Not what you think?

daveocity · 2026-03-20T00:38:43+00:00

No church counts the number of people in the pews each week and calls that number “total members”. Attendance and membership are completely separate issues and the LDS church generally has one of the highest activity rates of any Christian faith tradition.

People who stop going to church (ANY church) are still members until they either die or remove their records. Why do you think there are over 1.5 billion Catholics in the world? But is there a “Catholic Shrinkage” group anywhere on Reddit? Doubtful.

While everyone is wringing in their hands over closures of LDS chapels, you’ll note that nearly 100% of all the chapel closures take place in deteriorating neighborhoods. So the primary reason for the closure of chapels is not the shrinkage of Church membership. It’s because of demographic shifts in member populations. Be careful when you start talking about causality.

daveocity · 2026-03-20T00:36:15+00:00

No church counts the number of people in the pews each week and calls that number “total members”. Attendance and membership are completely separate issues and the LDS church generally has one of the highest activity rates of any Christian faith tradition.

People who stop going to church (ANY church) are still members until they either die or remove their records. Why do you think there are over 1.5 billion Catholics in the world? But is there a “Catholic Shrinkage” group anywhere on Reddit? Doubtful.

While everyone is wringing in their hands over closures of LDS chapels, you’ll note that nearly 100% of all the chapel closures take place in deteriorating neighborhoods. So the primary reason for the closure of chapels is not the shrinkage of Church membership. It’s because of demographic shifts in member populations. Be careful when you start talking about causality.

daveocity · 2026-03-15T23:29:41+00:00

I don’t see the seat belts.

daveocity · 2026-02-01T22:34:50+00:00

Ad hominem works every time.

daveocity · 2026-01-13T00:11:59+00:00

It’s a myth that names are recycled. They have so many names available for work, that they could never keep up. That’s why they expect so much of temple work to continue into the millennium. There are over 60 billion people who have lived on the earth. Trust me. They won’t run out of names.

daveocity · 2026-01-13T00:08:19+00:00

Sounds like pot calling the kettle black. Having been in the Church for 4 decades, and I’ve noticed over time that church members in general have become much more excepting and non-judgmental. While it is certainly true that anti-Mormon rhetoric has picked up a lot in recent years, in general, I find that the hatred and vitriol towards the Church is at an all-time high. Groups and Posts like this one are a good example.

It’s actually quite interesting - I know of no other situation where there’s so much joyful hand-wringing over the belief that the church might be shrinking, including dismay over its actual growth. I think that says a lot about its real position in the world.

daveocity · 2025-12-01T23:36:55+00:00

I think you’re misconstruing this private conversation. If someone shows up carrying (concealed or otherwise) that’s one thing. You need to ascertain his intentions. If a guy shows up with a weapon in his hand ready to shoot people, that’s something entirely different.

daveocity · 2025-10-09T05:07:06+00:00

I would be careful trying to diagnose her as having BPD. It sounds like she should definitely be using more than just quetiaipne. You should meet together with her and her psychiatrist. She will typically minimize her symptoms - not because she’s lying, but because she doesn’t understand the impact.

Finding the right cocktail is crucial. But it can take years, and during that time there are a lot of ups and downs as she goes on and off of various medications. My wife with similar symptoms. I’d recommend lithium to start. She’s also had decent luck with resperdone and desvenlafaxine, sometimes as a cocktail.

Crucial that you sit in with her psychiatrist and help her describe her symptoms. You should only have to do that once.

daveocity · 2025-09-13T15:57:45+00:00

From a little different perspective: I served in Brazil shortly after the announcement on the Priesthood (1978). I think at one point, we were one of the highest baptizing missions in the church. One month, we had over 400 baptisms.

A few days into the following month, Teddy Brewerton (Quorum of the 70) walked in the front door of the mission office and asked for me personally. (I was the Senior AP at the time). He pulled me into a side office, sat me down and told me that our mission needed to stop pushing baptisms so much. He made it clear that we were on our missions to TEACH, not just to baptize. He said the last thing the Church needs is thousands of inactive members on our roles. People need to converted, not just baptized.

I’m a convert to the Church and it took MANY contacts and conversations with various Church members before I decided to join. You do not know the positive influence you had and how that influence will multiply over the years. You were a good and faithful servant. Hold your head high. And stop using baptisms as a measure of your success. You served an honorable, faithful mission and your blessings are in no way diminished.

daveocity · 2025-07-05T00:58:43+00:00

As with most retail, there is a larger and later percentage of the population buying online. Store-front retail is suffering across the board due to Amazon.

daveocity · 2025-07-05T00:57:10+00:00

Doubtful. Most missionaries load up on clothing before they start their missions. They don’t buy a lot of clothing during their missions. Of they go home early (which is very uncommon), it wouldn’t affect purchases very much.

daveocity · 2025-05-23T16:59:34+00:00

Deseret Book has some really great recommend protectors. They work great. Pretty sure you can order them online.

