it is now quite evident that mormonism is on the same track as the shakers, an interesting american religious movement that died out relatively soon. converts are nonexistent (real converts that is) resignations are increasing daily and the truth is so obvious and so readily available…i no longer fear this heresy.
I see.
OK, according to “adherents,” the number of Catholics who ‘attend church regularly’ goes from 14% (in the USA) to 33% (in Italy)
According to '
Catholic Online" We have the following quote:
**With an increase of 1.94 percent over its previous year’s total, the Catholic Church was also among the fastest-growing of the nation’s 25 largest churches, followed closely by the Assemblies of God, which recorded 1.86 percent growth, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with 1.63 percent growth.
In 2004 the Catholic Church came in third behind the other two in rate of growth. Because of annual fluctuations, a better indicator of trends is membership change over a longer period, such as a decade.
Between the 1997 and 2007 yearbooks, the recorded change in Catholic population was from 60.3 million to 69.1 million, or an increase of 15 percent. The Assemblies of God recorded growth of nearly 19 percent in that decade, and the Latter-day Saints grew by nearly 21 percent. **
I went to five other sites, all Catholic, and found out that the Catholic increase in numbers is almost wholly due to births. According to a Presbyterian study of church membership loss, the Catholic church retains 85% of its members; the highest loyalty quotient of all “mainline” (their word) churches. They did not examine Mormons. Of course, this means that 15% of you officially resign and join someone else. These numbers do not reflect those who simply don’t show up, or convert elsewhere and fail to inform the church of the move.
And although the birth rate even in Italy has fallen to 1.4 births per woman, that still means that the Catholic church is growing primarily through the birth rate. (
catholic-pages.com/morality/dearth.asp)
Please note: all of the above information was researched on Catholic sites.
Now let us look at the LDS growth. We already know, from the Catholic site, that even you guys admit that we grew faster over the decade measured: 21% for us, 15% for you between 1997 and 2007.
However, according to the
National Council of Churches report of 2009, the Catholic church showed a decline in growth of .59% since the 2008 report, while the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints rose in membership by 1.63% during that same year. It seems that the CoJCoLDS was one of only four churches in the USA that actually showed growth; the other three are The Assemblies of God (.96%), the Jehovah’s Witnesses (2.12 %) and the Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn. (2.04)
(Uhmn…what in the world is the 'Church of God of Cleveland, Tenn?..never mind.)
The point is, the CoJCoLDS has a consistent growth rate that stays a growth rate, not a decline in membership.
Ok, I hear the protests; but wait, you are claiming…you guys count people who DON’T EVEN GO TO CHURCH!!!
Well, yeah.
So do you.
Let’s take a look at that; we have the Catholics claiming that even in Italy, the home of the Vatican, only a third of the members of the Catholic church attend church. In the USA, it is 14%.
Let’s compare that to the LDS attendance statistics…In Africa over
half of all the members show up weekly: 54%. PER WEEK.
In the United States, it’s 33 to 50%, depending on the state.
Given that church attendance (self reported) in the United States is around 45% (that’s people who say they go to church ‘regularly’ as opposed to ‘weekly’)
The point is, sir, that every church in the world is either slowing down, or actually losing membership. Very few are gaining…and the CoJCoLDS is one of those that is still growing. Let’s face it; a ‘retention problem’ that means that 50% of members do not show up to church beats the one YOU have by a considerable margin; according to your own church statistics, you are losing between 66 and 86% of yours.
The moral of this little bit of reality?
I think it’s something along the lines of ‘mote and beam.’
I think I ought to read some REAL scriptures. 
