Psalm 115:1; “Not unto us, O LORD, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth’s sake.”
Putting Things in Perspective
Last week we posted an article on the Church’s vital stat report they presented at their April General Conference, and as we saw their numbers didn’t look all that great. Within a few days of posting the article, I kept coming across other articles painting a picture of even worse news.
The Salt Lake Tribune reported the Church experienced the ‘lowest percentage rise since 1937’. The numbers they retrieved came from Matt Martinich who runs Cumorah.com and LDS Church Growth Blogspot.
His site provided the following analysis –
Convert Baptisms for 2015 = 13.3% annual decrease
Children on Record for 2015 = 1.62% annual decrease
Convert & Missionary Workforce totals for 2015 = 13% annual decrease
Mr. Martinich stated the decline in missionaries serving and converts was the most surprising development. The missionary workforce declined by 13%, and the ‘commensurate decrease in the number of convert baptisms’ was the largest annual decrease since 2003.
His report also gave some interesting insight into the discrepancies of the Church’s end numbers, and the totals we came up with.
“Also, the discrepancy in the summation of convert baptisms and increase in children of record, and the annual net increase in church membership, totaled 110,090 – a decrease of 12,813 compared to 2014.
In other words, this finding indicates that there was a decrease in 2015 in the number of members removed from church records due to death, excommunication, resignation, or unbaptized children of record who reach age 18 compared to 2014.”
So the numbers are representative of those who’ve either died, or left the Church, but the big question is why the Church is adding them to their total, and not subtracting them??? If I added the amount I spent on purchases I made at a store to my checkbook, I’d be in a boatload of trouble!
Back in the day (until the end of 1988), statisticians were able to determine how many members were lost due to death. On average, the Church experienced 4 deaths per 1,000 members. See Mormoninformation.com for further info.
Using that same method would mean an estimated 443.6 members of the 110,900, died. The remainder would fall in one of three categories;
- they were ex-communicated
- they weren’t baptized at 8 yrs of age
- they left the Church
The last category that was looked at was the membership growth rate. Mr. Martinich provided the following info –
Annual Membership Growth Rate for 2015 = Slowest Since 1937
‘…The annual membership growth rate for the Church declined to a mere 1.70% for 2015 – the slowest LDS membership growth rate since 1937 when church membership increased by 0.93%…’
In summary –
The LDS Church isn’t progressing and this is a huge praise! The Christians praying, evangelizing, and getting the word out is working! Praise the Lord, Hallelujah, Praise the Lord!
Whatever you do, don’t stop now beloved – keep praying, and sharing the truth about Jesus!
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