This morning, the Church reported its annual statistical report as of December 31st, 2025.
- Membership: 17,887,212 (increase of 377,431 from 2024; a 2.16% annual increase)
- Congregations: 32,046 (increase of 370 from 2024; a 1.17% annual increase)
- Stakes: 3,695 (increase of 87 from 2024; a 2.41% annual increase)
- Districts: 488 (decrease of 6 from 2024; a 1.2% annual decrease)
- Missions: 451 (increase of 1 from 2024; a 0.22% annual increase)
- Convert Baptisms: 385,490 (increase of 76,808 from 2024; a 24.9% annual increase)
- Increase of Children on Record: 91,835 (increase of 218 from 2024; a 0.24% annual increase)
- Full-time Teaching Missionaries: 78,596 (increase of 4,469 from 2024; a 6.03% annual increase)
- Senior Service Missionaries: 31,613 (increase of 493 from 2024; an 1.58% annual increase)
- Young Service Missionaries: 4,518 (increase of 326 from 2024; a 7.78% annual increase)
Analysis of the 2025 Statistical Report - Key Takeaways
New All-Time Record for Convert Baptisms
The number of new converts baptized in 2025 stands as the most positive development in the statistical report. The Church baptized the most new converts ever in a single year, continuing a trend of increasing numbers of new converts baptized that began in 2024 when there were 308,682 converts baptized (which was an increase of nearly 57,000 from 2023). Church leaders have shared that the increase in convert baptisms has occurred in all major world regions, although North America had the lowest increase in new converts baptized in 2025 (reported as 17% in October 2025 by Elder Quentin L. Cook versus 20% for other world regions). For the year as a whole, there were 24.9% more converts baptized than in 2024. The previous all-time record for new converts baptized in a single year was set in 1990 (330,877), although this was at a time when prebaptismal standards were less strict than today, making the current numbers more impressive. Convert baptisms have increased at a rate much faster than the total number of full-time proselytizing teaching missionaries serving (24.9% versus 6.03% in 2025). There were 4.9 converts baptized per missionary in 2025 - the highest since 2011 when it was 5.1. This trend has improved in recent years from 3.4 in 2022 to 3.71 in 2023 and 4.2 in 2024, suggesting improved efficiency with proselytizing missionaries attracting more converts into the Church. Nevertheless, the average number of converts baptized per missionary is well below the 1970s-1990s when it ranged from 6-8 converts baptized per missionary a year.
Historically waning receptivity to the Latter-day Saint Gospel message during the past several decades has seemed to take an unexpected turn. The recent surge in convert baptisms appears to be driven more by increased receptivity than by major changes in proselytizing methods or teaching approaches. However, it is important to note that the Church has made unprecedented progress within the past 1-2 years with creating its first branches in cities where no official congregation has ever operated, although this development has been primarily concentrated in Sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, a portion of recent membership growth is likely attributable to outreach expansion efforts. However, region- and country-specific membership data have not yet been published, and it is usually posted on the Church's website the week after General Conference.
Sustaining this level of convert growth will depend heavily on improvements in convert retention, as historically many rapidly growing areas have struggled to translate baptisms into long-term activity and leadership development.
Largest Number Net Increase in New Stakes Since 2016
The Church reported a net increase of 87 stakes during 2025, as there were 94 new stakes organized and 7 stakes discontinued. This means that there were roughly 13 new stakes organized for every stake discontinued. Recent years have had many more stakes discontinued and far fewer stakes organized, including 2024 (59 stakes created, 15 stakes discontinued) and 2023 (60 new stakes created, 16 stakes discontinued). Approximately 60% of the new stakes created in 2025 were outside of the United States. The Church increased its standards for stakes to be organized outside the United States in regard to the number of active members and qualified priesthood holders to serve in leadership positions (30 more active, full-tithe paying Melchizedek Priesthood holders than what it was previously), suggesting that stakes organized since early 2024 may, on average, be more structurally robust than those organized in previous decades. Finally, the number of stakes in the Church increased by 2.41% - a rate slightly higher than membership growth and highly encouraging for leadership development and perhaps activity rates as well.
