LDS Church Membership reaches 15 Million

According to my conservative calculations, the membership of the LDS church would have reached 15,009,900 by the end of August 2013.

Official membership as of 12/31/2012 was 14,782,473.  With an annual increase of 341,127 or a monthly increase of 28,427.  More likely the numbers are higher for two reasons, this is based on 2012 growth, if it is based on 2013 growth the monthly increase would be over 30,000 a month. Secondly, this is based on 55,000 missionaries, not the nearly 80,000 now serving.

End of year prediction for Dec 31, 2013, would fall at about 15.15 Million.  Of course the number would be two million higher if we counted all the children under the age of eight who are not yet baptized.  The church will release this Dec 2013 membership number in their annual April Conference in April 2014.

The 2013 US membership would be 6,415,000 growing about 100,000 a year
The International membership would be 8,719,000 growing about 250,000 a year

There are an average of 4,920 members per stake (this is simple division ignoring the 600 districts (smaller than stakes) and 7,600 branches)
There are 9.7 units (known as wards or branches or congregations) per stake
and about 510 members per unit

This puts the LDS membership ahead of the Jews both in the US and internationally
The LDS Church is the 4th largest in the US and should surpass the United Methodist church in 2019. With Catholics (67 Million US) and Southern Baptists (16 Million US) further ahead.

www.ncccusa.org/news/080215yearbook1.html
www.thearda.com/rcms2010/rcms2010

www.pewforum.org/Christian/Mormon/mormons-in-america

However, I have always believed a better measure of LDS activity is the level of stakes

There are 3,036 Stakes in the Church in 83 countries.  1,510 are in the US (49.75%) and 1,526 outside.
Year-to-date, the church has added 30 new stakes, 23 outside of the US

There are 141 operating temples, 68 in the US and 73 abroad
There are 170 announced and operating temples, 81 in the US and 89 abroad.

From the cumorah.com website
You find a map of all wards and branches and stake boundaries for all countries
Here is an example of South Africa
maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=208902184762411646460

Two Stakes Created in July, August both in Africa

There are now 3,032 stakes, with 1,510 in the US and 1,522 outside the US.  There are 76 stakes in Africa in 13 Countries. There are three temples with two more announced.

There are 22 stakes and one temple in Nigeria

There are 12 stakes and one announced temple in Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly known as Zaire)


26. Warri Nigeria - July 7th, 2013
27. Kisanga DR Congo - August 25th, 2013
ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com

There have been 27 stakes created year to date

Click to enlarge Nigeria

Click to enlarge DR Congo

lds.org/maps - now with Stake, Ward & Mission boundaries (requires lds sign-on)

New Temples in Hartford, CT & Fort Collins, CO Break Ground for Construction

The Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Hartford, CT temple was held Aug 17, 2013 by President Thomas S. Monson.

The Hartford Temple was the 156th announced temple. there are 141 in operation, 15 under construction and 14 announced for a total of 170.  This is the first temple in Connecticut, which has two stakes. Although the Yorktown, NY stakes has 5 strong CT wards in the south west corner above NYC in the "Tri-state area"

President Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of the Hartford Connecticut Temple in the opening session of the 180th Semiannual General Conference (Oct 2010). Plans had been announced for a temple in Hartford at General Conference 18 years earlier, but it was decided three years later that two other temples would be built in its place—one to the north in Boston, Massachusetts (100th Temple, Oct 2000) and one to the south in White Plains, New York, later named the Harrison New York Temple. Plans for the Harrison temple were suspended following the dedication of the Manhattan New York Temple. (119th Temple June 2004)

I grew up in New York and the Harrison New York would have been in our ward. The Hartford Temple was just one stake over and should have replaced Washington D.C. as "our" temple in NY (before Wash D.C., New York was in the London Temple District or you could drive to Salt Lake)  So to have a temple in Westchester County, NY instead of CT, we were OK with. The Saints in CT were sad and President Hinckley personally flew out and apologized when they canceled the Hartford, CT temple the first time.

Now they will have NYC, Boston and Hartford. Yeah

The Temple design is reminiscent of the historic First Church of Christ Congregational church in Farmington, completed in 1772.  The Temple will be approximately 25,500 square feet.

First Stake Created in Armenia (June 2013)

First Stake Created in Armenia (June 2013) Stake Number 3,027

The LDS church has created the first stake in the nation of Armenia    The Stake is called the Yerevan Armenia stake, it is the 3,027 stake in the World !

