Area (LDS Church)
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An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes and the church as a whole.
Contents
1 History
2 Administration
3 List
4 Area details
5 See also
6 References
History
The areas as they now exist were formed in January 1984.[1] Prior to that time, general authorities served as "area supervisors" and at times resided outside of Salt Lake City.[2] In 1984, 13 initial areas were created; by 1992 there were 22, and by early 2007 there were 31. As of August 2012 there are 25 areas.
Administration
Until 2003, each area had a president and two counselors, all of whom were typically general authorities (area seventies were sometimes asked to be counselors). This three-man body was known as the area presidency. In that year, the church eliminated area presidencies for all areas located in the United States and Canada, which were all then placed under the direct supervision of one of the seven members of the Presidency of the Seventy, thus freeing more general authorities from specific area assignments. Since these areas were previously administered by area presidencies located at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, the administrative change was not as drastic as it might seem.
In April 2018, the church announced that, effective August 1, areas in the United States and Canada would once again be supervised by a three-man presidency. This will enable members of the Presidency of the Seventy to more fully assist the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in their duties, and to fill other assignments as needed.[3] Two of those ten area presidencies now supervise two areas each, while the 3 previously-separate Utah Areas (Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South) have been merged into a single Utah Area.[4][5] Each of these six area presidencies will administer their areas from church headquarters in Salt Lake City.
The areas outside the United States and Canada continue to be governed by area presidencies that are typically composed of general authorities and area seventies. Rather than living in Salt Lake City, the area presidency members in these areas usually reside in a headquarters city that is located within the geographic boundaries of the area. Area seventies who serve in the area presidencies reside in their own homes, which may or may not be in the area headquarters city. One exception to the area presidency living in the geographic boundaries is the Middle East/Africa North Area which is administered from Salt Lake City. Each area presidency typically uses an executive secretary to assist in the administration of the area.
The church now has 15 areas outside North America and 8 areas inside North America for a total of 23.
Area presidency assignments are generally filled by General Authority Seventies.[6][7]
Area assignments are typically announced in the spring each year, with changes effective that year on August 1.[8]
List
The following is an alphabetical list of the areas of the church and related leadership assignments as of 1 August 2018.[9]
| Area name | Area headquarters | Area president | First counselor | Second counselor | Geographic coverage (Areas where the LDS Church has no official presence in italics) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Africa Southeast | Johannesburg, South Africa | S. Mark Palmer | Joseph W. Sitati | Joni L. Koch | Angola; Ascension (UK); Botswana; Burundi; Cameroon; Central African Republic; Comoros; Democratic Republic of the Congo; Djibouti; ; Eritrea; Ethiopia; Gabon; Kenya; Lesotho; Madagascar; Malawi; Mauritius; Mayotte; Mozambique; Namibia; Republic of Congo; Réunion (FRA); Rwanda; Saint Helena (UK); Seychelles; Somalia; South Africa; Sudan; Swaziland; Tanzania; Tristan da Cunha (UK); Uganda; Zambia; Zimbabwe | |
Africa West | Accra, Ghana | Marcus B. Nash | Edward Dube | Hugo E. Martinez | Benin; Burkina Faso; Chad; Côte d'Ivoire; Gambia; Ghana; Guinea; Guinea-Bissau; Liberia; Mali; Mauritania; Maritius; Niger; Nigeria; São Tomé and Príncipe; Senegal; Sierra Leone; Togo; Western Sahara | |
Asia | Hong Kong, China | David F. Evans | Peter F. Meurs | David P. Homer | Afghanistan; Bangladesh; Bhutan; Brunei; Cambodia; China; East Timor; India; Indonesia; Kyrgyzstan; Laos; Malaysia; Maldives; Mongolia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Tajikistan; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam | |
Asia North | Tokyo, Japan | Yoon Hwan Choi | Kazuhiko Yamashita | Takashi Wada | Japan; Micronesia; North Korea; Palau; South Korea; Guam (US) | |
Brazil | São Paulo, Brazil | Marcos A. Aidukaitis | W. Mark Bassett | Adilson de Paula Parrella | Brazil | Official website (Portuguese) |