New Record Set for Number of Full-time Teaching Missionaries Serving (Excluding the "Double Cohort" Years)
The number of full-time teaching missionaries serving (78,596) increased by nearly 4,500 in 2025 (6.03%) to reach a new record (when excluding the double cohort years when the minimum age for missionary service was decreased by one year for men and two years for women in October 2012). The rate of increase for young single adults serving full-time proselytizing missions remains several times higher than annual membership growth and suggests an increasing percentage of eligible members choosing to serve missions. It is important to note that many youth and young single adult converts serve missions and have contributed to the momentum in the growing worldwide missionary force. Although these numbers continue to be encouraging, the rate of growth in the number of full-time teaching missionaries is slowing, as the Church reported a year over year increase of 8.52% in 2023 and 9.22% in 2024.
Highest Annual Growth Rate for Total Church Membership Since 2012
Total Church membership increased by 2.16% in 2025 continuing a trend of accelerating membership growth since a low of 0.60% in 2020. This increase was driven not only by record convert baptisms but also by a substantial reduction in membership record removals (approximately 46,000 fewer than in 2024), which significantly amplified net growth. The summation of convert baptisms and children of record was 477,325 in 2025 - the highest ever reported by the Church, breaking the previous record set in 2014 at 413,212. However, the actual net increase in membership in 2025 was 377,431 due to a net removal of 99,894 membership records (it is important to note that this is an estimate, as it does not account for re-baptized members who had their records removed). The net increase in membership in 2025 was the highest reported since 1999 when there was a net increase of 398,745 members.
Largest Net Increase in Congregations Operating Since 2019; Congregational Growth Continues to Lag Behind Membership Growth
The Church reported a net increase of 370 wards and branches in 2025 - the highest since 2019 when there was a net increase of 404 wards and branches. The number of wards and branches in the Church increased by 1.17% in 2025 which is approximately half of the rate at which membership grew for the year. Congregational growth has long lagged behind membership growth due to compounding retention challenges and persistently low activity rates. The average ward or branch in the Church in 2025 had 558 members, yet most wards have approximately 100-200 active members and the number of active members per branch widely varies. See below for a line graph displaying the average number of members per congregation which indicates steady increases for a quarter of a century. The steady increase in the average number of members per congregation—particularly over the past 25 years—suggests that unit creation has not kept pace with membership growth, and this appears primarily attributed to low activity rates.
Children of Record Increase Remains Low
There was an increase of 91,835 children of record (usually newborns with one or both parents who are members of the Church) added in 2025, which was nearly the same as what was reported in 2024 (91,617). Given a membership of nearly 18 million, this remains a strikingly low figure that reflects declining birth rates, difficulties with young adults marrying (and staying married to have children that they raise in the Church), and problems with creating full-member families in the international Church. The Church regularly reported 100,000-120,000 children of record increase from the years 2008-2018 and has since reported children of record increase ranging from 65,440 in 2020 to 94,266 in 2019. This stands in even starker contrast to the early 1980s when there was only 4-5 million members on Church records yet there were 100,000-124,000 children added to the records annually. If the rate at which children of record were added in the early 1980s were the same today, we would expect approximately 400,000 children added to the records each year.
50 comments:
For anyone who is interested in how this year's trends compare to recent years, I have compiled the statistical report data going back to 2000: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1yPCUlzFMHZpTJW3lkRK3gSLCOIuZZ1HZG0D2olilZ1w/edit?usp=sharing
Overall, seems like a good year. The real test will be in 5+ years to see if there is an accompanying acceleration in congregational growth. I look forward to seeing the country-by-country statistics when those are released.
The drop in records removed was the biggest surprise for me. I assumed they were going to continue cleaning up the records as last year had such a big increase, jumped up to 149k in 2024 but dropped under 100k for 2025 when the 5 year moving average was 110k.
Would like to hear your thoughts on the increase in wards/branches and stakes/district for the US compared to international. The amazing strides we are seeing internationally I feel were stunted by the US created so many new stakes without additional units to back it up.
Also, does anyone have the exact number of wards and branches worldwide for the past couple years? I have estimates but they never seem to line up perfectly with what is released in the statistical reports.
Matt,
Thank you so much for putting this analysis together. It really is a labor of love and is so helpful to so many people.
I just also wanted to point out that, as an economist myself, the church growth rates are incredible this year, also because the world only grew in population by .85 percent. In the U.S., that slowed all the way to .54 percent. So, even though the average population growth of the world and the U.S. (where the Church still has the most members) continues to slow down, the growth rate of the church continues to speed up. That is pretty incredible and shows real economic growth.
Likewise, because the new stakes and congregations rate also beat that hurdle rate shows that most of the growth is active membership growth and not just growth on paper.
It has been a banner year for the church.
It will be interesting to see how 2026-2027 looks with the “double cohort” of 18-year old sister missionaries leaving this summer.
