I have received a credible report that the Church appeared to baptize 380,000-390,000 convert baptisms in 2025. If accurate, this would surpass the previous all-time high of 330,877 converts baptized in 1990 by approximately 50,000-60,000 people. Additionally, the combined total of convert baptisms and children of record added to Church membership appears to have reached around half a million in 2025, which would represent another all-time high. With approximately 90,000-140,000 records removed annually, the net increase in membership is likely closer to 400,000 given these unofficial reports.
Official statistics will be released in General Conference next month.
26 comments:
I always thought it would be awesome to hit 20 million members at the 200th anniversary of the church in April of 2030. At 17.5 million at the end of 2024 and only increasing 250k a year it seemed that it would be out of reach and take until 2035 to hit it.
If we were to get 400k for 2025 and it is any sort of exponential, we could absolutely push to getting 20 million by April of 2030. Will still be a stretch, but much more doable. Would need to average 488k a year for the following 4 years and 3 months to hit it.
How much is that as a per capita of the world population?
Then this would put total membership over 18 million by now.
Nampula Mozambique Mutauanha Stake (2324997)
Organized on 15 March 2026
- Luaha Branch
- Muatala Ward
- Murrapaniua Ward
- Mutauanha Ward
- Namaita Ward
- Substação Ward
Mission: Mozambique Beira Mission
Temple: Harare Zimbabwe Temple
Beira Mozambique Chamba Stake (2306085)
Organized on 15 March 2026
- Campo do Povo Ward
- Chamba Ward
- Chingussura Ward
- Zona Verde Ward
Mission: Mozambique Beira Mission
Temple: Harare Zimbabwe Temple
Bauru Brazil Jardim Santana Stake (616532)
Reorganized from the Botucatu Brazil District on 8 March 2026
- Bela Vista Ward
- Jardim Santana Ward
- Jaú Branch
- Marechal Rondon Ward
- Pederneiras Branch
- São Manuel Branch
Mission: Brazil Piracicaba Mission
Temple: Campinas Brazil Temple
Cotonou Benin Akpakpa Stake (2320924)
Organized on 8 March 2026
- Akpakpa Ward
- Avotrou Ward
- Dowa Branch
- Finagnon Ward
- Gbegame Branch
- Jericho 1st Ward
- Jericho 2nd Ward
- Porto Novo Ward
Mission: Benin Cotonou Mission
Temple: Accra Ghana Temple
León México Aeropuerto Stake (421391)
Reorganized from the Guanajuato Mexico District on 8 March 2026
- Arbide Ward
- Azteca Ward
- Campestre Ward
- Echeveste Ward
- Lagos de Moreno Branch
- Las Torres Ward
- Olímpica Ward
- Parque del Sur Ward
- San Francisco del Rincon Ward
Mission: México Querétaro Mission
Temple: Mexico City Mexico Temple
Bomet Kenya District (2326450)
Organized on 8 March 2026
- Bomet Branch
- Kapkesosio Branch
- Kyongong Branch
Parent: Kenya Nairobi West Mission
Temple: Nairobi Kenya Temple
Mangu Nigeria District (2311054)
Organized on 8 March 2026
- Chapkwai Branch
- Dadin Kowa Branch
- Gerkawa Branch
- Gindiri Branch
- Mabudi Branch
- Mangu Branch
- Pankshin Branch
Parent: Nigeria Abuja Mission
Temple: Aba Nigeria Temple
My ward in New Jersey had 7 baptisms in 2025. All are men above 18 and all are active. A Spanish ward in the stake had 43 baptisms.
Probably not quite, the half a million new members is raw, not net. After deaths and removals, we could expect an increase of 360,000-410,000, assuming deaths and removals stay within the range of previous years.
First Presidency broadens ward Sunday School Leadership opportunities:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sunday-school-leadership-opportunities-men-women
Other Handbook changed were also noted:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-handbook-march-2026
Regarding the recent change allowing ward/branch sunday school presidencies to consist of all men or all women:
If you look at the number of adult leadership callings in wards/branches and stakes, you’ll see more are male-specific than women-specific. This change reduces the imbalance, including in ward/branch councils. This change will especially help branches & smaller wards, while increasing leadership opportunities for women.
