Significant Realignment of Missions in Nigeria Announced

On April 23rd, the Africa West Area Presidency announced a significant realignment of the seven missions in Nigeria. No missions will be closed or opened as part of the changes. However, the Nigeria Calabar Mission will be renamed the Nigeria Uyo Mission, which was the original name of the mission from 2002-2008, and mission headquarters will be relocated to Uyo. Here are additional changes that have been announced:

• Reassignment of four mission branches from the Nigeria Calabar Mission to the Nigeria Enugu Mission (Ikom, Ogoja, Ugep 1st, and Ugep 2nd Branches)
• Transfer of two stakes from the Nigeria Calabar Mission to the Nigeria Owerri Mission (Abak Nigeria Stake and Ikot Ekpene Nigeria Stake)
• Transfer of two stakes from the Nigeria Calabar Mission to the Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission (Ikot Akpaden Nigeria Stake and Ikot Akpatek Nigeria Stake)
• Transfer of two stakes and one district from the Nigeria Enugu Mission to the Nigeria Lagos Mission (Abuja Nigeria North Stake, Abuja Nigeria South Stake, and Jos Nigeria District)
• Transfer of one stake and one district from the Nigeria Owerri Mission to the Nigeria Enugu Mission (Umuahia Nigeria Stake and Asaga Ohafia Nigeria District)

The area presidency announced that these changes "are being made to better position the missions in Nigeria for the future growth and establishment of the Church," and added, "We anticipate significant future growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Nigeria and recognize the Lord’s hand in bringing this about."

The Church in Nigeria has indeed experienced some of the most impressive worldwide growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in recent decades. Church membership increased from 12,000 in 1989 to 42,746 in 1999, 88,374 in 2008, and 177,280 in 2018. Annual membership growth rates have exceeded 7% since 2013. The number of congregations (i.e. wards and branches) has grown from 72 in 1989 to 185 in 1999, 260 in 2008, and 649 in 2018. There has been a net increase of approximately 30 wards and branches in 2019 thus far. Stake growth in the past decade has been particularly significant with the number of stakes increasing from 16 to 56.

Despite recent progress, the Church in Nigeria remains comparatively small. Church membership accounts for only 0.087% of the population, or one Latter-day Saint per 1,148. There remain 12 states in Nigeria without a single ward or branch although most are in the predominantly Muslim north. Several cities with more than 500,000 people have no Church presence. Nigeria will also soon surpass Pakistan and Brazil in population as the world's fifth most populous country as there are now more than 200 million people. If the Church in Nigeria were to maintain the same ratio of population to missions (one mission per seven million people), there would need to be 29 missions in Nigeria.

The mission realignments announced by the area presidency have good potential to better distribute mission resources and Church units across the seven missions. Many of the changes have good potential to help the Church expand into previously unreached areas, particularly those with high population densities nearby cities with a well-established Church presence such as between Port Harcourt and Efik, and between Enugu and Umuahia. Greater expansion in Central and Northern Nigeria may occur. The Nigeria Calabar Mission previously had 14 stakes and two districts - the largest number of stakes assigned to a single mission in all of Africa. Now, the realigned Nigeria Uyo Mission will have a more manageable number of stakes with 10 stakes and two districts.

The changes also appear inspired with long-term plans to organize additional missions. For example, the Nigeria Lagos Mission will now have two separate geographical areas, one in the Lagos metropolitan area and the other including most of central and northern Nigeria. It appears that the Church may organize a mission headquartered in Abuja in the foreseeable future given this change. Also, the Church may organize a mission headquartered in Delta State to service the rapidly growing Nigeria Benin City Mission which now has 11 stakes and three districts within its boundaries.