In our ward, almost all finding by the missionaries is through social media referrals (Facebook ads). They probably get 30-50 per week. I’m curious how this has affected missionary productivity and if some of the increase in baptisms is through the church finding better ways to connect with interested individuals.
Thanks for the analysis, Matt. Exciting development with amount of people baptized this past year. Hopefully we see a large uptick in unit creation.
I mourn our low fertility rates. It is, in my opinion, the most pressing matter facing the growth of the church.
I suggest by now (April 2026) total membership has already, or is about to surpass the 18 million mark.
Raising children has never been easy, but it was much more affordable in the 80s. Many young people who want children don't have them because it's simply not possible when they already live one missed paycheck away from homelessness. Anyone who's serious about reversing the decline of fertility rates needs to face that reality.
Our mission president (Texas Dallas East) just told us in stake conference that last month the church worldwide had its first 10,000 convert baptism week, as well as our first week of 2,500 missionary applications. 2026 will blow 2025 out of the water.
Probably not a surprise to anyone, but no new temples announced at conference. Honestly, going in knowing there wasn’t likely going to be any announcements helped me focus on the talks more instead of anxiously awaiting temple announcements. Maybe this has been an inspired change after all.
Does anyone find it interesting that there has been no new temple announcements? Is it because President Nelson announced so much that the church needs to catch up? Separately, why did President Oaks feel the need to speak at the end? Seemed unnecessary after what he said. Nothing noteworthy in my opinion.
A year or two ago President Knox was at BYU giving a devotional, and he talked about the low number of births worldwide. He encouraged the students to get married in the temple and have “lots and lots of babies“. Has to make you wonder what the Lord may have up his slave if the world is not willing to have children anymore, and that speaking in general terms, then how does the Lord get mortal bodies for all the spirit still waiting? I am not gonna even try to guess, but certainly the Lord’s got to have something in mind to help fix that problem.
Records removed must include both living people's names and deaths, right? Or are deaths recorded somewhere else?
Your work is awesome 👍
In Response to Adam:
Let me see if I can be helpful here:
The decline in records removed is likely to continue in future years. There are several reasons for this. First, there was a HUGE push in communities, publications and circles critical to the Church over the last two decades to "write to your bishop and remove your records if you no longer believe." It appears that movement has hit critical mass and there are just not as many people who are voluntarily removing their records -- likely because that pool of potential removals has been sufficiently and significantly depleted. Second, is the fact the Church has also been actively cleaning up its membership records with far more accuracy and scrutiny over the last 5-10 years. It appears those efforts are also hitting critical mass and, again, there is a smaller pool now of records to clean up and remove. Last, as Matt suggested, all trends seem to show increased reception globally to the LDS gospel. With that trend comes an expected increasing trend in the decline of future removal of records. We can expect this trend to continue in future years.
As far as new U.S. stakes and districts are concerned, remember that (until recently), the criteria for applying to the first presidency to create a new ward or stake were higher in the U.S. than they were globally outside the U.S. It was not until three years ago that these requirements were standardized and equalized globally across the board -- so that wards and stakes will largely be of similar size moving forward. Thus, new stakes and wards in the U.S. need only meet slightly lower membership criteria now, while wards and stakes overseas have slightly higher criteria than they did in the past. What we are seeing is that the U.S. wards and stakes are still playing "catch up" with these new standardized criterion. The Church still had (as still has) some wards and stakes in the U.S. that are far too big for the new standards, and it is just taking some time to continue to divide those large wards and stakes. Likewise, some wards and stakes overseas are also playing catch up with their growth -- meaning they were smaller than the average stake and ward for the new criteria, despite new membership growth, are not dividing into new wards and stakes just yet.
Eventually, you will see this rate equalize with U.S. wards and stakes dividing less frequently and global wards and stakes dividing more frequently. And, while this trend will likely continue over the next 5 years or so, this will eventually equalize and will cease to be a trend in the future.
As far as new wards and branches are concerned, these are very hard to track and the best source remains the Church's official report each April as well as the individual area and country reports when they are made available to the public.
Craig Shuler says,
Church growth is obviously solid with record number of missionaries, convert baptisms, and number of missions to be created at the end of June. I have 2 concerns, though, about every year’s statistical report.
I think the total Church membership is probably substantially overstated.
Outside the U.S. there are probably hundreds of thousands if not millions of people baptized decades ago who have died, but because their membership records are in the address unknown files of their countries, their deaths have not been recorded by the Church.
