LDS stake center. Stake centers serve as meetinghouses for local congregations and headquarters for the local stake.

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Stakes

A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. A stake is approximately comparable to a diocese in the Catholic Church and other Christian denominations. more...

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The name "stake" derives from the verse "nlarge the place of thy tent, and let them stretch forth the curtains of thine habitation: spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes" (Isaiah 54:2). A stake is sometimes referred to as a stake of Zion.

History of stakes

The first Latter Day Saint stake was organized at church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio on February 17, 1834, with Joseph Smith, Jr. as stake president. The second stake was organized in Clay County, Missouri later that year on July 3, with David Whitmer as stake president. The Missouri stake was relocated to Far West, Missouri in 1836 and the Kirtland Stake dissolved in 1838. A stake was organized at Adam-ondi-Ahman in 1838 and abandoned later that year due to the events of the Mormon War. In 1839, the church's central stake was established at Nauvoo, Illinois and William Marks became stake president.

Additional stakes were established in the area around Nauvoo in 1840. Immediately after the assassination of Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1844, there was a schism in the Latter Day Saint movement. In 1846, all of the existing stakes, including the Nauvoo Stake, were discontinued as a result of the exodus of the majority of the Latter Day Saints to Utah.

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.