Many new stakes will likely be organized in the near future due to steady growth in active membership and the organization of new wards and branches. See below for a list of stakes likely to divide in the near future to create additional stakes:

• Aba Nigeria North (10 wards, 4 branches)
• Abak Nigeria (9 wards, 1 branch) 
• Abuja Nigeria North (10 wards, 2 branches)
• Abuja Nigeria South (11 wards, 3 branches)
• Benin City Nigeria Oregbeni  (9 wards, 1 branch)
• Benin City Nigeria Ugbowo (10 wards, 3 branches) 
• Ikot Ekpene Nigeria (11 wards, 1 branch)
• Lagos Nigeria Ojodu (9 wards, 1 branch)
• Lagos Nigeria Yaba (9 wards)
• Onitsha Nigeria (10 wards, 4 branches)
• Ukat Aran Nigeria  (11 wards, 2 branches)
• Warri Nigeria (14 wards, 2 branches)

Many districts also appear close to becoming stakes. There are currently a total of 17 districts. See below for a list of stakes likely to be created from districts in the near future.

• Akamkpa Nigeria (9 branches)
• Asaga Ohafia Nigeria (7 branches)
• Ijebu-Ode Nigeria (8 branches)
• Jos Nigeria (8 branches)
• Mbaise Nigeria (12 branches)
• Ogwashi Nigeria (8 branches)
• Okrika Nigeria (10 branches) - or division into several districts
• Ondo Nigeria (6 branches)
• Oron Nigeria (7 branches)

Altogether, the Church in Nigeria may add as many as 21 new stakes in the next two years.

Additionally, a couple new districts appear likely to be organized from mission branches in the near future. Probable locations with the likely number of branches include:

• Sapele (3 branches)
• Ugep (4 branches)

Significant Developments in West Africa

There are a couple significant developments in West Africa in regards to the expansion of the Church in minimally reached or previously unreached areas.

Senegal
For the first time ever, the Church has assigned Senegal to a proselytizing mission. Senegal now pertains to the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. Currently there is only one branch in Senegal located in Dakar. Only one senior missionary couple serves in Dakar although there have been several convert baptisms in the city within the past nine months. The Church lacking legal status appears to be the primary obstacle that has prevented the assignment of young, proselytizing missionaries. Senegal is inhabited by 14.3 million people and is 95% Muslim, 4% Christian, and 1% followers of other religions. There are likely less than 40 members in Senegal at present. Other proselytizing Christian faiths operate in Senegal without interference from the government or Muslim majority.

New Branches to be Created
Senior missionaries serving in the Africa West Area report that the area presidency plans to organize the Church's first branches in two additional nations within the Africa West Area during the next month. The Church appears to operate member groups in three nations in the Africa West Area where no official branches operate. I have confirmed the operation of a member group in Mali and it is likely that the member group in Ouelessebougou, Mali may be one of the new branches organized in the near future. The other country that may have a branch organized is unclear, but likely candidates include Burkina Faso, the Gambia, and Guinea-Bissau.

Ukraine Donetsk Mission Closes

It appears that the Church has officially closed the Ukraine Donetsk Mission by consolidating it primarily with the Ukraine Dnepropetrovsk Mission. Recent political instability appears largely to blame for the closure of the mission, although few convert baptisms and low receptivity also appear as added reasons for the mission closure. There are now three missions in Ukraine and 404 missions worldwide.

Mission Realignments In Brazil, Mexico, Nigeria, Taiwan, and the United States

The Church News reported that the following changes will occur in the following countries pertaining to new missions and mission realignments:

Brazil

• -The Brazil Teresina Mission will be created from portions of the Brazil Belem and Brazil Fortaleza Missions. This area of Brazil is one of the highest baptizing and has seven of the 10 largest cities in Brazil without a congregation or missionaries serving in the city. By adding a third mission to the area, we will likely see many of these cities open to missionary work over the next few years.
• -The Brazil Belo Horizonte East Mission will be combined with the Brazil Belo Horizonte Mission. Belo Horizonte is located in one of the most populous states in Brazil and now will only have one mission to serve most of the people in the state of Minas Gerais. The Church still grows steadily in the Belo Horizonte area, with the newest stake in the city being created just a few months ago. However we have not seen as rapid growth in Minas Gerais as we have seen in most other states in Brazil.
• -The Brazil Rio de Janeiro North Mission will be relocated to Vitoria and renamed the Brazil Vitoria Mission. Stakes in the northern part of the Brazil Vitoria Mission will be taken from the Brazil Belo Horizonte East Mission and stakes in the southern part of the former Brazil Rio de Janeiro North Mission will be transferred to the Brazil Rio de Janeiro Mission. In other words, the mission in Vitoria will mainly include the Brazilian state of Espirito Santo, which has 3.5 million inhabitants. The missions in the Rio de Janeiro area were actually some of the lower baptizing missions in Brazil and now members in the three stakes and one district in Espirito Santo will have much more training and attention from a mission president than before. This will hopefully allow for more cities to open for missionary work in Espirito Santo which currently do not have a Church presence. The sole mission in Rio de Janeiro will serve some 15.5 million people.

