November 2022 Monthly Newsletter

 Click here to access the November 2022 monthly newsletter for cumorah.com.

New Stakes Created in California, North Carolina, the Philippines, and Utah; New Districts Created in Tanzania

California

The Church organized a new stake in California on September 11th. The San Marcos California Stake was organized from a division of the Escondido California Stake and the Vista California Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards and one branch: the Buena Creek, Double Peak, Palomar YSA, Santa Fe Hills, Shadowridge, and Twin Oaks Valley Wards and the Las Posas Branch (Spanish). The creation of the new stake is essentially a reinstatement of the Escondido California South Stake (created in 1992, discontinued in 2011). This marks the first time the Church has created a new stake in California since the Lake Elsinore California Stake was organized in 2013. The Church has discontinued two stakes in California in 2022: the Concord California Stake and the Hayward California Stake.

There are now 146 stakes in California.

North Carolina

The Church organized a new stake in North Carolina on September 18th. The Lake Norman North Carolina Stake was organized from a division of the Gastonia North Carolina Stake and the Hickory North Carolina Stake. The new stake includes the following six wards: the Statesville, Cornelius, Huntersville, Lake Norman, Mooresville, and Mountain Island Wards. 

There are now five stakes in the Charlotte metropolitan area - two of which have been organized in the past five years. There are now 19 stakes in North Carolina.

Philippines

The Church organized a new stake in the Philippines. The Naga Philippines North Stake was organized from a division of the Naga Philippines Stake (organized in 1985). The new stake includes the following five wards and one branch: the Calabanga, Camaligan, Canaman, Naga 1st, and Naga 5th Wards, and the Tinambac Branch. The Church announced plans to build a temple in Naga in October 2022.

There are now 125 stakes and 55 districts in the Philippines.

Utah

The Church organized a new stake in southern Utah on November 20th. The St George Utah Boulder Ridge East Stake was organized on November 20th from the St George Utah Boulder Ridge Stake. The new stake includes the following five wards: the Cobblestone, Stonehedge, Stucki Farms, Sugar Plum, and Treasure Valley Wards. There are now 26 stakes in the St. George metropolitan area (excluding Hurricane and La Verkin). 

There are now 628 stakes and two districts in Utah.

Tanzania 

Two new districts were organized in Tanzania.

The Arusha Tanzania District was organized on November 20th. The new district includes three branches in the city of Arusha that were previously mission branches in the Tanzania Dar es Salaam Mission. These branches include the Arusha, Morombo, and Njiro Branches. Of these three branches, two were organized earlier in 2022. This marks the first time the Church has organized a district in Tanzania outside of the most populous city of Dar es Salaam. 

The Dar es Salaam Tanzania Chang'ombe District was organized on November 13th from a division of the burgeoning Dar es Salaam Tanzania District which had 16 branches after the creation of eight new branches in mid-2022. The new district includes four branches in the southern portion of the Dar es Salaam metropolitan area, including the Chanika, Kigamboni, Chang'ombe, and Mbagala Branches. Of these four branches in the new district, two were organized in mid-2022 and one was organized in 2021. It is unclear why the new district includes only four branches rather than evenly dividing the original Dar es Salaam Tanzania District into two districts of eight branches, but additional districts may be organized in Dar es Salaam in preparation of creating new branches and member groups. Recently returned missionaries report that the mission has aggressively organized member groups and small branches in Dar es Salaam to improve accessibility to the Church for Latter-day Saints and populations targeted by mission outreach. It appears that the focus has been to delay the creation of the first stake by providing greater saturation of congregations and meetinghouses in Dar es Salaam rather than trying to build up ward-sized units that cover large swaths of the city that include an average of half a million to one million people who live within the boundaries of each congregation. This type of strategy in Africa has generally be most effective in the long term for achieving greater growth. The population of the Dar es Salaam metropolitan area is 6.75 million. The Church in Tanzania is experiencing a period of rapid growth after decades of slow membership growth and stagnant congregational growth - a change that has appeared instigated by the creation of the Tanzania Dar es Salaam Mission in 2020 and transitioning to Swahili instead of English for church meetings. Church membership increased by nearly 30% between year-end 2019 and year-end 2021. In contrast, the Church had not reported annual membership growth rates year over year of 10% of higher since the early 2000s.

