Updated Country Profile - Czech Republic (Czechia)

Click here to access our updated Reaching the Nations country profile for Czechia. Slow, albeit steady growth has occurred for the Church in Czechia during the past two decades with annual membership growth rates averaging around two percent in the 2010s. The greatest progress has been in regards to maturing local leadership as evidenced by the organization of the first stake in 2016 and the calling of the first native Czech mission president to preside over the Czech/Slovak Mission in 2016. Also, convert retention rates for one year after baptism have noticeably improved, ranging from 50-70% during the past decade per returned missionary reports. Nevertheless, the number of cities with an official congregation has decreased from 18 to 12 within the past two decades as the emphasis has been placed on the establishment of larger congregations. Low receptivity remains a major obstacle for the Church to achieve greater growth. Other nontraditional, missionary-focused groups report similar difficulties. Jehovah's Witnesses and Seventh-Day Adventists have both reported stagnant membership and congregational growth in Czechia within the past decade.

New Stakes Created in Argentina, Arizona, Australia, Benin, Bolivia, the Czech Republic, the DR Congo, Nigeria, Tennessee, and Utah; District Reinstated in Ukraine; Stake Discontinued in Idaho; Districts Discontinued in the Czech Republic and Papua New Guinea

I have gotten a bit behind with all of the new stake creations. Here we go!

Argentina
The Church organized a new stake in Cordoba Province on May 8th. The Bell Ville Argentina Stake was organized from the Bell Ville Argentina District: The new stake includes the following five wards and four branches: the Arroyito, Bell Ville, General Paz, Lamadrid, and San Francisco 1st Wards, and the Las Varillas, Leones, Marcos Juárez, and San Francisco 2nd Branches.

There are now 75 stakes and 29 districts in Argentina.

Arizona
The Church organized a new stake in the Mesa area on May 1st. The Mesa Arizona Flatiron Stake was organized from a division of the Apache Junction Arizona Stake (renamed the Peralta Trail Arizona Stake) and the Mesa Arizona Salt River Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Boulder Mountain, Ironwood, Ocotillo, Signal Butte 1st, and Twin Knolls Wards, and the Adobe Branch (Spanish).

There are now 105 stakes in Arizona.

Australia
The Church organized a new stake in the Sydney area on May 1st. The Sydney Australia Prairiewood Stake was organized from a division of the Liverpool Australia and Sydney Australia Fairfield Stakes. So far, confirmation is available for only four of the wards assigned to the new stake: Green Valley 1st, Green Valley 2nd (Samoan), Prairiewood 1st, and Prairiewood 3rd (Samoan). It is likely that one or two additional wards are assigned to the new stake.

There are now 40 stakes and eight districts in Australia.

Benin
The Church organized its first stake in Benin on April 24th. The Cotonou Benin Stake was organized from the Cotonou Benin Stake. Missionaries report that the new stake includes eight wards and six branches. However, there is currently only confirmation on four branches that have become wards: Cococodji, Fidjrosse, Finagnon, and Menontin.

There is now one stake and no districts in Benin.

Bolivia
The Church organized a new stake in southern Bolivia on May 15th. The Tarija Bolivia Tabladita Stake was organized from a division of the Tarija Bolivia Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards: the Central, Cuatro de Julio, Panamericano, Senac, and Tabladita Ward. Tarija now numbers among four other cities in Bolivia where the Church operates at least two stakes within a single city.

There are now 28 stakes and eight districts in Bolivia.

Czech Republic
The Church organized its first stake in the Czech Republic on May 15th. The Prague Czech Republic Stake was organized from the Prague Czech Republic and the Brno Czech Republic Districts. The new stake includes the following six wards and seven branches: the Brno, Hradec Kralove, Jicin, Ostrava, Prague, and Plzen Wards, and the Ceske Budejovice, Jihlava, Liberec, Olomouc, Trebic, Uherske Hradiste, and Zlin Branches. As part of the creation of the new stake, the Brno Czech District was discontinued.

There is now one stake and no districts in the Czech Republic.

DR Congo
The Church organized its fourth stake in the Kasai Region of the central DR Congo on April 24th. The Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo Stake was organized from the Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo District. The new stake includes the following six wards and two branches: the Bipemba, Dibindi, Diulu, Misesa, Muya 1st, and Muya 2nd Wards, and the Tshikama and Tshitenge Branches. Mbuji-Mayi will also headquarter the Church's third mission in the DR Congo this July.

There are now 14 stakes and three districts in the DR Congo.

Nigeria
The Church organized a new stake in southeastern Nigeria on May 1st. The Ikot Eyo Nigeria Stake was organized from the Nsit Ubium Nigeria Stake (renamed Ukat Aran Nigeria Stake) and the Ibesikpo Nigeria District. The new stake includes the following four wards and six branches: the Ikot Ekwere, Ikot Eyo 1st, Ikot Eyo 2nd, and Ikot Eyo 3rd Wards, and the Ikot Akpan Abia, Ikot Ebre, Ikot Esen, Ikot Oku Iyan, Ikot Udofia, and Ndikpo Atang Branches. It is likely that one or more of these six branches have also been advanced into wards but this information may not be available due to delays in the Church updating this information. It is significant to note that Ikot Eyo is the location of the Church's first branch organized in Nigeria in 1978. The population of the local government area (LGA) of Nsit Ubium may be as high as 5-10% LDS at present due to steady growth within the past three and a half decades.

There are now 34 stakes and 19 districts in Nigeria.

