By Karen Vance
Enquirer contributor

HEBRON - Kristi Aase and her family of five have a new building to worship in Sunday.

But unlike most churches that build a new structure, it's not because the congregation outgrew its building. In fact, the congregation is staying right at about 200 people.

The Aase family of Florence sit in the pews of their new church, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in Hebron. The family is (L-R) Abby, 6, Kate, 4, Maddie, 9, Kristi and Flemming Aase. (Melissa Heatherly photo)

"The smaller congregations give you plenty of opportunity to get involved," said Aase, 38, who attends the Hebron Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "I think you get to know each others' needs and you can really support each other."

And that's just the way they like it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - referred to as Mormons by many, and often as the LDS Church within the congregations themselves.

The number of people attending LDS churches has grown from 2,000 in Cincinnati and Dayton 35 years ago to 8,700 in Cincinnati and another 6,000 in Dayton now. Worldwide, the Salt Lake City-based Christian church has grown to nearly 12 million.

And while many churches rejoice in seeing congregations getting bigger, the LDS Church has been working to keep congregations small, splitting them into smaller churches.

Earlier this year, the local denomination split from two to three "stakes" - an organizational structure similar to a diocese in Catholicism.

"Growing and splitting gives you the chance for more people to teach and lead and learn and grow through that experience," said Aase. "It would be so easy to just grow and grow and let the same people do everything, but that's just not how we do it."

Fred W. Rockwood, 56, of Batesville, Ind., is president of the Cincinnati Ward of the LDS Church. For him, keeping the nine wards and branches - the LDS equivalent of a congregation - within his stake small allows more people to be involved in the church with no paid clergy.

"It keeps us engaged. The church is now an important part of our lives and not just something we do on Sunday," he said.

His goal is to help the 2,850 LDS members attending the congregations in his areas in southeast Indiana, Northern Kentucky and western Cincinnati find the happiness he believes living by the LDS Church's principles can provide.

"We have a profound belief in the power of the atonement of Jesus Christ to change people's lives and be perfected in him," said Rockwood, who was born and raised in the church. "Living those principles makes it possible to really be happy, and if you want to do that, we want to make it easy."

Keith Jensen, 53, of Sycamore Township, is the newest stake president, supervising eight wards and branches in the Cincinnati East Stake, ranging from suburbs such as Milford and Montgomery to rural Adams County, Ohio, and Maysville, Ky.

He said he feels the smaller congregations emphasize the LDS Church's emphasis on service.

"We really believe faith is an action word. Service is not when I do something that's easy and convenient for me. It's when you're asked to invest something of yourself," he said.

In the LDS Church, members are active all week, giving the message, or sermon, each Sunday, and spending three hours at their chapels involved in worship and study.

But it doesn't stop there. Many spend parts of their week visiting each other's homes to share lessons from the Gospel and their lives.

Teens attend seminary, or religious education, throughout the school year before attending their regular school.

Paige Thompson, 34, of Montgomery, is a newer member of the church, having joined about a year ago. About 40 percent of members were born into the church. Another 60 percent have converted, like Thompson and Cincinnati North Stake President Tim Guffey, 50, West Chester, who joined when he was 18.

For Thompson, the biggest surprise has been how much she's been involved since joining the church.

"I'd been to other churches and was only involved on Sundays," she said. "It's a lot more time consuming, but I find I have a lot more time."

And because she's finally found a place that feels like home, she said, she's willing to spend that extra time.

Open house

The newest chapel of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting an open house from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Friday and noon to 5 p.m. Saturday at 2965 Hebron Park Drive, Hebron.

For more information about the LDS Church, visit www.lds.org.