The End of Growth? Fading Prospects for Latter-day Saint Expansion

David Stewart, a colleague of mine who has collaborated on research regarding the growth and missionary program of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at cumorah.com, recently published an article in the Journal of the Mormon Social Science Association entitled: The End of Growth? Fading Prospects for Latter-day Saint Expansion. The article can be accessed here. This article masterfully chronicles declining growth rates in the Church during the past several decades and identifies institutional and societal factors that appear primarily responsible for lackluster growth rates.

Six New Missions to be Created in July 2023: Analysis

As promised, see below for an analysis of the six new missions to be organized in July 2023. The Church announced plans to organize these new missions on November 23rd, 2022. It is important to note that all but one of the new missions announced are in Africa. This decision likely reflects increasing numbers of African members serving full-time missions as well as good opportunities to expand missionary outreach in nations with populations that have exhibited strong receptivity to the Latter-day Saint gospel message. No missions have been announced to close in 2023.

Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission

The new Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan Mission will be the Church's third mission headquartered in Abidjan and the fourth mission in Cote d'Ivoire. The new mission will be organized primarily from a division of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission (organized in 1993), although some areas of the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission (organized in 2014) will be included in the mission boundary realignment. It is likely that the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission will include the six stakes in the Yopougon area of Abidjan, whereas the nine stakes in the eastern half of Abidjan will probably be fairly evenly divided between the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission and the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. There are also six districts located in the current boundaries in the Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission - most of which will probably be assigned to the new mission. The Cote d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission also currently includes the Bamako Branch in Mali. It is unclear what mission will administer Mali after the new mission is organized. A member group in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso has also been administered by the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission, although Burkina Faso is assigned directly to the Africa West Area per the Church's meetinghouse locator. The boundaries of the Cote d'Ivoire Yamoussoukro Mission (organized in 2018) are not reportedly affected by the creation of the new mission. The Church in Cote d'Ivoire has reported some of its most rapid growth in the world during the past decade, with the number of cities/towns with an official ward or branch increasing tenfold, the number of stakes increasing from 5 to 18, the number of districts increasing from 1 to 15, the number of congregations increasing from 42 to 257, and the number of Latter-day Saints increasing from 16,248 to 56,804. In another historical milestone, the creation of the Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire North Mission will mark the first time that the Church has ever organized three missions within the same metropolitan area on the African continent. The Abidjan Cote d'Ivoire Temple has been under construction for more than four years and appears to be nearing completion. It is suspected that the temple construction has taken so long due to difficulties with local work teams meeting the high standards for temple construction. There are nearly 29 million people who live in Cote d'Ivoire.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DR Congo) Kananga Mission

The creation of the new DR Congo Kananga Mission will increase the number of missions headquartered in the DR Congo to five. The new mission will be created from a division of the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission (organized in 2016). Senior missionaries have reported that the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission has baptized as many as 1,000 converts in a single month during 2022. Convert retention remains among the highest in the worldwide Church. It is not uncommon for many congregations in the DR Congo to have a larger number of people in attendance than there are members on the records for the particular congregation, although sacrament meeting attendance is generally about 80% nationwide. The new mission in Kananga will likely include just the three stakes in Kananga where the first stake in the city was organized in 2011. Reports from senior missionaries indicate that two new stakes will likely be organized in Kananga in 2023. The new mission will likely play a pivotal role in the expansion of the Church's presence into unreached cities where groups of members reside such as Tshikapa and Lodja. Moreover, the realigned DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission will likely include four stakes and one district. The creation of new stakes in the DR Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission also appears imminent considering the Mbuji-Mayi DR Congo Stake has 13 wards, the Mwene-Ditu DR Congo Stake has nine wards, and the Ngandajika DR Congo District has seven branches. The Church announced a temple for Kananga in 2021. The other missions headquartered in the DR Congo include the DR Congo Kinshasa West Mission (organized in 1987), the DR Congo Lubumbashi Mission (organized in 2010), and the DR Congo Kinshasa East Mission (organized in 2019). Also, the recently organized Rwanda Kigali Mission (organized in 2022) includes branches and member groups in the eastern DR Congo near the borders of Burundi and Rwanda. The Church in the DR Congo reported its most rapid membership growth in the world during the past two years as membership increased from 68,871 to 89,136 - a 29.4% increase. During the past 10 years, the Church in the DR Congo has grown from 30,435 members to 89,136 members, 9 stakes to 25 stakes, and 107 congregations to 255 congregations. The DR Congo is now the world's 14th most populous nation with 108 million people.