Mexico

• -The Mexico Guadalajara and Mexico Guadalajara South Missions will have their boundaries redrawn and the Mexico Guadalajara South Mission will be renamed the Mexico Guadalajara East Mission. The one thing I have to say about this change is that the area east of Guadalajara has several of the largest cities without a Church presence in Mexico and the realignment could facilitate their opening to missionary work. Such cities include La Barca, Arandas and San Juan de los Lagos.

Nigeria

• -The two missions in Lagos, Nigeria will be combined into one mission. One mission used to exist in Ibadan and a few years ago was transferred to Lagos. Church growth in the area in and around Lagos has been slower than in other areas of Nigeria. There are two stakes in Lagos and five districts to the northeast of the city. I imagine that a mission will be created in the near future in Benin City (which is between the missions in Lagos and Enugu) considering the city is seeing some of the most rapid growth in the country.

Taiwan

• -The three missions in Taiwan will be consolidated into two with the dissolution of the Taiwan Kaohsiung Mission. The two remaining missions will cover the country of 23 million and 10 stakes and 2 districts. The number of missionaries serving in the country will also decline with fewer missionaries called to serve in Taiwan.

United States

• -The California San Francisco Mission will be combined with the California Oakland Mission and renamed the California Oakland/San Francisco Mission. The area around San Francisco has seen very little growth in terms of new congregations created. However mission leaders report throughout California that missionary work is going as strong as ever despite opposition for the Church's support of Proposition 8 last year. For the first time in several years, membership in California actually increased from the previous year some 6,000 members, indicating that this is likely the result of fewer members moving to other states and possibly an increase in convert baptisms.
• -The Pennsylvania Harrisburg Mission will be combined with the Pennsylvania Pittsburgh Mission. There will now be just two missions in the state, with the other based in Philadelphia. Membership and congregation growth have remain constant for the past several years.

With these changes there will be a total of 344 missions in the Church; down from 348. This should not come as too much of an alarm to see a decrease in the number of missions for the Church. In 2001, we saw the number of missions in the Church fall from 334 to 333 and in 1981 we saw the number of missions fall from 188 to 180 and then drop to 178 the following year.

One of the reasons for this drop in missionaries is due to a demographic drop in the number of young men that are mission age in the United States. We might see a drop in the number of full-time serving missionaries for the year 2009, but should only be temporary. There might not be a drop at all considering areas like Central America and South Africa are seeing large increases in the numbers of missionaries serving just in the past year.

The Church News credits these changes in missions to "an ongoing effort to increase efficiency, balance needs and manage resources" (article can be found here). Unlike most times when missions are combined, this year it does not appear that this is due to these areas being unproductive for the Church, but rather less productive. For instance, in Taiwan the Church is seeing continued success with several congregations created a year and membership increasing by around 2,000 a year. Most congregations had four missionaries serving in each one and with the changes there will be just a companionship for each congregation.

In Brazil, the Church had a great year for growth last year. According to the Church's newest apostle Elder Neil L. Andersen, over 40,000 converts where baptized in Brazil in 2008. The number I was particularly excited about was the increase in congregations. There was an increase of 53 congregations last year in Brazil, the largest increase for one year in 10 years. The change in missions this year will hopefully allow for greater growth in the affected areas for years to come.