Church membership numbers not good.

[MG 2.0]

Maybe because you didn’t get it. And at this point you probably won’t.

Regards,
MG

MG, it's nothing but Masonic rites and rituals, look it up, Smith and his Dad were both Freemasons and Joseph simply borrowed their temple rites and rituals and created the endowment from it.

I’ve read books and articles/essays galore over the years having to do with masonry and the temple. Joseph’s family involvement, etc.

Joseph was eclectic in the formulation of the scaffolding on which the restoration took place. It couldn’t happen in a vacuum. Masonry was one template, along with others, that was used to formulate/organize the restoration and implement lost truths having to do with covenantal relationships with God. As humans we live in a physical realm in which ‘hands on’ experience reinforces our learning. Repeated kinesthetic repetition ingrains knowledge into our minds. The Masonic rituals provided that template.

As time has moved on since the initial endowment there have been adjustments to fit the world we live in. Each age from ancient to modern requires God to communicate and guide His children according to that which fits their culture, etc.

Makes sense, right?

Some folks, including critics in my estimation, have a hard time with a God that adjusts to the needs and abilities of His children. They want a static God rather than dynamic. They take the scriptures that say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever a bit too literally. It’s a problem with black and white thinking and an inability to imagine a God that works within a framework of evolution.

We sometimes limit and dictate to God what He can and can’t do.

Regards,
MG

[K Graham]

Some folks, including critics in my estimation, have a hard time with a God that adjusts to the needs and abilities of His children. They want a static God rather than dynamic.

Or maybe just a logical, consistent God. Not one who keeps changing as it suits the needs of professional con artists calling themselves prophets.

They take the scriptures that say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever a bit too literally. It’s a problem with black and white thinking and an inability to imagine a God that works within a framework of evolution.

Black and white thinking!

Mental Gymnast indeed.

[Dr. Shades]

They want a static God rather than dynamic. They take the scriptures that say God is the same yesterday, today, and forever a bit too literally.

So, we should interpret that last part as "God is just as wishy-washy today as he was yesterday and will be forever?"

[K Graham]

I like how God just up and changed the Egyptian language only after it was determined Joseph Smith couldn't translate it. God works in mysterious ways, huh?

Come to think of it. This entire restoration business by religions like JWs, 7th Day Adventists and Mormonism, this is all just God's way of testing people on their faith. I mean, obviously that's the case. Otherwise you're just thinking in binary!

[Dr. Shades]

The raw missionary numbers should fall further off the cliff in 2026-27 or so as 18 year olds born (or should I say not born) after the 2008 Great Recession and subsequent birth rate declines that have continued to this day take affect.

How does a raw missionary differ from a normal missionary?

Between 2007 and 2021 the United States had 700k fewer raw births (4.3 million to 3.6 million) which seems to be a demographic ship that won't be stopped at this point as it becomes a norm to have 1-2 children for all families.

What's the difference between a raw birth and a normal birth?

[Bond]

The raw missionary numbers should fall further off the cliff in 2026-27 or so as 18 year olds born (or should I say not born) after the 2008 Great Recession and subsequent birth rate declines that have continued to this day take affect.

How does a raw missionary differ from a normal missionary?

Between 2007 and 2021 the United States had 700k fewer raw births (4.3 million to 3.6 million) which seems to be a demographic ship that won't be stopped at this point as it becomes a norm to have 1-2 children for all families.

What's the difference between a raw birth and a normal birth?

I just used "raw" off the cuff to mean the numbers without much context. Missionary numbers being tied to birth rates seems a natural consequence and going from 4.3 million births to 3.6 in America is pretty significant but there are a ton of factors playing into it besides the natural one of 18 years not wanting to go preach for two years or disbelief.

Birth rates are declining for many reasons. The continuing economic insecurity to having kids since the Great Recession, increased access to birth control under the ACA, secularization and urbanization leading women to wait to have children to become more educate, fear of bringing children into an uncertain world (climate change), declines in early marriage and cultural norms toward women having 0-2 children in their late 20s-early 30s rather than 3+ children starting when they're 20 which creates fewer children but also longer periods between generations are just a few. All of those things would affect missionary numbers over the long term not to mention the general disbelief in Mormonism and Mormonism's grip on it's youth thawing.

[Moksha]

"God is just as wishy-washy today as he was yesterday and will be forever?"

When dealing with a situational blunder like the "Policy of Exclusion" you can just throw up your hands and say, "Hey, God changed his mind. Very dynamic and the best part is that the blowback when the poop hits the fan lands on God and not the Church. What's He gonna do? We take his tithing money all the time and invest it in the stock market".

[IHAQ]

The statistical report for 2021 is out and membership numbers continue to look dismal.
2021 stats
Here are the numbers from the year before.
2020 stats


Overall membership in 2021 was 16,805,400
Overall membership in 2020 was 16,663,663
A net increase of 141,437

New converts in 2021 = 168,283

Membership increase didn't even cover the number of new converts.
World population growth is about 1% which would also be more than the increase in membership growth.

The church isn't losing them by the thousands, or tens of thousands. Existing members are formally leaving the church by the hundreds of thousands. How else does one explain these numbers?

Despite the growth in membership numbers, despite the growth in missionary numbers, the number of convert baptisms has declined steadily since 1990.

1990 – 330, 877
1991 – 297, 770
1992 – 274, 477
1993 – 304, 808
1994 – 300, 730
1995 – 304, 330
1996 – 321, 385
1997 – 317,798
1998 – 299, 134
1999 – 306, 171
2000 – 273, 973
2001 – 292, 612
2002 – 283, 138
2003 – 242, 943
2004 – 241, 239
2005 – 243,108
2006 – 272,845
2007 – 279,218
2008 – 265,593
2009 – 280,106
2010 – 272,814
2011 – 281,312
2012 – 272,330
2013 – 282,945
2014 – 296,803
2015 – 257,402
2016 – 240,131
2017 – 233,729

2020 - 168,283

How does one explain the dynamic of Membership Increases + Missionary Increases = fewer and fewer convert baptisms?
The number of covert baptisms has halved when over the same period the membership number has doubled. Either the number of children added to the records has taken up the slack, or people are living much much longer…or the total membership number is spurious.

[MG 2.0]

Some folks, including critics in my estimation, have a hard time with a God that adjusts to the needs and abilities of His children. They want a static God rather than dynamic.

Or maybe just a logical, consistent God.

Like I said. Static god.

God is BIG. To limit Him and put Him in some puny little box of your own making? Where is the logic in THAT?

Talk about controlling.

Regards,
MG

[MG 2.0]

Black and white thinking!

Mental Gymnast indeed.

That won’t work. My foot’s not going to fit the shoe.

Look in the mirror.

Regards,
MG