Nigeria Aba Mission

The Nigeria Aba Mission will be the Church's eighth mission in Nigeria following the creation of the Nigeria Lagos Mission (organized in 1980 as the West Africa Mission and renamed in 1985), the Nigeria Port Harcourt Mission (originally organized in 1988 as the Nigeria Aba Mission, relocated to Port Harcourt and renamed in 1995), the Nigeria Enugu Mission (organized in 1992 as the Nigeria Jos Mission and relocated to Enugu and renamed in 1993), the Nigeria Uyo Mission (organized in 2002, relocated and renamed the Nigeria Calabar Mission in 2008, relocated back to Uyo and renamed in 2019), the Nigeria Benin City Mission (organized in 2013), the Nigeria Owerri Mission (organized in 2016), and the Nigeria Ibadan Mission (organized in 2002, relocated to Lagos and renamed the Nigeria Lagos East Mission in 2007, discontinued in 2009, reinstated in 2018). The Church's first and only operating temple in Nigeria is located in Aba where there are now five stakes. The new mission in Aba will be organized primarily by a division of the Nigeria Owerri Mission, albeit the Church announced that other missions (Nigeria Benin City Mission, Nigeria Enugu Mission) will be realigned as part of the creation of the new mission. The Church in Nigeria has discontinued one mission that was never reinstated: the Nigeria Ilorin Mission (1992-1993). 

Nigeria Abuja Mission

The Nigeria Abuja Mission will be the Church's ninth mission in Nigeria. The new mission will be created from a division of the Nigeria Lagos Mission. The Church realigned its missions in Nigeria in 2019 and transferred northern Nigeria from the Nigeria Enugu Mission to the Nigeria Lagos Mission. The new mission will likely include the three stakes in Abuja (all of which have been organized in the past decade) and one district in Jos. The new mission will likely include half of the population of Nigeria - more than 100 million people - although most the population lives in states with Sharia law with predominantly Muslim populations and significant conflict between Muslims and Christians. Kano is the second most populous metropolitan area in Nigeria (4.9 million people) and remains without an official ward or branch of the Church. 

The Church has reported significant growth in Nigeria during the past decade, growing from 103,898 members to 211,219 members, 21 stakes to 68 stakes, and 315 congregations to 758 congregations. However, the number of districts has decreased in the past decade from 20 to 16. Three additional temples are planned for Nigeria in Lagos (announced in 2018), Benin City (announced in 2020), and Eket (announced in 2022). Nigeria is now the sixth most populous country in the world with 225 million people.

South Africa Pretoria Mission

The new South Africa Pretoria Mission will be the Church's fourth mission headquartered in South Africa (assuming that the Botswana/Namibia Mission will be relocated to Gaborone, Botswana from Pretoria, South Africa. It is possible that this mission may continue to be headquartered in South Africa, and thus, Johannesburg, South Africa will together with Abidjan become the first metropolitan areas to have three missions). The new mission will be organized from a division of the Botswana/Namibia Mission (organized in 2013), although the boundaries of the South Africa Johannesburg (organized in 1903) and South Africa Durban Mission (organized in 1991) will also be realigned. There is one more mission headquartered in South Africa: the Cape Town South African Mission (organized in 1984). The new mission will likely assist with greater focus on missionary efforts in Botswana and Namibia. The Church has reported moderate growth rates in South Africa during the past decade. During the past decade, Church membership has increased from 57,546 to 69,438, the number of congregations has increased from 151 to 195, the number of stakes has increased from 12 to 17, and the number of districts has increased from 4 to 10. There are 57.5 million people who live in South Africa.

