Statistical Report 1976

Presented by Francis M. Gibbons

Secretary to the First Presidency

For the information of the members of the Church, the First Presidency has issued the following statistical report concerning the membership of the Church as of December 31, 1976:

Church Units

Number of stakes of Zion at the close of 1976	798
Number of wards	5,481
Number of independent branches in stakes	1,422
Total wards and independent branches in stakes at the close of the year	6,903
Number of mission branches at the close of the year	1,716
Number of full-time missions at the end of the year	148

Church Membership

In the stakes	3,283,264
In the missions	459,485
Total membership	3,742,749

Church Growth during 1976

Children blessed in stakes and missions	88,522
Children of record baptized in stakes and missions	52,281
Converts baptized in stakes and missions	133,959

Social Statistics

Birthrate per thousand	29.72
Number of persons married per thousand	13.34
Death rate per thousand	4.32

Priesthood

Members holding the Aaronic Priesthood, as of December 31, 1976

Deacons	141,341
Teachers	109,396
Priests	188,122
Total number holding Aaronic Priesthood	438,859

Members holding the Melchizedek Priesthood, December 31, 1976

Elders	320,876
Seventies	26,328
High Priests	120,117
Total number holding Melchizedek Priesthood	467,321
Grand total, members holding Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood	906,180

(An increase of 32,387 during the year.)

Church Organizations (Enrollment)

Relief Society	1,129,135
Sunday School	3,387,454
Aaronic Priesthood-age young men	267,352
Young Women	249,724
Primary Association	498,867

Welfare Plan

Number of persons assisted during the year	110,306
Number placed in remunerative employment	29,657
Man-days of work donated to the welfare plan (estimated)	400,607
Unit-days of equipment use donated	8,219

In addition to the above, 125,000 man-days were donated in connection with the Teton flood disaster in Idaho.

Genealogical Society

Names cleared in 1976 for temple ordinances

3,539,340

The Genealogical Department is acquiring records in 35 countries, using 80 microfilm cameras and five oral interviewers. During 1976 microfilm holdings increased by 4.5 percent to a total of 910,661 100-foot rolls equivalent to 4,334,559 volumes of 300 pages each.

Temples

Number of endowments performed during 1976 in the 16 operating temples

For the living	43,645
For the dead	3,421,793
Total number of endowments	3,465,438

Church School System

Total enrollment in Church schools for the 1975–76 school year, including institutes and seminaries

322,587

Those Who Have Passed Away

Elder Alvin R. Dyer of the First Quorum of the Seventy; Sister Lewella Rees Christiansen, widow of Elder ElRay L. Christiansen, former Assistant to the Twelve; Sister Ida Josephine Murdock Kirkham, widow of Elder Oscar A. Kirkham, a former member of the First Council of Seventy; President Aley K. Auna of the Hilo Hawaii Stake; President Daniel O. Trevino of the Mexico Torreon Mission; President Millen Dan Atwood of the Ogden Utah Riverdale Stake; Dr. Leland R. Cowan, a pioneer in cancer research and treatment; and Sister Kate B. Carter, president, Daughters of the Utah Pioneers.