I am currently updating the country statistical profiles on www.cumorah.com. I will be posting on my blog whenever I update country or state/province profiles. Also new for this year, I have included a comparative growth table that compares the number of members and congregations between Latter-day Saints, Jehovah's Witnesses, and Seventh-Day Adventists. Although there are many significant doctrinal differences, these three groups share a lot in common in terms of a centralized leadership headquartered in the United States, founding in the United States during the nineteenth century, and worldwide missionary-focused efforts. Thus, this table presents more of an apples-to-apples comparison to these three religious groups, and also shows what type of growth has been possible in different countries of the world.
So far, I have updated the following countries with year-end 2019 data:
22 comments:
Great stuff. Is this an unpaid hobby or do you get remunerated for your efforts? I hope the latter, but if not it reminds me of church historians who do their work and documentation as a calling.
Thank you!
On a sidenote, our missionaries here in Germany are still hard at work, despite being unable to proselyte outside or meet people in their homes. The Frankfurt Mission has set up a large-scale social media advertising campaign just two weeks ago, and so far, nearly 3000 (mostly first) lessons have been taught digitally to potential investigators throughout the mission. That's roughly three times the load that would be expected during a regular two-week period.
Work with existing investigators is progressing as well, and there has definitely been a spike in people who have taken the "next step" and are now awaiting baptism. One relatively small branch in the Dortmund Stake now has 11 people on date to be baptized as soon as it becomes legally possible, many of whom were long-time or past investigators the missionaries were able to reconnect with over the last few weeks through Facebook.
Eduardo, I believe that cumorah.com is a privately funded initiative, which may by extension cover funding for this blog, but that's just my own recollection, which might be incorrect.
Pascal, that's wonderful! And it could be a key indicator that COVID-19 will have a profoundly positive impact on Church growth throughput most of the world as a result.
@Matt, Sorry.
Upon further research, I realize my mistake. The Amman Jordan District (475149) was renamed Cairo Egypt District (475149). Sorry.
Does Rabat really fall under Cairo? Whuhhhh... My wife served in Ceuta (Sebta) a relatively easy drive from Tangier.
I remember reading an article in the Church News back in 2003 on my mission about the government recognition of the Church in Benin and Togo (or perhaps it was the dedication of those lands for missionary work). At any rate, they just had a handful of members at that time. Nice to see their progression. Hope they turn into an Ivory Coast or a DRC at some point.
Found it!
It was legal recognition. Back in March of 2003:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/benin
And Togo received legal recognition in July of 2000:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/facts-and-statistics/country/togo
I am surprised Ghana is still only 30% reached. The amount of outreach needed is huge.
Interesting in Ivory Coast only 35% of the population 8s reached.
THe first African sister (from Nigeria) called as a member of the Relief Society General Board (this was back in 2004) and her husband, who was an Area Seventy from 1997 until at least 2004, were baptized on the very property where the Aba Nigeria Temple now stands. See this article https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2003-10-04/pair-reflect-lds-nigerians-faith-100192
You cannot compare the growth of Jehovah's Witnesses, where all people preach the gospel, to the one that exists in the LDS Church where only a few missionaries give of their time for 2 years or 1.5 years, or in the case of marriages varies.
The missionaries are the ones who give life to the Church, they are its great trademark, along with the temples and the choir.
I am happy to see the progress in the countries, hopefully it will continue like this.
A hug from Chile
Omar Elías
Eduardo,
That is a tantalizing bit of info about your wife. Was she there as a missionary (if so, what mission is that), or in some other capacity? We don't have proselyting missionaries in that area, do we?
John Pack Lambert,
Elder Chukwurah, the husband in the Nigerian couple you mentioned, was released as an Area 70 in October 2003:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/archives/2003-10-04/6-full-time-general-authorities-released-100114
I guess I was off by a little.
We as members of the Church need to do more to preach the gospel and spread the word to other people.
Organizational growth in influenced by several factors.
I think we have to remember that full functionaing of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints requires reasonably accessable temples. That we have not had in much of the US for more than 25 years, and in some parts of the US and even more so in other countries we do not have it yet.
My wife served in the Spanish enclave of Ceuta, Morocco, back in 1995 when it was called the Malaga Mission. Sometimes I think it has been called the Sevilla Mission. She and her companion taught many sub-Saharan Africans, like from Niger.
She drove to Tangier after her mission with her mom. I think. Or, maybe that was her sister who served in the same mission 7 years later. My wife visited Portugal, Madrid, and Paris on the way out of Europe. She saw her brother serving in southern Portugal. Lisboa South, I think.
One of my teachers at the Provo MTC in 1995 had served as a sister missionary in the Malaga mission- I guess I didn't realize they covered anything south of the Mediterranean. (I found an article mentioning that both Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish enclaves in Morocco- I had not realized they existed.)
The article I found was from BBC:
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-14114627
Ceuta also had a pair of elders that would baptize the converts in the ocean, at the beach with waves. It could be tricky, especially some of them with real fear and not knowing how to swim.
She said at night you could see the lights of Gibraltar and Spain across the Strait. Melilla is much further from the mainland, a much longer ferry ride from Gibraltar or Algeciras.
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