New Stake Formation Helps Prepare Saints for the Birmingham Temple

Pat Wilkinson

With the announcement of their own temple¹ and reformed mission area,² the saints of the Birmingham area are preparing for exciting times. In June 2022, they welcomed a new stake presidency over their reorganised stake boundary.

Lichfield Stake members were happily joined together with four wards of the old Birmingham Stake to form a new, strong Birmingham Stake of over 700 active members. This exciting new stake will be presided over by President Matthew J. Peedle, with councillors Martin Ward and Philip Adeogun.

President Peedle remarked, “As we build a brand-new stake, we have a fantastic opportunity to increase the love in our units, bless the lives of others through missionary work and most importantly be a temple loving and temple attending people. Everyone has felt the excitement of the Birmingham temple announcement, and now we have an opportunity and duty to play our part in building the kingdom here ahead of that amazing blessing.

“I am grateful for the times that acts of love changed the course of my life, lifted me when I was struggling, blessed our family. Christ’s atoning love builds and strengthens me, removes doubt, replaces fear, heals grief and pain, and sharing my testimony of that with others, to bless another’s life, is what we will do as a new presidency to make sure that every individual feels the Saviour’s love and our love.”

The weekend-long event to unite and edify the saints, while forming the new stake, concluded on 5 June. Elders Martin Turvey and Mark Stewart of the Area Seventy presided over the stake conference. Elder Turvey said: “This was a wonderful stake conference. We felt the strength and devotion of the members in these stakes and feel so grateful for their faith and desire to live righteously. We hope that bringing together the Lichfield and Birmingham stakes will provide a richer experience for our members, especially the youth. We also anticipate that the combined strength of the members will help us prepare for the Birmingham Temple and the opportunities that will bring to gather Israel in this area.”