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David Stewart did a much better job than the writer of the article of this thread.

From the article: For decades, Mormons have touted their Church's rapid growth as a sort of implicit evidence that it is the True Church.

The writer does not provide any support for that broad-brush statement. The Scriptures talk about many called, but few chosen, etc.

>> Gordon B. Hin[c]kley, the man at the top of the Mormon Church, echoes what many Mormons will tell you: that theirs is the "fastest-growing" Church in the world. Not so, says David Stewart, a Mormon researcher who has compiled the statistics and shows that, far from being the fastest-growing, Mormonism actually ranks 23rd among 149 Churches and Protestant denominations ranked in the U.S.

In this case, Stewart is simply telling us what the Glenmary study said, that the LDS Church is the fastest-growing among the large US faiths (those with more than 1 million members), and 23rd out of 149 overall, which says that the top 22 had less than 1 million members each. That was what I remember from news accounts at the time the Glenmary study came out, fastest-growing among the large US faiths.

From David Stewart's analysis:

For another example, a recent LDS Church News article entitled "Church Fastest Growing in Nation"101 claims that the Glenmary study "shows The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was the fastest-growing faith in the nation during the 1990s." In reality, the Glenmary study found that the LDS Church ranks twenty-third among the 149 participating U.S. faiths in overall growth rate, but first among denominations with over one million adherents. In spite of the fact that the U.S. LDS growth rate is only two-tenths of a percent above the world population growth rate and that the study does not consider activity rates, the ranking of first among U.S. faiths of over a million is still an adequately impressive finding without the need for sensationalization. One cannot doubt that this was an honest misunderstanding on the part of the anonymous Church News reporter, as the same headline that the LDS Church is the "fastest growing" in the U.S. appeared in some secular newspapers also. Yet this points to the need for us to be more careful and accurate in reporting our own growth.

You guys would be better off reading Stewart's comprehensive analysis than either the article of this thread or the Salt Lake Tribune article.

Regarding the word "cults" used by the usual suspects posting here, you guys have made it a meaningless attack word. In your frantic search for a cult under every rock, save yourselves some time and look in the mirror.

I'm GLAD the STL posted part of Dr. Stewart's paper. It's about time the truth came out about my church's growth rates.

I happen to know Dr. Stewart and knew of his study back in May. I contacted another acquiantance who worked for the Dallas Morning News who unfortunately couldn't work with it since he was busy with the Roman Catholic scandals. Yes, me, a loyal and faithful Mormon, WANT this news that puts my church in a bad light exposed for all the world to see. My exchange with the reporter in May went as follows:

[snip]As you know, I'm a faithful Mormon, warts and all. However, there's a terrible problem in the LDS Church, an enormous scandal just waiting to be unleashed, and this is regarding its tendency to inflate its membership figures and the continued myth of us being the "fastest growing church in the world." In reality, up to 80% of new members immediately go inactive or leave the church never to return and the actual conversion rate has DECREASED inspite of a near doubling of missionaries and is now vastly smaller than the JW or SDAs. This means the LDS leadership is being dishonest in pretending we're growing rapidly or our primary problem is growth related.
I know a reporter of your calibre would thoroughly enjoy being the first reporter to puncture this balloon and start a media broadside to get to the heart of the problem. After all, the LDS Church is supposed to be an example of honesty and integrity - these issues shows its hypocrisy.
Don't forget, every criticism levied against the LDS Church in recent memory (i.e., Salamander Letters, sexual abuse, Molympics) have fallen flat with the church ending up smelling like roses. However, on the ongoing fraud of its inflation of membership and the horrible hemorraging of new members (up to 80%) (also see membership figure discrepancies between LDS figures and national censuses) the Church is blatantly guilty.
An LDS acquiantance of mine has written an article you should find very interesting (http://www.cumorah.com/report.html). Go nuts.
I'm giving you this heads up because I'm sick and tired of the lying and deception perpetuated by the current LDS leadership. I'm a genuine Mormon, only accepting "Whatever is True and Whatever is Right" and won't hesitate to condemn things that are wrong even if it originates from my beloved Church. Current LDS bureaucratic practice is neither true nor honest and I want those guilty of this dishonesty exposed for all the world to see. And yes, you can quote me :-)

And:

