So my ex informed me that her ward (in Davis county Utah) was realigned: 4 wards were marged to hers. They did a little splitting, but on the map it is clear that 90% of 5 wards were merged. Her ward had gone from 250+ on sunday to 40 in 4 years.

just wanted to share that our surge (to leave) is going well.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2015 12:23PM by sb.

Whoa! In Davis county, no less!

TSCC is as finished as Bill Cosby. It just has more momentum.

When being Mormon isn't cool anymore, Utah wards are going to shrink dramatically.

250+ to 40?! There has to be more to the story. Did an influential leader leave? Was it multiple large families leaving and word spreading as a result? Was the bishop a creep?

There were a wave of college kids who left the nest, but that account for 25 kids. Some lederly people died, but a lot had babies. It was a slow erosion, from what I could observe:

People who were membes moved and were replaced by non or inactive members.

A sunday school teacher left the church, he WAS a huge figure in the ward. He openly talked about the real history in class, the bishop loved his class. Others complained the this guy taught every sunday so they caleed another teacher, the another 2. Some people would only attend when he taught. a guy scheduled his visitsto his parents in the ward (from orlando) to coincide with his lessons. A lot of young couples attended his class and they stopped when he left.

A lot of families stopped going for divorce, doctrinal changes, etc. All with different excuses (building a house somewhere else, attending with other family, work on sunday)

but the net went to 40 average from 250. That says a lot. it was the same all over the stake. They just merged 5 wards together and created a big ward out of it.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2015 01:52PM by sb.

AND . . . Cue the Music as they leave the Morg building for the last time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Diu2N8TGKA

Our ward is also shrinking from what I hear. But not as much as 250 to 40... that's a lot.

This kind of thing has been going on for several years. I've experienced it as a member over 15 years ago and see it happening more and more, and in the area I live in also.
These are different times. The new generations are more Information Age savvy and less inclined to rely on myth as the older folks.

I have a family member who is a bishop in Pocatello, Idaho. That Bishop had a child who was going on a mission.

(Despite the fact that I despise the MORmON cult,) To accommodate another family member who can not drive, I drove them several hours to the ward that Bishop presides over to see their grand child's missionary farewell service. In order to avoid seeming slight (yah, kid, if you think me not attending your missionary farewell meeting might have been insensitive, just wait and see what LDS Inc. is going to do to you ( EPIC SCREW JOB COMING UP !!!) for the next 2 years!!!!) of the departing missionary, since I was already there, I had some obligation to attend the service. With some amusement, I went to the service.

By my estimate, the chapel was only about 20 percent full. And I am going to say, less than 20 % to be more precise. That level of attendance was for a special occasion missionary farewell service. I very rarely attend MORmON services any more. I was stunned by how empty the chapel really was for their Sac meeting. When I went on a mission about 35 years ago, I had about 15 times that many people at my farewell. My home ward then had a much larger chapel than this one, the place was packed and the meeting went into the cultural hall on an overflow mode. I had about 15 times that many people at my missionary farewell.

This ward is operating on a skeleton basis, it is just barely getting along. Of the few that attend meetings, about half don't want to be bothered with any callings. And they are left with out callings over fear that they will stop attending if pushed too hard. That means the other half who will accept callings are often loaded down with several. This ward was NOT a hot bed of thriving MORmON activity like those that I was familiar with in my upbringing. This ward is begging for a consolidation, its operating in a very token mode, but LDS Inc wont do the consolidation, apparently because they want to keep their ward numbers up, and not consolidating preserves the "high prestige" callings of bishop and counselors that will maintain the engagement of the few willing faithfool in the area, like my family member who gets the ego stroke of being bishop, even if its only over a skeleton ward operation. So this token ward is left in tact, even if the ward structure is just a shell for itself. The elders quorum presidency is the elder's quorum.

I am laughing because its apparent to me that the MORmON church is sucking for wind in a big way, and I am going to help them out in the very same way that they helped me out in the past.

excellent information, thanks for sharing. We live in the Midwest and I can attest to similar experiences. We are 1.5 hours to the stake center and 2.5 to a temple.

Numbers are shrinking. The active ward members who are willing to serve double or triple up on callings to meet the demand....it's silly. We have 6-10 young men and break them up into 3 groups....requiring multiple leaders for each group. Come on! often, teachers/leaders outnumber the kids at church.

Glad I'm out. Can't wait until more leave so that they can help influence my wife on her way out.

Do women know about shrinkage?

What like laundry? LOL (Love me some Seinfeld)

not LDS women, they think it's growing.

like a frightened turtle!

You mean they shrink?

Hi sb:

I live in Davis County-- on the south end. The church next door contains two wards: (1) Orchard 1st, and (2) Orchard 2nd. At least I think that is true-- I'm not really sure. Nor am I really sure where the ward boundaries are. I'm also pretty sure that there used to be three wards here, that there's now a missing "Orchard 12th" ward.

I don't know if you would be willing, but if you are anywhere near the south end of Davis County, I'd love to talk to you more. I would like to be as informed as possible about what is happening in this area.

I can be reached at "....", if you were inclined.

Nevin Pratt

Edited to remove my publicly posted email address-- thanks's sb for shooting me an email!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/02/2015 05:26PM by nevinpratt.

Nevin, just shot you an email.

Shrinkage? I just got out of the pool!

Oh my goodness, now I am looking for my Seinfeld videos... FUNNY

I don't know how you guys walk around with those things. (Elaine)

I have kids living in several different areas in Davis County, and their wards are huge, growing, and need dividing (but no new church buildings are being planned). So it depends on several factors.

New subdivisions seem to have growing wards, especially in areas farther west where land is cheaper (e.g., Woods Cross, Syracuse, West Farmington). Probably older neighborhoods in the various towns in Davis Co. are shrinking with older people dying off. Land is expensive but homes are older. I would guess a lot of young families would rather buy a new home in a new subdivision than one needing work (and sitting on expensive land to boot).

I would guess that a lot of this growth involves movement from other areas, however, thus draining those areas of active members. But a lot of these young families have a good number of children; so multiple nurseries per ward, large primaries, multiple priesthood quorums are the result.

Of course if the wards continue large and undivided and with a high activity rate, sooner or later people can get tired of it. Too much hassle to get the kids ready; no soft pew seats, just cold, hard folding chairs in the noisy cultural hall, etc. My own attitude would be, "I'm going to help the ward out by staying away." I recommend it.