Their names are removed from address unknown files and sent to the temple for ordinances only after they are age 120.
Of bigger concern to me is parents who are not having their children blessed. There are less than 3 blessings per ward. I have to think this is part of four trends for people of childbearing age.
(1) Birth rates have been declining for decades worldwide.
(2) Higher rates of children born out of wedlock.
(3) Large numbers are apathetic or hostile to the Church.
(4) They are among the living whose members are in the address unknown file. They don’t consider themselves members.
I agree. Well said.
Other Matt here...
In order for more children to be born, LDS Dating culture really needs to change for the better. In many cases, it really has gotten toxic and dysfunctional. Plus the Church does nothing to help single men, so single men have higher rates of inactivity than single women. Singles over-rely on dating apps and swiping, and not enough time in face-to-face human interaction, and real world activities.
Cost of housing is another factor where the average price of a starter home in the U.S. is four times higher today adjusted for inflation than a generation ago. Social media is only creating unrealistic expectations where single women go for the top 5% of men because "they know their worth" and are not "settling", leaving average guys out of the dating picture. I'm sure unrealistic expectation affect single men too.
We as a church don't have divorce support groups (e.g. DivorceCare.org) as other churches do, which impact singles emotional availability and willingness to date again post-divorce.
It's not that "singles don't want children" is the issue. It's that for many singles, marriage just seems financially and socially out of reach for them. Until these issues are addressed, you will probably see similar low birth rates inside the Church to continue.
I'd like to see a fourth category of missionary numbers. There are three categories listed in the report but I don't know where Senior Missionaries (living away from home) are counted. Senior Service Missionaries live at home and typically serve from home. Service Missionaries are young folks who live at home and typically serve in their local areas. Teaching Missionaries are young folks who are called to go all over the world. Most Senior Missionaries don't teach.
Thoughts?
Paul
Not really, last conference they said they were going to slow down temple announcements to catch up with the other temples. I think we may get maybe one or two announcements in the next year or so
@EP
I felt the same.
Prophets were the last speaker at conference close things up, as well as giving a full address at the end of the Sunday morning session for as long as I can remember. President Nelson also followed that pattern for the first bit of his time as prophet, before he began saving his complete talk for the end conference, most likely due to decreasing physical abilities from his advanced age, until he passed.
Austin B., President Oaks introduced a new pattern for temple announcements (which will now be local and will now be announced by apostles or area presidents as authorized by the First Presidency, which was the case for the Portland Maine Temple. But the localized announcements will be fewer and further between until the current massive temple backlog is more fully under control.
As far as President Oaks' concluding remarks, it has been customary for the Presidnets of the Church to open and close each General Conference, also giving a full-length address to conclude the Sunday Morning Session. President Nelson's health issues made it impossible for him to keep up with that customary practice, so it was abandoned during his final years as the prophet. But since President Oaks has no such health restrictions, he has resumed that practice going forward, likely until he himself is no longer well enough to do so. So this is a pattern we can expect will be followed at least as long as the prophet is in good health.
To Steed:
There have been large pushes to get inactives to resign their membership by those outside the church, but 2024 just seemed off with how large a difference it was. There wasn't anything in particular during the year to spur it on like you saw in the years following the LGBT baptism angst (and nothing Covid-esque for increased deaths,) so I assumed they were just doing the corporate equivalent of income smoothing, where you clean up the books during good years to make up for years it may not be as solid. I would still expect the number to generally increase year after year as membership is larger and there should always be an increase in deaths, I just didn't expect it drop the 30+% it did. If that stays low and converts stay high, we are set for the foreseeable future. Hopefully you are correct that any backlog of disaffected members are essentially pushed through the system.
As far as stakes, again the US will need to up their congregational growth to match the stake increases. Locally I've seen a new stake of 5 unit wards that I don't feel are ready, or would've been better to wait for the units mature more. It obviously hit the new thresholds, but it still puts a lot of strain on wards if the stake is pulling a ton from the ranks. I would like to see a minimum of 6 wards be the threshold personally, but am more than willing to ride the wave of revelation. The stake/district to ward/branch ratio peaked in 2010 at 8.2 units to 7.66 the past 15 years. Removing districts altogether, there has been a decrease in wards per stake from 7.20 to 6.72 today.
More general thoughts:
It also appears they also took too long to start combining wards and stakes in Utah. In the first quarter they have closed It appears they have closed 50 wards while opening 13, for a net of -38 wards (including one YSA ward to branch conversion.) Obviously aging populations, cost of living and flight to new neighborhoods for young families are contributing, but will be interesting to see if it is front-loaded for the quarter and will taper off as the year goes on. Remove Utah from the equation and worldwide unit growth is still hovering around all-time highs.
