Hello again, everyone! Since I last posted some thoughts about Church unit developments almost seven weeks ago, there have been significant changes. With only 9 of the 53 Sundays left in this year, so much has happened. As previous noted, on New Year's Day of this year, the Church had 3,266 stakes, 556 districts, and 30,304 congregations.
Noting that the Church now has 3,319 stakes, there has been a net increase of 53 stakes. With the 44 Sundays that have come and gone this year, that averages out to 1.2 new stakes per week. If that continues for the remaining 9 Sundays of this year, a minimum increase of 11 stakes is possible. Matthew Martinich, who keeps us all informed about Church growth on his blog devoted to that subject, has noted that the Church may have as many as 66 new stakes by the end of this year. Given that 5 stakes have also been discontinued thus far this year, that would be a net increase of 61 new stakes for the year, which means a net increase of 8 stakes, which is slightly lower than the 11 I referenced above.
Additionally, there are currently 545 districts, which is a net decrease of 11 districts. That said, when I have posted previously about Church growth that has happened or may yet happen, some have inquired how many of those 11 might have been upgraded to a stake. While that is a great question, that is not something I am comfortable answering. Posts like this represent my own thoughts on the growth of the Church that has or may yet occur, and the answers to such questions are well documented by others whom I respect as experts in the field of Church growth developments. With that in mind, those kinds of questions I would defer to those experts to answer. That said, I am grateful to those who have asked about that in the past, because it demonstrates that you are paying attention to things I have said in these posts. It will be interesting to see what the year-end number of districts is.
Next, I wanted to note that the number of congregations Church-wide has risen to 30,385. That means that, during these 42 Sundays that have come and gone, there has been a net increase of 81 congregations, or roughly 1.93 new congregations established each week. If that rate continues in the remaining 9 Sundays of this year, we could see 18 additional congregations established, at minimum. If a larger increase in the number of stakes occurs than what I have suggested here, many more congregations could be created. The one thing that is not as certain is how many congregations, if any, might be created during the final two Sundays of this year, when the world observes Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.
Finally, I just wanted to note as well that, based on the Church''s announcement last week about how missionaries would be using technology more, and that missions would begin to be consolidated, we could see a change in the number of missions in the Church by the end of this year. There is also a possibility that the Church could wait to start that consolidation process until next year, when the assignment of new mission presidents will be announced.
Whatever might happen in regards to Church growth, you can depend on the LDS Church Growth blog (and, to a lesser extent, this one) to bring you the latest. That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord's blessings upon each of you in all you do.
Tuesday, October 31, 2017
Update: Church unit changes since September 14 of this year
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
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