Romania Bucharest Mission

The Church will reinstate the Romania Bucharest Mission which operated in Romania from 1993 until 2018 when it was consolidated with the neighboring Hungary Budapest Mission. I previously wrote about this decision to close the Romania Bucharest Mission here. Church growth trends have been stagnant in Romania for many years, and receptivity to Latter-day Saint proselytism has been poor for more than a decade. The decision to reinstate the Romania Bucharest Mission may be partially explained by difficulties with a single mission effectively servicing both Hungarian and Romanian speaking populations as well as efforts to provide greater mission leader oversight over members in both Romania and Hungary. As of 2021, there were 3,087 members, 15 branches, and 3 districts in Romania, whereas there were 5,278 members, 21 congregations, one stake, two districts, and one announced temple in Hungary. The current population of Romania is 18.5 million, whereas the current population of Hungary is 9.7 million.

Six New Missions to be Created in 2023

Today, the Church announced plans to organize the following six missions in July 2023:

• Cote d’Ivoire Abidjan North Mission
• Democratic Republic of the Congo Kananga Mission
• Nigeria Aba Mission
• Nigeria Abuja Mission
• South Africa Pretoria Mission
• Romania Bucharest Mission
  

The creation of the new missions will increase the number of missions in the Church to 416. I will provide additional analysis regarding these new mission creations in the coming days.

Survey Request on Growth Trends in Your Congregation

Please click here to complete a survey regarding the growth of the Church in your ward, branch, or member group. Your responses will be utilized for research purposes for cumorah.com.

October 2022 Newsletter

 Click here to access the October 2022 Newsletter for cumorah.com.

2021 Canadian Census

This past week, demographic data regarding religious affiliation and ethnicity was released for the 2021 Canadian census. These data can be found here. Some of the most noteworthy findings in the census data in regard to major religious groups include the percentage of Canadians who identify as Christian declined from 67.3% in 2011 to 53.3% in 2021, the percentage of Canadians who reported no religious affiliation increased from 23.9% in 2011 to 34.6% in 2021, the percentage of Canadians who identify as Muslim increased from 2.0% in 2001 to 4.9% in 2021, and the percentage of Canadians who identify as Hindu increased from 1.0% in 2001 to 2.3% in 2021.

The 2021 census noted 85,315 self-affiliated Latter-day Saints in Canada, or 0.23% of the total population and 42.8% of official Church-reported membership for year-end 2021. The percentage of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints compared to Church-reported membership was 56.9% in 2011. However, it is important to note that figures for Latter-day Saints in Canada on the census are extrapolated from sample data - not the entire data set. The database notes indicate that 25% of the persons in private households in occupied private dwellings were utilized for sample data to make the estimates for religious affiliation by group. Thus, the database also includes 95% confidence intervals for ranges with the data reported. Consequently, the following analysis should be considered with this in mind, especially given that these data may be prone to error for a small religious group (less than one percent of the population) in which only 25% of households were considered. It is unclear what the process was for the selection of the 25% sample, but I would assume that it was done randomly by statistical area to ensure that this sample is representative of the population. Despite this limitation, the census estimates appear to match well with Church-reported membership, even for areas where there are few Latter-day Saints on the records (like Northwest Territories). In other words, the census data do not appear to over-estimate the number of Latter-day Saints in areas with few Latter-day Saints.