With the decreased wards they are closing down a lot of chapels, but that doesn't bother me, and in many instances are actually good. Chapels used to feel full with 2 units and 3 were stretching it when church was still three hours. I am currently in a building with 5 wards (and we are excited for more chapels coming) but it is still manageable due to 2 hour church. If the new decreased class sizes are in any way greasing the skids to cut the total meeting time down to 90 minutes, you could essentially have start times every hour and could have even more than 5. Right now in Utah they may have 8 units spread over 5 buildings with some of the consolidations, and would make better sense to sell off 3 and have the 8 units go to 2 chapels. Saves on maintenance and you can pocket the change from selling the old ones. Utah members may just have to drive 3 miles instead of one.
We should expect missionaries numbers to continue to swell, not just from sisters serving earlier (maybe a "1.5x sister Cohort" which will still only be minimal) but also there was a big baby bump in 2008 when children of record jumped from 94k to 123k in one year and then stayed over 100k for 11 years. Those are going to flow through and push the numbers serving even higher. Hopefully children of record also see a noticeable jump 5 years from now.
Fun to play around with an idea that the church should approve a 1% off of tithing for every minor living in the house with you to help with cost of living increases. But worldwide many countries have changed laws to give better leave, baby bonuses, etc to encourage more kids and it hasn't had any measurable effect in increasing the birth rate. Ultimately if you want to have kids, desire and faith will always remain the biggest factors over financial.
I think the number of proselyting senior missionaries are still pretty minimal. You rarely ever see more than 2 sets in a mission, there were many times I didn't have any on my mission. Maybe it's higher now, but even if we went with two sets per mission, that is still less than 2k total missionaries, So I don't feel it would be inflating or having large fluctuations from year to year.
For Utah, it seems that the Utah Area leadership have been pushing for larger wards, so that could explain what is currently happening.
For those following the local Congregation trends in Utah, this was reported by a member on another blog site in the Draper/Sandy area of Salt Lake County.
The Draper Utah Crescent View Stake, is reported by Stake leadership, during it's next Stake Conference, in about 3 weeks April 25-26, 2026. All existing 7 Wards and 1 Branch will be realigned and all current Ward leaderships will be released and the newly named remaining wards after the consolidation will have new leaders called and sustained on those dates. Unknown, as of today, if the Stake also will get renamed or merged at same time.
The below post includes a scanned copy of the email or letter sent to the Stake Members.
https://maps.churchofjesuschrist.org/stakes/526223
https://www.reddit.com/r/MormonShrivel/comments/1selefq/drapersandy_ut_shrivel/
I've been more silent here in the last little while but it seems like a good conversation to pitch in again, since my wife and I have decided to leave the Church. The way childless couples like us are systematically ostracized in the Church has been a big contributor to why we feel the way we do, so what I have read here about the ways to increase the number of children of record has been discouraging - but also not at all surprising.
My take on this is that this "issue" is so deeply private that it is not for the Church to solve. Those who are able to have children and want them will continue to have them. If either of these pre-requisites is missing, then these people will probably not have them. There is plenty of evidence that shows the Church can grow sufficiently without proportionally increasing numbers of children of record; in fact, growth from converts has outpaced "natural" growth from child birth by a factor between 3 and 4 over the last couple of decades, trending higher in the last couple of years. That's an exciting development and I would hope that this would come eventually with a core messaging that is less focused on trying to grow family sizes and more focused on sharing the Gospel.
Pascal, my heart is breaking for you and your wife. My wife and I are childless also, but are living in an area where we have neither been misjudged nor ostracized for it. I'm sorry for your negative experiences in this regard. It has been said that the Church is true, but that the people in it aren't always so. My wife and I have dealt with being misjudged or misunderstood for other reasons but we recognize that the Church should be a hospital for sinners and not just a sanctuary for Saints. May the Lord bless you with happiness in your life ahead
Pascal, I am very sorry to hear about your experience and decision to leave the church. I understand being made to feel like an "other" within church culture and it can be very hard. I even considered leaving at one point until I realized that I couldn't deny my testimony of the Book of Mormon and that has gotten me through hard times.
