User:Jgstokes/Area (LDS Church)

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.

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 2019 there are 21 areas.

Future area division

On June 28, 2019, the First Presidency announced a future area division which will go into effect in August 2020, when the nations comprising the current Africa Southeast Area will be split between the new Africa Central Area and the renamed Africa South Area.^[3] As a result of that, effective August 2020, there will be 22 geographical areas of the Church. The timing of that announcement is believed to be the furthest in advance a future area boundary change has been announced.^{[citation needed]}

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.^[4]

Roughly one year later, in 2019, Church leaders clarified that the 10 North American areas would be merged into 6 (with the Idaho and North America Central Areas being consolidated into the North America Central Area, the North America Northwest and North America West Areas being consolidated into the North America West Area, and the Utah North, Utah Salt Lake City, and Utah South Areas being consolidated into a single Utah Area.^[5]

Also unique to the 2019 assignments was a change in the administration of the Middle East/Africa North Area. In prior years, two General Authority Seventies were assigned oversight for that area, which was administered from headquarters. But beginning in August 2019, a three-man area presidency will serve the needs of that area. While the President and First Counselor are General Authority Seventies who will continue their oversight from headquarters, the Second Counselor, an Area Seventy who lives and works within the boundaries of that area, will continue to do so, while taking on the new assignment as a member of the area presidency.

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.

The church now has 15 areas outside North America and 6 areas inside North America for a total of 21. Area presidency assignments are generally filled by General Authority Seventies or area seventies.^[6]

Area assignments are typically announced in the spring each year, with changes effective that year on August 1.^[7]

List

The following is an alphabetical list of the areas of the church and related leadership assignments as of 1 August 2019.^[5]

