I grew up in the southern part of Davis county just north of Salt Lake City. For those not familiar I'm talking about Bountiful, Centerville, WoodCross etc. This is a VERY mormon area.....almost as LDS as Provo/Orem. Or at least that's how things used to be when I was a kid.

Well today I learned that the stake where I grew up reorganized the ward boundaries yesterday (4-27-14) and essentialy turned what had been 6 wards into 4. When I was growing up (70s & 80s) these wards were all huge. The type of wards that have to open the overflow seating areas every week......as a young deacon I was constantly setting up chairs at the back of the chappel for all the people filling to place to overflowing. This is the heart of Mormondumb.

I see signs every day that things are changing in Utah. Bountiful just got its 2nd Starbucks and the place is very busy in the morning. Growing up I think my community was 98% mormon....now two Starbucks are doing a brisk business. Oh the times they are a changing!!!! :)

Love it! Maybe there's hope yet for my lovely home town in DC!

I grew up in West Bountiful!!!!

And live in NOVA right now (DC Metro area) :D

My mom lives in W Bountiful still and my sister lives in Bountiful. Not sure when next time I am going to go back there. But it will be strange to see from the eyes of a now non-tbm.

I had to attend SM last Sunday. It was the smallest attendance I have seen in a couple of years.

I used to live in Davis Co. What is considered Southern Davis Co. WE were military.

Well that's proof the church is true. If it is growing, it is the fastest growing and proof the church is true. If people start leaving in droves, it is because Satan is working very hard and even the very elect are being deceived, and therefore the church is true. See how it works? And it's not confirmation bias at all, because the scriptures predicted it.

All of it....great news!

I live in Bountiful and I never could understand why the Starbucks didn't have a drive-through, considering all the Mormons who sneak a coffee on the sly. The new one (with drive-through) is always busy when I'm there. I was at Costco Sunday and it was as busy as every other day. In fact, when I get discouraged about living in such a Mormon infested part of the U.S., I go to the grocery or Costco or Starbucks on Sunday and it cheers me right up. There are plenty of non-LDS/ex-LDS around, no matter what the local Mormons want us to think. The bagel place is always packed on Sunday too.

Also, I work one day a week, consulting, for a tech company and I swear out of the 50 or so employees, only 5 do NOT have tattoos or extra piercings. It's a very young crowd but a very non-LDS one- almost like I'm in the real world again. Finally, the youth group at my non-denominational church is growing weekly. All the kids the local LDS kids sideline because they aren't Mormon end up there and have a blast together. Probably half the congregation is ex-LDS. It's great. Southern Davis County is really changing but not fast enough. Of course, nothing would be fast enough for me.

Reg Poster - Anon for this Wrote:
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>Finally, the youth group at my
> non-denominational church is growing weekly. All
> the kids the local LDS kids sideline because they
> aren't Mormon end up there and have a blast
> together. Probably half the congregation is
> ex-LDS. It's great. Southern Davis County is
> really changing but not fast enough. Of course,
> nothing would be fast enough for me.

Please, which church is this? I would love to find an accepting youth group for my teenagers here in South Davis County.

Here you go - they associate with Assemblies of God but they don't require you join their church or change your religion to attend - they are just focused on a relationship with Jesus.

http://abundantlifeutah.com/

Thank you!

Now I'm dying to ask: What Stake? I'm Bountiful too, and haven't been to church since last December. Are the initials N.C.?

Yes north canyon stake in centerville

When I lived in Centerville, the two stakes north of Chase Lane were Canyon View and Centerville North. Did they change stake names?

Sorry.....canyon view.....they all start to sound the same

does Starbucks (in Moridor) feature a beverage targeted to Mos? other than hot choc....

GNPE Wrote:
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> does Starbucks (in Moridor) feature a beverage
> targeted to Mos? other than hot choc....


My DD worked at the AF Starbucks and all the local Mormon teens would hang out there because of the cool and slightly rebellious vibe. One Sat night they ran out of hot chocolate and they put up a sign on the door "out of Mormon drinks" .

