Only 32 stakes organized so far in 2017. By this time last year there were 61. That's a nearly 50% reduction! Warms my heart.
BTW, only 11 stakes so far in USA this year compared to 24 by July last year. Our (destructive) work is rolling forth to fill the whole (LDS) earth!

A few years ago, the area I did my mission in (Northern France) dissolved several 'districts,' eliminated some branches, and rolled them all up into one stake that was new -- and they called it 'growth' because of the 'new' stake. When it really was shrinkage.

Here's to shrinkage :)

I would wager that the number does not mean an INCREASE of 32 stakes, only that 32 were "organized." It may well mean a net loss of a few stakes. When Mormons are forced to consolidate 5 stakes into 3, the Church News always boasts, "Three new stakes organized." It's the whole "deck chairs on the Titanic" thing.

Actually the total number of stakes is one of the few accurate numbers reported by the church.

It is easy to see if the 32 stakes are in additional to the closing number in 2016, or if XX number of stakes were consolidated to create the 32.

But not if the statement that 32 stakes were merely organized.

There is some ambiguity for sure.

We'll know for sure when we get the usual data from the open and honest organisation itself. Then we can compare the total stake count to see what, if any, increase in stakes there has been.

Church growth: About the poorest measure of Personal Growth, Enlighenment, Kindness, or Honesty there is (as if the GAs cared, ha ha)

But is it an increase in membership or a realignment of boundaries?

I think 3 poor, desperate immigrants joined. That justified a stake realignment. ;o)

I'm sure the stakes in the U.S. that were created are in places where a lot of mormons are migrating to. Not because wards are growing through converts or even births.

In the early 90s a whole bunch of us migrated from Utah to Alabama for an aerospace project that was making the same move. At the same time a bunch of people had migrated to another place in that stake where nice large houses were cheap compared to Utah and California and where there were lots of tech and management type jobs.

So they split our stake and the wards grew. They have not re-combined the stake, as far as I know, but the wards in both stakes have really died out. The mormon population in our old area is less than half the size it was when we moved there over 20 years ago, although they've had 6-8 pairs of missionaries there and many baptisms since then. The only thing that grows is the roles of names of inactive people.

I liked one comment last week...the fifteen million number is the total of every Tom dick and Harriet that has ever been a member since 1830...names are never dropped ever...I have no idea and don't care really...but when tscc starts lying about anything and everything...any things possible...unless it isn't...then it's just speaking as an idiot...perfectly understandable

Stake growth may be down, but the ravenous land grab is growing.

We just had a new stake created, they took two 10-ward stakes and made 3 six/seven-ward stakes...literally zero growth, but a "new stake" was added to the count. I think the number of wards/branches is a more accurate measure of growth, or lack thereof.....

I think smaller stakes are becoming the norm.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 07/12/2017 06:16PM by danboyle.