The surprising news about LDS Church growth

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For The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there is much to celebrate in its latest statistical report: The worldwide growth rate in the 17.2 million-member faith is growing. The expansion of congregations is expanding. And the number of U.S. states with declining membership is, well, declining.
East Africa, meanwhile, is booming, the U.S. is rebounding, and many growth measures have met or surpassed pre-pandemic levels. Still, there are causes for concern: West Africa, unlike the continent’s eastern and central regions, has seen its Latter-day Saint growth slow. While the U.S. enjoyed an increase in net membership, it once again had the largest net decrease in wards and branches. California continues to bleed Latter-day Saints and growth rates in Utah, home to the global faith’s headquarters, remain near historic lows.
On this week’s show, Matt Martinich, an independent researcher who tracks church movements for the websites cumorah.com and ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com, dissects all this data and deciphers what the numbers say about the state of the church.

Опубликовано:

6 июн 2024

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Комментарии : 65

@Irvingdector Месяц назад

My “branch” just became a “ward”. It has grown in the past two years.

@mmcbride1 Месяц назад

We are growing here in my SoCal area. But "bleeding" of members in other areas is to be expected as it was prophesied long ago. It's the best sign of the times right now. Endure to the end my friends.

@boysrus61 Месяц назад

I believe you when you say you are growing but what is your proof of it. Has your ward size increased, have you checked the number of units in your stake. I was curious how you know your area is growing. Our ward recently had 24 people in adult Sunday School. It use to be 50-60 and this is in Idaho.

@carolyearsley 22 дня назад

Over the last twenty-five to thirty years about seven to ten million of us former members have left the corporation.

@boysrus61 Месяц назад

Our stake recently added a new ward while the number of units in the stake dropped by 1. There are somewhere around 730 units. Anyway, yes new ward but they are smaller than last year because the number of members it takes to make a ward and stake has decreased. (Somewhere you can read the letter sent out explaining how many Priesthood holders and part- not full- tithe payers it takes to make a ward or stake.) Sooooooo because there is no transparency in numbers I do wonder how much it has actually grown. Stakes are closing in the UK, so if all the growth is actually in Africa then they should say so.

@twizzles659 24 дня назад

LAST Year in Coeur D' Alene Idaho, last year we added a new Stake, and this year here in Richland Washington, we also just added a new STAKE so awesome....and a new Ward

@RobinSteward-ud5en 28 дней назад

“Active Membership” is probably no more than 4.5M

@seph4667 Месяц назад

Denial is the life blood of faith.

@thomasam000 Месяц назад

I'm not surprised NY was up so much, I lived in NYC through much of 2023 and the mission president was pushing numbers super hard. Wards went from 0-3 baptisms a year to baptisms almost every week, probably 90% we never saw again after they got baptized. Bishops were up in arms over people getting baptized who had no idea what it meant.

@boysrus61 Месяц назад

I know of a couple serving in NY who are there to hold leadership positions in the ward. I think that is a sign of shrinkage and not growth.

@cartercordingley6062 Месяц назад

My issue is that I have been out for 9 years, and they are still counting me as a member, I know that they take role in church, so why can they not give us active member count.

@Coastal1931 Месяц назад

That’s how statistics work. You pick a standard and stick with it for consistancy. They are just measuring people who have been baptised. Everyone knows 17 millon is not the actual number of active members. You could calculate the percentage of active members, but that would would be a far more difficult number to collect.

@cartercordingley6062 Месяц назад

@Coastal1931 they take role like in grade school every Sunday. Plus, if it baptism they should say 17 million baptism, not 17 million active members. It is just a great way to lie. But if a person is good with a church where the top leaders lie and break other commandments, then they in the right place

@Coastal1931 Месяц назад

@@cartercordingley6062 this is just the method. The church is chosen to use. The church is not trying to be deceptive. It’s just a starting point, and then you start to break things down, like the gentlemen in this video is doing.

@rabbithole2015 Месяц назад

@@Coastal1931They chose that method because it looks better for them. They are absolutely deceptive about the numbers. Most of my family left decades ago and and are still counted. Why? Because it makes the church look better, that's why. They also have the exact numbers for weekly activity rates. Even less than that is tithe paying temple going members. This church is all about numbers. You Know and I know they have these figures. They don't post them because it wouldn't look good for the church. The church is huge on image. When I was in the bishopric, I stopped by a members home to try and reactivate him. Funny thing was, he didn't even know he was still a member. He left over 50 years ago and never looked back. He was still being counted and probably still is today. Even though he has most likely passed away by now.

@Coastal1931 Месяц назад

17 million is the most accurate number they could use. If you try to calculate activity rates, the numbers get quite fuzzy and difficult to explain. When you’ret deciding whether to stay in the church, leave the church, join the church, it’s really a personal decision between you, God, and whether the book of Mormon is true I don’t see how the arbitrary 17 million number makes any difference in that. If you’re going to have the opinion that the church has been dishonest I guess I can’t argue with that. I just disagree. I think it’s just the statistical method they’ve chosen to use.

