Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo)
Three new stakes have been created in the DR Congo.
The Lubumbashi DR Congo Bel-Air Stake was organized on March 8th from the Lubumbashi DR Congo Stake (organized in 1997) and the Ruashi DR Congo Stake (organized in 2017). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Bel-Air, Bongonga, Kilobelobe, Kiwele, Neflier, and Nyashi 2nd Wards. There are now seven stakes in Lubumbashi. Rapid growth has occurred in the city in the past couple decades, with the number of stakes increasing from one in 1997 to two in 2009, three in 2013, four in 2017, five in 2024, six in 2025, and seven in 2026.
The Kinshasa DR Congo Mont Amba Stake was organized on May 9th from a division of the Kinshasa DR Congo Ngaba Stake (organized in 2016). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Kisenso, Lemba 1st, Livulu, Mont Amba, and Plateau Wards. There are now 19 stakes in Kinshasa - more than any other metropolitan area on the Afro-Eurasian landmass.
The Kisangani DR Congo Stake was organized from the Kisangani DR Congo District (organized in 2023) on May 9th. Information on which of the nine branches in the district have become wards remains unavailable. The new stake is the Church's first stake in the northern DR Congo. The first branch in Kisangani was organized in 2015.
There are now 49 stakes and 10 districts in the DR Congo.
Mozambique
Two new stakes and one new district were created in Mozambique. It is important to note that some new wards and branches being created in Mozambique are not being readily updated on the Church's meetinghouse locator website, including branches becoming wards. As a result, some of the information contained below may not include some newly organized units or current information.
Beira Mozambique Chamba Stake was organized on March 15th from the Beira Mozambique Inhamízua Stake (organized in 2024) and the Beira Mozambique Manga Stake (organized in 2017). The new stake includes the following four wards and one branch: the Campo do Povo, Chamba, Chingussura, and Zona Verde Wards and the Matadouro Branch. There are now six stakes in Beira. Rapid growth has occurred in the city where the first stake was organized in 2015. The number of stakes in Beira increased from one in 2015 to two in 2017, three in 2023, four in 2024, five in 2025, and six in 2026.
The Nampula Mozambique Mutauanha Stake was organized on March 15th from a division of the Nampula Mozambique Stake (organized in 2021). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Muatala, Murrapaniua, Mutauanha, Namaita, and Substação Wards and the Luaha Branch. The Church's third mission in Mozambique, the Mozambique Nampula Mission, is scheduled to open this summer from a division of the Mozambique Beira Mission.
The Quelimane Mozambique District was organized on April 12th from mission branches in the Mozambique Beira Mission. The new district includes the following three branches: the Coalane, Quelimane, and the Samugue Branch. The Church in Quelimane has experienced numerous setbacks since the first branch was organized in 2005, including the apostasy of leaders and members in the late 2000s and early 2010s. It is unclear whether any of these former members have rejoined the Church or if recent growth in the city (the two other branches were created in 2023 and in 2026) has been due to new converts joining the Church.
There are now 12 stakes and four districts in Mozambique.
Zimbabwe
Two new stakes were created in Zimbabwe.
The Mkoba Zimbabwe Stake was organized on March 22nd from a division of the Gweru Zimbabwe Stake (organized in 2011). The new stake includes the following four wards: the Mkoba 1st, Mkoba 2nd, Mkoba 3rd, and Mkoba 5th Wards. There are now two stakes in the city of Gweru.
The Harare Zimbabwe Kuwadzana Stake was organized on May 3rd from a division of the Harare Zimbabwe Stake (organized in 1999) and the Harare Zimbabwe Marimba Park Stake (organized in 2008). The new stake includes the following four wards and four branches: the Kuwadzana 1st, Kuwadzana 2nd, Kuwadzana 3rd, and Mufakose 2nd Wards and the Kuwadzana 4th, Norton, Warren Park, and Whitecliff Branches. There are now seven stakes in Harare. The number of stakes in the city increased from one in 1999 to two in 2008, three in 2014, four in 2016, five in 2024, six in 2025, and seven in 2026.