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; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Tajikistan; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam
Asia North	Tokyo, Japan	Yoon Hwan Choi	Takashi Wada	L. Todd Budge	Japan; Micronesia; Mongolia^[8]; North Korea; Palau; South Korea; Guam (US)
Brazil	São Paulo, Brazil	Marcos A. Aidukaitis	Adilson de Paula Parrella	Joaquin E. Costa	Brazil	Official website (Portuguese)
Caribbean	Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Jose L. Alonso	Eduardo Gavarret	Jorge M. Alvarado	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	Brian K. Taylor	Alan R. Walker	Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama
Europe	Frankfurt, Germany	Gary B. Sabin	Massimo De Feo	Erich W. Kopischke	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	Christoffel Golden	Hans T. Boom	Alexey V. Samaykin (Area Seventy)	Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bulgaria; Estonia; Georgia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan
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	Larry S. Kacher	Jeffrey H. Singer (Area Seventy)	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	S. Gifford Nielsen	Chi Hong (Sam) Wong	Matthew L. Carpenter	Alberta; Colorado; Idaho; Illinois; Iowa; Kansas; Manitoba; Michigan (Upper Peninsula); Minnesota; Missouri; Montana; Nebraska; Northwest Territories; North Dakota; Nunavut; Saskatchewan; South Dakota; Wisconsin; Wyoming; British Columbia (small eastern sections); Montana (small portion); Ontario (western half).
North America Northeast	Salt Lake City, Utah	Randall K. Bennett	Allen D. Haynie	W. Mark Bassett	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 Southeast	Salt Lake City, Utah	James B. Martino	Vern P. Stanfill	Hugo Montoya	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	Paul B. Pieper	Adrian Ochoa	Kylse S. McKay	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	Alaska; British Columbia; California; Hawaii; Oregon; Washington; Yukon; Arizona (small portions)
Pacific	Auckland, New Zealand	Ian S. Ardern	K. Brett Nattress	Kazuhiko Yamashita	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	Taniela B. Wakolo	Steven R. Bangerter	Philippines; Northern Mariana Islands (US)
South America Northwest	Lima, Peru	Enrique R. Falabella	Jorge F. Zeballos	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	Randy D. Funk	Walter F. Gonzalez	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)	Congregations	Temples
Africa Southeast	197,226	16	585 congregations	Durban South Africa Temple • Harare Zimbabwe Temple (under construction) • Johannesburg South Africa Temple • Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple • Nairobi Kenya Temple (under construction)
Africa West	248,350	17	810 congregations	Aba Nigeria Temple • Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple (dedication scheduled) • Accra Ghana Temple • Lagos Nigeria Temple (site announced)
Asia	164,741	11	368 congregations	Bangkok Thailand Temple • Bengaluru India Temple (under construction) • Hong Kong China Temple • Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple (under construction) • Taipei Taiwan Temple
Asia North	223,508	12	420 congregations	Fukuoka Japan Temple • Okinawa Japan Temple • Sapporo Japan Temple • Seoul Korea Temple • Tokyo Japan Temple • Yigo Guam Temple
Brazil	1,289,376	35	1,996 congregations	Belém Brazil Temple • Brasília Brazil Temple • Campinas Brazil Temple • Curitiba Brazil Temple • Fortaleza Brazil Temple • Manaus Brazil Temple • Porto Alegre Brazil Temple • Recife Brazil Temple • Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple • Salvador Brazil Temple • São Paulo Brazil Temple
Caribbean	194,221	8	367 congregations	Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple • San Juan Puerto Rico Temple • Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple
Central America	729,791	18	1,071 congregations	Guatemala City Guatemala Temple • Managua Nicaragua Temple (under construction) • Panama City Panama Temple • Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple • San José Costa Rica Temple • San Pedro Sula Honduras Temple • San Salvador El Salvador Temple • Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple
Europe^[9]	455,088	26	1,261 congregations	Bern Switzerland Temple • Budapest Hungary Temple (site announced) • Copenhagen Denmark Temple • Frankfurt Germany Temple • Freiberg Germany Temple • Helsinki Finland Temple • Lisbon Portugal Temple • London England Temple • Madrid Spain Temple • Paris France Temple • Praia Cape Verde Temple • Preston England Temple • Rome Italy Temple • Stockholm Sweden Temple • The Hague Netherlands Temple
Europe East^[9]	44,313	10	209 congregations	Kyiv Ukraine Temple • Russia Temple (announced)
Mexico^[9]	1,344,298	32	1,981 congregations	Ciudad Juárez Mexico Temple • Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple • Guadalajara Mexico Temple • Hermosillo Sonora Mexico Temple • Mérida Mexico Temple • Mexico City Mexico Temple • Monterrey Mexico Temple • Oaxaca Mexico Temple • Puebla Mexico Temple • Tampico Mexico Temple • Tijuana Mexico Temple • Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico Temple • Veracruz Mexico Temple • Villahermosa Mexico Temple
Middle East/Africa North^[9]	11,714	0	85 congregations
North America Central	1,069,925	23	2,606 congregations	Billings Montana Temple • Bismarck North Dakota Temple • Boise Idaho Temple • Calgary Alberta Temple • Cardston Alberta Temple • Chicago Illinois Temple • Denver Colorado Temple • Edmonton Alberta Temple • Fort Collins Colorado Temple • Idaho Falls Idaho Temple • Kansas City Missouri Temple • Meridian Idaho Temple • Nauvoo Illinois Temple • Pocatello Idaho Temple • Regina Saskatchewan Temple • Rexburg Idaho Temple • St. Louis Missouri Temple • St. Paul Minnesota Temple • Twin Falls Idaho Temple • Winnipeg Manitoba Temple • Winter Quarters Nebraska Temple
North America Northeast^[9]	407,514	22	839 congregations	Boston Massachusetts Temple • Columbus Ohio Temple • Detroit Michigan Temple • Halifax Nova Scotia Temple • Hartford Connecticut Temple • Indianapolis Indiana Temple • Manhattan New York Temple • Montreal Quebec Temple • Palmyra New York Temple • Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple • Richmond Virginia Temple • Toronto Ontario Temple • Washington D.C. Temple
North America Southeast	526,385	17	1,030 congregations	Atlanta Georgia Temple • Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple • Birmingham Alabama Temple • Columbia South Carolina Temple • Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple • Louisville Kentucky Temple • Memphis Tennessee Temple • Nashville Tennessee Temple • Orlando Florida Temple • Raleigh North Carolina Temple
North America Southwest	1,032,246	21	2,011 congregations	Albuquerque New Mexico Temple • Dallas Texas Temple • Gilbert Arizona Temple • Houston Texas Temple • Las Vegas Nevada Temple • Lubbock Texas Temple • Mesa Arizona Temple • Monticello Utah Temple • Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple • Phoenix Arizona Temple • Reno Nevada Temple • San Antonio Texas Temple • Snowflake Arizona Temple • Gila Valley Arizona Temple • Tucson Arizona Temple
North America West	1,347,961	31	2,792 congregations	Anchorage Alaska Temple • Columbia River Washington Temple • Fresno California Temple • Kona Hawaii Temple • Laie Hawaii Temple • Los Angeles California Temple • Medford Oregon Temple • Moses Lake Washington Temple • Newport Beach California Temple • Oakland California Temple • Portland Oregon Temple • Redlands California Temple • Sacramento California Temple • San Diego California Temple • Seattle Washington Temple • Spokane Washington Temple • Vancouver British Columbia Temple • Feather River California Temple
Pacific	499,509	16	1,145 congregations	Adelaide Australia Temple • Apia Samoa Temple • Auckland New Zealand Temple (dedication scheduled) • Brisbane Australia Temple • Hamilton New Zealand Temple • Melbourne Australia Temple • Neiafu Tonga Temple (under construction) • Nuku'alofa Tonga Temple • Pago Pago American Samoa Temple (under construction) • Papeete Tahiti Temple • Perth Australia Temple • Suva Fiji Temple • Sydney Australia Temple
Philippines^[9]	688,852	22	1,149 congregations	Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple (under construction) • Cebu City Philippines Temple • Davao Philippines Temple (under construction) • Alabang Philippines Temple (under construction) • Manila Philippines Temple • Urdaneta Philippines Temple
South America Northwest	1,299,577	32	1,874 congregations.	Arequipa Peru Temple • Barranquilla Colombia Temple • Bogotá Colombia Temple • Caracas Venezuela Temple • Cochabamba Bolivia Temple • Guayaquil Ecuador Temple • Lima Peru Temple • Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple • Quito Ecuador Temple • Trujillo Peru Temple
South America South	1,193,569	28	1,697 congregations.	Asunción Paraguay Temple • Antofagasta Chile Temple (under construction) • Buenos Aires Argentina Temple • Concepción Chile Temple • Córdoba Argentina Temple • Mendoza Argentina Temple • Montevideo Uruguay Temple • Salta Argentina Temple • Santiago Chile Temple
Utah	1,985,355	10	4,937 congregations	Bountiful Utah Temple • Cedar City Utah Temple • Draper Utah Temple • Brigham City Utah Temple • Jordan River Utah Temple • Layton Utah Temple • Logan Utah Temple • Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple • Ogden Utah Temple • Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple • Payson Utah Temple • Provo City Center Temple • Provo Utah Temple • Saratoga Springs Utah Temple • Salt Lake Temple • St. George Utah Temple • Star Valley Wyoming Temple • Deseret Peak Utah Temple • Red Cliffs Utah Temple

