Stake (Latter Day Saints) - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. After the death of Joseph Smith, Jr., Brigham Young assumed the leadership of the church and led the members of this church to the territory now known as Utah. The first stake established in Utah was the Salt Lake Stake, established October 3, 1847 with John Smith as president. At the time of the death of Brigham Young in 1877, there were twenty stakes in operation with a total of approximately 250 wards.

New stakes are created when the congregations in existing stakes or districts have grown sufficiently to permit reorganization. Districts may be elevated to stakes, and are then no longer presided over by the mission president. New stakes are also frequently formed by dividing an existing stake (or by creating three stakes from two existing stakes, etc.) In addition to the size and number of local congregations, the creation of a new stake also requires sufficient Melchizedek priesthood holders to fill the required leadership positions. At times the absence of available leadership constrains the creation of new stakes and the number of congregations within a stake can be much larger than normal. The geographical area encompassed by a stake varies between countries and regions based on membership density. In Utah, a stake might encompass a few square miles in area. In contrast, a stake in another part of the world might require thousands of square miles to comprise a sufficient number of members.

At the end of 2011, there were 2,946 stakes in the LDS Church.