There are now 15 stakes and two districts in Zimbabwe.
Argentina
One new stake was created in Argentina. The Tartagal Argentina Stake was organized on April 19th from the Tartagal Argentina District (organized in 1996) and the Oran Argentina District (organized in 1992). The new stake includes the following five wards and five branches: the Orán, Pizarro, Salvador Mazza, Tartagal, and Villa Saavedra Wards, and the Aguaray, Colonia Santa Rosa, Embarcación, Mosconi, and Pichanal Branches. The Oran Argentina District was also discontinued when the new stake was organized.
There are now 81 stakes and 23 districts in Argentina.
Benin
A new stake was created in Benin. The Cotonou Benin Akpakpa Stake was organized on March 8th from a division of the Cococodji Benin Stake (organized in 2021) and the Cotonou Benin Stake (organized in 2016). The new stake includes the following six wards and two branches: the Akpakpa, Avotrou, Finagnon, Jericho 1st, Jericho 2nd, and Porto Novo Wards and the Dowa and Gbegame Branches. There are now three stakes in Cotonou.
There are now three stakes and one district in Benin.
Brazil
A new stake was created and a district was discontinued in Brazil. Bauru Brazil Jardim Santana Stake was created on March 8th from a division of the Bauru Brazil Stake (organized in 1992) and the Botucatu Brazil District becoming a stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Bela Vista, Jardim Santana, Jaú, Marechal Rondon, and Pederneiras Wards and the São Manuel Branch. There are now two stakes in Bauru.
There are now 290 stakes and 31 districts in Brazil.
Florida
A new stake was created in Florida. The St Augustine Florida Stake was created on March 29th from a division of the Jacksonville Florida South Stake (organized in 2009). The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Mill Creek, Palatka, Silverleaf, St Augustine 1st, and St Augustine Shores Wards and the Green Cove Springs and St Augustine 2nd (Deaf) Branches.
There are now 34 stakes in Florida.
Honduras
A new stake was created in Honduras. The Santa Rosa de Copan Honduras Stake was organized on April 19th from the Santa Rosa de Copan Honduras District (organized in 1995). The new stake includes the following five wards and five branches: the Dolores, La Entrada, El Dorado, Miraflores, and Santa Rosa Wards, and the Copan Ruinas, Florida, Gracias, Nueva Ocotepeque, and San Marcos de Ocotepeque Branches.
There are now 32 stakes and four districts in Honduras.
Idaho
A new stake was created in Idaho. The Lewiston Idaho South Stake was organized on March 15th from the Lewiston Idaho Stake (organized in 1958). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: Grangeville 1st, Grangeville 2nd, Kamiah, Orchards 1st, and Orchards 2nd Wards and the Lewis-Clark YSA Branch.
There are now 149 stakes in Idaho.
Madagascar
A new stake was created in Madagascar. The Antananarivo Madagascar Ampitatafika Stake was organized on March 1st from a division of the Antananarivo Madagascar Ampefiloha Stake (organized in 2023), the Antananarivo Madagascar Ivandry Stake (organized in 2011), and the Antananarivo Madagascar Manakambahiny Stake (organized in 2000). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Ambohidrapeto, Ambohimanarina, Ampitatafika, Itaosy, and Tanjombato Wards. There are now four stakes in Antananarivo.
There are now six stakes and one district in Madagascar.
México
A new stake was created in Mexico. The León México Aeropuerto Stake was organized on March 8th from a division of the León México Stake (organized in 1996) and the Guanajuato México District (which became the new stake). The new stake includes the following five wards: the Guanajuato, Las Torres, Olímpica, Parque del Sur, and Silao Wards. There are now two stakes in León.
There are now 232 stakes and 41 districts in México.
