6 Comments

1. 

   Tom Kemp on March 9, 2012 at 4:13 pm

   Are these statistics accurate?
   For example –
   Is the Church saying that 9 out of 10 church members pray every week?
   And that 80% pray daily?
   It says that 96% donate to religious causes.
   That 9 out of 10 read scriptures with their children or send them to religious instruction
   That 77% attend church “at least” weekly

   That seems like a very high participation rate.

   Is this based on all 14+ million Mormons?
   Utah based Mormons?
   Or some other subset of the church membership?

   Reply
2. 

   Doreen Hamiton on March 9, 2012 at 4:24 pm

   Dear Mr Kemp, To answer your question- the answer from my point of view is YES those numbers are in my observation, completely acceptable. I only know about the chapels I have attended in Southern Cal. but the brother and sisters I know are guilty as charged – they pray daily, attend church weekly, attend the Temple, pay tithes, look after their fellow members and neighbors, give to charity and volunteer in their neighborhood school, food banks etc.
   No. The posting is not just about Utah Latter Day Saints, subsets etc – it is about all of us. Thans for reading this and God Bless You. Doreen

   Reply
3. 

   Larry Richman on March 9, 2012 at 8:50 pm

   The statistics are from the “Mormons in America” study by the Pew Center’s Forum on Religion and Public Life. See http://LDS365.com/2012/01/14/mormons-in-america-pew-study-infographics/

   Reply
4. 

   Jettboy on March 10, 2012 at 9:40 am

   I honestly want to know if there is an unbiased way to know how many active members of the Church there are. Critics keep claiming other Churches have different ways of counting membership, but no one explains what those are other than a vague (and to me unreliable) number of people in the pews. Active is a rather nebulous term and can be of various degrees. There can even be many that are completely inactive and still consider themselves a member, such as lapsed or once a year Catholics.

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5. 

   Alison on March 10, 2012 at 12:51 pm

   To Jettboy: Mormons are considered statistically active if they attend a church meeting once a month. Otherwise, they are generally considered less-active according to my husband who is the clerk or our congregation and in charge of counting how many people attend each week. The total number of members listed here does not take into account activity level, just baptised members I believe.

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6. 

   James on April 1, 2012 at 7:02 am

   This is the reason why I joined the church several years ago. The members seemed like they really tried to live the religion and were consistent and genuine of their attempts to live and share the gospel. So far I have not been disappointed. In every religion there are “people”, and the people are the ones that deliver the ministering to others. I’ve noticed that the LDS faith makes people personally responsible for their daily walk. We don’t go to church to get our weekly dose of scriptures, but we go to church and involve ourselves with the goals of eternal perfection on a daily basis. Most (like me), struggle every day and resist the natural temptations that seem more appealing. In the end though, the culture surrounding the church and the constant, loving ministering of the other members helps me to keep trying – even when I don’t want to. I am surprised actually that there is a % of people who consider themselves Latter Day Saints that don’t pray several times a day. We are taught to pray constantly, and for every decision, thankfulness, worry, and choice – until we have aligned our will with Heavenly Father’s. This is why I say I struggle each day, as my will is so incredibly different and it is unnatural for me to want to be kind, loving, forgiving, charitable etc. I know I am a better person because of the many saints who constantly feed me with brotherly and sisterly love. There is no doubt in my mind I’m a better father and husband, and even a better employee. I cannot think of anything that is not better, even after tithing, my finances are better than I could have ever imagined several years ago. I am grateful that my family and I have decided to be called one of the Latter Day Saints and to live in this culture of love for others. I have more blessings than I could have ever thought possible.

   Reply