Tennessee
The Church organized a new stake in Tennessee on May 1st. The Cookeville Tennessee Stake was organized from a division of the McMinnville Tennessee and Madison Tennessee Stakes. The new stake includes the following six wards and three branches: the Burgess Falls, Cookeville, Crossville, Jamestown, Lebanon 1st, and Tompkinsville Wards, and the Lebanon 2nd (Spanish), Livingston, and Sparta Branches.

There are now 12 stakes in Tennessee.

Utah
The Church organized a new stake in Utah County on May 15th. The Saratoga Springs Utah Mount Saratoga Stake was organized from a division of the Saratoga Springs Utah Crossroads Stake. The new stake includes the following eight wards: the Riverside 1st, Riverside 2nd, Saratoga Springs 7th , Saratoga Springs 10th, Sunrise Meadows 1st, Sunrise Meadows 2nd, Sunrise Meadows 3rd, and Sunset Haven Wards.

There are now 579 stakes and one district in Utah.

Ukraine
The Church reinstated a district in central Ukraine. The Dnepropetrovsk Ukraine District was organized from four mission branches that pertained to the Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk Mission. The new district includes the following five branches: the Dnepropetrovsk Livoberezhna, Dnepropetrovsk Pobedy, Dnepropetrovsk Tsentralny, Dnepropetrovsk Ukraine District, and Zaporizhzhia Branches.

There is now one stake and four districts in Ukraine.

Idaho
The Church recently discontinued a stake in Idaho. The Moscow Idaho University Stake was discontinued. Most wards in the former stake were student married wards and these congregations were consolidated with family wards in the Moscow area.

There are now 126 stakes in Idaho.

Papua New Guinea
The Church recently discontinued a district in Papua New Guinea. The Kuriva Papua New Guinea District was discontinued and all four branches in the former district were reassigned to the neighboring Gerehu Papua New Guinea District. Over 500 members attended the conference when the districts were consolidated (click here to access a news article on this conference). The decision to consolidate the districts appeared motivated from continued declining LDS growth in the Port Moresby area and a possible effort to organize a second stake in the region within the near future.

There are now two stakes and 11 districts in Papua New Guinea.

First Stake to be Created in the Czech Republic

Missionaries serving in the Czech/Slovak Mission report that the Church will organize its first stake in the Czech Republic in a special conference on Sunday, May 15th. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf will preside at the meeting and the new stake will be organized from the Prague Czech and Brno Czech Districts. With approximately 2,500 members and 13 branches, the Church in the Czech Republic is currently the country with the ninth most members without a stake. It is anticipated that five of the 13 branches will become wards, namely Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzen, and Hradec Kralove.

More New Missions and Missions to be Discontinued

New Missions in Mexico

Missionaries report that at least two new missions will be organized in Mexico this summer.

The sixth mission in the Mexico City area will be created from a division of the Mexico Mexico City North and Mexico Mexico East Missions and will be named the Mexico Mexico City Northwest Mission. The new mission will include 10 stakes. Mexico City experiences some of the highest numbers of baptisms in the Church and regularly sees additional congregations created. The highest baptizing mission in Mexico last year was the Mexico Mexico City East Mission with over 3,000 converts. Retention has been a persisting problem in this area for decades and appears to have only slightly improved as congregational growth is less than membership growth. An additional mission will allow for greater focus on retention and increasing member activity by more frequent visits and training from mission leadership to local leadership. The new mission may increase the likelihood of a future temple in Pachuca in the coming years.

The Mexico Villahermosa Mission will be created by a division of the Mexico Tuxtla Gutierrez Mission. An additional mission in southern Mexico will provide greater missionary resources to open additional small cities and towns. These areas also have many Amerindian groups who have received increasing outreach such as in the San Cristobal de las Casas area. Several stakes in the Villahermosa area may split as they have added several new congregations over the past couple years.

Missions to be Discontinued in Europe

A member in Central Europe reported that the Switzerland Zurich and Germany Hamburg Missions will be discontinued. Central Europe has seen a trend of decreasing mission outreach over the past two decades. I will provide additional information once it becomes available. Like other areas experiencing mission consolidations, the number of missionaries serving in these areas have likely already been reduced over the years to prepare for consolidation. Many areas in Central Europe have seen small increases in convert baptisms with fewer missionaries through outreach to young adults. The Central European country which experienced the greatest increase in growth in 2009 was the Czech Republic.

A full report on which missions will be discontinued and created this summer will be included in the Church News this weekend.

Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Slovakia

A new branch has recently been opened in the city of Martin, Slovakia. This is the fifth branch in the country. Furthermore, other cities are likely to open to missionary work in the coming months. Membership in Slovakia is only around 130 as of 2006. Hopefully membership will increase in this Eastern European nation, especially after being dedicated by Elder Uchtdorf back in 2006. Over 30,000 signatures were collected to get the Church officially registered with the government. If you subscribe to the Church News, you can look up the story in the achieves.

There is still no district of the Church in Slovakia, but I imagine a district forming in the next couple years once more leadership develops.

Czech Republic

The Church grew fairly rapidly once it began missionary work back in the early 1990s, growing from nine branches with 600 members in 1992 to 19 branches with over 1,600 members in 2000. Since 2000 growth has slowed, with a little over 2,000 members today in 14 branches. I have not heard anything about a stake being established anytime soon. There are two districts in the country. One is in Prague and the other in Brno.

On the above maps, branches are indicated with green squares.