Thursday, December 29, 2011

Several New Case Study Essays Posted

In coordination with David Stewart at cumorah.com, we have posted nine church growth case studies which examine specific topics in relation to LDS Church growth.  Case studies currently posted examine the following topics and are provided with links to the articles:
We are in the process of editing and writing case studies on the following topics:
  • Outreach efforts among the Tzotzil Amerindians
  • Unofficial groups of investigators meeting under the LDS Church's name
  • Failed efforts to expand outreach in Greece
  • The impact of changing area policies on LDS growth
  • Meetinghouse construction and LDS growth
  • Projecting LDS membership growth
  • LDS growth among the Miskito of Nicaragua
  • Unreached islands in the Philippines
  • Comparing LDS growth trends in Hong Kong and Singapore
  • Methods of LDS Outreach in Muslim nations
Corrections, comments, and questions are welcomed.  We are also welcoming suggestions for future topics.

13 comments:

Stephen said...

There's a typo in the blog post (how to effectively open a city).

Matt said...

Thanks; it's been corrected.

Tom said...

these look like excellent, thought provoking essays. I look forward to enjoying them. Thanks!

Matthew Crandall said...

I think the slow growth in Europe would be a good topic. This is especially interesting considering that the JWs have seen fantastic growth in the same area under a similar amount of time. The area strategy for 2012 outlined some of the problems that block growth in the area.

John said...

How about something on missionary allocation? For a long time I hypothesized that a state/province/country's share was proportional to the square root of members and nonmembers. Now - particularly with the cuts in Western Europe, and my mission (PA Philadelphia) covering six stakes (PA especially is aging) I wonder if the Brethren are targeting a certain demographic . . .

John said...

I meant "geometric mean of members and nonmembers" . . .

JAG Family said...

Do you have any information about a group of LDS individuals meeting in Brunei? I saw a comment on one of the posts back in 2009 that someone verified that there was a group. I'm having no luck finding any additional details, but don't want to give up.

Matt said...

Jen-

Contact the Singapore Mission office at

65 6735-6723

There are two groups meeting in Brunei: One in Bandar and one in Kuala Belait.

Erik said...

While you may be working mostly on more current LDS Church growth trends, I would be interested in learning more about the Church's missionary history - when did the Church switch from sending out individual adult members to sending out young men and women and why? Also, to which extent have the place of missionary responsibilities changed historically? For example, was there a time when members by themselves could teach and baptize people; what about the switch from stake missionaries to ward missionaries, the role of Area Presidencies, etc. What lessons can we potentially draw from the Church's long history of doing missionary work in different ways?

Matt said...

(different Matt here)

One of the things I believe is solely lacking with some investigators, new members, and long-term members is an increasingly lack of "emotional intelligence".

Many members go inactive not because of a lack of testimony, but they don't want to deal with the dysfunctional group dynamics and/or drama in their branch or ward.

So alongside learning about the Gospel, it's equally if not more important for members to understand the application of the Gospel in their daily lives and how they interact with others. If church members as a whole, were more emotionally healthy, that would yield in greater retention, reactivation, and higher baptism rates.

Adam said...

So are you thinking about making an article on how 2011 has looked compared to other years? I'm curious to see how you think the church stacked up through comparing new stakes/districts.

Lloyd said...

I would be interested to know where the LDS church missionary force is coming from and how that has changed over the years. For example is 10% coming from Brazil and how has that changed. My reasoning is that I understand missionary numbers have been holding steady the past 5 years but is it steady world-wide or are the amount from Utah decreasing while the amount from other countries increasing?

Lloyd said...

I'm also interested in knowing the impact the YSA wards, branches, and stakes are having on church growth. Also along those same lines, what impact do foreign speaking branches and wards have on church growth in both the US and other countries. My hypothesis is that as more groups, wards and branches adapt to the cultural dynamics of cities and LDS membership that this will provide greater growth potential than the church currently experiences