The 2021 census figure for Latter-day Saints is 20,050 less than the number of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints tallied in the 2011 census (105,365) - a 19.0% decline in one decade. This marks one of the most significant percentage declines in the self-affiliation of Latter-day Saints noted on a national census. The percentage decline in the number of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints between 2011 and 2021 is similar to the percentage decline of self-affiliated Christians in the Canadian population during this same time period. The demographic composition of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints in the 2021 Canadian census was as follows: 85.2% not a visible minority (White, First Nations), 5.15% Latin American, 3.65% Filipino, 1.89% Black, 1.58% Chinese, 0.73% "multiple visible minorities," 0.47% Japanese, 0.35% "visible minorities not included elsewhere," 0.32% Korean, 0.28% Southeast Asian, 0.28% South Asian, 0.04% West Asian, and 0.02% Arab. In contrast, the Canadian population is 73.5% White/First Nations, 7.08% South Asian, 4.72% Chinese, 4.26% Black, 2.64% Filipino, 1.91% Arab, 1.60% Latin American, 1.07% Southeast Asian, 0.99% West Asian, 0.91% "multiple visible minorities," 0.60% Korean, 0.48% "visible minorities not included elsewhere," and 0.27% Japanese. Thus, self-affiliated Latter-day Saints are slightly more White than the general Canadian population, Latin Americans are significant over-represented in self-affiliated Latter-day Saints (more than three times the national percentage of Latin Americans), and self-affiliated Latter-day Saints are significantly under-represented in South Asians, West Asians, Southeast Asians, Arabs, and Blacks. Ranked from the highest to the lowest percentage of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints in the population, the 2021 census noted the percentage of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints by Province/Territory as follows: Alberta (1.43%), British Columbia (0.32%), Northwest Territories (0.24%), Yukon (0.20%), Saskatchewan (0.17%), Nova Scotia (0.17%), Prince Edward Island (0.12%), Ontario (0.12%), Manitoba (0.11%), New Brunswick (0.10%), Quebec (0.04%), Newfoundland and Labrador (0.03%), and Nunavut (0.03%). The percentage of self-affiliated Latter-day Saints of Church-reported official membership by province/territory is as follows: Northwest Territories (53.1%), Alberta (52.3%), British Columbia (33.5%), Prince Edward Island (31.5%), New Brunswick (30.6%), Nova Scotia (28.7%), Saskatchewan (28.6%), Yukon (26.4%), Manitoba (23.2%), Quebec (22.0%), Newfoundland (20.8%), and Ontario (20.2%). Thus, these data suggest that the Church has the highest member activity rates in Northwest Territories and Alberta and the lowest member activity rates in Ontario, Newfoundland, and Quebec. These findings are consistent with reports from local members and returned missionaries over the decades in regard to member activity rates in these locations.

Although the census data suggest a major contraction in active members, other statistical indicators do not suggest that there has been a major decline in active membership. For example, congregational growth rates in Canada have not supported major changes in the number of active Latter-day Saints in the country. Congregations require certain minimum criteria to operate, and increases in the number of congregations correlates with increases in active membership. The number of congregations in Canada increased from 477 as of year-end 2011 to 499 as of year-end 2021. Moreover, Church membership in Canada increased from 185,149 to 199,534 during this 10-year period. The average number of members per congregation in Canada increased from 388 in 2011 to 400 in 2021 - one of the lowest members-to-congregations ratios in the world among countries where there are at least 100,000 members on the records. These data indicate membership growth rates have outpaced congregational growth rates - a finding typical in situations where the member activity rate may be decreasing (or where the number of active members per congregation is increasing). Furthermore, there has been a slight increase in the number of stakes in Canada between 2011 and 2021, as there were 47 stakes in 2011 and 53 stakes in Canada in 2021. The significant decline in census-reported Latter-day Saints indicate that significant congregation consolidations may occur in the foreseeable future. However, it is unclear whether the decline in self-affiliated Latter-day Saints was primarily due to larger numbers of less active/inactive Latter-day Saints no longer self-affiliating with the Church on the census, active members leaving the Church, or a combination of the two. Furthermore, it is also unclear whether birth and death rates in the Church may also account for these changes in census data, albeit this seems unlikely given Church-reported membership growth trends have not appeared to significantly change in recent years. I have not been able to find data from the 2011 Canadian census that breaks down religious affiliation by province/territory - such data would be valuable to assess how self-affiliation has changed in the past decade by province or territory. 

Finally, I wanted to post a link to the local member Church growth survey. Please complete this survey on the Church in your congregation to assist our research for The Cumorah Foundation. You can complete the survey here.

New Temples Announced in October 2022 - Part III - The United States

Jacksonville Florida Temple

The Jacksonville Florida Temple is the Church's fifth temple to be announced or dedicated in Florida following the Orlando Florida Temple (dedicated in 1994), the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple (dedicated in 2014), the Tallahassee Florida Temple (announced in 2020), and the Tampa Florida Temple (announced in April 2022). Jacksonville has long been a site included on my temple predictions map due to distance to the nearest temple in Orlando. The new temple will likely include six stakes (five in Florida, one in Georgia). The Church organized its first stake in Jacksonville in 1947, and there are four stakes in the Jacksonville metropolitan (if the Kingsland Georgia Stake is included). Church growth in the Jacksonville area has been slow in recent years with only one new stake created in the past 20 years (Jacksonville Florida South Stake in 2009).

