We’re looking at some of the basic stats they provided to come up with increase percentages for their membership, and convert rate per missionary.
And because it goes without saying…we’re also wondering if the Church really does have the number of members they say they do. We’re thinking they don’t!
At the April 2016 General Conference, the Church made the following claims:
15,634,199 Membership Total which includes the following increases:
114,550 Children of Record
257,402 Converts
=
371,952 Total New Members
74,079 Total # of Missionaries
In order to figure out where the Church’s current growth rate stands, we simply looked at membership totals from the 2014 General Conference Report , and subtracted that from the membership totals in the 2015 General Conference Report. This is their net gain.
The following is what we found!
LDS.org reported –
Membership Total
15,372,337 Members
15,634,199 Members
Now this is where things get strange…Their chart recorded the following:
371,952 Member Increase
This includes convert baptisms and ‘children of record’ totals.
However…
The difference between 2014 and 2015 is 261,862.
Why are they reporting an increase of 371,952?
Rate Increase
According to the Church, they saw a 2.4% increase in membership from 2014. If true, this would be a modest, albeit notable, increase from the previous year-end total for 2014, of 1.93%.
This 2.4% number represents the 371,952 new members baptized. New members include natural increase (114,550), and converts (257,402).
But is this true? Let’s take a look at their math.
Our Totals Using Their Numbers
At the end of 2014 the Church reported they had 15,372,337 members.
At the end of 2015 the Church reported they had 15,634,199 members.
Doing simple math you can see there should have been an increase of 261,862 members, not 371,952 members. This means they have 110,090 members unaccounted for.
Now, either 110,090 members died…OR…the 110,090 members are a combination of deaths, and those who left the Church.
Conversion Growth Rate 2015 – 1.65%
257,402 Converts
This means 1.65% of the total Mormon membership were converts.
Children of Record Growth Rate 2015 – 0.73%
114,550 Children of Record
This means an average of 0.73% of the total Mormon membership were ‘BIC’ (‘Born in the Covenant’), and/or baptized at 8 years of age.
Membership Rate Increase – 1.7%
The Mormon stat report from 2014 to 2015 shows an increase of 261,862 members.
This means they had a total increase in membership of 1.7%
False Increased Rates – 30% Unaccounted For
Of great concern is the number of members they’ve seemed to add on without baptism, or any other record.
110,090 unaccounted for members = 30% of their claimed increase of 371,952 new members.
Missionary Work Force Conversion Rates – 3.48
257,402 Total Converts – 2015
According to the 2015 Stat Report by LDS.org, they had 3.48 converts per missionary for the year.
In 2014, the conversion rate per missionary was 3.49
There’s obviously a slight decrease, but this really isn’t the story here.
What we said in 2014 can be said again for 2015; their net gain exceeded the number of baptisms and conversions.
There’s no getting around the dismal news this time. Conversion rate is down, there’s no transparency in their reporting system, and who knows where the truth lies.
One thing is certain – it isn’t with the Church.