A stake is an administrative unit composed of multiple congregations in certain denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. The name "stake" derives from the Book of Isaiah: "enlarge the place of thy tent; 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
The first Latter Day Saint stake was organized at church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio, on February 17, 1834, with Joseph Smith as its president. The second stake was organized in Clay County, Missouri, later that year on July 3, with David Whitmer as 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, with William Marks as its president.
Additional stakes were established in the area around Nauvoo in 1840. Immediately after the death of Joseph Smith 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 the Salt Lake Valley.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement. After the death of Joseph Smith, Brigham Young assumed the leadership of the church and led its members to the Salt Lake Valley. The first stake established there was the Salt Lake Stake, established October 3, 1847, with John Smith as president. At the time of Young's death in 1877, there were 20 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 support a stake. Districts may be elevated to stakes and are then no longer presided over by a 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.
In December 2012, Jeffrey R. Holland organized the 3,000th stake in Freetown, Sierra Leone. At the end of 2015, there were 3,174 stakes in the LDS Church. As of December 31, 2019, the LDS Church reported 3,437 stakes.
Stake organization
The stake is an intermediate level in the organizational hierarchy of the LDS Church. The lowest level, consisting of a single congregation, is known as a ward or branch. Stakes are organized from a group of contiguous wards or branches. To be created, a stake must be composed of at least five wards. A stake may have up to a total of 16 congregations. Most stakes are composed of five to ten wards. In the United States and Canada, a minimum of 3,000 members is required to create a stake; elsewhere, a minimum of 1,900 members is required. For a stake to be created, there must be at least 99 active, full-tithe-paying Melchizedek priesthood holders living in the stake boundaries.
Stakes may be compared to dioceses in other episcopal Christian denominations.
Stake officers
The presiding officer in a stake is known as the stake president. The president is assisted by two counselors and the three together form a stake presidency. The stake presidency is assisted in turn by a twelve-member body, called the stake high council. The members of the stake presidency and stake high council hold the priesthood office of high priest. The stake presidency and the high council handle the administrative and judicial business of the stake. The three members of the stake presidency are given the honorific title "president".