tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post6236460796068678408..comments2024-03-28T17:29:15.006-06:00Comments on Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church): New Stakes Created in the Philippines (4), Utah (2), Brazil, Cabo Verde, the DR Congo, Finland, Michigan, and Nigeria; New District Created in Brazil; District Reinstated in Canada; Stakes Discontinued in Japan (3) and California (2); Districts Discontinued in Brazil and MoldovaMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16030323360917985701noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-35736192459575183882021-07-24T20:42:43.634-06:002021-07-24T20:42:43.634-06:00Happy Pioneer Day to Matt Martinich and my fellow ...Happy Pioneer Day to Matt Martinich and my fellow Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Growth Blog followers!<br /><br />(Whenever this post gets moderated and posted, of course.) ;) Johnathan Reese Whitinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05271748150823074792noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-60201264925059247202021-07-22T23:34:07.361-06:002021-07-22T23:34:07.361-06:00So i spoke with a former missionary form my stake ...So i spoke with a former missionary form my stake that just returned from Armenia about the closings of the districts and the branches. He said the reason was too few active melchizedek pristhood holders in the branches. He think's that corona and the war propably contributed to that. With the shortage of missionaries during corona time it became clear that the operating of so many branches with so few pristhood holders was a strugle.mirohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14414491419910180189noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-67974976165327313802021-07-22T21:25:52.048-06:002021-07-22T21:25:52.048-06:00While conversions, retentions and reactivations co...While conversions, retentions and reactivations could be higher in California, the problem is not realky that any of these are low.<br /><br />An unspoken issue is family size decline and marriage postponement, but these are not unique problems to California.<br /><br />Housing costs is not good for young families, so this does have an impact. <br /><br />The problem in California is the number of active members dieing and moving out far exceeds those becoming adults and moving in. <br /><br />California is lisinga congressional district. Its population is still growing but not at the rates it was in the past.<br /><br />Rhe net loss of stakes in California is only 13, but the total number that once were there and no longer are is more.<br /><br />There are some areas of California that are currently at their highest number of stakes. <br /><br />The situation is domewhat driven by state wide policies but also by local dynamics both in and outside the Church. California is either tied with Utah or one ahead for the most non-English speKing stakes in the US. California is at 3 or 4 Spanish and 2 Tongan. Utah is at 5 Tongan. <br /><br />That the Church has never had a Chinese, Korean or other Asian language stake in California is not that surprising. However better outreach to Asians may be key in the longrun to better Church growth.<br /><br />On the other hand, I have a steong sense that the leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints absolutely do not like language specific stakes. Language specific wards have had ups and downs but are probably here to stay, the stakes have gone down in number. There used to be at least 4 more Spanish-speaking stakes in the US then there are today. Although native Spanish speakers in stake leaderships in some places are more common. However how many non-English speakers get called to leadership positions is another matter.<br /><br />My stake the biggest issue brewing is if we are deploying enough African-Americans in leadership, we do not have much of a linguistic issue. Well we do, but if anything wedo better at placing non-native speakers of English in leadership positions thsn they represent a percentage of stake memvership. A huge percentage of our population in some areas is from Asia, much southwest Asia but orher parts of the continent as well, but missionary outreach to and retention of such populations in the Church has not been super great. The Westland Stake to our west has an even larger Arab population and yet may have even fewer members from southwest Asia. This ispartly vecause their population is mainly Muslim Arabs while ours is much more Christian. I had an elder's quorum president who was a native of Iraq for example. I have never actually had a black elders quorum president. John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-19078589602805615932021-07-22T21:00:14.183-06:002021-07-22T21:00:14.183-06:00The Farmington Hills Michigan Stake also took a wa...The Farmington Hills Michigan Stake also took a ward from the Grand Blanc Michigan Stake. I know this because my sister is in that ward and was in the Grand Blanc Stake and has not moved. It is the White Lake Ward. That ward wasformed by splitting the Clarkston Ward a week before the stake was organized. On the other hand the Brighton Ward in the Ann Arbor stake was elimanated shortly before the boundary changes with most of that ward going to Howell Ward and the new stake. However I belueve southern portions of the old Howell Ward and the old Brighton Ward were moved to Chelsea and Ann Arbor 1st Wards and stayed in the Ann Arbor Stake. I have to wonder though if there may be plans to shortly realign boundaries within the new Farmington Hills Stake. John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-39535262268012052762021-07-22T20:51:20.372-06:002021-07-22T20:51:20.372-06:00Santa Catarina state has 10 stakes but no temple. ...Santa Catarina state has 10 stakes but no temple. I would not be surprised if a temple isannounced for there.John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-57148994060838108362021-07-22T20:49:28.802-06:002021-07-22T20:49:28.802-06:008 wards seems high for a new stake. I still have H...8 wards seems high for a new stake. I still have Heber City on rhe short list for new temples, but have to admit stake numbers make a temple in Spanish Fork or Mapleton more likely short term. Of course half the temple announced in April surprised me, so what doI know. John Pack Lamberthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05086707132348039415noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-50044304118931794802021-07-22T06:46:59.051-06:002021-07-22T06:46:59.051-06:00So were two districts discontinued in Finland then...So were two districts discontinued in Finland then? They are not on your list.MainTourhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14737324798571551154noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-24824579753175460252021-07-20T11:47:13.961-06:002021-07-20T11:47:13.961-06:00Being in the San Bernardino Spanish Branch from 20...Being in the San Bernardino Spanish Branch from 2003 to 2005, we baptized a good number of converts. Many members wished to move away, some went to Utah, others back to their native lands.Eduardohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05019747288076783700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-28581338399135704402021-07-19T13:38:27.340-06:002021-07-19T13:38:27.340-06:00Californians are choosing move to states that are ...Californians are choosing move to states that are more favorable to them. I wish I had the data to show that conservative and religious are leaving the state, but this could simply be demographics aging and moving to more retirement friendly tax areas. Sell the expensive California home and live in a cheap cost of living state is a pretty standard retirement plan for millions reaching their 60s. <br /><br />Dannyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07199880691105344880noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-90257129776966146632021-07-18T23:38:53.105-06:002021-07-18T23:38:53.105-06:00I hope and pray for the Church of Jesus Christ of ...I hope and pray for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in California. Maybe and hopefully in my lifetime, the church will see a comeback in new convert baptisms and member reactivations. So that way they can reverse the decline and reinstate recently discontinued stakes while also even creating new stakes. I wish there was more that the church can do other than proselyting and traditional missionary work. There is still so much potential in the state of California and I remain optimistic about the future. <br /><br />-AustinAnonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05737490498403336124noreply@blogger.com