Food for thinking...

[græy]

In recent weeks I attended a training meeting during which time our presiding authority shared some interesting details. Behold!

• Convert baptisms are down 30% year over year. I don't know if this is for all of North America or just our area (which is not Utah).

• Growth in our area is pretty much entirely due to members moving in.

• The majority of baptisms occurring now are from minorities and "high needs" individuals.

• Perceived "growth" is actually being outpaced by population growth. So in reality we're losing ground.

Take if for what you will.

[Thoughtful]

In recent weeks I attended a training meeting during which time our presiding authority shared some interesting details. Behold!

• Convert baptisms are down 30% year over year. I don't know if this is for all of North America or just our area (which is not Utah).

• Growth in our area is pretty much entirely due to members moving in.

• The majority of baptisms occurring now are from minorities and "high needs" individuals.

• Perceived "growth" is actually being outpaced by population growth. So in reality we're losing ground.

Take if for what you will.

Probably all true in my area as well.

[græy]

It just send a little bit... surreal. Is this numbers are world wide, and they could be, then baptisms for 2018 will drop from 250,000 to 175,000. That is a MASSIVE drop.

[Brent]

Wait...what if members get married earlier and have more babies...that will fix it, right?

[jfro18]

Wait...what if members get married earlier and have more babies...that will fix it, right?

It'll be like lowering the missionary age - you'll get that quick pop followed by a continuation of the overall slide...

Maybe they can lower the marriage age in Utah to 14 for girls like the good ol' days.

[lostinmiddlemormonism]

It'll be like lowering the missionary age - you'll get that quick pop followed by a continuation of the overall slide...

Maybe they can lower the marriage age in Utah to 14 for girls like the good ol' days.

We don't marry 14 year olds in this church, and never have. We marry girls that are several months shy of their 15th birthdays.

[Hagoth]

Wait...what if members get married earlier and have more babies...that will fix it, right?

It'll be like lowering the missionary age - you'll get that quick pop followed by a continuation of the overall slide...

Maybe they can lower the marriage age in Utah to 14 for girls like the good ol' days.

I feel a new "revelation" coming.

[moksha]

Aww, I was hoping this would be about brain nourishment such as espresso ice cream and masaman curry.

It is a shame that cloning was not at a more advanced state. Another Elder Bednar and a whole slew of Elder Rasbands to help bolster him would really be something.

[Corsair]

It is a shame that cloning was not at a more advanced state. Another Elder Bednar and a whole slew of Elder Rasbands to help bolster him would really be something.

Be careful with that cloning technology. That will release some Lovecraftian horrors. The idea behind "Every member a missionary" would lead to "Every bishop a Bednar" and "Every minister a Monson" as well as "Every wife a Wendy Watson".

[græy]

So, I just went to the fullerconsideration website to get actual numbers, and wanted to add some clarification.

This 30% drop in baptisms is NOT just our local stake, or our city. At the very least it is our "area", one of these: wiki. Which means baptisms have fallen very drastically in many of TSCC's stronghold states (read, dozens of temples and hundreds of wards). Very possibly, this is a church-wide number.

The baptism rate has been falling pretty drastically since 2014, but if this 30% figure represents church-wide numbers, then this year's number of convert baptisms will be the lowest it has been since 1978. That is ~157,000 now vs ~152,000 then.

That just seems crazy to me. Sorry for harping on something lame.