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The Church Is Shrinking In My Area


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I've gotten news that we are going to dissolve perhaps two wards in our stake. The news is we have few active MP holders.

I do the counting on my fingers and it seems we have tons of MP holders, but we also have a ton of retired-aged people who come religiously but don't have any callings. Since we've lived here (8years) I've had two or three callings simultaneously (right now I feel a little light in that I am the 2nd councilor in elders (2 years) and a youth SS teacher (3 or 4 years now)).

Ah well, just curious if other dissolving is happening out there. are we seeing the effects of the Church losing?

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I've gotten news that we are going to dissolve perhaps two wards in our stake. The news is we have few active MP holders.

I do the counting on my fingers and it seems we have tons of MP holders, but we also have a ton of retired-aged people who come religiously but don't have any callings. Since we've lived here (8years) I've had two or three callings simultaneously (right now I feel a little light in that I am the 2nd councilor in elders (2 years) and a youth SS teacher (3 or 4 years now)).

Ah well, just curious if other dissolving is happening out there. are we seeing the effects of the Church losing?

 

Where are you at and what is the economy doing?

 

We had to split our Stake about 7 years ago, but we're in an area where economic growth is a bit better than the average metroplex.

 

Drawing conclusions about the church winning or losing based on population is fraught with dangerous assumptions.

 

The Shepherd will leave the flock for the one if need be.

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Where are you at and what is the economy doing?

I'm in Utah on the Wasatch Front. The economy is doing well. We don't live in an affluent area, which is where, at least in the Wasatch front area, the Church does best.

 

We had to split our Stake about 7 years ago, but we're in an area where economic growth is a bit better than the average metroplex.

I think it's true that many active Mormons are rich so they move to the rich areas to keep up with family and friends. We've had many move out and move in over the past 8 years--not sure if it terribly different in other areas though.

 

Drawing conclusions about the church winning or losing based on population is fraught with dangerous assumptions.

Sure it is. I'm just throwing out a question for discussion.

 

The Shepherd will leave the flock for the one if need be.

or so we're told, but then again we seem to have many leaving and no Shepherd is there is bring them back. It may be that the Shepherd is helping them out so this Shepherd can use them in other areas/places.

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I'm going to be a little bit cheeky and say this wouldn't be an issue if women were ordained. :)

our Bishop's time is up and in this rumor mongering we have learned that our bishop will be released and the bishop of the ward we're merging with will be our bishop. But, if that weren't the case I've looked around wondering who our new bishop would be, otherwise, and I can't help but realize our best bishops would be women in the ward.

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Our stake has "fat" wards and "skinny" wards, our ward is somewhat chubby. The next ward over is a fat ward. Apparently......we are supposed to be getting a guy who was a Mission Pres. in Russia move here for work so I hope he moves into our ward! he can kick a few keysters

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OK, Utah is weird.

 

Out here in Georgia we find a house that fits our family and has a decent commute to work, then we show up to the ward we're assigned to.  The only exception being those who move back to the area and want to return to their old ward, or families who want to be in the same area.  In some rural areas you just hope there is a ward within an hour drive of your home.

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Sure it is. I'm just throwing out a question for discussion.

 

Excuse my cynical nature but...

 

Why?

 

This discussion has come up several times in the past.  The punch line is A) You cannot tell general trends from a geographically isolated sample, and B) TBMs trust church membership statistics much more than critics.

 

Mind you if you say you are bored of reading about "intolerant gay boy church scout activist leaders policy" as your reason I would understand.

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Excuse my cynical nature but...

 

Why?

 

This discussion has come up several times in the past.  The punch line is A) You cannot tell general trends from a geographically isolated sample, and B) TBMs trust church membership statistics much more than critics.

 

Mind you if you say you are bored of reading about "intolerant gay boy church scout activist leaders policy" as your reason I would understand.

I've started a number of threads here discussing the topic of Church growth. It's trending downward. Growth is slowing, at least according to the numbers from the Church. Interesting that in the past couple of years we've slowed right when we've significantly beefed up our effort to evangelize. I'd say there's something to be said in it, but what is to be said I'm not so firm on.

So the Church shrinking in one area and growing in another, is less interesting than say, the Church is growing worldwide but at a such a low pace we haven't seen for decades. But what does that mean? Are we losing more members? Converting less? I guess so on both counts. Can we lay members see this happening before our eyes? it seems like it.

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I've gotten news that we are going to dissolve perhaps two wards in our stake. The news is we have few active MP holders.

I do the counting on my fingers and it seems we have tons of MP holders, but we also have a ton of retired-aged people who come religiously but don't have any callings. Since we've lived here (8years) I've had two or three callings simultaneously (right now I feel a little light in that I am the 2nd councilor in elders (2 years) and a youth SS teacher (3 or 4 years now)).