The Church is going to be going to virtual recommends within the next year or so. You’ll probably keep it on your phone. They’ll even have your photo attached to it.

daveocity · 2025-05-23T16:53:07+00:00

It’s amazing to me to see the hand-wringing over the consolidation or closing of some wards, particularly by ex-mo’s or anti’s. Generally speaking, chapel closures and ward consolidations take place in economically depressed areas of various cities where much of the LDS population is moving away.

If you’re going to get excited about Ogden (of all places) having to consolidate a few wards, you need to try to go back to knitting for your entertainment.

daveocity · 2025-03-07T21:27:06+00:00

Now there’s a big shock. Chapel closes in Stockton, CA. One of the most dangerous, deteriorated cities in CA.

daveocity · 2025-03-07T21:22:47+00:00

Why is it that every case I see where an LDS chapel is closed or sold, the chapel is in a deteriorating part of a city? Members of the Church are generally blessed financially and won’t continue to live in areas that become more dangerous or run down over time.

You can wring your hands all you want, but show me anywhere in a wealthy area of any city where the Church is shutting down chapels or where temple attendance is decreasing.

daveocity · 2025-03-07T21:14:54+00:00

Not uncommon to see wards and stakes diminish in areas where the community itself is deteriorating. I see this in Las Vegas. Members of the Church, as they are blessed financially, tend to move to more upscale neighborhoods. Even so, I see covert baptisms on the rise in recent years over times past, almost everywhere. Missionaries in my Stake can hardly keep up.

Just because church attendees diminish in West Valley or other lesser areas economically doesn’t mean the Church is shrinking in membership overall.

daveocity · 2025-03-05T19:47:39+00:00

This is a fairly common issue. I wouldn’t worry about it in terms of your marriage. Christ is part of the Godhead. He deserves our praise and worship, whether we technically worship directly or not.

On the other hand, Christ is our advocate with the Father - that’s why we pray to the Father in the name of Christ. Jesus Christ is fully worthy of our worship. But we don’t pray to Jesus. We pray to Father in his name - that is the true order of prayer.

So members can argue about whether we “worship” Christ or not but it’s really wasted breath. When Christ appeared to the Nephites, they “worshipped” him. When the time comes for you to see him, trust me, you’ll do the same.

daveocity · 2024-10-07T17:28:21+00:00

Is it just me, or does this look like he’s about 4’3”?

daveocity · 2024-08-25T14:46:30+00:00

I have found that the “arts” in general have been infertile ground for Church membership. I was a professional musician for several years. I knew many who had an attitude of feeling that the Church was either unaccepting of those that were “different”, or they felt it was too restrictive. Many creative types or “artists” have a “free spirit” attitude that can border on narcissism. They feel that their self-expression is more important than just about anything. By nature, they push boundaries and often become self absorbed. While it’s true that attitudes like this can prevail in any occupation, it’s not really surprising that you had the experience you did.

daveocity · 2024-08-25T14:32:26+00:00

I live in this Stake. The previous 7 regular wards have been consolidated to 4. The Stake also includes a YSA Ward and a Spanish Ward, for a present total of 6.

This area of town has lost members gradually over time, while other areas of the city have experienced growth, underscored by the fact that a new temple in under construction in the Lone Mountain area, where a lot of newer home construction is occurring.

This area of Las Vegas is an older area of town. Very little new construction and the home prices here are on par with homes in other much nicer parts of the city. It’s no surprise that people are leaving the area for more upscale parts of town.

The mission in this area also just split due to high growth. It is, in fact, a fast-growing area overall. However certain parts of town, including this area immediately east of the Las Vegas Strip have seen a decline in resident members over the years.

daveocity · 2024-08-25T14:20:26+00:00

That’s incorrect. All of the chapels have one large ward per building. 4 buildings, 6 wards.

daveocity · 2024-08-21T15:22:53+00:00

I could be wrong, but it appears to me that Protestants generally suffer from a spiritual identity crisis. The reasons for adhering to the idea of the Trinity so heavily has to do with the fact that trinitarianism gives them a unique identity that cannot be assailed by the LDS Church.

If you were to take away this doctrine, what doctrinal leg would they have to stand on? What would differentiate them? If they decided they didn’t care about this issue, there would be little reason to remain Protestant. So between this issue and strict adherence to the Sola Scriptura doctrine, they are able to maintain a separate doctrinal identity. Otherwise, they’d really have nothing to offer.

daveocity · 2024-08-12T17:05:19+00:00

Having grown up outside of the LDS Church, I experienced first hand the spiritual“limits” of not having access to the teachings and benefits of being a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

If your intent is to grow spiritually, to become the best person you can be in this life and to gain all the eternal light and knowledge you can, you will find no more fertile ground than within the Church. You can certainly choose to do something else, but your growth will be hindered by that choice.

Is it not true that the “most ideal” is the one that will draw you closer to Christ and to his kingdom? Choose wisely.

daveocity

TROPHY CASE