Membership and Attendance

Reports on Membership from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints - Some membership statistics are announced each year in the church's April general conferences, however little explanation has been given from church authorities on how these numbers are derived. Although "total membership" is reported, an explanation of what this number includes is not, and many other pertinent membership statistics are omitted in the announcements such as meeting attendance, deaths, removed records (from excommunication or request), and more. Due to this lack of information, we cannot be properly informed on the true nature of church membership or attendance. It would be helpful if the church would release more detailed membership statistics that can be reconciled from year to year. For instance, the announcement could start with last year's total membership, and then add converts, new children of record, subtract deaths, removed records, etc, etc, and then end with this year's total membership.

Explanations of the below columns:

• Congregations (Wards and Branches), New Children of Record, Convert Baptisms, and Total Membership - As reported by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in annual general conferences and on lds.org. Note the reference links in the right column that link to the official reports as published on lds.org.
• Congregations (Wards and Branches) Increase - Current year's number of congregations less previous year's number of congregations
• # of Members per Unit - Total membership divided by the number of Congregations (Wards and Branches)
• Expected deaths - Total membership multiplied by published world mortality rates. (mortality rates shown below the charts)
• Membership Increase - Current year's total membership less last year's total membership.
• Membership Decline - Membership Increase, less current year's convert baptisms and new children of record.

Talking points, questions, and comments for discussion:

• Number of Members Per Unit - This number has steadily and significantly increased over the reporting periods, even though for many that attend, it actually seems as though their congregations have become smaller. It also seems that wards have been split to make more wards and branches in many areas. Could this increase in members per unit also indicate an increase in inactive or less-active members? Unfortunately, the church doesn't release actual attendance numbers, so its difficult to objectively determine what is happening here, but if its true that members feel that their particular congregations have become smaller, while the number of members on record per unit the church is reporting is growing in size, this stands to reason that on average, there are now more individuals on the records of the church that do not attend meetings than ever.
• Membership Decline:
• Its expected that there would be a decline in members for factors such as death, excommunication, or name removal request, but again, the church does not publish any of these figures. We'd also expect there may be a decline due to children of record becoming of baptism age without the baptism being performed, although these records appear to stay on local congregations member listings so we're not sure when these unbaptized individuals are removed from the Total Membership number. The church does not publish actual figures for death, excommunication, or name removal either so its difficult to determine exactly what is going on here, but we do know that there are large discrepancies in this area that require further research and explanation. For instance, we've calculated the Membership Decline as reported by the church in the spreadsheet. If you compare this Membership Decline to the Expected Deaths alone (not taking into account additional removal of records) the discrepancies are fairly large already. This raises questions as to whether member's records are removed from Total Membership when dead, and raises questions on when unbaptized children of members are removed from the Total Membership number.
• In addition, 1999 membership numbers were reported in such a way producing a positive decline in members. (Red number) When taking into account the discussion above with regards to deaths, removed records, and unbaptized children, this positive number seems even more obscure. It has been suggested that "Lost Sheep" files where members not assigned a ward, but just on the records of the church in Salt Lake were added back to the total membership numbers in this and subsequent years. Any further ideas on what could have caused this or more discussion on the "Lost Sheep" files with regards to this problem?
• Attendance - The church does not publish attendance numbers either, but it should be noted that affiliation with the organization may be better measured by actual attendance numbers rather than members that the church has on record.
• Total Membership - Many assume this number to be reflective of the total number of individuals that church headquarters has an active membership record for at the end of any given calendar year, but even this definition lends itself to ambiguity:
• Unbaptized Children of Members age 9 and above - Children born into Mormon homes are entered onto the records of the church shortly after birth. If these children are not baptized at age 8 (baptism age), are these children ever removed from the Total Membership number? Depending on how these children are accounted for, they could have a large effect on the Total Membership number. If these children are removed from the Total Membership number (as we would expect the church to do), this would exasperate the already large discrepancies seen when comparing expected declines in members due to death rates and actual declines. (See Membership Decline Above)
• Children of Convert Baptisms - As with children who are born into Mormon homes, if an individual is baptized and has children in the home that are 8 or younger (baptism age), the children would ordinarily be recorded on the records of the church too. Are these children then added to the total membership number immediately when the baptism occurs? Are they also added to the New Children of Record number? Depending on how many children of converts there are in any given year, this could be a group that increases total membership significantly too.
• Children of Convert Baptisms (Continued) - Continuing from the previous point, if a child of a baptized individual is not subsequently baptized, is Total Membership adjusted downward or does the Total Membership number still reflect the child?
• Deaths - The church does not publish a number reflective of deaths, but based on published mortality rates, we're able to calculate expected declines in total membership due to death by multiplying Total Membership by the mortality rate. (See Expected Deaths column) When comparing this number to the actual Membership Decline calculated from church reports, there is a large discrepancy. When taking into account that members should be removed from Total Membership for reasons other than death, this exasperates the discrepancy even more. (See Membership Decline above)
• Removed records through excommunication or request - The church does not publish this number either, however we have to recognize that it could be a large number that would affect Total Membership.
• Rebaptized Members - The church does not publish this number either. We'd like to know whether these members are counted as Convert Baptisms, or whether these members are added to Total Membership without counting them as Convert Baptisms.
• Other Groups or Special Circumstances - Its quite possible that there are additional groups or special circumstances that the church has to account for in calculating the Total Membership number. Any additional categories that the church accounts for would be helpful to know of.