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.

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. Each of these areas were 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.

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 10 areas inside North America for a total of 25.

Area presidency assignments are generally filled by General Authority Seventies.[3][4] Area assignments are typically announced in the spring each year, with changes effective that year on August 1st.[5]

List

The following is an alphabetical list of the areas of the church and related leadership assignments as of 1 August 2015, except where noted otherwise.[6][7] In this listing, an asterisk indicates an area seventy serving as a member of the Presidency.

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 Carl B. Cook Stanley G. Ellis Kevin S. Hamilton 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 LeGrand R. Curtis Jr. Terence M. Vinson Vern P. Stanfill Benin; Burkina Faso; Cape Verde; 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[8] Hong Kong, China Randy D. Funk Chi Hong (Sam) Wong Siu Hong Pon* 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 Scott D. Whiting Kazuhiko Yamashita Yoon Hwan Choi Japan; Micronesia; North Korea; Palau; South Korea; Guam (US)
Brazil São Paulo, Brazil Claudio R.M. Costa Jairo Mazzagardi Marcos A. Aidukaitis Brazil Official website (Portuguese)
Caribbean Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic J. Devn Cornish Claudio D. Zivic Hugo E. Martinez 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 Kevin R. Duncan Adrian Ochoa Jose L. Alonso Belize; Costa Rica; El Salvador; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Panama
Europe Frankfurt, Germany Patrick Kearon Paul V. Johnson Timothy J. Dyches Albania; Andorra; Austria; Belgium; Bosnia and Herzegovina; 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; Serbia; Slovakia; Slovenia; Spain; Sweden; Switzerland; United Kingdom; Vatican City; Azores (POR); Canary Islands (ESP); Gibraltar (UK); Greenland (DEN)
Europe East Moscow, Russia Bruce D. Porter Jörg Klebingat Larry S. Kacher Armenia; Azerbaijan; Belarus; Bulgaria; Estonia; Georgia; Kazakhstan; Kyrgyzstan; Latvia; Lithuania; Russia; Tajikistan; Turkey; Turkmenistan; Ukraine; Uzbekistan
Idaho Salt Lake City, Utah Ulisses Soares (Presidency)[7] Idaho; Montana (small portion); Wyoming (small portion)
Mexico Mexico City, Mexico Benjamín De Hoyos Paul B. Pieper Arnulfo Valenzuela Mexico; Cuba
Middle East/ Africa North Salt Lake City, Utah Larry R. Lawrence,  Wilford W. Andersen 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 Ulisses Soares (Presidency)[7] 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 Gerrit W. Gong (Presidency)[7][9] 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 Donald L. Hallstrom (Presidency)[7] Alaska; British Columbia; California (small part of north); Oregon; Washington; Yukon.
North America Southeast Salt Lake City, Utah Richard J. Maynes (Presidency)[7] 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 (Presidency) 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 Donald L. Hallstrom (Presidency)[7] California; Hawaii; Arizona (small portions)
Pacific Auckland, New Zealand Kevin W. Pearson O. Vincent Haleck S. Gifford Nielsen 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 Ian S. Ardern Shayne M. Bowen Allen D. Haynie Philippines; Northern Mariana Islands (US)
South America Northwest Lima, Peru Juan A. Uceda Carlos A. Godoy [7] Hugo Montoya [7] Bolivia; Colombia; Ecuador; Peru; Venezuela
South America South Buenos Aires, Argentina Walter F. González Francisco J. Viñas Jose A. Teixeira Argentina; Chile; Paraguay; Uruguay
Utah North Salt Lake City, Utah Craig C. Christensen (Presidency)[7] Utah (northern regions); Idaho (small portion); Wyoming (southwest corner)
Utah
Salt Lake City
Salt Lake City, Utah Craig C. Christensen (Presidency)[7] Greater Salt Lake City; Nevada (small portion)
Utah South Salt Lake City, Utah Craig C. Christensen (Presidency)[7] Utah (south of Greater Salt Lake City); Arizona (small portion); Nevada (small portion)

Area details

The following statistics are current as of January 1, 2015 (unless otherwise specified), with missions as of July 1, 2015 and are taken from the country and area websites on LDS.org and statistical profiles on cumorah.com.

