Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the creation of
ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com. I originally founded the blog to help organize my thoughts and to provide accurate information for people who wanted to learn more about the growth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The creation and maintenance of this blog has been a significant source of motivation and excitement for me regarding this subject. This blog has helped to develop my interest in LDS Church growth and missionary work in a manner that perhaps no other medium could have provided. I have appreciated the thousands of comments provided by readers over the past decade. There have been posts on a variety of news updates or topics such as new temple announcements, the creation of new stakes, the opening of additional countries to proselytism, analysis of LDS growth trends, and so on. There have been a total of 1,091 published posts and 2.6 million page views since July 2010 (first month these were tracked by Blogger). Since I started this blog, I have been interviewed by many reporters and media outlets in several countries regarding many of the developments I have posted. Furthermore, I have also worked for The Cumorah Foundation since 2009 developing original resources that examine the growth of the Church and the effectiveness of the missionary program.
Some of my favorite stories or topics I have posted on over the past 10 years include the following:
- Future temple and mission announcements/speculation
- Analysis of annual LDS statistical reports and country-by-country data
- Publication of findings from returned missionary and member survey data (5,670 responses since 2012!)
- Lists of countries with the most members without a stake or without a temple
- Translations of LDS scriptures and materials into additional languages
- The reduction in the minimal age for missionary service and the creation of 58 new missions in a single year
- Accelerating stake growth in the 2010s
- The recent rapid growth of the Church in West Africa
- The expansion of the Church into previously unreached countries (e.g. former Yugoslavia, Burundi, Rwanda, Gabon, Senegal, Guinea, Mali)
- Examination of missed opportunities for growth
- Discussion of problematic and ineffective proselytism and growth strategies in the LDS missionary program
- Analysis of member activity and convert retention challenges
- Use of social media for proselytism
- The relationship (or lack thereof) between internet usage and LDS growth
- Identification of variables that foster or deter growth
- Debunking myths of rapid worldwide LDS growth
- Debunking claims of worldwide LDS growth stagnation or decline
- LDS developments in sensitive countries
- Discussion regarding the number of excommunicated and resigned members
- Resource development for cumorah.com.
I hope that this site has been useful for others who have sought accurate and current information about the growth of the LDS Church around the world. Ideas for additional improvement or topics of analysis are welcome! I also would like to hear about what stories and posts you have particularly enjoyed or found useful. I look forward to the next 10 years of updates and analysis on ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com!