North Carolina
A new stake was created in North Carolina. The Mebane North Carolina Stake was organized on April 26th from the Durham North Carolina Stake (organized in 1987) and the Greensboro North Carolina Stake (organized in 1961). The new stake includes the following five wards and two branches: the Caswell, Elon, Hillsborough, Lake Mackintosh, and Mebane Wards and the Roxboro and Burlington (Spanish) Branches.
There are now 22 stakes in North Carolina.
Tennessee
A new stake was created in Tennessee. The Columbia Tennessee Stake was organized on March 22nd from the Franklin Tennessee Stake (organized in 1979) and the Murfreesboro Tennessee Stake (organized in 2012). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Columbia, Lawrenceburg, Linden, Spring Hill 1st, and Spring Hill 3rd Wards and the Lewisburg Branch.
There are now 15 stakes in Tennessee.
Utah
A new stake was created and four stakes were discontinued in Utah.
The Saratoga Springs Utah Mountain View Stake was organized on March 22nd from a division of the Saratoga Springs Utah North Stake (organized in 2004). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Harvest Hills 4th, Harvest Hills 5th, Harvest Hills 6th, Harvest Hills 7th, Wildflower 1st, and Wildflower 2nd Wards.
Additionally, five stakes were recently discontinued in Utah, bringing the total number of discontinued stakes in Utah in 2026 to nine. Stakes discontinued included the Price Utah North Stake (organized in 1945), Price Utah YSA (organized in 1996), Sandy Utah Alta View Stake (organized in 1984), Taylorsville Utah North Stake (organized in 1973), and Wellington Utah Stake (organized in 1980). Like other recently discontinued stakes, stakes discontinued in the Salt Lake area have been in areas with a steady decline in active membership. The three stakes discontinued in the Price area have appeared to be attributed to essentially stagnant growth or decline for many years coupled with probable efforts to free up members in leadership positions to staff the new temple once it is completed.
There are now 639 stakes and seven districts in Utah.
Zambia
A new stake was created in Zambia. The Copperbelt Zambia Stake was organized on April 26th from the Kitwe Zambia District (organized in 2005) and the Ndola Zambia District (organized in 2015 and discontinued when the new stake was organized). Information on which of the 11 branches in the two combined districts became wards remains unavailable.
There are now two stakes in Zambia and no districts.
Kenya
A new district was created in Kenya. The Bomet Kenya District was organized on March 8th. The new district was organized from three branches in the Kenya Nairobi West Mission, including the Bomet, Kapkesosio, and Kyongong Branches. The first branch in Bomet was organized in 2023.
There are now four stakes and 11 districts in Kenya.
Nigeria
A new district was created in Nigeria. The Mangu Nigeria District was organized on March 8th from a division of the Jos Nigeria Stake (organized in 2024). The new district includes the following seven branches: the Chapkwai, Dadin Kowa, Gerkawa, Gindiri, Mabudi, Mangu, and Pankshin Branches. These branches have been primarily organized in villages and small towns in rural areas southeast of Jos. Rapid growth has occurred here, where all branches in the new district have been organized since 2024.
There are now 81 stakes and 14 districts in Nigeria.
Republic of the Congo
A new district was created in the Republic of the Congo. The Nkayi Republic of the Congo District was organized on April 19th from five mission branches in cities between Brazzaville and Pointe-Noire. The new district includes the following branches: the Bouansa, Dolisie, Madingou, Mindouli, and Nkayi Branches. The first branch in this area of the country was organized in 2019 in Dolisie.
There are now five stakes and one district in the Republic of the Congo.
United Kingdom
Two stakes were discontinued in the United Kingdom. The Poole England Stake (organized in 1982) and the Ashton England Stake (organized in 1982) were recently discontinued and retained congregations were reassigned to neighboring stakes. The discontinuation of these two stakes has continued a recent trend of consolidating stakes in England in the past few years, as there were three stakes discontinued in 2023 in the London area and one stake discontinued in 2022 in Lichfield. It is probable that additional stakes may be discontinued in the United Kingdom in the coming months and years, as the Church in the United Kingdom has historically had small numbers of active members per ward or branch and few convert baptisms.
