Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell shared several statistical insights into the growth of the Church during a BYU-Hawaii devotional on October 13th, 2026. Entitled Caring for Those in Need, Bishop Waddell shared the following during the first 12 minutes of the video:
- Currently over 90,000 full-time missionaries serving (previously announced by the Church on September 18th, 2026).
- More than half of missionaries currently training at the Provo Missionary Training Center (MTC) are sister missionaries.
- Convert baptisms are up more than 20% for 2026 compared to 2025 (Bishop Waddell did not specify the periods being compared).
- He projected total convert baptisms for 2026 to likely range between 450,000 and 500,000.
- More than 400 temples in the worldwide Church "in the near future."
To my knowledge, this marks the first time in 2026 that a general Church leader has publicly shared a specific numerical projection for worldwide convert baptisms during the current year.
The year 2025 was a record year for convert baptisms. There were 385,490 converts baptized in 2025 (which represented an increase of 76,808 from 2024; a 24.9% annual increase). If there was an increase of exactly 20% in 2026 over 2025, there would be 462,588 converts baptized for the year. The ratio of convert baptisms to full-time missionaries would be approximately 5.1 in 2026 (assuming approximately 90,000 missionaries and 462,588 convert baptisms), the highest such ratio since 2010. Assuming that the increase in children of record for 2026 is comparable to recent years (approximately 91,000) and the combined number of deaths, membership record removals, and other adjustments is comparable to 2025 (approximately 100,000), then the Church may report a net increase of 440,000-490,000 members for 2026 which would rank among the largest annual net increases ever reported and could potentially be the second highest, exceeded only by 1989. Thus, the annual membership growth rate will likely range from 2.5-2.7% for 2026 - which would represent one of the highest annual membership growth rates since the early 2000s, potentially the highest since 2002. Church membership will likely range between 18.3-18.4 million at the end of the year.
Additionally, Bishop Waddell shared that the total number of temples will surpass 400 "in the near future." Currently, there are 385 temples worldwide, including dedicated, under-construction, and announced temples. Thus, his comment suggests that at least 16 additional temples may be announced in the relatively near future, which would bring the worldwide total to more than 400. There has been significant progress with temple dedications and groundbreakings in 2026 that I detailed in a recent blog post.
If these projections materialize, 2026 would represent a second consecutive year of exceptionally strong growth in convert baptisms and a significant acceleration in worldwide membership growth. Perhaps most notably, these trends suggest that the expansion of the full-time missionary force is being accompanied by increased convert baptisms per missionary, indicating that the recent growth in convert baptisms cannot be attributed solely to having more missionaries serving.
3 comments:
What is driving the increase in baptisms? I think it may be due to social media ads. Serving as a ward mission leader on the east coast last year, I would receive 10-20 emails per day of self-referrals from people submitting their contact info after watching an ad. Without exaggerating, our ward received over 1,000 social media referrals in the space of 6 months that led to about a dozen baptisms. Interestingly enough, every convert was a man 18+.
When I speak to investigators in my ward and neighboring wards, most say they found the church through an instagram ad.
22 wards and a branch in the two stakes in Enoch Utah…seems like a third stake should soon be organized there?
And 50 wards And one branch in the current six stakes Cedar City, Utah could hint at 1-2 new stakes there in the near future. Combining Enoch and Cedar City, could see 1-3 new stakes in that area in next 12-14 months?
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