tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post7675341098155537396..comments2024-03-28T13:11:03.631-06:00Comments on Growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church): Ratio of Church Membership to Country PopulationMatthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16030323360917985701noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-40831827482832397042010-01-24T19:36:22.919-07:002010-01-24T19:36:22.919-07:00That's all well and good that you list the num...That's all well and good that you list the number of total members in each area, but that doesn't tell the whole story.<br /><br />As any missionary knows, only about 1/3 of baptized converts remain active in the faith. Many people who go inactive soon after their baptism don't consider themselves members of the church. for example: The church claims about 6 million members in the United States, but according to respondents in a recent Pew Forum poll, only about 3.2 million people in the U.S. called themselves Mormon/LDS.<br /><br />What I would be curious to see is the total number of active members, and total number of temple recommend holding members in each area. That will tell you the real story of how the church is performing around the world.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02714734282190278098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-5431706457290499642009-06-27T09:18:50.749-06:002009-06-27T09:18:50.749-06:00Interesting that you have already developed a syst...Interesting that you have already developed a system that is close to the one I wrote about. I would say one of the greatest areas untouched by the Church are those rural areas that lack towns or small cities, like in Africa or less developed countries. We are seeing the Church make great progress in these areas in Nigeria and in the past year Ghana however.Matthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16030323360917985701noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-62232533639112303512009-06-21T16:20:10.703-06:002009-06-21T16:20:10.703-06:00In our forthcoming Atlas of LDS History we are usi...In our forthcoming Atlas of LDS History we are using a similar breakdown:<br />Stage VI: >50% LDS (Utah): The Church is the dominant cultural force, every village has a unit and small towns have stakes.<br />Stage V: >20% LDS (e.g. Idaho, Tonga): The Church is a major presence, everyone is well aware of it; every county has multiple units and rural regional towns have stakes<br />Stage IV: >2% LDS (e.g., California, Chile): Everyone has heard of the church, most people know a member personally; any city over 20K has a stake<br />Stage III: >0.2% LDS (e.g., Eastern US, Brazil, UK): Most people have heard of the church, but are not well-acquainted with it; stakes in medium-size cities (e.g. state capitals), missionaries reaching into rural areas<br />Stage II: >0.02% LDS and/or a stake (e.g., most of Europe and Asia): Church is permanently established, with at least 1 stake in the capitol and other major cities. Branches in regional cities, rural area is largely untouched.<br />Stage I: no stakes, branches in major cities only, but church has an official missionary presence.<br />Stage 0a: no official presence, no proselytizing missionaries, but branches (primarily expatriates) in major cities.<br />Stage 0: no presence whatsoever.<br /><br />Of course, my thresholds are as arbitrary as yours, since there is a continuum of strength, but it seems to be meaningful.<br /><br />The percentage/ratio alone doesn't tell the full story, because there are small island nations in the pacific and caribbean where the percentage is larger than, say, Europe, but the total membership is still too small to be very strong. <br /><br />This is a useful tool, however, because you can track the growth of a country and see how if compares to patterns of other countries, even at other times, which helps make predictions.Brandon Plewehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18179862016794010481noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2786908254617003646.post-45998089844992150012009-06-17T14:49:30.751-06:002009-06-17T14:49:30.751-06:00Thanks. This is very interesting.
In your 1st pa...Thanks. This is very interesting.<br /><br />In your 1st paragraph you mention but don't link to the breakdown by states.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com