Posted by:
cludgie
(
)
Date: May 17, 2011 07:05AM
See what answers this guy has:
http://ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com/2011/03/church-growth-news.htmlRegarding closure of the Sydney Parramatta Stake, he at least admits, "The number of congregations in many Australian stakes is much lower than other nations, which jeopardizes the continued operation of some stakes if large numbers of members move away and few new converts are baptized and retained. Overall Australia has experienced moderate membership growth rates among industrialized nations but has experienced stagnant congregational growth." But that's a pretty sanitized statement.
Dissolution of Miami South Spanish stake: "The number of congregations in these stakes has been declining for a number of years. One of the major reasons for the stake dissolution was that many members are moving away from the area and convert baptisms have declined...
"This is the third stake dissolved in the United States this year. I want to make it clear that there are many more new stakes being created in the United States and around the world versus stakes being dissolved.
"It does appear that we are going to see a fairly large drop in the number of new stakes created this year for the Church. This is primarily because few stakes have been organized internationally. However, we should see a jump in the number of new congregations created outside of the United States this year,..." (read: Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo).
He also says, "We are also likely to see quite a few new stakes created in Utah considering nine stakes have over 14 congregations in them and many more have 12 or 13. Stakes typically have five to 12 congregations." Whaaaaaa'? Must be smokin' something.
Then, "In 2007 we did not see as large of an increase in congregations, but a big jump (around 20,000) in terms of membership increase." Yeah, Mozambique, Democratic Republic of Congo, Republic of Congo. He then explains, "This is likely due to the lag time between converts getting baptized in a large enough quantity (and staying active) to merit a new congregation being created."
It's not cumorah.com, but he's apparently trying to be truthful and positive at once, and I have to give it to him for that. But on the other hand, much of what he's doing in his blog is mere turd polishing.