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.
^ Africa Southeast Area to be Divided into Two Areas, South African Newsroom, 28 June 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.
^ First Presidency Announces 2018 Area Leadership Assignments, Mormon Newsroom, 5 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
^ ^a ^b First Presidency Announces 2019 Area Leadership Assignments, lds.org, 26 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.
^ 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 two area seventies serving in area presidencies: the Second Counselors in the Europe East and Middle East/Africa North Areas.
^ For several years, the assignments were effective on August 15, but August 1 has been the effective date since 2007.
^ The developing Church in Mongolia now belongs to the North Asia region, Newsroom: Mongolia, 24 July 2019, retrieved 30 July 2019.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.

Category:Organizational subdivisions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Category:Religious organizations established in 1984 Category:Types of Latter Day Saint organization

[1] Allen, James B. and Glen M. Leonard. The Story of the Latter-day Saints 2nd Edition, p. 654.

[2] Mehr, Kahlile (Spring 2001). "Area Supervision: Administration of the Worldwide Church, 1960-2002". Journal of Mormon History. 27 (1): 192–214.

[3] Africa Southeast Area to be Divided into Two Areas, South African Newsroom, 28 June 2019. Retrieved 30 July 2019.

[4] First Presidency Announces 2018 Area Leadership Assignments, Mormon Newsroom, 5 April 2018. Retrieved 8 April 2018.

[Aug_2019_changes-5] First Presidency Announces 2019 Area Leadership Assignments, lds.org, 26 April 2019. Retrieved 5 May 2019.

[6] 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 two area seventies serving in area presidencies: the Second Counselors in the Europe East and Middle East/Africa North Areas.

[7] For several years, the assignments were effective on August 15, but August 1 has been the effective date since 2007.

[8] The developing Church in Mongolia now belongs to the North Asia region, Newsroom: Mongolia, 24 July 2019, retrieved 30 July 2019.

[ReferenceA-9] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.

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