The Worldwide Attendance Statistics For The Lds Church Are...

[cinepro]

...apparently none of our business.

 

Blaine Maxfield, the Church's CIO, recently gave a presentation to other LDS IT Techs, and in it he theorized an LDS ward of 100 people in order to put the Church demographics into perspective.  An article about this presentation was published in the Deseret News today.

 

LDS CIO helps LDSTech attendees better understand church membership

 

 

He shared slides to show that if the world were a ward of 100 people:

• 48 of those people would live in the United States or Canada
• 36 of those people would live in Latin America
• three would live in Europe
• three would live in Africa
• three would live in Oceania
• seven would live in Asia

 

According to those who saw the article when it was first posted, he had included some additional statistics, and some readers noticed one in particular.

 

 

 

35 are adult males
42 are adult females
13 are in Primary
10 are youths
36 attend sacrament meeting on a weekly basis
five can’t read or write
21 of the members of our ward live in countries with less than $9,200 per person gross domestic product

 

Now, assuming the quotes I've seen are correct, this would be the first ever published estimate of worldwide Church attendance from someone who is "in the know" in SLC.  And that estimate would seem to be 36% (which is actually in line with just about ever guess I've ever seen).

 

But shortly after the article went live, it was revised to remove these stats, with the following notation:

 

 

 

Editor’s Note: Some of the statistics originally reported in this article have been removed because they have not been verified by the LDS Church. The information was removed at the request of the speaker.

 

But until further notice, I suspect the "36%"  figure will stand as the most solid estimate out there.  Thank you Brother Maxfield!

Edited October 17, 2014 by cinepro

[Hamba Tuhan]

In our ward, 36% attendance is about where we sit each week. Just under 60% of ward members are active, however, since it is never the case that every active member is at church each week. Some are sick, some are home with sick kids, some are on holiday, some are away on business, some work on Sundays, some live far away and ration their travel, and others simply don't choose to attend each week.

[pogi]

That means out of 15,082,028 members only 5,429,530.08 attend church each Sunday.  

[JLHPROF]

That means out of 15,082,028 members only 5,429,530.08 attend church each Sunday.  

 

Which is exactly what we've been estimating for years...

[Kenngo1969]

That means out of 15,082,028 members only 5,429,530.08 attend church each Sunday.  

But, if Hamba's unit is, in at least some ways, representative or "typical," it isn't the same 5,429,530.08 members each week.

[pogi]

But, if Hamba's unit is, in at least some ways, representative or "typical," it isn't the same 5,429,530.08 members each week.

 

I understood "on a weekly basis" to be referring to the individual.  I could be wrong. 

[cinepro]

I understood "on a weekly basis" to be referring to the individual.  I could be wrong. 

 

Sacrament Meeting attendance isn't tracked at the individual level.  They only count people in the pews, so visitors and other non-members are also included, and faithful LDS who are sick that day or traveling aren't counted.  The number probably averages out over time pretty well.

 

Maybe one day we'll all have swipe cards when we enter the chapel.  Or a camera with facial recognition hidden in the ceiling...

[ERayR]

That means out of 15,082,028 members only 5,429,530.08 attend church each Sunday.  

 

That is a lot of meeting houses.

[ERayR]

I understood "on a weekly basis" to be referring to the individual.  I could be wrong. 

 

I think you are.  The statistic you gave is the number out of 100 at any given time over the church as a whole.  That would mean that of the 36% who attended each wee it would not necessarily be the same 36 out of 100 each week.

[ERayR]

Sacrament Meeting attendance isn't tracked at the individual level.  They only count people in the pews, so visitors and other non-members are also included, and faithful LDS who are sick that day or traveling aren't counted.  The number probably averages out over time pretty well.

 

Maybe one day we'll all have swipe cards when we enter the chapel.  Or a camera with facial recognition hidden in the ceiling...

 

I certainly hope not as I take a horrible picture in the morning.  Or any other time of day.

[Avatar4321]

If 36% of members attend each week and knowing they aren't all the same people, chances are it's closer to 50% of members who are active.

seems about right, especially considering the parable of the ten virgins.

perhaps the Lord would help us improve those numbers if we ask

[cinepro]

I certainly hope not as I take a horrible picture in the morning.  Or any other time of day.

 

Well they already tie all the audio from Sacrament meeting back to Salt Lake so they can listen in if they want to, so cameras aren't much of a stretch.

[cinepro]

If 36% of members attend each week and knowing they aren't all the same people, chances are it's closer to 50% of members who are active.

seems about right, especially considering the parable of the ten virgins.

perhaps the Lord would help us improve those numbers if we ask

 

We'd probably do better to ask the people who aren't attending.

[sdc999]

A more substantial number would be those who have a current temple recommend.  That would be an interesting number that we will never see.

[Duncan]

A more substantial number would be those who have a current temple recommend.  That would be an interesting number that we will never see.

 

 

I know the stats in my stake. 1200/3200 (for some reason "official" stats for our stake has us having 4000 plus members) are active and of those 1200- 800ish are endowed but 500 have a current recommend-roughly speaking

[sdc999]

I know the stats in my stake. 1200/3200 (for some reason "official" stats for our stake has us having 4000 plus members) are active and of those 1200- 800ish are endowed but 500 have a current recommend-roughly speaking

So, between 12% and 15% are current..

[Hamba Tuhan]

Sacrament Meeting attendance isn't tracked at the individual level.

