Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)
Two new stakes were recently created in the DR Congo.
The Kinshasa DR Congo Mapela Stake was organized on June 29th, 2025, from a division of the Kinshasa DR Congo Mokali Stake (renamed the Kinshasa DR Congo Siforco Stake; organized in 2012). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Du Rail 1st, Du Rail 2nd, Mapela, Masina 2nd, Masina 5th, and Mulondo Wards. The new stake is the Church's third new stake created in Kinshasa this year, bringing the total number of stakes in the city to 17. Kinshasa has now surpassed Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire, as the metropolitan city on the Afro-Eurasian landmass with the most stakes. New wards have been created in Kinshasa on nearly a weekly basis thus far in 2025, and there currently three stakes in the city that appear likely to divide in the immediate future. High rates of growth and member activity, a large number of stakes, and difficulty traveling across the city to reach the current temple (dedicated in 2019) suggest the announcement of a second temple for Kinshasa is highly likely in the immediate future.
The Church organized a new stake in Kolwezi on July 27th from a division of the original Kolwezi DR Congo Stake (organized in 2019). The new Kolwezi DR Congo Joli Site Stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Diur, Golf, Lupundu, Manika, Musompo 1st, and Musompo 2nd Wards and the Lualaba Branch. The Church organized the DR Congo Kolwezi Mission in 2024. Kolwezi appears likely to have a temple announcement in the medium term due to remote distance and high rates of growth in recent years.
There are now 40 stakes and six districts in the DR Congo - double the number of stakes and districts in 2018 (19 stakes, 3 districts).
Papua New Guinea
Today, the Church organized the Minj Papua New Guinea Stake from the Minj Papua New Guinea District (organized in 2010). Information on which of the eight branches became wards in the new stake remains unavailable. The new stake is the Church's third new stake created in the country since January of this year, and all of these stakes have been organized from districts, suggesting maturation in leadership development and sustained rates of member activity to warrant additional stakes to function. Despite this progress, the Church in Papua New Guinea has never created a new stake by dividing another stake. This has largely been due to a rural population spread over large, difficult to access areas, as well as problems with inactivity and slow growth in Port Moresby since the first and only stake in the city was organized 30 years ago.
There are now six stakes and eight districts in Papua New Guinea.
Philippines
Today, a new stake was created in the Philippines. The Panabo Philippines Stake was organized from the Panabo Philippines district (organized in 1993). It is likely most, if not all, of the six branches in the former district became wards, and local members have confirmed that the Carmen Branch has become a ward. The new stake is the Church's fifth new stake created on Mindanao since 2020, and all five of these stakes were created from districts.
There are now 134 stakes and 53 districts in the Philippines.
It's so cool to see so many new stakes being created from districts. Gowles to show the amount of growth happening in those areas.
ReplyDeleteThe main temple announcement for today is the open house and dedication dates for the Alabang Philippines temple. The temple will be dedicated on January 18th, 2026 by Elder David A. Bednar
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/open-house-and-dedication-dates-announced-for-alabang-philippines-temple
The Church News covered this as well:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2025/08/04/alabang-philippines-temple-dedication-open-house-dates-set/
And here's my analysis:
https://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2025/08/breaking-temple-news-opening.html
My thanks once again to you all.
Panabo Philippines Stake (614726) - organized 3 August 2025
ReplyDelete- Carmen Ward (193100)
- Lasang Ward (193119)
- Magsaysay Ward (207799)
- Panabo Ward (118087)
- Salvacion Ward (182303)
- Santo Tomas Ward (341649)
Assigned Mission: Philippines Davao Mission (2011433)
Assigned Temple: Cebu City Philippines Temple (493252)
No changes yet to the Minj Papua New Guinea District.
No other new stakes.
The Alabang Temple currently looks to be the 213th Temple, but that number may be adjusted if another Temple dedication is announced sooner than it.
ReplyDeleteAfter Alabamg is dedicated only Harare Zimbabwe Temple announced by President Monson will be uneducated. Unless thry announce the Harare dedication for earlier.
On the matter of the Kinshasa Temple, it is only 12,000 square feet. Detroit Temple and most other Hinckley era temples were built as 10,700 square feet buildings.
