Mormons :P what is the difference between a Ward and a Branch?

Question

I thought that they were the same... but now I think I'm wrong, what are the differences?

Answer 1

a branch is smaller than a ward! ya i DID NOT know that!!i had to ask somebody! :p soooooooooooo embarassing!! LOL

Answer 2

Really the main difference is the size. A branch is really small and a ward is larger. I believe that there have to be a certain number of priesthood holders before they can be a ward. The leadership is a bit different too. A branch has a president and a presidency where a ward has a Bishop and bishopric. A Bishop and Branch President basically have the same function though.

http://www.lds.org/portal/site/LDSOrg/menuitem.3933737ad2ff28132eb22a86942826a0/?vgnextoid=bbd508f54922d010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=45490bbce1d98010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____

Answer 3

Branch is a lot smaller and serves fewer members. Branch is usually set up in an area where there are not very many members. Instead of having a bishop they have a Branch President. A ward on the other hand has a lot more members usually 100 or more. That's really the difference just the size.

Answer 4

A ward is generally bigger and has more members and is a part of a stake of Zion. A branch is a part of a mission and is generally smaller. I have been a part of a branch and it had about 50 active members. My ward now has about 200 active members.
The bishopric (ward) and branch presidency is different too. The meetings are still held in the same way though.

"There are important differences between what is true, what is important, and what is aesthetic, but inessential; just as there is a difference between a Branch of the Church and a Ward, between a Mission District and a Stake."
http://www.david.timmins.com/reli/033.html

Answer 5

Branch is set up in an area of small concentrations of members and are conducted by a branch president instead of a bishop. He will have 2 counselors though. I have been seeing a guy from Ohio that is in a branch. I wonder what it would be like if something were to work between us and I end up there -- scarry thinking about being in an area that they don't even have enough population for a ward.

Answer 6

The difference is size.. Number of members.. A Branch has fewer members than a Ward..

Branches are usually found in rural areas where people are spaced out in order to have enough members for a ward the area covered would need to be huge making it difficult or impossible for members to travel to the meeting place.. By creating a branch instead the meeting place is smaller and the area incompassed is smaller..

Answer 7

The amount of people. A ward consist of 100-300 members and a branch has less then 100 members.

Answer 8

You've got some good answers. I just wanted to comment that bishops of wards have to hold the Melchizadek priesthood, while Branch Pres. can, but it isn't necessary. Sometimes branches are so small that missionaries are called to be the branch presidents.

Answer 9

pretty much the same...however, a ward tends to be larger than a branch...that's about the only difference...a branch has a Branch President instead of a Bishop...otherwise...same thing.

Answer 10

A ward is bigger than a branch. Wards have Bishops. Branches have Branch Presidents.

Basically they are the same. They are both groups of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Answer 11

A ward can hold a congregation upward from 100 to 300 on the average. A branch serves a lot less members--perhaps 50 or fewer.