Statistical Report 1977

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 growth and status of the Church as of December 31, 1977:

Church Units

Number of stakes of Zion	885
Number of full-time missions	157
Number of wards	5,917
Number of independent branches in stakes	1,549
Number of mission branches	1,694

These statistics reflect an increase of 541 wards and branches during 1977.

Number of countries with organized wards or branches

Church Membership

Total membership reported by stakes, missions, and Church offices at the close of 1977

3,966,000

At the current rate of growth since the end of the year, it is estimated that the Church membership is now in excess of four million.

Church Growth during 1977

Children blessed	95,000
Children of record baptized	62,000
Converts baptized	167,939

Social Statistics

Birthrate per thousand	31.66
Number of persons married per thousand	13.25
Death rate per thousand	4.14

Priesthood Bearers

Deacons	142,000
Teachers	112,000
Priests	201,000
Elders	338,000
Seventies	28,000
High Priests	129,000

This represents an increase of 45,000 priesthood bearers during 1977.

Full-time Missionaries

25,300

Welfare Services

Persons assisted with cash or commodities	99,600
Persons assisted by LDS Social Services	15,000
Persons placed in gainful employment	16,000
Man-days of labor donated to Welfare Services	427,000
Commodities distributed from storehouses (in pounds)	17,750,000

Genealogical Society

Names cleared in 1977 for temple ordinances

3,374,000

The Genealogical Department is acquiring records in 36 countries and has a total of 949,000 one-hundred-foot rolls of microfilm, equivalent to 4,517,000 volumes of 300 pages each.

Temples

Number of endowments performed during 1977:

For the living	47,037
For the dead	3,555,118
Temples in operation	14
Temples planned or under construction	6
Temples undergoing remodeling	2

There were 180,362 more endowments performed in 1977 than in 1976, even though two of the temples were not in operation.

Church School System

Total enrollment during the 1976–77 school year:

Seminaries and institutes, including special programs	288,000
Church schools and colleges, and continuing education	74,000

Prominent Members Who Passed Away during the Year

Elder Alma Sonne, member of the First Quorum of the Seventy; Sister Ina J. Ashton Richards, wife of Elder LeGrand Richards of the Council of the Twelve; Sister Jeanne N. Smith, wife of Elder Eldred G. Smith, Patriarch to the Church; President John Harold Mullen of the El Paso Texas Stake; President Ollie Richard Crichton of the Apia Samoa Stake; Dr. Sidney B. Sperry, author and educator; Edward Oliver Anderson, architect of the Los Angeles, London, Swiss, and New Zealand temples; Marriner S. Eccles, former chairman of the Federal Reserve Board; and Dr. Florence J. Madsen, composer, educator, and director of all Singing Mothers activities for the Church.