Temple utilization and membership growth rates.

Temple utilization (# scheduled sessions per endowmentroom) is at 46%. This is represented by the blue temples, the grey ones represent the 54% of unused temple-capacity. The red line is the growth rate from 1995 to 2010 (McTemples were announced in 1997).

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-7aX1OOoBjAE/TvRE0ekD3pI/AAAAAAAAAho/rzbcNJl4hcw/s482/Tempels_leegstand_incl_groei.jpg

...the number of temples has grown but the number of temple goers hasn't?

That would be interesting, since the supposed purpose of more temples was to make it more convenient for members to get to temples (or remove one of the excises for why they didn't go).

Stray Mutt Wrote:
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> That would be interesting, since the supposed
> purpose of more temples was to make it more
> convenient for members to get to temples (or
> remove one of the excises for why they didn't go).

Actually, the Hinckster claimed his McTemple concept was intended to bring temples to the many areas in the church that are remote, don't have a lot of members and won't experience much growth in the near future (his words, actually).

Instead, they're primarily built where there are many members in easily accessible and/or high-profile locations. He was right about the lack of growth, though, old cynical bastard.

Don't believe me? Just look at the map:

http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/maps/

interesting spike just prior to 2000.......Millenial fears maybe?

I wonder how that compares to other religions?

EssexExMo Wrote:
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> interesting spike just prior to
> 2000.......Millenial fears maybe?

Change in counting method, more likely.

Curious where this data originated.

The line seems to follow the economy. Wages/profits down = fewer tithe payers worthy of recommends?

The graph shows "rooms engaged", but this can be a misleading stat regarding actual attendance.

In '93, I attended the Laie temple eight sessions a week. I often went in the weekday afternoons, as that time period was the least attended time slot. But mornings were also poorly attended. I was often the only walk-in at the session, the other couple guys were assigned workers. Same on the sister's side.

So they had endowment sessions, the rooms were scheduled and engaged, but there was nobody there.

I took the schedule and endowment room data from ldschurchtemples.com; the growth rate data are from Jim Huston, who tracks them each April conference.

I made this assumption: that a full workday consists of 6 scheduled sessions. That's 12 operational hours. Whether that is the correct number is debatable, of course. The higher the number, the lower the average usage and vice versa.

And yes, hello, my other assumption is that all scheduled sessions actually take place - which we both know isn't true. So the actual usage numbers are probably even lower than 46%.

I've attended several sessions where there weren't enough people in the room to fit aroung the altar for the prayer circle and so extra workers would come in just in time for that. So while a session is technically in full swing, probably a third of the 12 to 14 people at the prayer circle were stand-ins. Even worse is trying to get Initiatories done because there were usually not enough workers to do them if they were being pulled off to do the Endowment standins, or they were trainees so it took an extra person to help them.

Of course things are probably different in the morridor, but out here in the field it is hard to get a lot of work done, and it is much less spiritual when you have to hold peoples sheets for them to read from while they do the Initiatories.

Several of the people in our Stake gave up attending our brand new temple because it was so frustrating.

Yes, I remember sometimes seshes were cancelled for lack of attendance, but more often we just went ahead with 4 people total in the sesh. So there may have been 6 seshes, but only 24-36 endowments performed for the day.

That's piss poor performance for an operating temple.

Even the MO tourists stayed away.

The evening and weekend seshes were better attended of course. It was a BYU-PCC-HRI company town.

As the number of people retiring or fully retiring will decrease with the recession and the boomers having a different attitude about working longer, earning more, and having children later, I'll anyone here that LDS Inc. will have a very hard time getting temple missionaries and volunteers to even staff the temples. If not now, I'll also bet the lectures at church will soon start to order people to retire and do temple missions, etc. Certainly couldn't PAY anyone to do the work !!!!