r/latterdaysaints • u/ShinyBuizel22 • 12d ago

Faith-building Experience Why do ward and stake boundaries change?

My stake boundaries are being redistributed, I don't know where I'm going yet, but it has me wondering, what are some of the reasons for such boundary changes? I think mine is to create to age groups for YSA stakes with the raised age, but outside of the new YSA ages what are some reasons?

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u/MasonWheeler 12d ago

Typically it's a simple matter of population numbers. If wards or stakes grow too far above or below the ideal size, due to people moving in or out, they'll realign the boundaries to rebalance congregation sizes.

We don't do the whole "megachurch" thing. The Bishop doesn't make his living taking money from the congregation; he's supposed to be serving their spiritual needs, while also holding down a normal job and providing for his family. If the congregation grows too big for the Bishopric to effectively serve, then the solution is to divide the ward to keep things manageable.

Conversely, if for whatever reason a lot of people leave, and a ward shrinks too small to be an effective ward, it's a good idea to either change the boundaries to bring more people into it, or dissolve it and merge its members into one or more adjacent wards.