Accuracy does count, but numbers are also important.
In the book of Daniel chapter 2 the Lord compares his latter day church to a stone that rolls forth to fill the whole earth. You can not do that without numbers. A church that grows in numbers is only one of many qualifying signs of the true church of God. A church that is losing membership each year does not qualify to be the true church of God.
[Hey, ya better send a "memo" quick to God...He might want to have His Son give a retraction when He raised the "silly" ("silly" in your eyes, that is) question, "when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)]
Anyway, just tell Elohim to tell Jesus that Jesus has nothing to worry about. You've got it all under control. And that no true church of the future will lose members 'cause of your dictum: A church that is losing membership each year does not qualify to be the true church of God.
But if you are trying to use such fallacious standards to prove that the LDS is the “true church” (the irony in typing that alone kills me LOL) you may want to run that by the Catholic Church as well as the Muslims, each numbering over a billion adherents and growing.
Unless you are willing to allow for other “true churches”, of course then what would be the point...
Keeping members a challenge for LDS church
Mormon myth: The belief that the church is the fastest-growing faith in the world doesn’t hold up
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/22/2006 04:14:18 PM MDT
The claim that Mormonism is the fastest-growing faith in the world has been repeated so routinely by sociologists, anthropologists, journalists and proud Latter-day Saints as to be perceived as unassailable fact.
The trouble is, it isn’t true.
http://www.sltrib.com/lds/ci_2890645
The Deseret News published the membership of the Church as of October 1st, 2008 in the 2009 Church Almanac to be 13,428,061, or an increase of around 234,000 members. This would mean an average of 26,000 people joined the Church a month for the first nine months of 2008. . . . . Membership growth slowed in 2008 and will likely be around 10,000 people less than the previous year.
There are numerous other sources showing the membership declining, not being reflected because many of those who leave face a bureaucratic gordian knot of paper work to have their names removed from the roster - thus falsely inflating the ‘membership’ . I’m sure Jonesie can point these out in greater detail to you.
Keeping members a challenge for LDS church
Mormon myth: The belief that the church is the fastest-growing faith in the world doesn’t hold up
By Peggy Fletcher Stack
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 06/22/2006 04:14:18 PM MDT
The claim that Mormonism is the fastest-growing faith in the world has been repeated so routinely by sociologists, anthropologists, journalists and proud Latter-day Saints as to be perceived as unassailable fact.
The trouble is, it isn’t true.
http://www.sltrib.com/lds/ci_2890645
The Deseret News published the membership of the Church as of October 1st, 2008 in the 2009 Church Almanac to be 13,428,061, or an increase of around 234,000 members. This would mean an average of 26,000 people joined the Church a month for the first nine months of 2008. . . . . Membership growth slowed in 2008 and will likely be around 10,000 people less than the previous year.
There are numerous other sources showing the membership declining, not being reflected because many of those who leave face a bureaucratic gordian knot of paper work to have their names removed from the roster - thus falsely inflating the ‘membership’ . I’m sure Jonesie can point these out in greater detail to you.