Caribbean | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | Walter F. Gonzalez | Jose L. Alonso | Eduardo Gavarret | Antigua and Barbuda; Bahamas; Barbados; Dominica; Dominican Republic; Grenada; Guyana; Haiti; Jamaica; Saint Kitts and Nevis; Saint Lucia; Saint Vincent and the Grenadines; Suriname; Trinidad and Tobago; Anguilla (UK); Aruba (NED); Cayman Islands (UK); French Guiana (FRA); Guadaloupe (FRA); Martinique (FRA); Montserrat (FRA); Netherlands Antilles (NED); Puerto Rico (US); Saint Barthelemy (FRA); Saint Martin (FRA); Turks and Caicos Islands (UK); Virgin Islands (UK); Virgin Islands (US) | |
Central America | Guatemala City, Guatemala | Juan A. Uceda | Jorge F. Zeballos | Valeri V. Cordon | Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama | |
Europe | Frankfurt, Germany | Paul V. Johnson | Gary B. Sabin | Massimo De Feo | Albania; Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Cape Verde; Croatia; Cyprus; Czech Republic; Denmark; Finland; France; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Republic of Ireland; Italy; Liechtenstein; Luxembourg; Republic of Macedonia; Malta; Moldova; Monaco; Montenegro; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; San Marino; Scotland; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Vatican City; Azores (POR); Canary Islands (ESP); Gibraltar (UK); Greenland (DEN) | |
Europe East | Moscow, Russia | James B. Martino | Christoffel Golden | Alexey V. Samaykin (Area Seventy) | Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bulgaria; Estonia; Georgia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan | |
Idaho | Salt Lake City, Utah | Wilford W. Andersen | S. Gifford Nielsen | Brian K. Taylor | Idaho; Montana (small portion); Wyoming (small portion) | |
Mexico | Mexico City, Mexico | Arnulfo Valenzuela | Rafael E. Pino | John C. Pingree Jr. | Mexico; Cuba | |
Middle East/ Africa North | Salt Lake City, Utah | Anthony D. Perkins, Wilford W. Andersen[10] | Algeria; Bahrain; Cape Verde; Egypt; Iran; Iraq; Israel; Jordan; Kuwait; Lebanon; Libya; Morocco; Oman; Qatar; Saudi Arabia; Syria; Tunisia; United Arab Emirates; Yemen; Gaza Strip; West Bank | |||
North America Central | Salt Lake City, Utah | Wilford W. Andersen | S. Gifford Nielsen | Brian K. Taylor | Alberta; British Columbia (small eastern sections); Colorado; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Manitoba; Michigan (Upper Peninsula); Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Northwest Territories; North Dakota; Nunavut; Ontario (western half); Saskatchewan; South Dakota; Wisconsin; Wyoming. | |
North America Northeast | Salt Lake City, Utah | Randall K. Bennett | Kevin S. Hamilton | Allen D. Haynie | Connecticut; Delaware; Indiana; Maine; Maryland; Massachusetts; Michigan; New Brunswick; Newfoundland; New Hampshire; New Jersey; New York; Nova Scotia; Ohio; Ontario; Pennsylvania; Prince Edward Island; Quebec; Rhode Island; Vermont; Virginia (most of the state); Washington, D.C.; West Virginia; Bermuda (UK); Saint Pierre and Miquelon (FRA) | |
North America Northwest | Salt Lake City, Utah | Kevin W. Pearson | Scott D. Whiting | Jörg Klebingat | Alaska; British Columbia; California (small part of north); Oregon; Washington; Yukon. | |
North America Southeast | Salt Lake City, Utah | Claudio R. M. Costa | Shayne M. Bowen | Vern P. Stanfill | Alabama; Arkansas; Florida; Georgia; Kentucky (most of the state); Louisiana; Mississippi; North Carolina; South Carolina; Tennessee; Texas (small portion); Virginia (small portions) | |
North America Southwest | Salt Lake City, Utah | Lynn G. Robbins | Paul B. Pieper | Adrian Ochoa | Arizona; Nevada; New Mexico; Oklahoma; Texas; Arkansas (northwest quarter); California (small portions); Colorado (southwest portion); Kansas (small portion); Louisiana (small portion); Missouri (southwest third); Utah (small portions) | |
North America West | Salt Lake City, Utah | Kevin W. Pearson | Scott D. Whiting | Jörg Klebingat | California; Hawaii; Arizona (small portions) | |
Pacific | Auckland, New Zealand | O. Vincent Haleck | Ian S. Ardern | K. Brett Nattress | Australia; Fiji; Kiribati; Marshall Islands; Nauru; New Zealand; Papua New Guinea; Samoa; Solomon Islands; Tonga; Tuvalu; Vanuatu; American Samoa (US); Cook Islands (NZ); French Polynesia, including Tahiti (FRA); New Caledonia (FRA); Niue (NZ); Pitcairn Islands (UK); Tokelau (NZ); Wallis and Futuna (FRA) | Official website |
Philippines | Manila, Philippines | Evan A. Schmutz | Michael John U. Teh | Taniela B. Wakolo | Philippines; Northern Mariana Islands (US) | |
South America Northwest | Lima, Peru | Enrique R. Falabella | Hugo Montoya | Mathias Held | Bolivia; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Venezuela | |
South America South | Buenos Aires, Argentina | Benjamin De Hoyos | Mark A. Bragg | Juan Pablo Villar | Argentina; Chile; Paraguay; Uruguay | |
Utah | Salt Lake City, Utah | Craig C. Christensen | LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. | Randy D. Funk | Utah; Arizona small portion; Idaho (small portion); Nevada (small portion); Wyoming (southwest corner) | |
Area details
The following statistics are current as of January 1, 2015 (unless otherwise specified), and are taken from the country and area websites on LDS.org and statistical profiles on cumorah.com.
