Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in Haleyville part of newly created Sipsey Alabama Stake

HALEYVILLE -  In 1968, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held a conference to organize its first stake in Alabama, the former Alabama Stake. Recently, thousands of church members in Alabama, Mississippi and Tennessee gathered in person and by video for another historic conference.
This time, the boundaries of five stakes — three in Alabama, one in Mississippi and one in Tennessee — were changed to create a sixth stake, the Sipsey Alabama Stake. The affected stakes have a combined membership of about 20,000 people. Twenty-nine Alabama congregations were affected by the changes.
A stake in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is similar to a diocese in the Catholic Church, consisting of a group of congregations within a geographic area. Since 1968, the church in Alabama has expanded from one stake to nine: Birmingham, Dothan, Gadsden, Huntsville, Madison, Mobile, Montgomery, Tuscaloosa and Sipsey.
The Sipsey Stake includes six congregations in Cullman, Decatur, Florence, Russellville, Haleyville and part of Athens. Before the Sipsey Stake was created, the Florence, Russellville and Haleyville congregations belonged to the Tupelo, Mississippi Stake, while the Cullman, Decatur and Athens congregations belonged to the Madison Alabama Stake.
The leader of the Sipsey Alabama Stake is President Marco Garcia of Athens.