Church Forms New Congregation Due to Growth in Bullard

BULLARD, TX—The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the creation of a new congregation in the Bullard, Texas area today.

Congregations of the Church are organized geographically, and members attend worship services near their home. Each member belongs to a ward or congregation depending on where they live.

The new congregation is called the “Bullard Second Ward.” Sections of the preexisting Bullard First Ward and Whitehouse Ward were also impacted.

The Bullard ward had more than 600 members regularly attending every Sunday. After the change, all congregations will have about 300 members. The new Bullard Second Ward will also have about 300 memberships due to the reorganization of members.

The announcement came under direction of the stake presidency, the leadership that oversees the 3,800 members of the Church in the Tyler, Texas area. President Charles Rhodus presided at the meeting, and the changes were sustained by the membership of the Church.

There are now 11 wards in the Tyler, Texas Stake.

President Rhodus says the growth in Smith County is what prompted the changes. The local leadership submits the request to the headquarters of the Church, and the new congregation is approved by The First Presidency, the highest leadership body of the Church overseeing 16.6 million members. There are more than 30,000 wards and branches worldwide.

The lay leader of a ward is called a bishop. He is a member of the congregation who has been asked to serve as a volunteer in this position.

With the creation of the new Bullard Second Ward, a new bishop was also called. Johnny Acker will now serve in this volunteer clergy position, in addition to his professional career. Acker and his wife, Tiffany, have three boys.

Acker will serve with two counselors: Mark Caldwell was called as first counselor and Paul Leatham was called as second counselor.

A creation of a new congregation is a special occurrence for the Church, as the last time this happened in Tyler was in 2022.

At the stake level with more than 3,800 members, the Church has seen an increase in of several hundred members  from the five counties just this year (Henderson, Cherokee, Smith, Anderson, and Van Zandt).

The new meeting times for the Church building in Bullard are as follows: 

Bullard First Ward meeting at 9am,

Whitehouse Ward at 10:30am and Bullard Second Ward at 12pm.

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