, Nairobi has a pretty decent climate 70's for daytime highs, upper 50's, low 60's for nighttime lows - year round. It gets roughly 24 inches of rain annually. It has it's challenges, but for East Africa, it doesn't appear to be that bad of a place.
The surrounding stakes don't have a stake conference calendared for that weekend, so yes, probably just your stake.
Burundi and Rwanda will probably be reassigned to the Lubumbashi Temple when that is done.
From what I know of East African politics and history I find the East African Community becoming an actual equivalent of the EU extremely unlikely. It is essentially seen as the president of Tanzania trying to impose his will elsewhere. The government in Uganda, which has been und r the sane president since in or before 1990, owes a debt to the government of Tanzanua for existing. However in each East African country there are strong tendencies that could rip the country apart, so even keeping the current countries intact takes effort. There is no real will towards unity with Tanzania in Uganda. Unless something major changes the East African Community will remain a little existent thing while existing boundaries and loyalties will survive.
This means that getting Tanzania it's own temple as soon as practical is something that should be a high priority.
It may or may not come before a second temple for Kenya. If Tanzania gets 2 stakes, especially 2 in Dar es Salaam, before the western area gets 3 (it currently has none but I believe 4 districts) I think Tanzania will have a temple first. If western Krnya hits 3 stakes first, I suspect it will have a temple announced first.
News on Nigeria: " In the four months since the beginning of 2025, the number of members on record has increased by 11,252, making it one of the fastest-growing countries in the Church."
https://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/the-church-breaks-ground-in-lagos-nigeria-for-the-countrys-second-temple
All of last year was 17,000
That is very good news with regard to Nigeria. I was speaking today with a member of my branch who is from in or around Enugu.
He said that Jos is a primarily Christian area. So the success with baptizing there does make sense in that context.
He also told me that in much of the cebrlter and north of the country while the cities are very heavily Muslim, the villages tend to be primarily inhabited by Christians. My impression is that this is not the case in the far north-east of the country, over by lake Chad, but it may be the case going north from Abuja, at least that there are Christian villagers. At least a higher percentage in villages than in cities.
To date The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has not made it into many villages in Africa.
The most successful on this front is Akwa Ibom, and to a lesser extent other places in the south-south and to a lesser extent the southeast of Nigeria.
This os of course because the Church came first by pamphlets on the First Vision, copies of the Book of Mormon, and visions connected with a copy of a Readers Digest article. The first missionaries were staying in Enugu but largely teaching in the villages.
The other place significant success has happened in villages is in Kasai in DR Congo. There it happened because members were driven back there by ethnic violence elsewhere, and then while working as subsistence farmers also served as part time missionaries. The Luputa DR Cobgo stake was formed before there was ever a full time missionary there.
There are also a few villages that have been reached in Kenya. That largely happened in the early 1990s and has not been expanded since.
I believe about half if not more of DR Congo's population lives in villages. There is a great potential in the villages, but I do understand the benefits of building from centers of strength.
Still, I am hopeful we will see things move forward in Nigeria this year. If it has one more temple announced it will have as many temples announced, 8, as there were for all Africa when President Monson died.
This is very exciting news about Nigeria. I've also started following the Facebook page of the Sierra Leone Bo Mission, which posts many (not sure if all) of its baptisms: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563475463356
Just flying over the last few months, it looks like this Mission is baptizing between 200 and 400 converts per month this year. There is obviously a second Mission in Sierra Leone, so if we just assume that their numbers are similar and sustained for the rest of the year, we would likely end up with very solid double-digit membership growth there this year. Perhaps a sign that after a few comparably slower years, the Africa West Area is picking up some real momentum again.
The problem with Africa, they dream and try to pick themselves up, but corruption always gets them.
With building so many temples, is the goal to make temple work park of our weekly service?
FYI, Rick Satterfield's Temples site was jsut updated with the new Nairobi Kenya Temple District. with 8 Stakes and 18 Districts.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/nairobi-kenya-temple/district/
Craig Shule says,
I agree with everyone else that I would never ever want only a one-hour church service, for all the reasons everybody else mentioned.
However I can see that permission for a 20-minute sacrament service followed by a one-hour lesson might make sense for a group meeting in a home or for a small branch. That would make it so that a few people would not need to give talks every month or two.
This will come as a great blessing to the members in Nairobi and surrounding areas. Still a feat for those living further out who doesn't have much, but will still be much of an improvement for this area.
On my previous prediction last night, I forgot to add the new Lira Uganda District that was organized in January this year.
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/units/
And for next weeks Dedication of the new Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Temple. I predict the following 41 Stakes and 14 Districts in the countries of Cote d'Ivoire, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Senegal and Guinea.
Stakes (41) :
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon Central
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon North
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Niangon South
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Selmer
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Toit Rouge
Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Yopougon Attie
Abobo Cote d'Ivoire East
Abobo Cote d'Ivoire West
Adzope Cote d'Ivoire
Anonkoua Cote d'Ivoire
Cocody Cote d'Ivoire
Dokui Cote d'Ivoire
Ebimpé Cote d'Ivoire
Grand-Bassam Cote d'Ivoire
Koumassi Cote d'Ivoire
Port-Bouet Cote d'Ivoire
Quatre Etages Cote d'Ivoire
Freetown Sierra Leone
Freetown Sierra Leone East
Freetown Sierra Leone Hill Sation
Kissy Sierra Leone
Kossoh Town Sierra Leone
Wellington Sierra Leone
Bo Sierra Leone Durba
Bo Sierra Leone East
Bo Sierra Leone North
Bo Sierra Leone West
Kenema Sierra Leone
Caldwell Liberia
Gardnersville Liberia
Monrovia Liberia
Monrovia Liberia Bushrod Island
Paynesville Liberia
Thinker Village Liberia
Virginia Liberia
Bouake Cote d'Ivoire
Daloa Cote d'Ivoire
Gagnoa Cote d'Ivoire
Man Cote d'Ivoire
San Pedro Cote d'Ivoire
Yamoussoukro Cote d'Ivoire
Districts (14):
Abengourou Cote d'Ivoire
Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire
Alepe Cote d'Ivoire
Dabou Cote d'Ivoire
Dakar Senegal
Koidu Sierra Leone
Makeni Sierra Leone
Moriba Town Sierra Leone
Kakata Liberia
Bouafle Cote d'Ivoire
Conakry Guinea
Duekoue Cote d'Ivoire
Issia Cote d'Ivoire
Sinfra Cote d'Ivoire
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