Shelley South Stake realigns boundaries

SHELLEY – The Shelley South Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints met in a special meeting on Sunday, September 26th, to realign its boundaries with neighboring stakes and realign its ward congregations to handle future residential growth in the area. 

The Shelley South Stake Presidency held a special conference to realign a portion of its stake’s boundaries and ward congregational boundaries.  The meeting was also attended by Shelley Stake Presidency and First Counselor David Adams of the Idaho Falls Taylor Mountain Stake, along with several hundred faithful members, who gathered in several church buildings by Zoom to hear the announcement.

Thomas Yearsley, President of the Shelley South Stake, presided over the meeting and told the congregants the purpose of the changes was to “help us as individuals and families come unto Christ.”  He advised that the boundary changes were made after several years of deliberation, prayer, and inspiration.    He said the First Presidency of the church had reviewed their request and approved it. 

“It will provide more opportunities for service, more opportunities for leadership, and more opportunities to minister. We’ll have more opportunities to strengthen relationships and friendships.  Perhaps there will be those who will have an opportunity to reset and start over,” Yearsley said.   

President John Anderson, President of the Shelley Stake, next addressed the conference by reminding everyone of the ancient city of Corinth, a port city in Greece, at the time the Apostle Paul was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. He spoke of the difficulty the people of different cultures had becoming one faith after having been baptized into Christ’s church.

“Paul compared the church to a body of a person.  He said, for as the body is one and hath many members, and all the members of that body being many are one body, so also is Christ,” Anderson said.

He continued, “When one member of the body is lost, it’s like losing a limb.  When one member suffers, we all feel it.  Please know that you have been an integral part of the body of Christ in the ward and stake of which that you have been a member.  But we are grateful and excited for the influence you will have in new wards and stakes through these changes.”

President Adams spoke, saying, “the Lord will make a lot of people uncomfortable to bring about his work.  Thus we see the Lord works in many ways for the salvation of his people.  And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes, and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls.”   

President Bryce Hanson, the 2nd Counselor in the Shelley South Stake, released the various stake and ward leaders affected by the change in stake and ward boundaries. 

He was followed by a PowerPoint presentation presenting the changes to stake and ward boundaries. 

The following summarizes the changes made to the stake’s boundary. 

The stake boundary changes included defining areas along 81st South (Cotton Road), 5th West (Jamston Road and 97th South (County Line Road between the Idaho Falls Taylor View Stake and the Shelley South Stake.

The most significant change in the Stake boundary was moving the Shelley 2nd Ward from the Shelley Stake into the Shelley South Stake. They will now meet at the Shelley South Stake Center.

The other changes were along West Fir Street and 1260 West, which is west of Shelley. All members of the faith living on the north side of West Fir Street and 1260 West would now be in the Shelley Stake.

This affected the calling of Lloyd Searle, who has served as Stake Patriarch for the Shelley South Stake since 2012. He also served as the Stake President of the stake during the 1990s. Because he and his wife reside north of 1260 West, they will now be members of a congregational ward in the Shelley Stake. He will remain a Patriarch but in an emeritus status.

Dale Kotter will replace Patriarch Searle as the new Stake Patriarch. He also served as Stake President of the Shelley South Stake following Lloyd Searle. He was 1st counselor to Searle before becoming President. Dale and his wife recently served as Mission President in the Legazpi Philippine MIssion from 2016 through 2019.

After the presentation of the new stake and ward boundaries, President Brad Buttars, the 1st Counselor in the Shelley South Stake, announced the new leadership in the stake and each ward affected by the boundary changes. He also oversaw the sustaining of these individuals by the membership who was present.

The new ward or congregational boundaries and their leadership are as follow:

Those who would like to view the special meeting broadcast may do so by going to the Shelley South Stake’s youtube channel here.