The Church now has established stakes in 83 countries.  This is the 14th new country to open its first stake since President Thomas Monson has become the Prophet, in February 2008.

The Church was in Armenia as early as 1885, as part of the Ottoman empire.  Starting in 1914 - 1916, during the Armenian genocide, between 600,000 and 800,000 Armenians were killed and another 2 million refugees fled.  The church sent over $115,000 in aid after a fast Sunday. My great-grand uncle Joseph Wilford Booth, served a mission in Armenia, actually served 3 times as a Missionary in Turkey, Armenia, Syria & Palestine for a total of 17 years. He assisted in getting refugees out of Armenia, and passed away and in Aleppo, Syria.  As a token of thanks some saints in Armenia sent him a large Turkish rug which I have in my home today.

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve organized the Yerevan Armenia Stake on June 16, 2013.

First stake organized in the Republic of Armenia

There are now 3,027 stakes, with 1,509 in the US, but 1,518 outside of the US

The Armenia saints are in the Kiev Ukraine Temple district -- 1,330 miles away.  I believe they are the one stake the furthest from a temple in the world.

Map showing new stake in Armenia and how it is sometimes considered part of Europe and sometimes part of Asia.

13 stakes added in May and June

One new stake was created in Guatemala.  There are now 41 Stakes in Guatemala and 2 temples. 

One new stake was created in Cape Verde. There are now 2 Stakes in Cape Verde 

One new stake was created in South Africa.  There are now 13 Stakes in South Africa and 1 temple. (with one more under construction)

Three new stake were created in Brazil.  There are now 249 Stakes in Brazil and 6 temples. (with two more under construction)

One new stake was created in Australia.  There are now 37 Stakes in Australia and 5 temples. 

Two new stake were created in Peru.  There are now 100 Stakes in Peru and 1 temple. (with two more under construction)  Yeah, 100 stakes !

One new stake was created in Zimbabwe. There are now 5 Stakes in Zimbabwe.

One new stake was created in Costa Rica.  There are now 6 Stakes in Costa Rica and 1 temples. 

One new stake was created in Armenia . This is the first stake created in Armenia  

One new stake was created in Utah.  There are now 564 Stakes in Utah and 14 temples. (with three more under construction)

12 of the 13 new stakes created were outside the US. These 13 new stakes were on 5 continents.

Armenia is the 83rd country to have at least one stake in its boundaries.

There are now 3,031 stakes, with 1,510 in the US, but 1,521 outside of the US

ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com - great source of LDS church growth information !

13. Antigua Guatemala - May 5th, 2013
14. Mindelo Cape Verde - May 5th, 2013
15. Bloemfontein South Africa - May 19th, 2013
16. Chapecó Brazil - May 19th, 2013
17. Sydney Australia Fairfield - May 19th, 2013

18. Lima Peru Pachacamac - June 2nd, 2013
19. Nkulumane Zimbabwe - June 2nd, 2013
20. Heredia Costa Rica - June 9th, 2013
21. Yerevan Armenia - June 16th, 2013
22. Orem Utah Vineyard - June 16th, 2013
23. Pirassununga Brazil - June 23rd, 2013
24. Santo Ângelo Brazil - June 23rd, 2013
25. Lima Peru Santa Patricia - June 29th, 2013

April Conference, the Annual Statistical Report (Yeah!)

As you can guess, this is one of my favorite parts of April Conference, the Annual Statistical Report:


For the information of the members of the Church, the First Presidency has issued the following statistical report regarding the growth and status of the Church as of December 31, 2012.

Church Units	Number	Increase*	Percent Increase
Stakes	3,005	60	2.04%
Missions**	347	7	2.1%
Districts	591
Wards and Branches	29,014
Church Membership
Total Membership	14,782,473	341,127	2.36%
New Children of Record during 2012	122,273
Converts Baptized during 2012	272,330	230	0.8%
Missionaries
Full-Time Missionaries	58,990	3,580	6.5%
Church-Service Missionaries	22,961
Temples
Temples Dedicated during 2012
(Kansas City Missouri, Manaus Brazil, Brigham City Utah, and Calgary Alberta)
	4		2.9%
Temples Rededicated during 2012 (Buenos Aires Argentina and Boise Idaho)
	2
Temples in Operation	140

* Increase and Percent Increase are my own calculations

** The church added 58 new missions in early 2013, so now there are 405 missions and 75,000 missionaries.

Another article on this: ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2013/04/2012-annual-statistical-report

2 New Temples announced at April General Conference

Cedar City, Utah

The Cedar City Utah Temple will be the 17th in Utah, including the announced Payson Utah and Provo City Center Temples as well as the Ogden Utah Temple which is currently under renovation. There are nearly two million Church members in Utah.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Brazil is home to nearly 200 million people including over 1,173,000 members of the Church. Brazil is home to six operating temples, with an additional temple announced for Fortaleza Brazil, bringing the total to eight with today’s announcement. The São Paulo Brazil temple, the first in Brazil, was completed in 1978.

mormonnewsroom.org/new-temples-announced

There are now 170 announced temples in 46 countries. 141 in operation, with 15 under construction.

