February 2017 Newsletter

Click here to access our February 2017 newsletter for cumorah.com.

New Stakes Created in Idaho, Montana, and Nicaragua

Idaho
The Church organized a new stake in the Idaho Falls area on February 19th. The Ammon Idaho East Stake was organized from a division of the Ammon Idaho Foothills Stake and the Iona Idaho South Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Ammon 12th, Ammon 17th, Ammon 22nd, Ammon 29th, Ammon 32nd, Iona 4th, and Iona 8th Wards.

There are now 129 stakes in Idaho.

Montana
The Church organized a new stake in Montana for the first time in 20 years. The Frenchtown Montana Stake was organized on February 26th from a division of the Kalispell Montana Stake and Missoula Montana Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards and three branches: the Frenchtown, Missoula 4th, Polson, Ronan, and St Ignatius Wards, and the Plains, Superior, and Thompson Falls Branches.

There are now 12 stakes in Montana.

Nicaragua
A new stake was organized in Nicaragua on January 22nd. The Matagalpa Nicaragua Stake was organized from the Matagalpa Nicaragua District. The new stake includes the following four ward and three branches: the Guanuca, Jinotega, Matagalpa, and Totolate Wards, and the La Dalia, San Ramon, and Yaguare Branches. It is likely that one or more additional branches have advanced into wards since the organization of the new stake. Nicaragua is currently the country with the most stakes and members without a temple announced, under construction, or in operation. A temple announcement for Managua, Nicaragua appears likely within the foreseeable future. However, the Church in neighboring Honduras did not have a temple announced until there were 20 stakes in the country. Thus, it may be many more years until a temple is announced for Nicaragua, especially given that the Church in Nicaragua exhibits some of the lowest member activity rates in the world

There are now 11 stakes and four districts in Nicaragua.

Corrections

There are a couple corrections I need to make based upon inaccurate information I have previously reported.

First, the Church has not realigned the Africa West Area boundaries. In fact, Chad has continued to pertain to the Africa West Area since its organization in 1998. Furthermore, Chad has been assigned to the Africa West Area Branch since the branch's creation in 2011.

Second, the new stake in Montana to be organized this month will be located in Missoula - not Billings.

I apologize for the misinformation.

New Stakes Created in Nevada, Uganda, and Utah; District Created in the Philippines; District Discontinued in the Philippines

Nevada
The Church organized a new stake in Henderson, Nevada on January 22nd. The Henderson Nevada Anthem Hills Stake was organized from a division of the Henderson Nevada Anthem Stake (renamed the Henderson Nevada Carnegie Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards: the Amador, Anthem, Inspirada, Madeira Canyon, Seven Hills, and Summit Wards.

There are now 41 stakes in Nevada.

Uganda
The Church organized its third stake in Uganda on January 22nd. The Kampala Uganda South Stake was organized from a division of the Kampala Uganda Stake (renamed the Kampala Uganda North Stake). The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Entebbe, Kabowa, Makindye, Nsambya , Kajjansi 1st, and Mengo Wards, and the Kajjansi 2nd Branch. The Church organized its first stake in Kampala in January 2010 and its first stake in Jinja in late 2015. The number of convert baptisms in the Uganda Kampala Mission has recently increased in comparison to previous months. The mission president noted that there were 200 converts baptized within the last two months of 2016. The Church in Uganda has historically struggled with poor convert retention and member activity rates. Currently the Church in Uganda has one of the highest members-to-unit ratios in Sub-Saharan Africa of 529 members per congregation. The organization of the new stake, the advancement of three branches into wards, and the creation of a new ward in the Kampala Uganda North Stake may signal some significant progress for the Church to achieve better growth in Uganda. Mission leadership has also reduced the number of missionaries assigned outside of Kampala and Jinja in an effort to establish stronger centers of strength in these two cities. There were 14,289 members and 27 congregations in Uganda as of year-end 2015.

There are now three stakes and zero districts in Uganda.

Utah
The Church organized a new stake in St George, Utah on January 29th. The St George Utah Washington Fields North Stake was organized from a division of the St George Utah Washington Fields Stake. The new stake includes the following seven wards: the Washington Fields 5th, Washington Fields 9th, Washington Fields 11th, Washington Fields 12th, Washington Fields 13th, Washington Fields 14th, and Washington Fields 15th Wards.

There are now 29 stakes in Washington County, Utah. There are now 584 stakes and one district in Utah.

Philippines 
A new district was created on Leyte. The Hinunangan Philippines District was organized from a division of the Sogod Philippines District. The new district includes two branches: the Hinunangan and St Bernard Branches. With so few branches in the new district, it appears likely that additional branches may be organized in the near future. The creation of the new district comes on the heals of significant boundary realignments with the Sogod Philippines District and the recently renamed Baybay Philippines District (formerly the Maasin Philippines District).

