The Annual Report of the Church

As of December 31, 1971, membership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was 3,090,953, it was announced at the first session of the 142nd Annual General Conference of the Church.

This figure represents an increase of 160,143 over the 1970 membership total and a numerical growth rate of 5.46 percent. The number of convert baptisms for 1971 totaled 83,514, compared with 79,126 for 1970.

There were only six male members (the legal number required by state law) the day the Church was organized at Fayette, Seneca County, New York, on April 6, 1830. All six men had been previously baptized. Before the day was over, additional converts had entered the waters of baptism.

From that humble beginning, the membership of the Church has grown rapidly and continuously.

The number of stakes of the Church has likewise increased over the decades. However, with the martyrdom of the Prophet Joseph Smith and the exodus of the Saints from the Midwest, existing stakes were disorganized, and stake organization began anew with the Salt Lake Stake in 1847.

The story of missionaries and missions is a story all its own. Samuel Smith, a brother of the Prophet, was the first to devote himself to full-time missionary activity. And he slept the first night under an apple tree!

The following statistics of missionaries set apart (accumulative by decade) do not include local missionaries who often serve in the same mission field where they were baptized and who begin their labors in their own native tongues:

1830	16
1830–40	661
1840–50	1,425
1850–60	751
1860–70	709
1870–80	1,544
1880–90	2,389
1890–1900	6,126
1900–10	8,254
1910–20	7,424
1920–30	10,140
1930–40	8,811
1940–50	14,942
1950–60	24,280
1960–70	65,215

More full-time missionaries (not including local missionaries) were set apart to begin their labors during the single year of 1970 (7,526) than the total number of such missionaries serving between 1830 and 1890 (7,495).

The following statistical report was issued by the First Presidency at April conference, concerning the membership of the Church at the end of the year 1971:

Stakes	562
Wards	4,342
Independent branches in stakes	793
Wards and independent branches in stakes	5,135
Mission branches	1,942
Full-time missions	98

Church Membership, December 31, 1971

Stakes	2,622,439
Missions	468,514
Total	3,090,953

Church Growth During 1971

Children blessed in stakes and missions	68,659
Children of record baptized in stakes and missions	53,524
Converts baptized in stakes and missions	83,514

The graphs on page 132 indicate the growth of the Church by membership and by stakes, wards, branches, and missions.

	Church Membership	Wards	Stakes	Missions
April 6, 1830	6			0
1840	30,000		9
1850	60,000		1
1860	80,000		3
1870	110,000		7
1880	160,000		23
1890	205,000		32
1900	268,331	488	43	16
1910	393,437	694	62	21
1920	526,032	959	83	24
1930	672,488	1,000	104	30
1940	862,664	1,191	134	35
1950	1,111,314	1,541	180	43
1960	1,693,180	2,882	319	58
1970	2,930,810	4,922	537	94
1971	3,090,953	5,135	562

Social Statistics

Birthrate per thousand	28.50
Number of persons married per thousand	15.12
Death rate per thousand	4.92

Priesthood

Members holding Aaronic Priesthood

Deacons	136,969
Teachers	98,814
Priests	152,886
Total	388,669

Members holding Melchizedek Priesthood

Elders	252,051
Seventies	23,914
High Priests	88,416
Total	364,381
Grand total of members holding priesthood (an increase of 23,824)	753,050

Auxiliary Organizations

Relief Society (membership)	377,840
Sunday School (enrollment)	2,387,509
Young Men’s MIA (enrollment)	355,107
Young Women’s MIA (enrollment)	386,735
Primary (enrollment)	487,951

Welfare Plan

Number of persons assisted	100,722
Number placed in remunerative employment	12,048
Man-days of work donated to the welfare plan	195,932
Unit-days of equipment use donated	5,589

Genealogical Society

Names cleared for temple ordinances

1,750,416

(Genealogical records microfilmed in 17 countries during the year brought the total to 712,945 100-foot rolls of microfilm, the equivalent of over 3,401,301 printed volumes of 300 pages each.)

Temples

Number of ordinances performed in 13 operating temples

For the living	62,672
For the dead	6,898,428
Total	6,961,100

Church School System

Total cumulative enrollments in church schools, including institutes and seminaries

235,861