I have observed that over time wards/branches are strengthened by having members serve in stake callings. I have also observed that ward/branch leaders (especially branches and small wards) may sometimes be hesitant to recommend thier male members for stake callings because of their own immediate needs. Over time this dynamic can cause stonger wards to gain leadership experience faster than the weaker wards who need it the most.
Hopefully the sunday school presidency change will help with this.
The optional callings of ward/branch mission leader and activity committee chair are also not gender-specific.
A stunning development was reported by the Church today. The First Presidency has decided that, effective immediately, ward Sunday School Presidencies may be all male or all female:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/general-handbook-march-2026
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sunday-school-leadership-opportunities-men-women
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2026/03/18/general-handbook-update-ordinances-covenants-ward-sunday-school-presidencies/
At the stake level, an assigned member of the high council will continue to serve as the stake Sunday School president, assisted by an all-male presidency. And the Sunday School General Presidency will also continue to be all males, although men and women will continue to serve on the Sunday School General Advisory Council.
This is a stunning development, and opens the opportunity for more women's voices in ward leadership. My thanks once again to you all.
Getting back to the subject of Church growth, my calculations (based on a complex algorithm and the information from this post and its' comments), I am estimating that the year-end Church membership for last year may be somewhere around 17,950,000 at minimum. It occurred to me to wonder if Alex's comment above was referring to Church membership now (March/April 2026) vs. year-end 2025. If so, I could easily see Church membership now having surpassed 18,000,000 as Alex suggested above. In any case, it would not shock me to see year-end 2026 membership at well over 18,000,000.
The ward/branch mission leader must be a Melchizedek Priesthood holder. Please consult the current General Handbook.
James, please discontinue posting about non-church growth related items.
Among other Ward changes this week, from the Salt Lake Cottonwood Stake (500690), the Cottonwood 8th Ward (2003) was recently discontinued. And the Cottonwood 3rd Ward (248) was renamed the Meadowcrest Ward (248) sometime in the last 8 months +/-.
67 Mar 18, 2026 Cottonwood 8th Ward Holladay, Utah
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/500690
Instead of posting every unit update. I'm going to leave the URL link to my source here for any to review. It may be accurate or not.
https://www.fullerconsideration.com/DeseretDemographer/units.php
In a recent realignment, closing 2 wards, the Bagé Brazil Stake (522422) has recently been renamed the Pelotas Brazil West Stake (522422).
68 Mar 18, 2026 Tiaraju Ward Bage, Brazil
69 Mar 18, 2026 Castelo Ward Bage, Brazil
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/522422
In the above realignment of the Pelotas Brazil Stakes and São Lourenço do Sul Brazil District (2081725), the São Lourenço do Sul Brazil District (2081725), has been discontinued. The Canguçu Branch (437514) was transferred to the newly named Pelotas Brazil West Stake. The São Lourenço do Sul Branch (279676) was discontinued. And the Tapes Branch (2283018) was transferred to the Porto Alegre Brazil Moinhos de Vento Stake (521485).
28 Mar 18, 2026 São Lourenço do Sul Branch Sao Lourenco Do Sul, Brazil
The Dom Pedrito Ward (281018) in the old Bage Brazil Stake (now called Pelotas Brazil West), went to the Livramento Brazil Stake (520934).
And the Simões Lopes Ward (261513) in the Pelotas Brazil Stake (518875), seems to have been consolidated sometime in last 8 months. Unknown date.
I've mapped all properties I can tell the church owned within Arkansas. Because of inconsistencies on how counties report, it's likely I've missed some. A few takeaways:
* The church rents out 2 locations for meetinghouses
* 2 meetinghouses are not listed in the county's property search. The property does not show an owner on their maps. Being typical LDS Church appearance. The church probably does own these properties.
* There are 6 pieces of vacant land.