There are at least 18 stakes that will be assigned t Kinshasa, and at least 3 districts, when all completed temples are done (although these numbers are likely to be larger by then), so a second Temple in Kinshasa is easy to see being done. DR Congo already broke the record of the 2nd Temple announced after the first was completed (except maybe for the US, but since broken by Mozambique, since for Mozambique the 2nd Temple was announced before the first was completed).
The Kinshasa Temple has patron housing but not an arrival center. It is also not close to the airport. Eben when the 3 announced temples in DR Congo are completed there will be arras assigned to Kinshasa where air travel is the only reasonable option. So building a temple closer to the airport, especially with the number id stakes in the city bring more than the temple is really designed to support, would seem a wise decision.
Kinshasa may break the current record of time from 1st Temple is dedicated to 2nd Temple announced (help worldwide by Rexburg, and outside the US I am not sure, but it is well over 30 years).
I learned on Saturday there is a Pontiac City group in Pontiac Michigan that operates under the Rochester Ward in the Grand Blanc stake. It is at most 2 years old, and started with only a senior missionary companionship and some young missionaries attending. It is now to 37 attendees, so it may soon be formed into its own branch. Although I am not sure of other factors, so it might take more time.
The Church News ran the bio on Elder Mayswagothata. He is one of nor many general authorities who were serving as a temple worker at the time of their call. All the more interesting since he was a resident of Botswana. He is one of 3 general authorities born in a country that currently has no Temple, based on current country boundaries. The other two being Elder Kevin G. Brown from Jamaica (but resident in Utah when called as a General Authority) and Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf born in what is now the Czech Republic but resident in Germany when called as a general authority.
JPL, I'm told that the cornerstone for the Lindon Utah Temple is inscribed "Erected 2025", so I'd take that as a clear indicator that the Church intends to dedicate that temple this year. There is only 1 temple (Bahia Blanca Argentina) scheduled to be dedicated in November currently, and there are no temple dedications currently scheduled to occur in December, so there are open dates for Lindon this year.
DeleteAnd we know for sure that Utah temples, especially those in Utah County, are usually easier to schedule for an open house and dedication than their counterparts elsewhere in the US (like Burley Idaho) and those outside of it (like Alabang and Davao Philippines and Harare Zimbabwe), so if I had to guess, I'd say Lindon Utah will be 212, with Burley being 213, and Alabang being 214. It is also possible that the dedication of the Harare Zimbabwe Temple could be set to occur on either date in January (the 11th or 18th) or even the week after Alabang (the 25th). Hope these thoughts are helpful.
With the growth of stakes on Mindanao is there a possibility for a 3rd Temple on the island, or are we basically still at a level where the 2 temples being built (with Davao very close to dedication) will meet the need for temples for the time being?
ReplyDeleteWith Davao close to dedication, I wouldn't anticipate another temple in the Mindanao area until after Cagayan de Oro is dedicated, which, based on the latest dedication announcement trends, appears to be likely in about 2 years. But I'd love to be wrong about that. I don't know where else a Mindanao temple may be needed. But it is an interesting question.
DeleteWith a little more growth in the area, I could see a temple being announced for the western side of Mindanao, maybe in Butuan City. Probably not for a few years though.
DeleteOn my very extended list, I have one other location selected for Mindanao, specifically somewhere to serve locations in the Zamboanga Peninsula. Currently, I have Oroquieta down as it is the one place with a Stake. However, Pagadian would also be a possibility I think, especially if the District there was elevated.
DeleteCraig H
Saw a video from the Church's pacific area today. Of note, the video mentioned the 5 new stakes created in the Pacific area in the last 12 months (Tanna Vanuatu and 4 in New Guinea) and said they are anticipating a similar number of new stakes to be created in the area in the next 12 months. Also, baptisms in the area where up from about 4,700 to 6,700 over a somewhat unspecified time period. It was 2024 to 2025, but I'm assuming that is just year to date baptisms, and baptisms from January-June 2024.
