Latter-day Saints are organized into geographically local congregations called wards. An appointed bishop leads these congregations and encourages members to attend their closest community.
Wards may also be established for single adults, YSA members, foreign-language speakers, military personnel, retirees, and prison or halfway house inmates. Each community or branch features its directory.
Wards
LDS Ward Finder is an online tool developed to assist members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints locate their local congregation quickly and efficiently. Users can search by specific location or worldwide. Its easy use makes it invaluable for Church members – desktop computers and mobile phones can access this helpful tool, which also provides current ward boundaries.
A Mormon ward is the equivalent of a church congregation in most other Christian denominations, led by an appointed bishop (the equivalent of a pastor in some). Each ward offers classes and activities for different age groups, including children, youth, and adults; it also acts as a community where members can form friendships while supporting one another.
At the LDS Church, it is customary for members to attend their local ward rather than any congregation of their choosing. Although some exceptions exist – singles wards, for example – the Church discourages members from selecting an easier control that meets at more convenient times for themselves.
Church leaders seek to encourage members to serve in their wards and stakes through service missions, teaching opportunities, or leadership positions. Church members are also encouraged to devote some of their free time to helping those in need in their local communities and participating in local, state, or national elections; additionally, there are social events organized by the Church throughout the year.
To find your closest ward, visit mormon.org and select “Ward & Stake Directories.” Enter the name of your area from the drop-down list; once established, a list will appear with all local wards and branches in that location.
The Ward Locator is an excellent way to find churches nearby quickly. Its user-friendly interface and simple search capabilities make it particularly helpful for people who travel on Sundays either occasionally or frequently.
Branches
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints organizes its membership into small local congregations called wards. These small groups regularly meet for worship services and other neighborhood activities. A bishop serves as the leader of each community; within each quorum are priesthood holders who perform baptisms, confirmations, and ordinances while offering advice and support to their bishop. Several wards may then form into stakes similar to Catholic dioceses. However, in areas with lower membership, these larger groupings of congregations could instead be replaced with districts or branches depending on local Church membership levels.
Church members can quickly locate their nearest ward through the Meetinghouse Locator app. Communities are listed by name and location before being displayed as little red circles on a map; clicking one will give details such as time, language, and address for that ward. It can be found online at meetinghousefinder.lds.org, while there’s also an iPhone/iPad version with meeting times, maps, and helpful tools available to members.
Wards are led by bishops, who serve similarly to pastors in other Christian denominations. A bishop is responsible for teaching and counseling his members within their community; he may be assisted by counselors, assistant bishops, secretaries, or appointed clerks.
The Church boasts more than 6,500 wards or congregations worldwide, each comprising at least 150 Church members living within reasonable proximity of its meetinghouse. Control serves as a smaller local congregation than stakes – the next highest organization level – which requires 300+ members at minimum to qualify as such. However, these numbers may differ depending on countries and regions.
The Church offers several special wards explicitly tailored for single adults – young single adults and older single adults alike – who wish to continue the Gospel principle they received as members in traditional family (standard) wards while providing tailored attention tailored to their specific needs.
Stakes
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly called Mormonism, assigns its members, which determine which temple (Mormon houses of worship) they attend. If you’re uncertain which ward your address belongs in, use one of several free online tools available from Mormons to find it quickly: LDS Maps provides a search engine that shows ward boundaries and temple locations; type or click your address into it using “LDS Maps,” click “Find Places/Search,” click “Find Places/Search,” then hit “Find Places/Search,” then find your address and find out if there’s a temple nearby!
Local congregations called wards serve as the core units for church activities in most regions around the globe. A typical ward consists of 150 to 500 church members living within walking distance from its meetinghouse, led by a lay leader known as a bishop.
Wards may be broken up into specific groups based on age. For instance, single controls cater to young adults as well as older single adults not yet married who do not yet belong to an established marriage. These specialized wards are smaller than regular family (standard) wards with unique leadership responsibilities and activities.
Stakes are the next level up from wards. Each stake consists of 5 to 12 communities, and its pastor is known as its president; the term derives from Old Testament tent imagery to refer to the structure that supports a house of worship.
If an area does not contain enough wards to form a stake, a district- a smaller group similar to a ward- is organized instead. In some regions, stakes have been replaced by districts or branches.
Finding records of your ancestors who attended church requires knowing which ward they attended, as many have disbanded and combined over the years. With so many branches and stakes being disestablished or combined over time, finding their former names and locations may prove particularly challenging when searching for records before 1900 in the United States.
Districts
Districts are an administrative unit for local congregations, similar to stakes but smaller. Each district can include multiple wards depending on population density; when not enough church members live within its boundaries for a stake to exist, districts are established instead to organize local congregations. LDS Ward Finder makes finding your perfect church easier whether you’re visiting or moving into an unfamiliar location – enter text or images for your address, select criteria from within this system, and find matching wards! When you find the one for you, simply click to view details, including maps!