I think the biggest concern with the children of record numbers isn't that there are couples choosing not to (or unable to) have kids, but rather that it highlights the increasing "single problem" we are facing. My YSA ward is packed with successful, intelligent, spiritually minded, and attractive men and women that for whatever reason are not having any success dating or getting married. There are problems with the dating culture for young singles right now and the lowering number of children of record is just a symptom of that larger issue.
I never thought I'd live to see the day where Utah of ALL places is being an overall detriment to Church growth with so many closures in Salt Lake County. California yes. We are all well used to that.
I think there is a complication in senior missionaries. We had senior missionaries who at times would go tracting in my mission. Elder Rasband had the story of the woman who was taught by his parents. Member support missionaries clearly do teach, although primarily to those who are baptized.
I always assumed senior service missionaries included welfare missionaries, missionaries supporting the Church history archives and some other assignments where they are not at home but fully involved in programs in ways they do not preach the gospel..
On the other hand I assumed member support missionaries and those who directly support mission operations are counted as fulltime. I really do not know hoe couples who support historic sites, support institutes of religion or several other assignments are counted.
I believe my mission has 3 or 4 senior couples at present. I think Elder Rasbabd's talk made an impact. There is still a lot more senior missionaries needed.
Pascal, I'm so sorry to hear about your experience. Being ostracized by church members can be absolutely devastating, and is probably the main cause of members leaving the church. When I was 15, an LDS foster family took me in and transformed my life from one of horror to one filled with love, joy, and the blessings of the gospel. Although foster parenting is very different from what you were hoping for when you pursued parenthood, perhaps it could be a way for you to experience this sort of joy, and also remain in the church.
Pascal, I'm very sorry to hear about your struggles.
If you'll permit me, after reading your and the other comments, I felt impressed to tell you a bit about my own faith journey.
I can't say that I know what it's like to be a childless married person in the church who felt ostracized, but I can say that I have known what it's like to be a single adult man in the church and felt marginalized. (I'm 43, never been married, no kids of my own, and chronically ill.)
I went through my own trial of faith about ten years ago.
For years, I'd felt/been mistreated by other members for one reason or another. I was bullied as a kid in my deacons’ quorum for being unpopular, fat, nerdy, etc. As an adult, I've been bullied or looked down on for being single, unemployed, disabled, “weird,” (and every other excuse).
So ten years ago, during a very trying mental and emotional time, I had a long discussion with my sister about my frustrations. Thankfully, she let me know that she cared about me, and didn't think less of me for my personal struggles.
From talking to her, and through prayer I felt inspired to make a list (one that I'm still adding to).
I realized that I easily remember the negative experiences I've had (because they hurt so much and can be traumatic), but it's difficult for me to remember the people who've been kind.
So, the list I created was of any example I could think of (both big and small) throughout my life where another member had been kind, welcoming, or a good example.
Working on that list helped me. I've been able to remember a lot of good that I'd forgotten, or that the pain had driven out of my mind.
Don't get me wrong, writing that list didn't change the fact that jerks still exist, but it did help me to focus on something positive instead.
I felt like, moving forward, I could learn from the examples of the best people I could think of, instead of focusing on the jerks.
I also realized that, if some or many in our church culture had gone astray and forgotten the principles of “love thy neighbor” and “seek out the lost sheep,” then the Lord definitely wanted and needed me to stay in order to be a counterbalance to them, and to help change that culture.
The Lord's parable of the lost sheep stuck out to me, where he says to leave the 99 and “seek out the one.” So now at church (almost on a weekly basis over the last decade), I look for a person or two at church who looks like they could use a friend to talk to (or to listen).
And I have been able to change things from the inside. Over the last 10 years, I've been able to change my mind, change other's minds - even make friendships and amends with some of the people who had been jerks.
(It may sound trite, but I have seen miracles occur in people's lives because I've stayed - even my own. I've been able to help other singles, divorcees, kids and adults with special needs, widowers, the elderly, people in abusive relationships, less-actives, investigators, non-members, former members, single parents, and other people who've felt marginalized like you and me (there's even a childless elderly couple in my ward right now who I've become good friends with).)
Usually it's just by doing something small like listening to someone for a bit or just noticing them and smiling at them.
I was talking to my sister again the other day, and the thought occurred to me (so I told her), “Perhaps we're here to teach others that the Lord has a place in the Church for the “misfits,” too.”
I know you're a power for good too, Pascal.
I've always appreciated your comments on here, and enjoyed messaging with you about my German questions, too.
If nothing else, know that you are welcome and wanted by us here. We need you and we care about you.