There are now 40 stakes in the United Kingdom.
**Please note that there are some recently organized stakes and districts that I have not yet reported in this post due to the large volume of recent stake and district creations. These will be reported in a future blog post**
Great news about the Mangu District and the Kisangani Stake. Both the Kisangani and Jos areas are pioneering areas in the northern parts of their countries. Good to see them both be strong enough to support 1 district and 1 stake.
ReplyDeleteIn case it hasn't been seen yet, the list of discontinued stakes this year uses the number 8 twice, so at first glance it looks like there are ten stakes, but the list actually has 11.
ReplyDeleteI was not surprised that more stakes in the uk were discontinued, but a bit about the ones that were. I thought that other candidates with fewer than 5 wards like Leicester or Billingham would be the ones involved in closures. I was also pretty shure that one of the next discontinueations would be in Scotland since all of the stakes there are among the ones with the smallest active membership numbers.
ReplyDeleteOn another topic, I was very surpised when I found out that on my next stake conference June 6th-7th we ould have a visit of a member of the presidency of the Seventy (Arnulfo Valenzuela), since we already had a special stake conference in March with Elder Mark Palmer. Thas the second visit of a member of the presidency of the Seventy in around 3 months. I am not shure if I ever had a visist of a member of the presidency of the Seventy before.
Weekly Stake Updates :
ReplyDeleteSpruce Grove Alberta Stake (2331470)
Organized on 24 May 2026
- Devon Ward
- Drayton Valley Ward
- Hinton Branch
- Onoway Ward
- Pioneer Ward
- Spruce Grove Ward
- Stony Plain Ward
- Whitecourt Branch
Mission: Canada Edmonton Mission
Temple: Edmonton Alberta Temple
Portsmouth England Stake reorganized as the Southampton England Stake (506605) on 10 May 2026
Poole England Stake discontinued on 17 May 2026
Ndola Zambia District discontinued on 26 April 2026
The Kenya Nairobi East Mission (2245752), has split the Mombasa Kenya District (2058111), to organize the new Kwale Kenya District (2328860), with 3 branches.
ReplyDeleteThe Mombasa 1st Branch (423025), was renamed Likoni Branch (423025), from the Mombasa District.
A new branch Ujamaa Branch (2328879), at least new to me.
and the Ukunda Branch (2296748), from the Mombasa District.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2328860
The Savai'i Samoa South Stake (515701), now has 12 Wards. In theory, it could alone become 2 Stakes of 6 Wards each. Since the 2 branches became wards this week.
ReplyDeleteBut we won't know until November or later.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/515701
81 May 27, 2026 Faaala 3rd Ward Savaii, Samoa
82 May 27, 2026 Vailoa Ward Apia, Upolu, Samoa
We are having problems with the website and will get it back up as soon as we can.
ReplyDeleteHas there been any update on the Traverse City Michigan District becoming a stake? I saw that one of the branches closed recently and also that they are having another special conference this weekend. Could it finally be happening!?
ReplyDeleteIf that happens there will only be three conventional districts in the United States. Wendover Utah and Wendover could become a ward and be part Of Elko Nevada or Tooele Utah stake. Other units still branches. One was dissolved a few years ago. I don’t think the us church growth blog is up anymore.
DeleteThen other two districts in New York and Texas. Could we get to point there is not a single conventional district in the United States?
There is currently 385 temples (216 operating, 62 under construction, 107 announced). When do you think we'll hit 400 (including announced)? Obviously, anything could happen. My guess is 2028.