Grand Rapids Michigan Temple

The Grand Rapids Michigan Temple is the Church's second temple in Michigan following the dedication of the Detroit Michigan Temple in 1999. The new temple will likely have five stakes (four in Michigan, one in Indiana) and one district within the temple district. The Lansing Michigan Stake (organized in 1962) is the oldest stake in the likely temple district. Only one new stake has been organized in the Grand Rapids area within the past 40 years - the Holland Michigan Stake in 2022.

Prosper Texas Temple

The Prosper Texas Temple is the Church's eighth temple in Texas and its third temple in the Dallas/Fort Worth metropolitan area. Other temples in Texas include the Dallas Texas Temple (dedicated in 1984), the Houston Texas Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Lubbock Texas Temple (dedicated in 2002), the San Antonio Texas Temple (dedicated in 2005), the McAllen Texas Temple (announced in 2019), the Fort Worth Texas Temple (announced in 2021), and the Austin Texas Temple (announced in April 2022). The new temple in Prosper will likely include 8-10 stakes in northern Dallas - half of which have been organized in the past 15 years. Northern Dallas has numbered among the most rapidly growing areas of the Church in the United States. The announcement of the new temple in Prosper makes the Dallas/Forth Worth metropolitan area the first metropolitan area east of the Rocky Mountains to have three temples.

Lone Mountain Nevada Temple

The Lone Mountain Nevada Temple is the Church's fourth temple in Nevada following the Las Vegas Nevada Temple (dedicated in 1989), the Reno Nevada Temple (dedicated in 2000), and the Elko Nevada Temple (announced in 2021). The new temple will likely include approximately 10 stakes within the temple district. Steady growth has occurred in northwestern Las Vegas where the new temple will be constructed, with three stakes created in the area during the past seven years. There are 28 stakes in the Las Vegas/Henderson metropolitan area.

Tacoma Washington Temple

The Tacoma Washington Temple is the Church's fifth temple in Washington following the Seattle Washington Temple (dedicated in 1980), the Spokane Washington Temple (dedicated in 1999), the Columbia River Washington Temple (dedicated in 2001), and the Moses Lake Washington Temple (announced in 2019). The new temple may serve as many as 20 stakes in the Tacoma area and in southwestern Washington State, and the Seattle Washington Temple may have as few as 15 stakes assigned following the creation of the new temple. The Church has experienced essentially stagnant growth in the Tacoma area during the past 20 years, and there have been significant consolidations of congregations in the Seattle area in the past few years after many years of no significant change in the number of congregations in the area. The oldest stake in the Tacoma area, the Gig Harbor Washington Stake, was organized in 1952.

New Temples Announced in October 2022 - Part II - Latin America

Chiclayo Peru Temple

The Chiclayo Peru Temple will be the Church's sixth temple in Peru following temples in Lima (dedicated in 1986), Trujillo (dedicated in 2015), Lima Los Olivos (announced in 2016), Arequipa (dedicated in 2019), and Cusco (announced in April 2022). The Church organized its first stake in Chiclayo in 1980, and there are now six stakes and one district in the Chiclayo metropolitan area. Chiclayo was previously one of the metropolitan areas outside of the United States with the most stakes without a temple. The new temple will likely include 13 stakes and three districts in northern Peru. The Church organized its own mission for Chiclayo in 2011. Stakes in Chiclayo and extreme northern Peru are currently assigned to the Trujillo Peru Temple district. Church growth trends in stakes and districts within the likely temple district for the Chiclayo Peru Temple have been slow in recent years. Only one new stake has been organized in the area during the past decade (Paita Peru Stake in 2019). The new temple is the Church's first temple in Lambayeque Region.