I too live in the area. Wife goes to 3 hours of church I do the grocery shopping and I love Sundays at Costco. Also nice that Einsteins and cafe rio recently opened up business on Sundays

So now according to the church's statistics there are 4 new wards!

+1

I live in this area as a never-mo in an area full of young families. There are 11 houses on my block. All of them except mine have young children. There are two families in addition to mine that are definitely not LDS - tattoos, mowing their yard on Saturday morning, etc. of the others, only two families attend church regularly (they walk by my house Sunday mornings). One family is intermittent in attendance, and the rest never seem to go.

In other words,20% active, another 10% slightly active. I think most of the block would self-describe themselves as LDS though. I have quite good relations with all but one of my neighbors, and that one isn't too bad. I really do think there are a lot fewer active LDS than the church wants to admit.

I read online that a TBM will order a Steamer. Basically a latte minus the shot(s) of espresso.

Wow. This might sound insulting, but to a coffee drinker, a latte without espresso is like drinking the creamer or eating the sugar packets without ordering coffee, or like eating catsup on a bun. The steamed milk is a condiment.

Whatever floats your boat, I guess.

I hear that the Utah Mo vide is decreasing in Lehi ( northern Utah County) and it is pretty weak in Holladay (central-east SL County).

I think new subdivisions in Utah get filled with families with young kids. As the kids grow up and move away, either aging parents or nonMo move-ins become the dominant residents. In either case, local wards lose their vitality.

Single family home subdivisions are starting to show up again in places like Herriman and Eagle Mountain, but near all the TRAX stops, massive amounts of apartments are going up. I imagine apartment communities are very low LDS-active.

Demographic change may occur at a glacial pace, but also like glaciers, it is very difficult to change its direction. I think the Utah of 20 years from now will be a very different place. Without fresh supplies of recruits, all MLMs struggle, including religious ones.

I used to attend the Val Verda stake 40 years ago. Glad to hear Davis County is normalizing! Back in the day, Oy!

Alot of places in Utah are "older", like Roy, where a similar thing happened in terms of consolidating wards. In many other places, like the last two I lived in, the number of wards is growing fairly regularly. I've seen consolidations, I wouldn't get all that worked up over them. Utah is still has a growing Mormon population simply because of the high birth rate.

Have you seen ward splits that aren't due to new construction? I've never seen any. I've lived in Utah for over 10 years and I haven't seen a single convert baptism. Wards are being consolidated on the aging east side. There are few youth left so even if the stakes aren't reorganized scouts and mutual have to include the youth from several wards. Yes, the church is "growing" in Herriman, West Jordan, etc..., but it's all new construction...it's not real growth, it's redistribution.

That's not growth! It's shrinkage!!

You need to learn corporate speak. Its called negative growth.

Out with the old and in with the new.

I was home for a visit and noticed three smoke shops on 5th South.

The attendant at the gas station just south of where Dee's Drive used to be, was a south asian, that did not speak english.

Bountiful is certainly changing but I don't think more towards Zion.

I live in No Davis County in a new subdivision. I'd guess that about 1 in 5 or less of new houses are occupied by Mormons. On my street of about 20 houses, there is one family that goes to church and in that family mom is inactive and dad takes the kids. There are other mormons around, but none attend or only attend if with family on Cmas, Easter etc (that's us). The mother of the guy across the street from us came to my house and asked if I was a Mormon and would I tell the bishop her son is a Mormon. I gave her the bishops phone number, but told her she should call.

Due to all the new homes and townhomes being built a new ward was created and they split the old ward, but instead of a new building (as long promised), they sent the new ward to a building a couple of miles away that is under occupied and not even in our stake. We are talking well over a hundred new homes and about 50 townhomes in this area.

The east bench of SLC where I grew up expanded intwo 12 wards and 2 stakes in my youth. In the last few years, that switched back to 1 stake and 7 wards.

It reflects more that that area has matured and has a more stable mix of youth and adults. Also that the area has grown in value and is difficult for the average family to buy into. When my dad bought our house it was $30K. Zillow lists that home now for just under half a million.

The new growth is south and west in the valley and stakes and wards are growing quickly. I don't think you can read much about church growth from these examples really.