Maps from ldschurchtemples.com/maps/ - this is a great web site for temple information.

7 Stakes created in Mar, Apr 2013 (Mexico, UT, PA, WY, AZ)

Two new stake were created in Utah.  There are now 563 Stakes in Utah and 14 temples. (with three more under construction)

One new stake was created in Pennsylvania.  There are now 11 Stakes in Pennsylvania and a temple in Philadelphia under construction)

One new stake was created in Wyoming.  There are now 17 Stakes in Wyoming and a temple in Star Valley under construction)

Two new stake were created in Mexico.  There are now 227 Stakes in Mexico and 12 temples. (with one more under construction)

One new stake were created in Arizona.  There are now 95 Stakes in Arizona and 3 temples. (with three more under construction)

6. South Jordan Utah Oquirrh Lake - March 3rd, 2013
7. Lehi Utah Jordan Willows - March 24th, 2013
8. Lancaster Pennsylvania - March 24th, 2013
9. Cheyenne Wyoming East - April 21st, 2013
10. Córdoba México - April 21st, 2013
11. Gilbert Arizona Williams Field - April 28th, 2013
12. Mexico City Alamedas - April 28th, 2013

http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/

Map of Lancaster Pennsylvania Stake Boundaries

Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple Dedicated Feb 2013

The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple was dedicated on 17 March 2013 by Dieter F. Uchtdorf   It is the Church's 141st temple. The Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple will be the first temple built in Honduras and the sixth built in the Central America. It is west of the San Salvador temple in El Salvador (2011 - 135th dedicated) and north of the San Jose, Costa Rica temple (2000 - 86th dedicated).  There is no temple in neighboring Nicaragua. There are 68 dedicated temples in the US and 73 outside.  There were 168 announced as of the end of December 2012.

Map and Picture from http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/tegucigalpa/ 

5 Stakes created in Jan, Feb 2013 (Australia, New Zealand, & Utah)

Two new stakes were created in Australia.  There are now 36 Stakes in Australia and 5 temples.

Two new stakes were created in New Zealand. There are now 28 Stakes in New Zealand and 1 temple.

One new stake was created in Utah.  There are now 561 Stakes in Utah and 14 temples. (with three more under construction)

There are now 1,504 stake in the US and 1,507 stake outside the US.

1. Melbourne Australia Gippsland - January 13th, 2013
2. Melbourne Australia Craigieburn - January 20th, 2013
3. Lehi Utah Pheasant Pointe - February 17th, 2013
4. Auckland New Zealand Otara - February 24th, 2013
5. Auckland New Zealand Redoubt - February 24th, 2013

http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/

and some maps:

8 Stakes created in Dec 2012 (Spain, Philippines, Congo, Argentina, Honduras, Sierra Leone)

Just a note, I started keeping track of LDS growth statistics when the church launched their web site in 1996.  www.lds.org. At that time, they announced 4,719,000 members both in the US and outside. However, I thought a better measure of the strength of the church outside of the US would be stakes.  I thought foreign stakes would catch US stakes in 2000, then I predicted 2004.  However, it didn't happen until Dec 2012.

Back then (1996) there were 9.4 Million members, Today (Aug 2013) there are 15 million.

All 8 of these December 2012 stakes are outside of the US and now there are 1,503 stakes in the US and 1,503 outside of the US.  Exactly 50%  /  50%  !

Freetown was Stake number 3,000.  Kinshasa DR Congo Mokali was stake number 3,006.

Wow !