ReplyDeleteIntriguing question, David! If President Nelson were still alive, we'd likely have gotten there already.As to your question, President Oaks has been the Church President for roughly 7.5 months now. Within that time, he has announced 3 temples. That works out to roughly 0.4 temples per month.Continuing at that average rate for the 31 months or so between now and the end of 2028, that would only yield 12 or 13 additional new temples within that period, which falls just short of the 15 that would be needed to get to 400 by the end of 2028. So when would we get to 400 temples at that rate? Sometime 2029 or 2030 would be my guess.
DeleteHaving said that, if the rate of announcements pick up, that changes the average calculations I ran above. But I for one hope that the rate of announcements does pick up a bit. Hope this comment is helpful.
President Oaks became the head of the church just before October General Conference and Sustained/set apart shortly after conference. There's been one announcement between October and April Conferences and two announcements since. While this is not much of a sample size, it does indicate pace has and will pick up.
DeleteThe main reason for the announcement drops was to handle the backlog. With several temples being scheduled for dedication and as those announced move into construction, I would imagine the pace would increase, but not near to the pace President Nelson set.
It's been less than 2 months since conference and 2 announcements have been made. At this rate, it would be 2027, but believe that to be still ambitious at this time. That's why I guessed 2028.
Again, we're dealing with very small sample sizes under Oaks which would be hard to create trends.
Imagine, it is April 2030.
DeleteThe Bi Centenary of the Church.
399:Temples, including those announced.
400 is to be built at Temple Lot.
Of the 200 temples announced during President Nelson’s administration a fourth should be dedicated by the end of the year. When will we get to half? 101 announced when ground is broken for all of them. 46 with no sir announcements. Times when you go weeks without site announcements. But will that number dwindle? Maybe to less than 30 or 40 by conference or years end? Including Russia, China and Uab?
DeleteFYI The Nsukka Nigeria District (2074044), of the Nigeria Enugu Mission (2012944) just became a stake last weekend.
ReplyDelete6 May 29, 2026 Nsukka Nigeria Stake
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2074044
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/missions/2012944
https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=nigeria-enugu
FYI The Bouafle Cote d'Ivoire District (2084317), of the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission (2107449), possibly of the Daloa Mission in July, just became a Stake last weekend. It appears it incorporated the Sinfra Cote d'Ivoire District (2152754) also.
ReplyDeletehttps://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2084317
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2152754
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/missions/2107449
https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=cote-divoire-yamoussoukro
https://missioncall.app/worldmap.html?destination=details&missionId=cote-divoire-daloa
7 May 29, 2026 Bouafle Cote d'Ivoire Stake
DeleteJust to refresh my memory...weren't there going to be a bunch of new missions created in the next month or so?
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2025/10/24/55-new-missions-announced-for-2025/
Delete@ Chris D.
DeleteThanks. :)
The Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire District (2067293), just closed it's District-wide Branch, the Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire District Branch (2067307). And now has 5 Branches currently.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if it's preparing to become a 5 Ward Stake on August 9th, 2026.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/2067293
44 May 29, 2026 Aboisso Cote d'Ivoire District Branch Aboisso, Cote D'ivoire
There were three announcements that seem to be a further reach now than when it was announced behind the pulpit. The church has not rescinded any of these announcements so they're still listed as announcements.
ReplyDeleteShanghai China was announced with explicit detail on how it would operate under their governmental policy. Shortly after, US/China relations and the little bit of freedom of religion slid backwards, and no mention since.
Russia continues to impose significant restrictions against the church with the church relations sliding with the views of the US post Russia/Ukraine war. If there was one person that could mend that relationship it was President Nelson. Obviously getting to Ukraine for Russian members is near impossible. UAE looked promising until everything went quiet. The best chance for Russian and mainland Chinese members under current relations is the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple which has not broken ground as of yet.
Dubai UAE had lots of public press in 2021 and 2022 and basically had a site announcement (location of 2020 expo) before everything went silent. After the announcement, church leaders and members attended and publicized the expo and the announcement that the temple will be located there. That's the last verifiable info I've heard. Unlike China and Russia, it doesn't appear church relations detreated but does appear something fell through with the original plans for a temple.