| Area | Membership | Missions (07/01/2018) | Stakes/Districts | Congregations (wards/branches) | Temples |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Africa Southeast | 197,226 | 16 | 585 congregations | Durban South Africa Temple (under construction) | |
| Africa West | 248,350 | 17 | 810 congregations | Aba Nigeria Temple | |
| Asia | 164,741 | 11 | 368 congregations | Bangkok Thailand (under construction) | |
| Asia North | 223,508 | 12 | 420 congregations | Fukuoka Japan Temple | |
| Brazil | 1,289,376 | 35 | 1,996 congregations | Belém Brazil (announced) | |
| Caribbean | 194,221 | 8 | 367 congregations | Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple (dedication scheduled) | |
| Central America | 729,791 | 18 | 1,071 congregations | Guatemala City Guatemala Temple | |
| Europe[11] | 455,088 | 26 | 1,261 congregations | Bern Switzerland Temple | |
| Europe East[11] | 44,313 | 10 | 209 congregations | Kyiv Ukraine Temple | |
| Idaho | 425,739 | 4 | 1,102 congregations | Boise Idaho Temple | |
| Mexico[11] | 1,344,298 | 32 | 1,981 congregations | Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple | |
| Middle East/Africa North[11] | 11,714 | 0 | 85 congregations | ||
| North America Central | 644,186 | 19 | 1,504 congregations | Billings Montana Temple | |
| North America Northeast[11] | 407,514 | 22 | 839 congregations | Boston Massachusetts Temple | |
| North America Northwest | 494,290 | 12 | 1,299 congregations | Anchorage Alaska Temple | |
| North America Southeast | 526,385 | 17 | 1,030 congregations | Atlanta Georgia Temple | |
| North America Southwest | 1,032,246 | 21 | 2,011 congregations | Albuquerque New Mexico Temple | |
| North America West | 853,671 | 19 | 1,493 congregations | Fresno California Temple | |
| Pacific | 499,509 | 16 | 1,145 congregations | Adelaide Australia Temple | |
| Philippines[11] | 688,852 | 22 | 1,149 congregations | Cagayan de Oro Philippines (announced) | |
| South America Northwest | 1,299,577 | 32 | 1,874 congregations. | Arequipa Peru (under construction) | |
| South America South | 1,193,569 | 28 | 1,697 congregations. | Asunción Paraguay Temple | |
| Utah | 1,985,355 | 10 | 4,937 congregations | Bountiful Utah Temple | |
See also
- District (LDS Church)
- List of area seventies of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- List of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Regional representative of the Twelve
- Seventy: Area seventies and additional quorums of seventy
References
^ Allen, James B. and Glen M. Leonard. The Story of the Latter-day Saints 2nd Edition, p. 654.
^ Mehr, Kahlile (Spring 2001). "Area Supervision: Administration of the Worldwide Church, 1960-2002". Journal of Mormon History. 27 (1): 192–214..mw-parser-output cite.citationfont-style:inherit.mw-parser-output .citation qquotes:"""""""'""'".mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-free abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/Lock-green.svg/9px-Lock-green.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-registration abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-gray-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .citation .cs1-lock-subscription abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg/9px-Lock-red-alt-2.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registrationcolor:#555.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription span,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration spanborder-bottom:1px dotted;cursor:help.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon abackground:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg/12px-Wikisource-logo.svg.png")no-repeat;background-position:right .1em center.mw-parser-output code.cs1-codecolor:inherit;background:inherit;border:inherit;padding:inherit.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-errordisplay:none;font-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-errorfont-size:100%.mw-parser-output .cs1-maintdisplay:none;color:#33aa33;margin-left:0.3em.mw-parser-output .cs1-subscription,.mw-parser-output .cs1-registration,.mw-parser-output .cs1-formatfont-size:95%.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-leftpadding-left:0.2em.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right,.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-wl-rightpadding-right:0.2em
^ First Presidency Announces 2018 Area Leadership Assignments, Mormon Newsroom, 5 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ The merge is verified by the information found at this link.
^ See also this article for further evidence of this change, where those serving in Utah are all listed under one heading, while those serving in the other four areas (Idaho, North America Central, North America Northwest, and North America West) are listed separately under those same four areas.
^ In late 2015, the church began referring to these leaders as General Authority Seventies, rather than distinguishing between the First or Second Quorum of the Seventy.
^ Although area seventies may serve in an area presidency, including filling the whole presidency in some cases in the past, in recent years, only a few area seventies have served in an area presidency. The church currently has one area seventy serving in the presidency of the Asia Area. Use of an area seventy in the area presidency has primarily included filling a vacancy due to such things as illness or other "mid-year" assignment changes.
^ For several years, the assignments were effective on August 15, but August 1 has been the effective date since 2007.
^ Church Adds Area Presidencies for U. S. and Canada, Announces Other Assignments, LDS.org, 5 April 2018. Retrieved 1 August 2018.
^ Although the source cited above (from the Church website) refers to Perkins as the Area President and Andersen as the First Counselor, that terminology was not subsequently confirmed in the August 2018 Ensign. Also, although Andersen has been the senior general authority assigned to this area for the last year, his additional assignment with the Idaho & North America Central areas necessitated a reduced role in this area.
^ abcdef Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.