Buenos Aires City Center Argentina Temple

Buenos Aires was previously the metropolitan area outside of the United States with the most stakes with only one temple. There are 26 stakes in the greater Buenos Aires metropolitan area (including La Plata and excluding Zárate). The new Buenos Aires City Center Argentina Temple will be the Church's sixth temple in Argentina following temples in Buenos Aires (dedicated in 1986), Córdoba (dedicated in 2015), Salta (announced in April 2018), Mendoza (announced in October 2018), and Bahía Blanca (announced in 2020). The new temple district appears likely to include as many as 13 stakes in central and northwestern Buenos Aires. The current Buenos Aires Argentina Temple is fairly centrally located in Buenos Aires, and the new temple may not be very far away from the current temple unless it is built in the north-central area. The Church organized its first stake in Buenos Aires in 1966. The most recently organized stakes include the Lujan Argentina Stake (organized in 2016) and the Buenos Aires Argentina Chacabuco Stake (organized in 2014). Unlike most Latin American countries, the Church has never discontinued a stake before in Argentina, but there has been a net decline of more than 100 congregations for the country during the past 15 years. Church growth trends in Buenos Aires have been slow, and the number of congregations in the metropolitan area has slightly declined in the past decade. The new temple is the Church's third temple for Buenos Aires Province.

Londrina Brazil Temple

The Londrina Brazil Temple will be the Church's 17th temple in Brazil following temples in São Paulo (dedicated in 1978), Recife (dedicated in 2000), Porto Alegre (dedicated in 2000), Campinas (dedicated in 2002), Curitiba (dedicated in 2008), Manaus (dedicated in 2012), Fortaleza (dedicated in 2019), Rio de Janeiro (dedicated in 2022), Belem (announced in 2016, to be dedicated in November 2022), Brasília (announced in 2017), Salvador (announced in 2018), São Paulo Brazil East (announced in 2020), Belo Horizonte (announced in April 2021), Vitória (announced in October 2021), Maceió (announced in April 2022), and Santos (announced in April 2022). The new temple in Londrina will likely include eight stakes and three districts in western Paraná and São Paulo states. The Church organized its first stake in Londrina in 1979, and there are two stakes in the city today. Church growth has been slow, but steady, in this region of Brazil, with only two new stakes organized in the likely new temple district during the past decade. Stakes in the likely new temple district primarily pertain to the Curitiba Brazil Temple district and the Campinas Brazil Temple district, albeit the Foz do Iguaçu Brazil Stake is assigned to the Asunción Paraguay Temple district. The Brazil Londrina Mission was organized in 1995. The Londrina Brazil Temple is the Church's second temple in Paraná State.

Riberão Prêto Brazil Temple

The announcement of the Riberão Prêto Brazil Temple marks the second time in Church history in Brazil when two temples were announced on the same day (the first such instance was in April 2022). The Riberão Prêto Brazil Temple is the Church's 18th temple announced for Brazil. The new temple will likely include 13 stakes and one district in extreme northwestern São Paulo State and extreme western Minas Gerais State - areas currently serviced by the Campinas Brazil Temple. The Church organized its first stake in Riberão Prêto in 1987, followed by a second stake in 1992, and two additional stakes in 1993. However, the two stakes organized in 1993 were discontinued in 2001. Nevertheless, the Church organized a third stake in Riberão Prêto in 2019 after steady increases in the number of congregations in the city during the previous 5-10 years. Thus, Riberão Prêto is the city (that has never previously had a temple announced) to have had the most stakes previously discontinued and have a temple announced (the city with the most stakes ever discontinued to have another temple announced is Santiago, Chile where a second temple was announced in 2021 after 15 stakes were discontinued between 2000-2019 - the original Santiago Chile Temple was dedicated in 1983). Like the region that will likely be assigned to the Londrina Brazil Temple, Church growth trends have been slow, but steady. Only two new stakes have been organized in the area likely to be serviced by the Riberão Prêto Brazil Temple during the past decade.

São Paulo State is the province/state with the most temples (five) dedicated or announced in the world outside of the United States.

Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple

The Huehuetenango Guatemala Temple is the Church's fifth temple in Guatemala following temples in Guatemala City (dedicated in 1984), Quetzaltenango (dedicated in 2011), Cobán (announced in 2019), and Miraflores Guatemala City (announced in 2020). This location was not on my list of likely locations for new temple announcements due to few stakes and proximity to Quetzaltenango. The new temple in Huehuetenango will likely be a small temple as the prospective temple district will likely include only three stakes (all located in Huehuetenango) and two districts. The first stake in Huehuetenango was organized in 1988 followed by additional stakes created in 1994 and 2014. Stakes and districts in the Huehuetenango area currently pertain to the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple district and the Guatemala Quetzaltenango Mission.