> > This is part of a larger story I've been trying to work on for a while: How > many members are there of *any* religious group? None of the numbers offered > -- from any religion I'm aware of -- use methodology that would stand up in > any rigorous setting. LDS may be no less or more guilty that, say, the > Southern Baptists in this regard. I'm not sure what I can do with this at > the moment. I'm up to my ears in Roman Catholic stuff. But I'll save the > info....
Actually, the figures of the JW and the SDA are much more accurate. As for determining activity rates, this can easily be accomplished by attending any LDS congregation, count the number of people attending Sacrament (mass) on Sunday, ask the Membership Clerk to show you the number on the membership rolls and determine the percentage of activity. Try getting someone to do the same thing in Mexico or in other coutnries - you'll discover the activity rates are much lower.
I know the RC scandals are rapidly becoming old news in my neck of the woods - I don't know of anyone who still follows the scandals. Perhaps there's greater interest down in your area.
I hope you can do something with the info I supplied - there's definitely a story, and a big one at that - especially given the recent efforts of the LDS Church to polish its image. I realize the LDS leadership and bureaucracy will attempt to silence, intimidate and threaten any Mormon who dares criticize the way the Church is being run - it's happened before. Frankly, I think its better to get the story out and for members like myself to suffer the repercussions later - by then, the cat's out of the bag.
I realize my Church is going to suffer a black eye when this gets out - its opponents, especially the Southern Baptist Convention and other Evangelical churchs are going to have a field day beating us over the head with it. In all honesty, I'm hoping to see the leadership shamed into changing its ways. I know from personal experience the bureaucracy is so entrenched and its directors so protective of their turfs that no amount of good intentions on our part will cause change. Hopefully, this way, things would get better instead of our missionaries offering kids ice cream in exchange for baptising them.
I notified you first, giving you first shot at this. I'll wait a few days in the hopes you'll pick it up or pass in onto a collegue who'll do the expose. If you don't want it, please tell me so I can approach others, especially in the religious publications like the CSM and the like.
Take care,
Ed:-)

I was asked not to pursue other media by Dr. Stewart and I respected his wish. He wanted to update his study and contact the church itself, hoping for the bureaucrats to change without being shamed into doing so. I told him I wish him luck, but I really didn't think they would change and give up their perks. It seems I was right.

Bureaucrats are the same anywhere you go. It doesn't matter what organization or religion, the moment they're entrenched, they fight to the death protecting their turf. And woe befalls those who oppose their policies. The main culprits are the Church Education System which produces the instruction manuals and official literature, and the Missionary Department, which is in charge of the literature and instruction manuals of the missionaries. I know from personal experience just how narrow-minded and protective they are.

Besides, since when does the number of adherents makes a religion the 'True Church'? If it turns out six million people identify themselves as Mormon instead of 11 million, does that make the Church suddenly false? Of course not. I hope this SLT article gets picked up by organizations and people the world over. Hopefully, my church's leaders will be SHAMED into changing their destructive policies (such as minimalist rapid instruction of new converts, deliberate dumbing down of our doctrines, deliberate ignorance of our missionaries).

Sadly, the link to the Atlanta Constitution Journal article is broken. I suspect that the "world's fastest growing church" quote omits a "one of the" right before it, or it is simply the words of the reporter.

I have yet to hear of any official claim of being "THE" fastest growing church, I've only heard gratitude to God for being A fast growing church. There are so many different ways to measure the speed of growth that I doubt there will ever be a single, uncontested "THE fastest"

It is a valid point that some members equate fast growth with being true, and that is not justified (for any church). Likewise, a slowdown in growth or even a shrinking membership doesn't prove anything either. I've seen time and again how the faithfulness (or lack thereof) of a congregation has such a huge impact on church growth in that area.

I fully expect that as we get closer to the second coming that the Lord will try his people and many weak ones will fall away, possibly causing a decline in the overall growth of the church (but an increase in faith). It has happened before in the early days and I expect it to happen again someday.

Interesting tidbit about how many converts are former RCs. In the early days of the Church it was only the Protestants who went out of their way to persecute Mormons. Catholics didn't join in the mobs. (Kind of ironic if you ask me.) Currently relations between SLC and the Vatican are friendly, LDS members played a big role in helping the Catholic World Youth Day go smoothly. Catholics are in a real bind up here in Canada. There are so few priests that several Christmas masses were canceled, and the death of a preist often results in the merging of parishes.

As for the article, it makes me very glad I took courses in statistics. When in come to North America, where the church has been established longest, they measure growth in terms of % growth, for the rest of the world where the church has not been established as long, and where the rate of growth is fastest, they measure raw numbers. Both have the effect of downplaying the actual growth of the church creating a distorted and biased view. A real researcher would establish one measure of the rate of growth and stick with it.

Even with all that however, it can not be denied that the growth of the church has surpassed everyone's expecation, and continues growing at a rate many wish they could achieve. The future for the LDS Church is bright.

The celebrating in this thread by the usual suspects only shows how petty, hostile and insecure they are.