The Camiling Philippines West District was recently discontinued and consolidated with the Camiling Philippines East District (renamed Camiling Philippines District). All six branches in the former district were reassigned to the Camiling Philippines District. Prospects appear favorable for the district to become a stake in the near future. The Church once operated a stake in Camiling between 1991 and 2003. There are now 11 branches in the Camiling Philippines District.

January 2017 Newsletter

Click here to access our monthly newsletter from cumorah.com detailing recent LDS growth developments.

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.

Updates to LDS International Atlas - Number of Active Members

Within recent months, we have begun updating the ward and branch maps on the LDS International Atlas for cumorah.com. More specifically, these updates include new data regarding the number of active members that attend church in individual congregations as reported by returned missionaries or local members. Within the past several years, we have gathered member activity data on approximately 5,000 to 6,000 wards and branches worldwide - most of which are located outside of the United States. Although we currently have data for 25% of congregations or less in most countries, this project has focused on increasing the awareness of member activity rates worldwide. The date of sacrament meeting attendance is also provided to active membership figures. Thus far, we have made updates to the wards and branch maps for the following countries:

• Albania
• Belarus
• Belgium
• Croatia
• Czechia
• Denmark 
• Estonia
• Finland
• France 
• Guam
• Hungary
• Italy
• Japan
• Kiribati
• Kosovo
• Latvia
• Lithuania 
• Marshall Islands
• Micronesia, Federated States of
• Netherlands 
• Norway
• Russia
• Serbia
• Slovakia
• Spain 
• Sweden
• Taiwan

Access the atlas by clicking here.

New Branch in Vietnam

For the first time since the organization of the Vietnam Hanoi Mission in March 2016, the Church in Vietnam has created a new branch. The District 6 Branch was organized from a division of the Than Son Nhat Branch in Ho Chi Minh City. The new branch services the entire western half of Ho Chi Minh City - an area distant from the two LDS meetinghouses located in the northeastern area of the city. Overcrowding in the Than Son Nhat Branch and a need for a separate congregation that assembles in western Ho Chi Minh City prompted the organization of the new branch. Missionaries report that there are small groups of members who reside outside of the established church centers in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. However, there remain no official LDS congregations outside of these two cities. Prospects appear favorable for the establishment of additional congregations within the near future, especially within Ho Chi Minh City and southern areas of Vietnam.

See below for a map of LDS branches Vietnam.

Response to Mormon Stories Podcast - An Analysis of 2016 LDS Church Membership Statistics

Mormon Stories aired a live podcast earlier today regarding a review of a case study I posted on cumorah.com at the end of December entitled Top 10 Encouraging and Discouraging LDS Growth and Missionary Developments in 2016. I listened to the podcast and I was initially excited for this discussion about church growth between John Dehlin, Ryan Cragun, and Rick Phillips. However, I was disappointed with the podcast as a whole given the negative focus of the podcast regarding the participants' views of the LDS Church. More specifically, the analysis and discussion was characterized with disparaging and condescending undertones of active church members and general church leadership. The podcast primarily discussed the participants' view of the Church as a corporation, increasing secularism around the world, problems with inactivity and convert attrition, a reduced birthrate among American Latter-day Saints, the possible influence of American politics on international LDS growth trends, and the assertion that the Church will one day experience stagnant growth and ultimate demise as a religion. This negativity should not come as too big of a surprise given that all three participants in the discussion are former members or critics of the Church, and that similar approaches and themes have emerged in other Mormon Stories podcasts.

I appreciate the interest and time given by participants regarding this topic and raising its awareness to their audience despite their negativity. The participants clearly emphasized problems with member activity, convert retention, quick-baptism tactics, and declining receptivity to the LDS Church due to secularism as significant contributors to current LDS growth trends. However, there were several additional areas that were not explored in the podcast that warrant discussion in order to provide a more comprehensive and accurate assessment of LDS growth. My purpose in this post is to highlight some important areas that were not discussed in the podcast that significantly affect current growth trends in the LDS Church.