Cuernavaca Mexico Temple

President Nelson explained during the announcement of four new temples in locations near Mexico City that, "We are also planning to build multiple temples in selected large metropolitan areas where travel time to an existing temple is a major challenge." 

The Cuernavaca Mexico Temple is the Church's 20th temple in Mexico. The Church in Mexico has previously dedicated or announced the following temples: the Mexico City Mexico Temple (dedicated in 1983), the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple (dedicated in 1999), the Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Oaxaca Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Tampico Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Villahermosa Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Mérida Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Veracruz Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2000), the Guadalajara Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2001), the Monterrey Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2002), the Tijuana Mexico Temple (dedicated in 2015), the Puebla Mexico Temple (announced in 2018), the Querétaro Mexico Temple (announced in April 2021), the Torreón Mexico Temple (announced in April 2021), the Culiacán Mexico Temple (announced in October 2021), the San Luis Potosí Mexico Temple (announced in April 2022), and the Mexico City Benemérito Mexico Temple (announced in April 2022). The new Cuernavaca Mexico Temple will likely include 12 stakes in Morelos State, southern Estado de Mexico State, and Guerrero State. The first stake was organized in Cuernavaca in 1983, and there are two stakes in the city. The oldest stake in the prospective temple district was organized in Cuautla in 1975 where there are three stakes today. Church growth has been slow in the area of Mexico. The most recently organized stake was created in 2009. The Church organized a mission in Cuernavaca in 2006. The Cuernavaca Mexico Temple was the first temple to be announced in Morelos State. Stakes in the likely new temple district pertain to the Mexico City Mexico Temple.

Pachuca Mexico Temple

The Pachuca Mexico Temple is the Church's 21st temple in Mexico. The new temple will likely include five stakes in the Pachuca area. The oldest stake in the probable temple district was created in 1984 in Pachuca. There are three stakes in Pachuca. The Church has reported some of its more rapid growth in Mexico in the Pachuca area as attested by the creation of new stakes and districts (three of the five stakes likely to be in the new temple district were organized in 2008, 2010, and 2018). The Mexico Pachuca Mission was organized in 2013. The Pachuca Mexico Temple is the first temple to be announced in Hidalgo State. Stakes in the likely new temple district pertain to the Mexico City Mexico Temple.

Toluca Mexico Temple

The Toluca Mexico Temple is the Church's 22nd temple in Mexico. This temple was not included on my most recent map of likely locations for future temple announcements because there are only three stakes in the Toluca area and close proximity to Mexico City where there are two temples (one dedicated, one announced). The Toluca Mexico Temple will likely include only three stakes and one district (in Michoacán). However, a fourth stake in the area appears likely to be organized in the foreseeable future. The new temple will be the Church's first temple in Estado de Mexico State - a state with dozens of stakes that surrounds Mexico City proper. The first stake in the Toluca area was created in 1991. Church growth in the Toluca area has been steady and more rapid than most areas of Mexico, with the next two stakes created in 2005 and 2014. Stakes in the area are assigned to the Mexico Mexico City West Mission. Stakes in the likely new temple district pertain to the Mexico City Mexico Temple.

Tula Mexico Temple

The Tula Mexico Temple is the Church's 23rd temple in Mexico. Like the Toluca Mexico Temple, this location was not included on my most recent temple prediction map due to few stakes in the area and close proximity to Pachuca which I considered a much more likely prospect for a new temple (which coincidentally also had a temple announced at the same time). The Tula Mexico Temple will likely service only four stakes in western Hidalgo State. The announcement of the Tula Mexico Temple marks the first temple two temples have been announced at the same time for the same state/province where no temples previously operated. There is only one stake in Tula that was organized in 1975. Three of the four stakes in the prospective temple district may divide in the coming years if additional congregations are organized and the number of active members increases to warrant it. Stakes in the likely new temple district are divided between the Mexico Pachuca Mission and the Mexico Mexico City North Mission. Stakes in the likely new temple district pertain to the Mexico City Mexico Temple.