Area Membership Missions Stakes/Districts Congregations
(wards/branches)
Temples
Africa Southeast 197,226 14 585 congregations

Durban South Africa (under construction)  • Johannesburg South Africa  • Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo (under construction)

Africa West 248,350 14 810 congregations

Aba Nigeria  • Abidjan Ivory Coast (announced)  • Accra Ghana

Asia 164,741 10 368 congregations

Bangkok Thailand (announced)  • Hong Kong China  • Taipei Taiwan

Asia North 223,508 12 420 congregations

Fukuoka Japan  • Sapporo Japan (dedication scheduled)  • Seoul Korea  • Tokyo Japan

Brazil 1,289,376 34 1,996 congregations

Campinas Brazil  • Curitiba Brazil  • Fortaleza Brazil (under construction)  • Manaus Brazil  • Porto Alegre Brazil  • Recife Brazil  • São Paulo Brazil

Caribbean 194,221 8 367 congregations

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic

Central America 729,791 18 1,071 congregations

Guatemala City Guatemala  • Panama City Panama  • Quetzaltenango Guatemala  • San José Costa Rica  • San Salvador El Salvador  • Tegucigalpa Honduras

Europe[10] 455,088 31 1,261 congregations

Bern Switzerland  • Copenhagen Denmark  • Frankfurt Germany  • Freiberg Germany  • Helsinki Finland  • Lisbon Portugal (under construction)  • London England  • Madrid Spain  • Paris France (under construction)  • Preston England  • Rome Italy (under construction)  • Stockholm Sweden  • The Hague Netherlands

Europe East[11] 44,313 14 209 congregations

Kyiv Ukraine

Idaho 425,739 4 1,102 congregations

Boise Idaho  • Idaho Falls Idaho  • Meridian Idaho (under construction)  • Rexburg Idaho  • Twin Falls Idaho

Mexico[12] 1,344,298 34 1,981 congregations

Ciudad Juárez Mexico  • Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico  • Guadalajara Mexico  • Hermosillo Sonora Mexico  • Mérida Mexico  • Mexico City Mexico  • Monterrey Mexico  • Oaxaca Mexico  • Tampico Mexico  • Tijuana Mexico  • Tuxtla Gutiérrez Mexico  • Veracruz Mexico  • Villahermosa Mexico

Middle East/Africa North[13] 11,714 0 85 congregations
North America Central 644,186 20 1,504 congregations

Billings Montana  • Bismarck North Dakota  • Calgary Alberta  • Cardston Alberta  • Chicago Illinois  • Denver Colorado  • Edmonton Alberta  • Fort Collins Colorado (dedication scheduled)  • Kansas City Missouri  • Nauvoo Illinois  • Regina Saskatchewan  • St. Louis Missouri  • St. Paul Minnesota  • Winnipeg Manitoba (announced)  • Winter Quarters Nebraska

North America Northeast[14] 407,514 24 839 congregations

Boston Massachusetts  • Columbus Ohio  • Detroit Michigan  • Halifax Nova Scotia  • Hartford Connecticut (dedication scheduled)  • Indianapolis Indiana  • Manhattan New York  • Montreal Quebec  • Palmyra New York  • Philadelphia Pennsylvania (dedication scheduled)  • Toronto Ontario  • Washington D.C.