Ah well, just curious if other dissolving is happening out there. are we seeing the effects of the Church losing?

 

In my area we are growing.  Not exponentially but steadily.  In a small town (about 5000) we have 3 Wards and a Branch.

 

The GA's say it is growing, that's good enough for me.

Edited by ERayR
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The GA's say it is growing, that's good enough for me.

 

So do the audit department employees.

 

I think the argument being made here is the rate of growth is slowing, not that we are experiencing negative growth.  

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our Bishop's time is up and in this rumor mongering we have learned that our bishop will be released and the bishop of the ward we're merging with will be our bishop. But, if that weren't the case I've looked around wondering who our new bishop would be, otherwise, and I can't help but realize our best bishops would be women in the ward.

 

Yeah but those women are TOO good to be bishops.  We need to use the bishop calling to help men become better people.  Those women don't need that help.   ;)

Edited by Brian 2.0
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I am convinced If it weren't for the priesthood men would be much less involved in the spiritual growth of their families.

 

Sometimes we get the calling because of what we contribute, sometimes we get the calling because of what it contributes to our lives.

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Would not surprise me to see some areas growing and some areas contracting.  We live in a transient era in the US and that may have an impact on local areas.  In addition, I suspect some areas will contract simply because people choose to be less active in attendance.  

 

With a world wide church it is better to look at the entire picture rather than make judgments based upon a local condition. 

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So do the audit department employees.

 

I think the argument being made here is the rate of growth is slowing, not that we are experiencing negative growth.  

 

Over my 60 + years in the Church I have seen other times of slow growth in some areas.  Times when some areas were contracting and others were expanding. 

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I've gotten news that we are going to dissolve perhaps two wards in our stake. The news is we have few active MP holders.

I do the counting on my fingers and it seems we have tons of MP holders, but we also have a ton of retired-aged people who come religiously but don't have any callings. Since we've lived here (8years) I've had two or three callings simultaneously (right now I feel a little light in that I am the 2nd councilor in elders (2 years) and a youth SS teacher (3 or 4 years now)).

Ah well, just curious if other dissolving is happening out there. are we seeing the effects of the Church losing?

What city do you live. Here in Lehi Utah we are growing like a weed.  Our ward boundaries encompass three streets and they are not very long.

Edited by carbon dioxide
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I think the argument being made here is the rate of growth is slowing, not that we are experiencing negative growth.  

 

Yes, the data presented each year in Gen Con shows that the membership growth rate is slowing.  It's been following that trend since the 70's.

 

The growth rate for the number of units (Stakes/Districts, Wards/Branches) has also been slowing for several decades with the exception of an uptick in 2014.

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Yes, the data presented each year in Gen Con shows that the membership growth rate is slowing.  It's been following that trend since the 70's.

 

The growth rate for the number of units (Stakes/Districts, Wards/Branches) has also been slowing for several decades with the exception of an uptick in 2014.

 

No snark meant but why is this important?

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Yes, the data presented each year in Gen Con shows that the membership growth rate is slowing.  It's been following that trend since the 70's.

 

The growth rate for the number of units (Stakes/Districts, Wards/Branches) has also been slowing for several decades with the exception of an uptick in 2014.

 

There are other reasons for growth rates slowing and I have heard a few hints over the years from Saints who were in Brazil during rapid periods of growth, and from Elder Eyring (before he was an Apostle)

 

A leaer in Brazil told me some of the rapid growth in the 60s-70s was due to the church launching headlong into poor areas.  People were often attracted to welfare programs as much as the Gospel itself.  Efforts were adjusted to make welfare a result of stewardship as much as an attraction to the church programs.

 

Elder Eyring told a story of being asked by the brethren to research going into India with full time missions.  Controlled growth, decisions on where and how to open mission areas, and the ability of the Saints to sustain those areas influence the growth patterns of the church overall and the brethren's plans to do so. 

 

Recently the last three Prophets have all said things about making retention of individual members more important than simple baptism and let 'em figure it out conversions.

 

While the overall growth rate is slower, I'm thinking that can be a good thing for individual conversion and discipleship as long as we are focusing on strengthening the new Saints.

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No snark meant but why is this important?

 

I was just responding to a post.  It's up to you to determine if it's important.

 

I assume that if they take the time to present the numbers each year in Gen Con... someone must think they are important and worth noting.

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What city do you live. Here in Lehi Utah we are growing like a weed.  Our ward boundaries encompass three streets and they are not very long.

You realize Lehi is exceptional at attracting the young LDS families though. I live in Sandy in an old neighborhood. We've sent a number of young families to Lehi over the course of the past few years though.

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