 

Which is why when I was in the bishopric, I tracked this myself each week for one quarter. I can't remember exactly, but it was just under 60% of our ward members who attended during that quarter -- 58 or 59%.

 

We'd probably do better to ask the people who aren't attending.

 

That's worked for us. Over the past 11 years that I've been in my ward, our sacrament meeting attendance has almost exactly tripled.

 

A more substantial number would be those who have a current temple recommend.  That would be an interesting number that we will never see.

 

I know the number for my ward. Close to half of the people who attend church each Sunday in our ward hold temple recommends. That's out of total attendance, including children. Which means that we have fewer than ten active adults in our ward who could hold temple recommends (i.e. not new converts) but don't. Most of our new converts would hold limted-use recommends.

Edited October 18, 2014 by Hamba Tuhan

[Storm Rider]

These types of figures, ratios, numbers seem to be of vital importance to some people.  It is an incessant debate topic of interest for critics.  Another topic is actual number of members, which are supposedly grossly inflated according to the same bastions of neutrality.  I have always failed to understand their agitation and interest in both topics. 

 

To me it remains a yawner.  What is it relative to other groups?  Did I miss someone at church or did they miss me?  Did I call, email or otherwise contact those I missed to make sure there is not a need or tragedy?  

[Duncan]

So, between 12% and 15% are current..

 

and we are getting a Temple!

[rockpond]

These types of figures, ratios, numbers seem to be of vital importance to some people. It is an incessant debate topic of interest for critics. Another topic is actual number of members, which are supposedly grossly inflated according to the same bastions of neutrality. I have always failed to understand their agitation and interest in both topics.

To me it remains a yawner. What is it relative to other groups? Did I miss someone at church or did they miss me? Did I call, email or otherwise contact those I missed to make sure there is not a need or tragedy?

I totally get your point with respect to the activity rate figure. But didn't you find the other stats in the OP/article to be interesting?

[Bernard Gui]

These types of figures, ratios, numbers seem to be of vital importance to some people.  It is an incessant debate topic of interest for critics.  Another topic is actual number of members, which are supposedly grossly inflated according to the same bastions of neutrality.  I have always failed to understand their agitation and interest in both topics. 

 

To me it remains a yawner.  What is it relative to other groups?  Did I miss someone at church or did they miss me?  Did I call, email or otherwise contact those I missed to make sure there is not a need or tragedy?  

I don't understand why this is an issue. If you are baptized, you are a member of the Church and on the records until you die or your membership is terminated. Period. We still account for, or at least attempt to,

every person on the records and try to contact them on a regular basis as we are commanded in the scriptures.

 

Just because a person does not attend meetings does not mean they no longer mean anything to us.

As a ward clerk, I try to make our records as accurate as possible and make sure every person in our records is recognized, visited at least once to determine their desire for visitors, and assigned home teachers.

 

Someone like my sister Apolasaria didn't attend for 50 years, but then came back. During all that time, she was still a member.

 

If we believe the words of the Savior, this kind of activity and attendance is precisely what we should expect. He predicted it and taught it in the parable of the sower. You could even argue that he forecast the percentages. There are four ways people respond when they receive the Word. Many people will not hear the message, ⅔ of those who receive the word drop out for various reasons, and ⅓ will embrace it and live it.

 

Matthew 13

That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake....saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, [1] some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 [2] Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. 7 [3] Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 [4] Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.

 

 

Then he explains what the parable means.

 

18 “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: 19 [1] When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. 20 [2] The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. 21 But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away.22 [3] The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. 23 [4] But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

Edited October 18, 2014 by Bernard Gui

[Duncan]

So, between 12% and 15% are current..

 

stake conference weekend, about 380 people, kids included showed up for sat. evening session but today we are getting a new stake pres. so hopefully it'll be more

[sdc999]

These types of figures, ratios, numbers seem to be of vital importance to some people.  It is an incessant debate topic of interest for critics.  Another topic is actual number of members, which are supposedly grossly inflated according to the same bastions of neutrality.  I have always failed to understand their agitation and interest in both topics. 

 

To me it remains a yawner.  What is it relative to other groups?  Did I miss someone at church or did they miss me?  Did I call, email or otherwise contact those I missed to make sure there is not a need or tragedy?  

It always seems to be more of a bragging situation that people respond to.   

 

"We are gathered together as a great family, more than 15 million strong." lds tweet at conference.

 

"15 million strong" is a stretch. How about 6 million 'strong' out of 15 million of record? That doesn't sound as appealing, does it? But I am a business man as well. Words drive the business. Yes, a church is a business. The LDS church is a business and the church I attend now is a business. Financial success is a key component of both of our churches.

[Duncan]

It always seems to be more of a bragging situation that people respond to.   

 

"We are gathered together as a great family, more than 15 million strong." lds tweet at conference.

 

"15 million strong" is a stretch. How about 6 million 'strong' out of 15 million of record? That doesn't sound as appealing, does it? But I am a business man as well. Words drive the business. Yes, a church is a business. The LDS church is a business and the church I attend now is a business. Financial success is a key component of both of our churches.

 

 

well, there are folks who don't attend church but watch conference, invalids, less actives

[Stone holm]

Well they already tie all the audio from Sacrament meeting back to Salt Lake so they can listen in if they want to, so cameras aren't much of a stretch.

Really? Does the Bishop know when they are listening? Do they store the tapes? That sounds so NSA.