noel00 Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 The interesting for the LDS is how many do you keep. In Australia there is always a significant difference between the census number and the LDS numbers. Many LDS on the rolls have moved on. Here immigrants and refugees often bolster the numbers in the various churches. AOG churches often have many people attend who may not be included in the numbers. The congregations are so large that you can come and go and noone can account for you being there.
3DOP Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 Really, you have never heard of the decline in Church attendance for Catholicism to name just one? Really?http://theweek.com/a...olics-in-crisisFrom The Week.com:After Pope John
Hestia Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 The number of convert baptisms is increasing, but both missionary productivity and the total number of baptisms remain well below the levels of the early 1990s.....If you are going to cite such things you need to give the source, not just cut and paste without reference.
Tapir Whisperer Posted March 16, 2011 Posted March 16, 2011 If you are going to cite such things you need to give the source, not just cut and paste without reference.So I've been told. Please read all the comments and you will see my citation. As I said three times previously (See previous comments), it is a mistake that I will not make again.
todd520 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 Interesting statistic. Do you know how the Church calculated that 1.42% growth rate? Does this take into account people that have been excommunicated and/or requested to be removed from the rolls? It seems to me that with only the birth rate taken into consideration the growth of the Church should be higher than 1.42%.I believe it is based on reported statistics so YES people who have been excommunicated or asked for their name to be removed, will not be included.I've done some research and it appears the Church numbers are independently verified.For example- The LDS reported figures claim 2% of the US population is LDS. Naturally this figure includes in actives who all members hope to return to active status- PEW survey data says 1.7% of the US population self identifies as LDS. The difference between the two represents the converts who came and left, plus the seriously inactive..
Avatar4321 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 I suppose we will find out in a few weeks won't we?
sjdawg Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 Frankly I wish it were harder to become a member - say a years worth of attendance at Church first, that would pretty much insure activity levels.or completely halt baptisms
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 So I've been told. Please read all the comments and you will see my citation. As I said three times previously (See previous comments), it is a mistake that I will not make again.Friendly advice from one poster to another, arguing with a moderator is a one way ticket to banned from the thread or suspended account.
Luigi Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 Many Anti-LDS give an impression that the Church is imploding..... Is that really the case?<I go occasionally to the blog http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/ which seems to mostly show wards created far more than wards discontinued, and often they are discontinued for renaming or consolidation into other wards. But more so, there are a lot of branch upgrades to wards.Apparently Colorado got a whole new stake as that area apparently is growing. So am I missing something, or is the Church still expanding even if it is a bit smaller? And I noticed a lot of new YSA branches..... Usually is good sign of growth through breeding JMSI no longer believe the Church but I don't think the Church is declining in membership. I do think Church growth is slowing and that inactivity rates are increasing but on the whole I think the Church is retaining many if not most of those raised in the religion and while convert retention is much, much lower enough stay to keep the actual number of active members increasing.
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 I discussed this in another thread, but the biggest reason for the drop in the membership growth rates is two fold:1) Membership has doubled in the last 20 years!In 1989 when we had 8% growth we only had a membership of 7 million members, today we have over 14 million members in the Church. So even if we were still baptizing the same about of members as 1989, we would still of seen the growth rate drop from 8% to 4% since growth rate is based upon increase in membership / total membership numbers. So we would have to double the growth we saw in 1989 (which would mean a net membership increase of 1,000,000 + members this year) to maintain the 8% growth rate we had in 1989 today. 2) The past 40 years was a time of massive expansion in the Church!From the 1960's to the mid 1990's there was a massive explosion for the Church, we were bringing the Restored Gospel to the world at a unprecedented pace. We published the Book of Mormon in numerous languages, had an massive increase in the number of full time missionaries and missions for them to serve in, and with that massive expansion came unprecedented growth in the Church. So much growth that the Church had to adapt and start building temples and stake centers on an unprecedented scale. With that huge expansion and the publishing of the Book of Mormon in so many new languages, brought the record growth that we saw then. Since 1989 we have seen a decline in growth, we are growing roughly at half the rate we did in 1989 but we are still experiencing a average net growth (that means our growth after you factor in the loss of membership from members passing away and getting excommunicated or resigning membership) of 250,000 members each year and this rate is staying pretty consistent. Now because the membership has doubles over the last 20 years on paper the growth number is 4 times smaller (around 2% instead of 8%) but this is because the church membership has exploded over the last 20 years! Even though we our net growth has slowed it doesn't mean we are losing member's! A net growth is always positive! We are also consistently growing at over double the rate of growth of the population of the entire world, so if we maintain our growth rates we will continue to grow exponentially over the next 20 years. Sources used : http://www.mormonwik...m/Church_growth and http://en.wikipedia....bership_history
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 or completely halt baptismsI think it would halt baptism and cause a net loss of members long before it did anything to increase activity levels!Our lack luster activity levels are a concern but, to say one needs to be attending services consistently for 1 year to baptized is a drastic overcorrection. I think keeping the standard as it is which is complete the missionary lessons and attending at least 3 Sunday services and increasing home teaching, visiting teaching, and other retention efforts increase activity levels much more than the idea of making it a requirement to attend services for 1 year to be baptized!
ELF1024 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 Sources used : http://www.mormonwik...m/Church_growth and http://en.wikipedia....bership_historyYou will find a lot of distrust with what Wikipedia has to say. It is not very accurate when it comes to politics or religion. I would humbly suggest that you use a better more reliable source.
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 A 5 year old, 2700 post, sock puppet.Well if that is the case, I hope you washed that sock puppet a few times over those 5 years, cause if you didn't it sure must reek of nastiness by now!
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 You will find a lot of distrust with what Wikipedia has to say. It is not very accurate when it comes to politics or religion. I would humbly suggest that you use a better more reliable source.Those are the only sources that compile the numbers from the Church over any period of time on the internet. They are the churches numbers but the Church doesn't keep a data base that compiles these numbers online. I guess if you want the numbers from the HQ in SLC your could request them but I am using all I could find on the web! Beggars can't be choosers my friend! here is a reference from the wiki, but this is all I you will find online! http://www.allaboutmormons.com/number_of_mormons.phpThe Church doesn't compile these numbers online as far as I know, anyone that knows differently please feel free to add more links in a reply!
ELF1024 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 Those are the only sources that compile the numbers from the Church over any period of time on the internet. They are the churches numbers but the Church doesn't keep a data base that compiles these numbers online. I guess if you want the numbers from the HQ in SLC your could request them but I am using all I could find on the web! I know this, it was not a reply specifically to the numbers, but to your general use/habit of Wikipedia as a trusted source.
LDS Guy 1986 Posted March 17, 2011 Posted March 17, 2011 I know this, it was not a reply specifically to the numbers, but to your general use/habit of Wikipedia as a trusted source.If wikipedia is properly cited then I see no problem with using it as a source for friendly discussions like we have on this forum. Now when I am writing my dissertation, then I worry about leaving out the wikipedia!
T-Shirt Posted March 18, 2011 Posted March 18, 2011 Interesting statistic. Do you know how the Church calculated that 1.42% growth rate? Does this take into account people that have been excommunicated and/or requested to be removed from the rolls? It seems to me that with only the birth rate taken into consideration the growth of the Church should be higher than 1.42%.These statistics are for the US only. Worldwide, the Churches growth rate is higher.T-Shirt
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