North America Northwest 494,290 13 1,299 congregations

Anchorage Alaska  • Columbia River Washington  • Medford Oregon  • Portland Oregon  • Seattle Washington  • Spokane Washington  • Vancouver British Columbia

North America Southeast 526,385 18 1,030 congregations

Atlanta Georgia  • Baton Rouge Louisiana  • Birmingham Alabama

 • Columbia South Carolina  • Fort Lauderdale Florida  • Louisville Kentucky  • Memphis Tennessee  • Nashville Tennessee  • Orlando Florida  • Raleigh North Carolina

North America Southwest 1,032,246 21 2,011 congregations

Albuquerque New Mexico  • Dallas Texas  • Gilbert Arizona  • Houston Texas  • Las Vegas Nevada  • Lubbock Texas  • Mesa Arizona  • Monticello Utah  • Oklahoma City Oklahoma  • Phoenix Arizona  • Reno Nevada  • San Antonio Texas  • Snowflake Arizona  • The Gila Valley Arizona  • Tucson Arizona (under construction)

North America West 853,671 21 1,493 congregations

Fresno California  • Kona Hawaii  • Laie Hawaii  • Los Angeles California  • Newport Beach California  • Oakland California  • Redlands California  • Sacramento California  • San Diego California

Pacific 499,509 17 1,145 congregations

Adelaide Australia  • Apia Samoa  • Brisbane Australia  • Hamilton New Zealand  • Melbourne Australia  • Nuku'alofa Tonga  • Papeete Tahiti  • Perth Australia  • Suva Fiji  • Sydney Australia

Philippines[15] 688,852 21 1,149 congregations

Cebu City Philippines  • Manila Philippines  • Urdaneta Philippines (announced)

South America Northwest 1,299,577 32 1,874 congregations.

Arequipa Peru (announced)  • Barranquilla Colombia (under construction)  • Bogotá Colombia  • Caracas Venezuela  • Cochabamba Bolivia  • Guayaquil Ecuador  • Lima Peru  • Trujillo Peru

South America South 1,193,569 28 1,697 congregations.

Asunción Paraguay  • Buenos Aires Argentina  • Concepción Chile (under construction)  • Córdoba Argentina  • Montevideo Uruguay  • Santiago Chile

Utah North 547,517 2 160 stakes
0 districts
1,289 wards
79 branches

Bountiful Utah  • Brigham City Utah  • Logan Utah  • Ogden Utah  • Star Valley Wyoming (dedication scheduled)

Utah Salt Lake City 691,756 5 188 stakes
1 district
1,406 wards
139 branches

Draper Utah  • Jordan River Utah  • Oquirrh Mountain Utah  • Salt Lake

Utah South 746,082 3 225 stakes
0 districts
1,906 wards
118 branches

Cedar City Utah (under construction)  • Manti Utah  • Mount Timpanogos Utah  • Payson Utah  • Provo City Center  • Provo Utah  • St. George Utah  • Vernal Utah

See also

References

  1. Allen, James B. and Glen M. Leonard. The Story of the Latter-day Saints 2nd Edition, p. 654.
  2. Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. 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.
  4. Although area seventies may serve in an area presidency, including filling the whole presidency in some cases in the past, this has not been the church's practice in recent years. 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.
  5. For several years, the assignments were effective on August 15, but August 1 has been the effective date since 2007.
  6. "LDS First Presidency announces area leadership assignments", Church News, 2 May 2015.
  7. 7.00 7.01 7.02 7.03 7.04 7.05 7.06 7.07 7.08 7.09 7.10 7.11 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. With Gerrit W. Gong’s appointment to the Presidency of the Seventy, effective 4 January 2016, Randy D. Funk became the Area President, with Chi Hong (Sam) Wong as the First Counselor and Siu Hong Pon, an area seventy, as the Second Counselor.
  9. This assignment is shown as announced on 12 November 2015, although Donald L. Hallstrom continues to have responsibility for the North America Northeast Area until 4 January 2016, when Gerrit W. Gong's assignment in Asia is completed and he fully transitions to his role in the Presidency of the Seventy.
  10. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.
  11. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.
  12. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.
  13. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.
  14. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.
  15. Current as of mid or late 2013. Information taken from lds.org and cumorah.com.