The Otavalo Ecuador did not fit the mold for being a high probability of getting a temple until I saw the available reservations of the nearby Quito Temple. That made me think if I should somehow incorporate this into my methodology in making my predictions which would not happen until I release this fall's predictions.
ReplyDeleteI took a quick glance of temple usage looking only at online reservations for Saturday endowments. I did not look at temples along the Wasatch Front or temples that have other announcements that would significantly slit its district.
Some of the temples running full/near full, not along the Wasatch Front, and retaining at least 2/3 of its stakes after all announced temples are completed.
Philippine temples, especially those on the island of Luzon are booked out for several weeks if not months.
The Taipei Taiwan Temple appear well used. The Kaohsiung Temple which is under construction may take some load off but an additional announcement in Taichung could do more to take the load off.
Africa temples doesn't appear to be well used, but may look that way if local members aren't making online reservations.
Copenhagen Denmark Temple with only three stakes and a district in its temple district is surprisingly well used.
Both Ecuador Temples are booked out for multiple weeks. Other high-used temples in South America include Concepción Chile and Mendoza Argentina.
Monterrey Mexico Temple appears to be the most used temple (by percent occupancy via reservations) in North America. It is a small temple with a lot of stakes.
There's several fallacies/inconsistencies for using reservations to determine how well a temple is used, which in the past has discouraged me from relying on attendance for making predictions.
I only looked at Saturday reservations for endowment sessions. I excluded other ordinances and endowment reservations on other days.
The online reservation system does not necessarily include special sessions created and reserved outside the reservation system.
I sampled the next Saturday. Attendance can fluctuate and sample can be above/below normal attendance.
A lack of temple workers could restrict the number of sessions making sessions become full easier.
I only looks at remaining reservations available ~ 1 week out. I don't have actual attendance numbers. Those that walk-in, make last minute reservations, or reserve outside the reservation system are not counted.
Some areas, such as less developed countries, may not utilize the online reservation system.
Some regions/employers may use Saturday as a normal workday (ie. 6 day work cycle).
I would add that many temples, such as those with a stake or two are only open a day or two a week. So it maybe scheduled out for a few weeks, but the temples are not being fully utilized. So you need to look at the variable of being open how many days a week, plus how many sessions each day. As an example: at my local temple in St. Paul it is open five days a week, but only has a session or two a few days of that 5 day operating schedule.
DeleteOnline availability is a reflection of internet capacity of telecom infrastructure by region in the world. It varies greatly. A second issue is membership familiarity and accessibility to internet access points, where home, commercial, church, other public available sites, or pay/business sites. We are a world wide church.
ReplyDeleteIf we look a few recent years we would see a range that could use 15 temples dedicated per year as a midpoint. If we extrapolate out using the approximate temples being constructed or planned at 160, excluding the possibility of any further announcements, which I know there will be, we have at least 10 years of temple dedications in front of us that have already been announced.
ReplyDeleteYes, we have accelerated the planning, land acquisition, permitting, construction activity of the temple/facilities departments, but it has taken us most of 10 years to reach this increased level of temple construction and dedication. I don't think we will see an acceleration of this pace of about 15 temple dedications per year, though I could be wrong. I will not point out that all locations are equal in terms of our ability to accelerate this process or acquire sufficient talent to close the gap of time of announce to dedication that exists between US/Canada/W.Europe/Australia and the rest of the world. The gap is almost a doubling of time from 2 to 4 years. I have thrown out the Russian and Chinese temples as aberrations.
If we increase the proportion of temples announced outside the rich countries, that will only decrease the number of temple dedicated per year average, due to the increased amount of time to get to dedication in the countries have greater LDS population growth and therefore a greater probability of more temples that are needed.
Any discussion?
I imagine that God is aware of these limitations and plans them out sufficiently far in advance to complete them when they are needed and the people are ready. Nevertheless we need to strive to move things forward to the best of our ability.
