Can anyone provide evidence for the exMo faith debunking rumor that the church counts you as a member of record until you would have been 110 years old, regardless of breathing status?

I'm curious as well, so topping!

Elder Merrill Bateman agreed that many of the members on the “lost address file” list are less-active, especially those on the list for more than twelve months. Individuals in the address unknown file are counted as full members and included on statistical reports until the age of 110 or until proof of death can be located. With an average life expectancy of 77.5 years in the United States and significantly less
in many developing nations, the address unknown file may result in an overcount of LDS membership. Since lost address file members are not included on unit rolls, activity calculations based on congregational attendance rates may significantly overestimate LDS activity.

David G Stewart Jr. MD "Law of the Harvest: Practical Principles of Effective Missionary Work" p.49 Referencing Canham, Matt, “Church Won’t Give Up on ‘Lost Members,’” Salt Lake Tribune,October 17, 2005.

Persons who are presumed dead. You may have temple ordinances performed for a person who is presumed dead after 10 years have passed since the time of the presumed death. This policy applies to (1) persons who are missing in action or lost at sea or who have been declared legally dead and (2) persons who disappeared under circumstances where death is apparent but no body has been recovered. In all other cases of missing persons, temple ordinances may not be performed until 110 years have passed from the time of the person’s birth.
https://www.lds.org/manual/members-guide-to-temple-and-family-history-work/chapter-7-providing-temple-ordinances?lang=eng



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/24/2014 05:32PM by Jim Huston.

Just so you all know....My stake president told me that Merrill Bateman is a liar. I know, hard to believe, but he did.

Elder Bateman interviewed me when I was re-baptized. He told me that my past was my past, and I would never need to discuss it with a church leader again.

When I told my sp that he said that Elder Bateman was lying to me. I just laughed at him and left his office. The sp is a complete and total __________ (fill in the blank).

Latter-day Saint?!?

Are Church meetings improving these days?

Thank you, Jim Huston.

Is there any truth to the rumor that excommunicated members and those who have requested their names removed from the records are still part of the reported membership number? Do they also remain until they would have been 110?

It's not a "rumor", folks here did the math. Their totals don't account for average population death numbers, MUCH LESS for anyone leaving.
Dig up some old threads, the search function works pretty good here. It's fewking awkward from my phone though. But if I remember when I get home and you haven't already found the threads, I'll try to dig them up and post them for you...

I did the math several years ago comparing the attrition rate in the Mormon Church with the annual death rate for the US. In addition to keeping people on the rolls to 110, it is clearly evident that there is no attrition for resignations.

I use to provide graphs and statistics annually on membership numbers and overall Mormon growth. In some years they actually had negative attrition. Figure that one out.

Numbers may never lie, but liars certainly use numbers.

These are the last numbers I did. Spring 2012. There are about 15 graphs.
http://jhuston.com/membership_new.pdf



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 02/25/2014 06:27PM by Jim Huston.