Temple Site Possibilities: Asia Area--Part One: Current Temples

Hello again, everyone! As many of you know, around a month ago, I began a new series of posts to share my thoughts about future temple site possibilities within each of the Church's geographical areas and to ask for your input on those locations or any others I may have missed, with a view to refining that list prior to the next General Conference in April. Because of all I have been dealing with personally, and because of all the Church and temple news I felt needed to be more of a priority, my last post in that series was done on October 30.

I apologize that I have taken so long to continue the series. This post will discuss the current temples within the Asia Area of the Church. Due to the sheer volume of data I will be presenting about this area, I will be devoting this post to discussing current temples in the area, and will do a second post later on detailing the possibilities I have put together.

Just a preliminary note before I begin my analysis of those possibilities: the Asia Area was one where I had only listed a few possibilities initially for quite a long time. It was not until I received some advice from a few experts on temple-related matters (in which I was encouraged to expand my net) that I realized just how many great potential sites exist within the Asia Area of the Church. So, which temples currently cover the area? Let's dive right into that subject.

The main reason I have felt so strongly that the Asia Area may need many new temples is that there are currently only 2 operating temples within that area (in Hong Kong China and Taipei Taiwan). One other has been announced for Bangkok Thailand, and if member speculation is correct, an existing building housing Church offices will be rebuilt and renovated into a multi-purpose edifice that will continue to have Church offices, but will also serve as a meetinghouse and the temple, in the mold of existing temples in Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York. Depending on if and when that is confirmed, we could potentially see the Bangkok Temple dedicated within the next 3-5 years or less. I am keeping my eye on that and will pass along any new information as I have it.

For now, let's turn our attention to the size of the current temple districts in the Asia Area. First, I want to talk about the Taipei Taiwan Temple. That district  currently serves the 17 stakes that have been established in that nation, where there are also a total of 2 missions (in Taipei and Taichung) and where the 17 stakes break down further into 108 wards and 9 branches. That one temple may or may not be sufficient for the Taiwanese Saints, especially those living a fair distance from Taipei. So I have my eye on a candidate for Taiwan's second temple, for which I will be sharing my thoughts in my next post about this area.

In the meantime, once the Bangkok Thailand Temple is constructed and dedicated, that will split the Hong Kong China Temple District. How will that happen? Let me answer that by sharing some data about the current units comprising that district, and which of those units will likely be transferred when the Bangkok Thailand Temple is dedicated.

Currently, the Hong Kong China Temple District is comprised of the following countries, which have the following number of Church units at present.

Hong Kong: 1 mission; 6 stakes; 1 district (which break down into 33 wards and 9 branches, or a total of 42 congregations)

India: 2 missions; 4 stakes; 2 districts (which break down into 21 wards and 22 branches, or a total of 43 congregations)

Thailand: 1 mission; 4 stakes; 2 districts (which break down into 22 wards and 19 branches, or a total of 41 congregations)

Cambodia: 1 mission; 2 stakes; 4 districts (which break down into 10 wards and 19 branches, or a total of 29 congregations)

Indonesia: 1 mission; 2 stakes; 1 district (which break down into 15 wards and 9 branches, or a total of 24 congregations)

Mongolia: 1 mission; 2 stakes; 1 district (which break down into 12 wards and 13 branches, or a total of 25 congregations)

China: No missions; 4 districts; 16 congregations total (all branches)

Vietnam: 1 mission; 2 districts; 10 congregations total (all branches)

Macau: No missions; 1 district; 3 congregations total (all branches)

Sri Lanka: No missions; 1 district; 4 congregations total (all branches)

Total units in the Hong Kong China Temple district: 9 missions; 21 stakes; 25 districts (which in turn make up 123 wards and 153 branches (a grand total of 276 congregations)

When the Bangkok Thailand Temple is dedicated, that district, which is anticipated to include Thailand, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, Singapore and Malaysia, will take in 6 missions; 13 stakes and 15 districts, which currently break down further into 78 wards and 102 branches, for a total of 180 congregations.

Removing those units from the Hong Kong China Temple district will leave Hong Kong to cover the remaining 3 missions; 8 stakes; 10 districts, which in turn will be comprised of 45 wards and 51 branches, for a total of 96 congregations.

Having shared that data, I also wanted to note that the one problem in the Asia Area is that because Asia is the largest of the seven continents, the nations within it are also substantially larger than anywhere else, and the distance between each of those nations and their assigned temples is fairly substantial. By that fact alone, the Asia Area is prime for many potential future temple locations. Where might those be? Stay tuned for my next post in which I will share my thoughts on that.

That does it for this post. Any comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.