ReplyDeleteThe Church News Almanac site just posted an article about the newly organized Canada Area a few minutes ago.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/almanac/
Good news from Crete in Greece. 36 people recently attended what appears to be a group in Heraklion, Crete. The first missionaries were assigned there in 2023, and they now have their own rented building to meet in.
ReplyDeleteVery cool! I have been wondering about outreach expansion in Greece for a while. Even though the native population has been historically pretty unreceptive, there are quite a few large immigrant groups living in Greece that seem more promising. Many are "recent arrivers" from the Middle East and Africa, while others work in the tourism and services industry. Outsourcing, for example of call centers, have been a growing industry in Greece and also in Cyprus and that has attracted a lot of digital nomads as well.
DeleteAnd speaking of the Heraklion Group in Greece. Another recent development in the Mediterranean Sea, the old Amman 2nd Branch (English) (172596), renamed Amman Branch (English) from the Amman Jordan District (475149) also renamed Cairo Egypt District, sometime after June 2018, and the Beirut Branch (77690) (that covers all of Lebanon), of the old Beirut Lebanon District, have both recently appeared back on the Meetinghouse Mapsite.
Deletehttps://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/77690
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/wards/172596
Pascal, there is a post on Facebook about this. Does posting Facebook links work on here? https://www.facebook.com/ChurchofJesusChristGreece/posts/pfbid02ieF7oAQ4uAaGXgeF8R6BX6pu65gTuuirwwR3cscfumEHowAWpPN5ivWQvtYHJqXVl
DeleteI don't know the constitution of the branch but the vast majority appear to be Caucasian (if that is of any interest/relevance). But someone more informed would be able to clarify to what extent the branch includes local Greeks.
The Minj Papua New Guinea District was updated today on the Meetinghouse site to Stake.
ReplyDeletehttps://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/1229370
And they have a 2nd Stake Conference planned for a month from now on September 27-28, 2025.
DeleteBesides the correctional districts there are now only four conventional districts in the United States. I don’t think MTC branches are divided in districts.
ReplyDeleteWendover Utah do to proximity hard to be stake unless they make them wards and they travel far for Stake Conferences. I think they had four branches before. Now three, Matt must of shut down the us growth site, that told of wards and branches being organized and shut down in the United States.
Two of the districts were in Texas they now have one. How close is it to becoming a stake? The only other districts in the United States are in Michigan and New York. Will we get to a point that there is no conventional district in the United States?
Wendover to Grantsville, the nearest stake, is not even really that far of a drive, about 1 hour and 20 minutes, compared to a lot of other stakes that have much greater driving distances traversing their boundaries.
DeletePersonally, I see the Fort Stockton Texas District being discontinued and absorbed into the Odessa Texas Stake in the event it inevitably splits to make the Midland Texas Stake. I have absolutely no idea how large the four branches are, but even if none of them are large enough to become wards, the Odessa Texas Stake comprises of 10 wards and 3 branches. Both units would make a total of 17 congregations. The Midland YSA Branch covers the Fort Stockton Texas District as well, but is not covered by the Odessa 3rd Ward (Spanish).
DeleteThe furthest branch from Odessa is the Alpine Branch, which is a drive of over 2 hours. A slightly further drive is Van Horn, which is part of the Pecos Branch (the next town over, 13 minutes from Van Horn is Allamoore, which is part of the Socorro Ward in the El Paso Texas Stake). Then there is Presido (part of the Alpine Branch) on the border that would be about three and a half hours from Odessa. The next town on the edge is Dryden (part of the Fort Stockton Branch, 36 minutes away is Langtry that is assigned to the Del Rio 1st Ward in the Armistad Texas Stake) which is just over two and a half hours from Odessa.
I suppose to put it in perspective, the Valdez Ward, which is part of the Palmer Alaska Stake would have to drive nearly four and a half hours to attend stake conference in person. The Glennallen Branch (same stake) is the only other congregation in the state further than 2 hours from its stake center. Not even Seward or Homer to Soldotna, Delta Junction to North Pole, or Healy to Fairbanks. This excludes ferries (such as Whitehorse to Juneau).
Just one of many examples, Williston North Dakota is over a 2 hour drive to its stake center in Minot and I would argue in generally much harsher winter weather than Wendover to Grantsville.
ReplyDelete