District (LDS Church)

A district of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a geographical administrative unit composed of a number of congregations called branches. A district is a subdivision of a mission of the church and in many ways is analogous to a stake of the church. The leader of a district is the mission president, who selects a local district president as his agent. The district president may choose two men to assist him; the three together form the district presidency. The three members of the district presidency are given the honorific title "President".

Districts are usually established where the church is new or where there are insufficient numbers of church members to organize a stake. Prior to the late 1920s, districts were known as conferences. A district may be thought of as a stake in a beginning or embryonic state.

A district has a function analogous to a stake, but is organized where there are too few members to organize a stake. Its relationship to a stake is similar to the relationship between a ward and a branch. Once the membership in a district achieves sufficient numbers, it may be reorganized as a stake. Districts differ from stakes in the following ways:

There is no minimum number of members or branches needed to create a district. A mission president can propose the creation of a district by lodging an application to the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

For a district to become a stake, the following requirements must be met:

The LDS Church also uses a geographical division called a temple district. A temple district is a geographical area that is assigned to a church temple. Members residing in a temple district are asked to attend the temple that defines the district. Members may attend any of the church's temples, but temple districts are designed to help members determine what temple is closest to where they reside. A temple district is defined by a list of stakes and districts.

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