Sorry if any of my comments came across as flippant regarding parents and children in the church. Fertility can also play a large role in it, seems there are as many parents wanting kids who are having difficulty then there have been in a long time. Whether or not you can or even desire to have kids shouldn't affect how one is treated within their church family.
Ideally, Church should not be a toxic and stressful place that people dread going to every week, and I think that is unfortunately the case for too many members.
I wish you the best, Pascal. Your comments on this blog have been very important to me through the years. I know how hard it can be. We really need to be more like Jesus Christ, so people don't feel ostracized.
I hope and pray that you and your wife can find peace and happiness in your lives. A big hug for you both.
Please, Disregard my last post with 2 Microsoft Bing Maps links with 319 Temple Markers of the 383 Total known locations.
I found which one was not letting me share all 319 links. I had to remove the Kyiv Ukraine Temple marker from my Collections project. You can still search "Kyiv Ukraine Temple" in the search bar and it will take you there. So I combined both maps into 1 to Simplify. I just renamed the "Temples - Americas" map to simply "Church Temples", with now just 318 total markers.
https://www.bing.com/maps?&ty=2&cid=04a64438-d5d3-458f-97e5-ed8fc4284d0e&euid=0&tt=Church%20Temples&tsts0=%2526ty%253D2%2526cid%253D04a64438-d5d3-458f-97e5-ed8fc4284d0e%2526euid%253D0&tstt0=Church%20Temples&cp=40.616559~-111.890259&lvl=11&pi=0&ftst=0&ftics=False&v=2&sV=2&form=S00027
These are the rest of the 65 remaining locations not marked on the Bing Maps. Most have no official site announced yet.
Kyiv Ukraine
Tarawa Kiribati
Barcelona Spain
Osaka Japan
Piura Peru
Calabar Nigeria
Coeur d'Alene Idaho
Yuma Arizona
Beira Mozambique
Puerto Montt Chile
Norfolk Virginia
Naga Philippines
Iloilo City Philippines
Santiago Philippines
Rapid City South Dakota
Russia ***
Shanghai People's Republic of China
Dubai United Arab Emirates
Monrovia Liberia
Busan Korea
Chiclayo Peru
Pachuca Mexico
Tula Mexico
Hamburg Germany
Roanoke Virginia
Cancún Mexico
Huancayo Peru
Goiânia Brazil
Cape Coast Ghana
Luanda Angola
Mbuji-Mayi Democratic Republic of the Congo
Laoag Philippines
Uturoa French Polynesia
Rosario Argentina
Edinburgh Scotland
Brisbane Australia South
Victoria British Columbia
Honolulu Hawaii
Maracaibo Venezuela
Juchitán de Zaragoza Mexico
Santa Ana El Salvador
Medellín Colombia
Santiago Dominican Republic
Dublin Ireland
Milan Italy
Abuja Nigeria
Kampala Uganda
Maputo Mozambique
Queen Creek Arizona
El Paso Texas
Milwaukee Wisconsin
Summit New Jersey
Price Utah
Reynosa Mexico
Chorrillos Peru
Rivera Uruguay
Campo Grande Brazil
Porto Portugal
Uyo Nigeria
San Jose del Monte Philippines
Nouméa New Caledonia
Liverpool Australia
Caldwell Idaho
Greenville South Carolina
Portland Maine
Alabama
41,252
13
Alaska
33,987
-413
Arizona
442,094
-2695
Arkansas
38,035
511
California
725,648
-2,991
Colorado
148,945
-777
Connecticut
16,442
76
Deleware
6,018
153
D.C.
3,648
311
Flordia
178,456
2,165
Georgia
92,581
-2
Hawaii
76,357
Idaho
482,905
1,856
Illinois
58,832
-54
Indiana
48,878
27
Iowa
29,981
219
Kansas
39,838
-165
Kentucky
39,792
-83
louisiana
29,913
-163
maine
11,275
-109
maryland
44,671
22
massachusetts
29,541
601
michigan
47,105
258
minnostoa
34,002
-110
mississippi
22,000
-402
missouri
84,311
1,098
montana
52,050
-396
nebraska
26,199
-100
nevada
181,842
-1,255
New Hampshire
8,575
-138
New Jersey
36,632
258
New Mexico
68,699
-752
New York
92,133
1,499
North Carolina
98,483
830
North Dakota
11,807
-89
Ohio
65,991
182
Oklahoma
53,890
276
Oregon
148,062
-2394
Pennsylvania
54,354
339
Rhode Island
5,025
164
south carolina
46,753
167
south dakota
12,064
85
tennessee
61,991
1,126
texas
395,964
3,564
utah
2,206,370
1,236
vermont
4,685
38
virginia
99,973
58
washington
278,576
-3,690
west virginia
17,663
-99
wisconsin
28,950
209
wyoming
66,665
-853
I have eight living children. One daughter is married to another woman. None of the rest are married. Four graduated from BYU and none of the three daughters got one date. The son is from Liberia, who dated but none of the women went out for a second date. The daughters have 3 bachelors, 3 masters, a Ph.D, a DVM, and a MD; maybe that is part of the problem. I bet you it would less of a problem if I had remained Jewish and not converted as a UC Berkeley student.