First, the Church's long-term struggles with member-missionary participation constitutes its greatest challenge to sustain and accelerate its growth. Thousands of surveys and interviews that David Stewart and I have collected and conducted over nearly the past 20 years substantiate this claim. Even locations where populations exhibit little interest in the LDS gospel message can become productive if ordinary members are involved in member-missionary activity. It is clear that member involvement in proselytism and mentoring new members and investigators has been and continues to be a worldwide problem for the Church to achieve growth. The frequency of General Conference tasks that address this topic suggests widespread problems with member-missionary work. It appears that despite efforts from church leaders to improve member-missionary participation, most members are uncomfortable or unsure of how to engage in effective and appropriate proselytism with acquaintances, friends, family, neighbors, and strangers. Some of the problems with lackluster member-missionary participation appear attributed to LDS cultural views of proselytism. David Stewart noted in our presentation to the Miller Eccles Study group in April 2014 that missionary work in the LDS Church has been regarded as something that one goes out to do in a far away place for a specific period of time rather than a daily activity of vital spiritual importance such as scripture study or personal prayer. I would argue that many recent struggles in the Church to accelerate growth center on a lack of desire, interest, vision, and know-how of ordinary members to appreciate their role in missionary activity, and local church leaders' struggles to likewise train, educate, and mentor members within their stewardship regarding member-missionary tactics and strategies. As a result, many active Latter-day Saints appear to have increasingly limited social interaction with those who are not members of the Church, resulting in social entrenchment of LDS congregations that further challenge effective proselytism programs.

Second, the centers of strength policy has significantly affected LDS growth trends worldwide. The most rapid growth in the Church occurred in the 1970s and 1980s when vast areas opened to proselytism and many major cities around the world were more thoroughly saturated with full-time missionaries. Although receptivity was high to the Church during these decades, the strategic vision for expanding the Church appears to best account for this surge of growth. Starting in the 1990s, the Church began to purposefully restrict its operations to only a handful of cities in most newly entered countries in order to better establish centers of strength. The logic of this approach centers on the development of a self-sufficient core LDS membership within a less dispersed geographical area in order to one day help prepare for expansion of the Church into surrounding areas. Unfortunately, this approach has yielded mixed results as the Church is limited to only a few selected locations - some of which may experience lower receptivity to the LDS gospel message compared to unreached areas. As a result, some of these pre-selected center of strength never growth and mature into a center of strength. The implementation and conservative interpretation of this policy has appeared to reduce the growth of the Church in locations such as Tanzania, northern Brazil, Angola, India, Malawi, and Ukraine - to name a few - due to a more limited field of proselytism.

Third, nominalism in traditional religious faiths and strong ethnoreligious ties to a traditional religious faith is another significant challenge for growth. The Church has experienced some of its slowest growth in countries where the majority of the population exhibits strong ties to a traditional faith. Notable examples include Roman Catholicism in Poland, Greek Orthodoxy in Greece, Islam in the Middle East and North Africa, and Buddhism in Thailand. Ethnoreligious ties wax and wane given changes in culture, politics, and society. For example, resurgence of religious activity and identification, such as in Central Asia and the Caucasus, has appeared to diminish receptivity to the Church in these nations since the dissolution of the Soviet Union as Turkic peoples have explored and rekindled their Islamic roots.

Fourth, the Church has struggled to adapt its teaching methods to meet local cultural needs and individuals from diverse religious backgrounds. There are no specialized materials to teach individuals who affiliate as atheist, nonreligious, Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu, Sikh, or followers of traditional Chinese religions to name a few. As individuals raised from Roman Catholic or Protestant backgrounds interact less frequently with members and full-time missionaries, there is an increased need and urgency to tailor proselytism approaches to the relevance and need of their intended audiences.

In conclusion, the purpose of this post was to identify significant areas that influence LDS growth trends that were not mentioned in the Mormon Stories podcast that aired earlier today. Although secularism, inactivity, declining birth rate, and convert retention have significantly affected recent LDS growth trends, low member-missionary participation, a conservative interpretation of the centers of strength policy, nominalism, strong ethnoreligious ties, and the lack of teaching approaches and resources tailored to those who do not come from a Roman Catholic or Protestant background constitute just as significant influences on LDS growth trends in the United States and worldwide. There were many positive developments in 2016 that suggest that the Church is making good strides in its growth - such as increases in the number of stakes, expansion and rapid growth in West Africa, improving LDS growth trends in Central America, and congregational growth in Canada and certain states in the United States. However, significant LDS growth problems persist - including in traditional strongholds such as the United States and Mexico. Furthermore, the expansion of the Church in many of the most populous nations remains at a frustratingly slow or stagnant pace - such as in India and Indonesia. Time will tell what 2017 and beyond will hold in regards to evolving LDS growth trends.

Mormon Stories Podcast - Reviewing 2016 LDS Growth Developments

Today at 12 PM Mountain Time Mormon Stories will be discussing 2016 LDS growth developments and reviewing my article regarding the ten most encouraging and ten most discouraging LDS growth developments in 2016. Sociologists Ryan Cragun and Rick Phillips will be participating in the podcast. Click here to view the podcast.