58. Cartagena Spain - December 2nd, 2012
59. Freetown Sierra Leone - December 2nd, 2012
60. La Plata Argentina South - December 2nd, 2012
61. Madrid Spain Centro - December 2nd, 2012
62. Bacoor Philippines - December 9th, 2012
63. Carigara Philippines - December 9th, 2012
64. Choluteca Honduras Porvenir - December 16th, 2012
65. Kinshasa DR Congo Mokali - December 16th, 2012

Spain now has 13 stakes and 1 temple
Sierra Leone has one stake.
Argentina now has 71 stakes, 1 temple with 1 on the way
The Philippines now has 85 stakes, 2 temples with 1 on the way
Honduras now has 22 stakes and 1 temple
DR Congo now has 12 stakes and 1 temple on the way

Sorry no Maps, maybe as I catch up with this blog in 2013...

First Stake Created in Sierra Leone (Dec 2012) Stake Number 3,000!

The LDS church has created the first stake in the nation of Botswana.  The Stake is called the Freetown Sierra Leone stake, it is the 3,000 stake in the World !

The Church now has established stakes in 82 countries.  This is the 13th new country to open its first stake since President Thomas Monson has become the Prophet, in February 2008.

There are now 72 Stakes in 14 countries in Africa. There are 3 temples (So. Africa, Nigeria & Ghana) with two more under construction (So. Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo {Zaire})

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve organized the Freetown Sierra Leone Stake.

Historic milestone: Sierra Leone stake marks Church's 3,000th

There are now 1,503 stakes inside the US and 1,497 stakes outside the US

Map showing new stake in Freetown and distance to Temple in Accra, Ghana (2004)

12 stakes created in November (Africa, No. So. Central America, Europe, Australia)

There are now 2,998 Stakes, 1,503 inside the US and 1,495 outside the US

Botswana - 1 stake
Brazil - now has 246 stakes, 6 temples & 2 more being built
Guatemala - now has 40 stakes, 2 temples
Spain - now has 11 stakes, 1 temple
Australia - now has 34 stakes, 5 temples
Bolivia - now has 26 stakes, 1 temple
DR Congo - now has 10 stakes, 1 temple being built

Tennessee - now has 11 stakes, 2 temples
Washington - now has 57 stakes, 3 temples

46. Gaborone Botswana - November 4th, 2012
47. Lafaiete Brazil - November 4th, 2012
48. Manaus Brazil Guarany - November 4th, 2012
49. Murfreesboro Tennessee - November 4th, 2012
50. Villa Nueva Guatemala El Frutal - Nov 4th, 2012
51. West Richland Washington - November 4th, 2012
52. Lléida Spain - November 11th, 2012
53. Brisbane Australia Cleveland - Nov. 18th, 2012
54. La Paz Bolivia Copacabana - November 18th, 2012
55. Coomera Australia - November 18th, 2012
56. Hamilton New Zealand Rotokauri - 11/25/2012
57. Kinshasa DR Congo Binza - November 25th, 2012

I like maps and I just found what http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/ links to http://www.cumorah.com/ can do - a Google map of any place in the world listing wards in mapped out stake boundaries.   Now http://www.lds.org is great also, but since the lds.org maps needs a login and then you can see your stake members home address in your boundaries.  I love all three approaches !

Here is an example from http://www.cumorah.com/

First Stake Created in Botswana (Nov 2012)

The LDS church has created the first stake in the nation of Botswana.  The Stake is called the Gaborone Botswana Stake, it is the 2,987 stake in the World.

The Church now has established stakes in 81 countries.  This is the 12th new country to get a stake since President Thomas Monson has become the Prophet, in February 2008.

See Church News Article with Pictures

The stake was created with units from the Roodeport South Africa Stake and consists of eight wards or branches.

There are now 70 Stakes in 13 countries in Africa. There are 3 temples (So. Africa, Nigeria & Ghana) with two more under construction (So. Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo {Zaire})

There are now nearly 400,000 baptized member in Africa with a annual growth rate of between 4% and 5% per year and the church is adding about 6 - 12 stakes a year. Only California and Utah have more than 400,000 members

Country	Stakes
Nigeria	22
South Africa	13
Dem Rep Congo (Zaire)	12
Ghana	10
Ivory Coast (Cote D'Ivoire)	5
Zimbabwe	5
Cape Verde	2
Madagascar	2
Botswana	1
Congo (Republic of)	1
Kenya	1
Sierra Leone	1
Uganda	1

Just to compare with Africa's 400,000 members

Rank	Country:	2012
1	Untied States	6,321,416
2	Mexico	1,317,700
3	Brazil	1,209,974
4	Philippines	675,166
5	Chile	577,716
6	Peru	527,759
7	Argentina	412,095
8	Guatemala	239,734
9	Ecuador	211,165
10	Canada	187,982