DiscussMormonism.com

I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

Johnston and others like him would do better if he accepted the Church's clear position on what is and is not doctrine. That is, assuming they want to do better in the first place. I am intimately acquainted with the Dehlin issue. I do not believe for one second he wants to improve his faith or that of others. This other guy stands with Dehlin. Same boat.

mms wrote:I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

He's referring to, of course, people having their names removed, not all people who leave.

mms wrote:I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

I wonder if he's being technical here and referring only to those who remove their name from the records of the church, which I'm sure is a tiny fraction. Of course, I've left the church, for all practical purposes, but my name is still on the list. Am I counted among "those leaving the church", Michael Purdy?

Buffalo wrote:

mms wrote:I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

He's referring to, of course, people having their names removed, not all people who leave.

Correct. Those people are considered "in-transit Mormons" according to this old 2005 article about "lost" members. http://www.sltrib.com/ci_3123952

According to the church spokesman back then.

"We really don't give up on people," said Bateman, a member of the Quorum of the Seventy, one of the LDS Church's governing bodies. "As long as they have not asked to have their names taken off the rolls of the church, we have a responsibility toward them and believe in time . . . we will be an influence to help them find their way back."

So this helps explain why "Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year" yet from all the anecdotal evidence I can see around me, the church is having a really hard time keeping their youth active.

mms wrote:
“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

It is interesting that the number of people in the US joining the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and that trend is decreasing rather than increasing.

bcspace wrote:Johnston and others like him would do better if he accepted the Church's clear position on what is and is not doctrine. That is, assuming they want to do better in the first place. I am intimately acquainted with the Dehlin issue. I do not believe for one second he wants to improve his faith or that of others. This other guy stands with Dehlin. Same boat.

Most have not heard your ideas of what is and what is not doctrine, so all they can go on is what the church has said which is very different then your ideas.

mms wrote:I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

I think the church spokes person is probably referring to resignations, although they don't reveal numbers so we really don't have anything to go on. I could see a decrease of people resigning due to all the members who find out about church history since the internet have already resigned. I would guess young people might be less inclined to go through the resignation process. The information age is new and so you have a whole group of members finding out about this stuff in a short period of years which I would guess would cause an initial spike in resignations. Jensen's statement is the more interesting one.

Themis wrote:

mms wrote:I know Kishkumen started a thread on this article, but I thought this deserved a highlight.

“Those leaving the church are a fraction of 1 percent each year and it is a trend that is decreasing rather than increasing,” said Michael Purdy, a church spokesman.

However, said another spokesman, Michael Otterson,“anti-church groups . . . have become more aggressive and outspoken.” And the church has acknowledged on other occasions that it has had difficulty retaining young Mormons, in particular, and has generally lagged in dealing with doubt — perhaps the largest challenge not only to Mormonism, but also to modern organized religion as a whole.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/mor ... tid=pm_pop

I think the church spokes person is probably referring to resignations, although they don't reveal numbers so we really don't have anything to go on. I could see a decrease of people resigning due to all the members who find out about church history since the internet have already resigned. I would guess young people might be less inclined to go through the resignation process. The information age is new and so you have a whole group of members finding out about this stuff in a short period of years which I would guess would cause an initial spike in resignations. Jensen's statement is the more interesting one.

That's a nice bit of PR hand waving he's done. A few weeks ago I had a meeting with a very well known LDS scholar who's been in contact with church leadership recently and was told, and I quote, "The church is hemorrhaging members". And I didn't understand by that that they meant hordes of people were filing paperwork to get their name off the list.

brade wrote:
That's a nice bit of PR hand waving he's done. A few weeks ago I had a meeting with a very well known LDS scholar who's been in contact with church leadership recently and was told, and I quote, "The church is hemorrhaging members". And I didn't understand by that that they meant hordes of people were filing paperwork to get their name off the list.

I think most active members who stop believing don't resign. I haven't and don't intend to. Many will maintain some relationship with the church, but usually doesn't involve paying tithes. I think The church is in real trouble because it is losing so many good members that it wasn't losing in the past. I don't think the church is going to feel the full effects of this for decades. It's also losing it's best and brightest.