An admission from Scott Trotter:

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865555185/LDS-Church-reports-18-percent-growth-in-2000s.html

So, it turns out they intentionally used an "understated" membership number of 4,224,026 for year 2000 so they could claim 45% growth from 2000-2010.

That "understated" number left out "members who, although baptized, were not currently associated with a specific congregation." -- in other words, people who left and never came back.

Now, they've decided to use a different number for year 2000 membership: 5,208,827, which "included total membership numbers to more accurately reflect all of those found on church records." Using that same criteria for 2010 (every name ever listed on the books), they admit growth was really only 18% over the decade.

Somehow, their professional statisticians and accountants just didn't catch this error until it was "too late" --- OOOOPS.

The real shocker, though, is the 2010 "total membership" figure:6,144,582.

6.1 million, IF they claim every name ever listed and not just the ones who attend.

WOW. What number did they use in General Conference?

Ah, these are the US only numbers, that's why it's 6 million and not 14. So all that's really revealed is that in 2010, there were only 860,000 not assigned to a specific congregation, or less than 20%. I have to say I'm surprised it's that low, I would have expected something larger.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/05/2012 08:59PM by bubbleboy.