-The four in Benton county are the typical size seen to build meetinghouses on. Current meetinghouses all have 5 units meeting at each meetinghouse and a ward in NW Arkansas meeting in Missouri. The Bentonville Stake Center not only has 5 wards, but also houses a distribution center. Aerial imagery shows a meetinghouse being built on the one in SW Bentonville.
- There's a small piece of land near a meetinghouse in Berryville that is probably owned to control development.
- There is a 13 acre piece of land the church recently purchased for more than $7 million.
* The Church owns large tracts of property in the geographical region of the state with the least members (Arkansas' Mississippi River Delta). For wards that cover the Delta, you'll see members are primarily on Crowley's Ridge or in the foothills.
* There is 3 or 4 properties that are developed but not meetinghouses:
- 2 appear to be mission homes (residences of the mission president)
- 1 contains Parley P Pratts Gravesite.
- 1 is listed as "Walker Cemetery & Latter Day Saints Church" which makes me want to believe it's owned by the church but I cannot Confirm.
* There maybe other properties within the state the church owns but I wasn't able to search. This may include properties of companies/organizations the church owns.
* Most of the growth of the Church is in NW Arkansas. Southern and Eastern Arkansas has the least growth. There are very few members between Lonoke and West Memphis. There's been attempts to get a unit in-between (ie. Forrest City Branch and Brinkley Group), but all failed to last.
https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/edit?mid=1A2U3BVjfJL6WVIQXJgQqfb2caXYrvLw&usp=sharing
@Scooter
That's really awesome that your ward and that Spanish ward have been baptizing so much. :)
Please let Matt decide what is relevant to Church growth and what is not. He wouldn't approve my comments in question if they were unrelated to Church growth. He said as much himself.
It was announced at the recent stake conference in Rogers, AR, that property was recently purchased in Bentonville and in Centerton, presumably for future meetinghouses. There was a groundbreaking ceremony last Saturday for a new stake center in Rogers (rumor is the current stake center will be renovated after the new one is built), and it was announced that ground will be broken on the new stake center in Pea Ridge in the next month or two. Those two buildings are expected to be ready within years.
The new Centerton stake center is ready, but there is a problem regarding local infrastructure for which the city has not yet allowed us to use it. We don't have a date or timeline when this problem will be resolved.
Besides all this, according to comments made last year by a local stake president about what he was told by general leadership, the church is looking to purchase at least two more properties in Northwest Arkansas, probably in the Grave the area and the Farmington/south Fayetteville area.
If anyone is interested. I just updated my Missions and Stakes map by color coding each of the "approximate boundaries" of each of the USA Missions, with all the 2025 Stakes included in each. While I'm in the process of redrawing the boundaries.
https://earth.google.com/earth/d/1bo0tn35wzHS64lPFnTSIc-6dcUEBb6zU?usp=sharing
Are any of the wards ready to split once a new building is opened/dedicated?
Does this include for-profit real estate and land? Most of the land the church owns is for-profit, so it wouldn’t surprise me to see a lot more land owned by the church in Arkansas than this. You can look for property holdings of Farmland Reserve which usually buys agricultural property and then leases it out to local farmers to work the land and sell product. The church isn’t involved in the farming or food production process at all, but the church still owns the land and could potentially convert it to another purpose at some point down the road.
Looks like if there are around 400,000 net new members, nominal church membership will have grown by 2.3% last year. Meanwhile, estimates place global population growth in 2025 at 0.9%. So in 2025 alone, the church will have outpaced population growth slightly.
In terms of proportions, nominal church membership would have gone from 0.002 of global population to 0.0021. Or, in other words, from 20 in every 10,000 people to 21 in every 10,000 people.
Michael Worley, we were told in Bishops' council meeting that as soon as the new building opens all the buildings in the county will immediately go to 5 units in each. I believe that includes moving 2 wards that are currently housed in buildings outside the county, so I expect 3 new units to be created at that time.
We were told at the same time that when these other 2 new stake centers open in a couple years, all the buildings will have 5 units except two (which will have 4 units) due to projected church growth in the area
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