200th LDS temple dedicated today

[drumdude]

https://www.deseret.com/faith/2024/10/2 ... t-temples/


For comparison, Chuck-e-cheese has about 600 locations.

5 times more and they can be as ubiquitous as Olive Garden (around 1000 locations.)

It does seem to me that having so many temples makes them feel on the whole a bit… cheap? Mass produced? Imagine Islam making 200 clones of Mecca. Wouldn’t that make the pilgrimage a little less pilgrimage-y and special?

Surely faithful LDS don’t need a temple every 20 miles in order to fulfill their temple ordinances and covenants.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Mormonism, the Burger King of religion.

[dantana]

Well, according to my seminary teacher, in the latter days, in preparation for the end times, there would be so many temples one could see from temple to temple. This was a long time ago and I have no skill set available to me to verify if this teaching was at that time doctrine or just lore.

[Everybody Wang Chung]

Reddit has a very detailed statistical analysis about whether the increased number of temples has lead to an increase in temple endowment sessions. The statistics show between 2020 and 2024, the number of operating temples has increased by 22, but the overall (worldwide) number of endowment sessions has decreased by 446. That's almost a 6.8% decrease in temple sessions in 4 years or 1.7% decrease per year.

So, the Church has decreased the number of total sessions despite building more temples. WTF?! Why in the world is the Church building more temples? It's obviously not to do more endowment work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comme ... _for_2024/

[drumdude]

It’s a nice exotic destination (and sometimes free lodging) for rich jet-setting Mormons.

[Moksha]

Well, according to my seminary teacher, in the latter days, in preparation for the end times, there would be so many temples one could see from temple to temple. This was a long time ago and I have no skill set available to me to verify if this teaching was at that time doctrine or just lore.

Sounds like creative Mormon mythology.

[Dr. Shades]

It’s a nice exotic destination (and sometimes free lodging) for rich jet-setting Mormons.

Free lodging? How?

[I Have Questions]

Reddit has a very detailed statistical analysis about whether the increased number of temples has lead to an increase in temple endowment sessions. The statistics show between 2020 and 2024, the number of operating temples has increased by 22, but the overall (worldwide) number of endowment sessions has decreased by 446. That's almost a 6.8% decrease in temple sessions in 4 years or 1.7% decrease per year.

So, the Church has decreased the number of total sessions despite building more temples. WTF?! Why in the world is the Church building more temples? It's obviously not to do more endowment work.

https://www.reddit.com/r/exmormon/comme ... _for_2024/

Interesting data.

The UK currently has two, under-utilised temples. Both in England. And the Church announced it’s going to build a third, in England. It just means that the two existing temples will be even less utilised than at present. Based on the numbers we’ve seen leaked, the Church in the UK has about 3-4,000 tithe paying adults. (10% of 30,000 members - leaked Area report stated activity runs @20% and only 10% of the active membership were adult tithe payers).

The temple building programme looks a lot like money laundering. Unnecessary construction, like building water pipelines that aren’t needed. But it enables the right people to invoice the Church. A review of the financials of the temple building programme, ‘who is being paid what’ might be revealing. But those aren’t numbers anyone is ever likely to see.

I also think Nelson is using the temple building programme to try and cement his legend as #1 for something, in this case it’s “announcing new temples”. He wants to be known as the President that heralded in The Second Coming. His successor is going to be struggling to find locations to plonk these white elephants.

[Fence Sitter]

So, the Church has decreased the number of total sessions despite building more temples. WTF?! Why in the world is the Church building more temples? It's obviously not to do more endowment work.

I have no solid data to quote but I believe that temples increase the activity rates where temples are accessible to members. It's a methodology that Smith used to keep people interested, by promising them the 'keys' to a supersecret clubhouse that only admits the cool kids. Smith's schtick of pretending to be the sole conduit of God's original plan still pulls in those who would otherwise lose interest in the boredom of everyday Mormonism. I noticed on my South American mission that I had a lot more success in those areas where the church had built a ward house, as being able to point to an expensive new building as their church was a factor in converting and maintaining activity for members. I think that the same goes for temples.

[I Have Questions]

So, the Church has decreased the number of total sessions despite building more temples. WTF?! Why in the world is the Church building more temples? It's obviously not to do more endowment work.

I have no solid data to quote but I believe that temples increase the activity rates where temples are accessible to members.

I’m not convinced that’s correct. They certainly get an initial bump of local members visiting to see it, but as an example, the temple in Preston, UK did not generate an increase in activity rates, nor in total membership. A lot of people relocated to the areas in the immediate vicinity of the temple, thereby increasing those wards, but there was a corresponding decrease in the wards from where they came.

Which is why More Temples does not equal more endowment sessions. There’s no corresponding increase in adult tithe payers visiting the temple because there’s no corresponding increase in active adult tithe payers.

Do you have any specific examples where a new temple has led to active membership net growth?