Not marrying and not having children began in the western industrialized world in the 90s and has only accelerated since 2008. This is the world we live in the United States, Canada, Europe, Japan, S. Korea, Australia, NZ, Singapore, Taiwan, and a few others.
That number of 3 sounds about what we have had the last 20 years. It hasn't changed much. We live in a ward of about 120,000 people on the inner ring of Minneapolis suburbs. Wards with higher birth rates are in the second ring of suburbs and beyond. The only exception are language wards: Spanish, Hmong, Chinese, and Karin which have birthrates 2-3X English speaking wards in the Twin Cities or inner ring of suburbs.
Adam, or anyone else in Utah in the know: Why don't I hear much about convert baptism with all those those church members moving out of core areas of Salt Lake County, Utah? I hear talk of closures of wards and stakes principally due to members moving out. Why isn't there a concomitant increase of convert baptism of those non-members moving into to those areas surrounded by neighbors who are members and close to conveniently located church chapel?
Pascal, I have always appreciate a different perspective that you bring. I am a Israeli Jewish convert who joined while a student at UC Berkeley. I was ostracized as a dirty Jew and other epithets, not in California, but at BYU and in Utah when I lived there to finish my undergraduate and after a master's at the University of Chicago, followed by going on a mission as a 24 year old. Then it was very helpful in the San Francisco Bay Area, Chicago, and on my mission being an immigrant and a Jewish convert in bring people into the church. I have forever felt the outsider in the church.
When my wife and I lost three children in my wife six pregnancies, we also felt ostracized. My wife felt ostracized for being a lawyer and law professor in the 80s into the 00s. But she was the only member, like me, who had joined the church; she was a French Catholic seven generations from New Orleans. We had our testimonies, that continued to grow through lives challenges. We shrugged off the many "ignorant" members we encountered in various wards from coast to coast a few places in the Midwest.
After we decided to adopt a black infant from the USA, then a few years later two brothers, 7 and 10 years of age from Brazil, and then to finally to add a 14 and 15 year brother and sister from a refugee in Cote d'Ivoire, we faced the gravest ostracism of all in the church: black and brown racism in the church. I am not saying the institution of the church is racist; I don't think that is possible for an institution. But in Cincinnati, New Jersey, Kansas City, Seattle and Minneapolis we have encountered many people who were quite racist in their words and behavior to the children in our family. But our testimonies grow because of the Lord, and members who are kind and helpful. I will never forget a very kind elderly Korean man in our Seattle ward who said, "you are doing a great job as parents raising your children."
I have learned not to make spiritual decisions on the behavior of others, inside or outside of the church. I was ostracized for 38 years by my extended family after I was baptized. Yes, it hurt, but the last 14 years it has been great to be with some of them again. All of this has given me hope and has caused me to look farther down the road toward the eternities. We must try to lift those around us as the savior is trying everyday to do with us.
I try to do that with the 7 of my 8 children, ages 33 to 42, who are not married, many through no fault of their own. I pray for them as I pray for you Pascal. I pray for three of my five black children who are not active in the church because of the racism they encountered as children growing up in the church----a hateful form of ostracism. I forgive all, but I remember all so that I can grow. It is more difficult for children who over and over again were rejected by their ward families.
Pascal, you and your wife are in my prayers.
The current rule is 110 year to assume death, not 120 years. In addition, am pretty certain they are generally not automatically sent to the temple for ordinances, but rather that a relative, even far distant if necessary, should submit them through FamilySearch.
Once again: Are we convert baptizing people in Salt Lake Country; any numbers?
As members of the church we are not immune from these trends. It is difficult to change large demographic trends. Look at the small changes that France, Sweden, and the Netherland has made to increase children: reducing taxes, free daycare, parental leave, etc. It has improved birth numbers, so other countries are going to try them: Japan. What has saved the US is the immigrants: they have more children than native born people, especially caucasians.
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