DeleteI have brought this up before: is anything being done to increase proselytizing efforts in the greater Salt Lake area? I am far away in Minneapolis and have heard nothing. Or is the issue more of a retention of existing membership? I know about people moving from urban core to suburban areas since I live in a metropolitan area of 3.8 million and came from Seattle with a few more than that. The number of stakes being discontinued would seem to me to ask many questions, much analysis, and recommendations to address abandonment of stakes.
ReplyDeleteDoes anyone know what the church is doing to address this massive closing down of stakes? Regionally? Church-wide?
I'm not in SLC area. But visited several times. Here's what I can gather and I can answer at least when it comes to the demographic portion of the question.
Delete1) Large latter day saint families of the past have grown up and moved to the suburbs. Older neighborhoods are declining in population based on this fact.
2) People move. The majority of Utah are members. 2% of the US are members (both stats include less actives). This alone will dilute the membership ratio of members in Utah.
3) The suburbs are exploding in population. Members too.
4) Especially for the last decade, we've had a lot of emphasis on temple building and less emphasis on chapel building. The church can't split wards in some areas unless chapels are built. Chapels are still being built, but this is few and far between compared to what we saw in the 1990s.
This is not just limited to Utah. In my Arkansas Stake, there are two branch buildings that are at capacity and needs expansion. A ward that was created more than six years ago is still meeting in a rented space above a bank.
5) Interpreting latest churchwide membership reports, even members are now birthing below replenishment rate. On a general note for the US population, people waiting till their older to get married, drop in teen pregnancies, environmental issues, and doubling of infertility in the last 20 years as reported by the CDC is having an effect on population increase. Large, strong families was a pillar of sustained growth within the church.
6) The church has had a record number of baptisms last year.
There's probably other demographic items I left off, but this is what I can think of right.
I think the church is doing what it needs to spread the gospel and to encourage childbearing.
Closing down stakes is not necessarily a bad thing. It really helps in areas leadership is stretched thin.
I am surprised there's not a huge influx of stake closures outside the US. The criteria to become a ward/stake became unified a few years ago. This raised the bar outside the US to match US standards. Consequently, I thought this would directly cause a number of stake consolidations - especially in urban areas with multiple stakes.
Thanks for your thoughtful comment.
DeleteMy understanding is that when they announced changes to ward and stake minimums, they specifically stated that the minimums were on a going forward basis. They even allowed ALL already approved wards and stakes meeting the old standards to go forward with creation. As a result of the changes many leaders likely took a closer look at their specific circumstances and became more comfortable moving forward with closures that already had made sense. But as an accountant and former stake clerk, I can confidently state that rules and principles are very very often misapplied. Lol.
2 years ago there was an increase of 1 in the number of missions in Salt Lake Area (as well as going from 2 to 4 in Utah County).
ReplyDeleteThe other shift about to happen is sisters assigned on time Square will also have proselytize areas.
Many of these sister missionaries are from other countries.
There are lots of issues involved in outreach. When you combine stakes you free up more leadership potential to focus on various things.
Since the new unit standards we have this new requirement of participating adults. When I asked my Bishop / Stake president counselor abount how many of those we have in the ward / stake, the had no idea. They showed me that this measurement, is no where to be found, in the statisical information they have access to. Does any of you know, how it works with this new requirement? How are Bishoprics, stake presidentcies to get access to this information? Do they have to go through the members list and count themselfs? Do they have to ask the area leadership for the information?
ReplyDeleteYes, while it isn't actively kept track of, when it does come time for boundary changes, either to adjust ward boundaries or potentially split or combine stakes, the stake send out a request to have you go down your membership list and mark who is active. These active households are then put on a map and the carving begins to hit the various thresholds. It would likely be too tedious to consistently mark active and inactive families, so they just use sacrament attendance as a barometer until more specific details are requisite.
Delete