× Thanks for reading! Log in to continue. Enjoy more articles by logging in or creating a free account. No credit card required. Log in Sign up {{featured_button_text}}

Membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in Billings and the surrounding area, and the church is making room for the increased numbers.

Over the past 10 years the local church has grown by 1,933 people. To accommodate the 8,611 members, in January a new meeting house on the Billings West End will be added to the other six buildings in Billings and six others in surrounding towns.

Three wards, totaling nearly 1,100 members, will meet in the new 16,558-square-foot red-brick building beginning Jan. 7. An open house for the public will take place March 2.

And to oversee the growing workload, the church’s area leadership has expanded from two stakes, each with its own president, to three.

“A lot of churches are looking to grow their congregations bigger and bigger,” said Dale Williams, president of the Billings Montana Stake. “Our concept is different. If you grow too much, it’s too impersonal. So we take 350 members and say let’s make it smaller.”

Williams recently joined L. Bryan Zaccardi, president of the Billings Montana East Stake, and Brian Ludwig, president of the new Billings Montana South Stake, for an interview at the recently completed meeting house at 2620 54th St. W.