@matthewmitchell68 Месяц назад

I think it depends: some are happy with the church, some are happy to leave the church. Finding an environment that you thrive in is most important.

@twizzles659 24 дня назад

oops sorry that was not correct, the new ward was added in Coeur D' Alene, Idaho, not Richland Washington

@carolyearsley 22 дня назад

That makes more sense.

@stellaarthur2739 Месяц назад

It's common knowledge by now that quick baptism is pushed by Mission presidents, participation is not important to them - quit deluding yourselves that "this is the Most accurate number the church can use" How is this "lying for the Lord"? How does it benefit God?

@Kaifkiih35 Месяц назад

How would you say they count membership especially when most who do go inactive and sometimes leave don’t usually tell the church they just assume they can leave and not say anything?

@stellaarthur2739 Месяц назад

@@Kaifkiih35 most new converts never do become active, that's what has been revealed - they just push quick baptism and then they aren't really concerned about them ever attending. They're focus in the mission is just to concentrate on baptism. So a lot of the new converts from the last decade+ should never have been counted. Point is, they know this, they're not trying to put out accurate #'s cuz they aren't good #'s. And why they stopped announcing the # at Conference a few years ago - they're not good #'s

@Kaifkiih35 Месяц назад

@@stellaarthur2739 they stay active on average 5> months but our retention rate is higher than Pentecostals, Catholics and we only fall short on evangelist churches. We’re one of the only churches who are keeping younger people when others are bleeding their youth and millenials

@stellaarthur2739 Месяц назад

@@Kaifkiih35 if you believe the church's numbers, that is What's the latest year they've released numbers on?

@Kaifkiih35 Месяц назад

@@stellaarthur2739 2023? They release them each year?

@haroldwhite5761 Месяц назад

"These are the Church's statistics on membership rolls"

@Cocoon68 Месяц назад

You do realize that the growth also is about those who are in and out as fast as they convert. It’s all about numbers in the church and that also means those on the rolls who are out! They are record only! The church is continually hiding and covering up.

@dannielledoss9971 Месяц назад

It couldn't be the fact that we're such a judgmental group of people it couldn't be that people love people on Sunday and then hate them on Monday

@boysrus61 Месяц назад

You know the saying... Friends in the church are a mile wide and an inch deep. Leave the church and find friends an inch wide but a mile deep.

@ScottJB Месяц назад

This is the problem with "living prophets." They tend to let it go to their head and make grandiose pronouncements about the future, and paint themselves and their successors into corners when they fall short, forcing them to be deceptive and put lipstick on the pig ("what do you mean, we created 1 million new stakes!") or even retract ("he was speaking his opinion with his non-prophet hat on").

@languistx Месяц назад

Maybe the excitement is associated with the expansion of offered access rather than the numbers that people the buildings

@ScottJB Месяц назад

@@languistxThat certainly could be exciting, and honestly it's great that they don't have to sacrifice as much to attend meetings/temples. But the church is deceptive about growth. They often count dead members and totally inactive members, and while their total number of members on paper is growing, it's a meaningless figure as they have low retention and are playing shell games with ward/stake numbers. For ex, merging two stakes due to declining attendance but counting the resulting merged stake as a "new stake" and spinning it with the implication that it is due to growth. It's intentionally deceptive. Nemo the Mormon on RU-vid does a devastating exposé on this with all the receipts.

@Zena357 Месяц назад

Happy to be sn ex-mormon atheist. I research my way out of that horrible cult.

@nrtnrt6676 Месяц назад

Sadly the Mormon religion is based on the lie of the false prophet Joseph Smith. Apart from the momon scriptures Joseph Smith even ADDED his own bits to existing books of the bible and created his OWN VERSION OF THE BIBLE! The Inspired Version as he called it. No prophet in the Bible EVER DID THIS. In fact the Bible warns against it. Or have you not read the Scripture which says: Do not add to His words, Lest He rebuke you, and you be found a liar. Proverbs 30:6 There was no Angel Moroni BUT even if there was consider HOW YOU WERE WARNED IN ADVANCE OF SUCH THINGS. Consider: But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. Galatians 1:8-9 Mormonism IS A DIFFERENT GOSPEL. God gave you the Scriptures to warn you of such things in advance. Now pray to God for wisdom and deliverance from it. And if you are able to go to Church find a good one that preaches The Word. God Bless you in the name of the true Christ who died for your sins.

@jaredvaughan1665 Месяц назад

People like John Dehlin also help the church grow. As most of his viewers are nonmembers who, out of curiosity, often further investigate and join the church.

@boysrus61 Месяц назад

Really? What is your evidence of this?

@MRRANDOMZ11 Месяц назад

Amen thanks John 🙌

@cartercordingley6062 22 дня назад

First, John is not trying to deconvert people he is just giving out information so people can make decisions. If you don't care to be informed other than by the church themselves, then good for you. But just remember that a sells person will never give you the negative details about their products. And what are they selling snake-oil. John is just there to tell the customer what the product is and what it costs.