A district of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative unit composed of a number of congregations called branches. A district is a subdivision of a mission

Mission (LDS Church)

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area...

 of the church and in many ways is analogous to a stake of the church. The leader of a district is the mission president

Mission president

Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...

, 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

Honorific

An honorific is a word or expression with connotations conveying esteem or respect when used in addressing or referring to a person. Sometimes, the term is used not quite correctly to refer to an honorary title...

 title "President"

President (LDS Church honorific)

President is an honorific title in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is given to certain men who hold priesthood leadership positions.- General leaders :...

.

Districts are usually established where the church is new or where there are insufficient numbers of Latter-day Saints 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.

Notable differences between districts and stakes

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:

• A district does not have its own patriarch. Members are assigned to the nearest stake patriarch.
• Districts do not have a High Priests Quorum. The High Priests Quorum is a stake organization. Any men holding the office of high priest who live in a district meet with the local Elders Quorum. Men residing in a district may not be ordained to the priesthood office of high priest.
• Districts are composed of branches only and cannot have wards, regardless of the size of the branches.
• The presiding authority in a district is the mission president
  Mission president
  Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission...
  
  ; members of the mission presidency conduct temple recommend, patriarchal blessing
  Patriarchal blessing
  In the Latter Day Saint movement, a patriarchal blessing is a blessing or ordinance given by a patriarch to a church member. Patriarchal blessings are modeled after the blessing given by Jacob to each of his sons prior to his death...
  
  , Melchizedek priesthood
  Melchizedek priesthood
  The Melchizedek priesthood is the greater of the two orders of priesthood recognized in Mormonism. The others are the Aaronic priesthood and the rarely recognized Patriarchal priesthood...
  
   ordination, and missionary qualification
  Missionary (LDS Church)
  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
  
   interviews, not members of the district presidency.
• The district presidency serves as a representative of the mission presidency since many missions have multiple districts and the mission presidency may live at a great distance from the district itself.
• In many very small and remote districts, some male missionaries
  Missionary (LDS Church)
  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is one of the most active modern practitioners of missionary work, with over 52,000 full-time missionaries worldwide, as of the end of 2010...
  
   serve as branch presidents or in other leadership positions at the local and district levels.

Temple district

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

Temple (LDS Church)

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...

. Members residing in a temple district are asked to attend the temple that defines the district. Members may attend any temple of the church, 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.