Church is stagnant in Brazil

[_Joe Geisner]

A Brazilian friend just sent me his write-up:

The 2010 Brazilian Census has just published its religious stats.

The LDS Church has grown 13.5% between 2000 and 2010, remaining stagnant at 0.12% of the general population, which means no net growth in a decade. The ratio between real (self-described) and fake (official stats) Latter-day Saints has fallen from 25% to 22%, suggesting more people left the Church than joined in this period.

For comparison purposes, in the same decade Evangelicals have grown 62%, Spiritualists have grown 65%, and No Religion (Atheists, Agnostics, etc.) have grown 20%.

http://vozesmormons.com.br/2012/06/30/q ... -brasil-2/

[_Willy Law]

Let me help KSL and Deseret News with their headline.

Double Digit Growth for the Church in Brazil

[_Wilma Fingerdoo]

Let me help KSL and Deseret News with their headline.

Double Digit Growth for the Church in Brazil

+10000000
The story could start....there is not enough water to baptize prospective members in brazil.

Or maybe Once upon a time in the land of the Lamanites

[_Kevin Graham]

A Brazilian friend just sent me his write-up:

The 2010 Brazilian Census has just published its religious stats.

The LDS Church has grown 13.5% between 2000 and 2010, remaining stagnant at 0.12% of the general population, which means no net growth in a decade. The ratio between real (self-described) and fake (official stats) Latter-day Saints has fallen from 25% to 22%, suggesting more people left the Church than joined in this period.

For comparison purposes, in the same decade Evangelicals have grown 62%, Spiritualists have grown 65%, and No Religion (Atheists, Agnostics, etc.) have grown 20%.

http://vozesmormons.com.br/2012/06/30/q ... -brasil-2/

As a legal resident of Brazil for more than six years, I'm hardy surprised.

[_Chap]

A Brazilian friend just sent me his write-up:

The 2010 Brazilian Census has just published its religious stats.

The LDS Church has grown 13.5% between 2000 and 2010, remaining stagnant at 0.12% of the general population, which means no net growth in a decade. The ratio between real (self-described) and fake (official stats) Latter-day Saints has fallen from 25% to 22%, suggesting more people left the Church than joined in this period.

For comparison purposes, in the same decade Evangelicals have grown 62%, Spiritualists have grown 65%, and No Religion (Atheists, Agnostics, etc.) have grown 20%.

http://vozesmormons.com.br/2012/06/30/q ... -brasil-2/

Pew survey data from the US shows the same picture: despite larger family sizes and the huge missionary effort, the proportion of the population that is willing to identify itself as 'LDS/Mormon' when asked has remained constant for a decade. That adds up to quite few people leaving.

The church's own publicly announced membership figures are disconnected from reality in a way that can only be deliberate.

[_ludwigm]

viewtopic.php?p=605444#p605444
+ Chile
+ the Philippines

[_Chap]

http://www.mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=605444#p605444
+ Chile
+ the Philippines

Sooner or later they are going to have to tell the membership that the church is not growing any more, just keeping pace.

How will that be spun in a faith-promoting way, I wonder?

[_ludwigm]

http://www.mormondiscussions.com/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?p=605444#p605444
+ Chile
+ the Philippines

Sooner or later they are going to have to tell the membership that the church is not growing any more, just keeping pace.

How will that be spun in a faith-promoting way, I wonder?

He that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith unto the churches.

I don't know the real numbers and the official statistics around the world.
I know only the ward my wife is in.
On the list there are 400+ members.
In the chapel there are 85 chairs. Sometimes 86, sometimes 81 only. All around 80. I've never seen they used up all.

[_DrW]

A Brazilian friend just sent me his write-up:

The 2010 Brazilian Census has just published its religious stats.

The LDS Church has grown 13.5% between 2000 and 2010, remaining stagnant at 0.12% of the general population, which means no net growth in a decade. The ratio between real (self-described) and fake (official stats) Latter-day Saints has fallen from 25% to 22%, suggesting more people left the Church than joined in this period.

For comparison purposes, in the same decade Evangelicals have grown 62%, Spiritualists have grown 65%, and No Religion (Atheists, Agnostics, etc.) have grown 20%.

http://vozesmormons.com.br/2012/06/30/q ... -brasil-2/

As a legal resident of Brazil for more than six years, I'm hardy surprised.

As someone who took his wife and his missionary son from a mission in Portugal to pick up his missionary son in Brazil, and who toured the Brazilian missionary son's entire mission area, attending Church in several venues in Rio, Petropolis, etc. I am also not surprised.

We saw first hand the sparse participation by locals in the church meetings and the lack of enthusiasm and sometimes near embarrassment on the part of many members.

As I have reported on this board before, in our experience and from our knowledge of Brazil as missionary and tourist, long term retention rates among new converts in Brazil are abysmal. For all the long term "benefits" that were gained (by anyone involved), my missionary sons may as well have stayed in the US and done something productive with their two years.

[_bcspace]

Sooner or later they are going to have to tell the membership that the church is not growing any more, just keeping pace.

So according to the OP, the Church IS growing in numbers in Brazil. However, I don't recall the Church ever highlighting any gains as to the world's population. Quite the opposite in fact as I seem to recall hearing more about how small we are by comparison.

So once again we have a thread dedicated to the yellow journalistic smearing of the Church, that just because we are not keeping up with a population, even though are are experiencing positive growth, we must be in trouble.