Statistical Report 1979
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, 1979:
Church Units
|
Number of stakes of Zion |
1,092 |
|
Number of full-time missions |
175 |
|
Number of wards |
7,235 |
|
Number of branches in stakes |
2,130 |
|
Number of branches in missions |
2,121 |
|
Number of countries with organized wards or branches |
81 |
(These statistics reflect an increase of 1,632 wards and branches during 1979.)
Church Membership
|
Total membership reported by stakes, missions, and Church offices at the close of 1979 |
4,439,000 |
Church Growth during 1979
|
Children blessed |
107,000 |
|
Children of record baptized |
67,000 |
|
Converts baptized |
193,000 |
(This convert baptism figure is an estimate based on 1979 reports received at Church headquarters prior to the conference.)
Social Statistics
|
Birthrate per thousand |
30.0 |
|
Number of persons married per thousand |
13.7 |
|
Death rate per thousand |
4.2 |
Priesthood
|
Deacons |
152,000 |
|
Teachers |
122,000 |
|
Priests |
232,000 |
|
Elders |
394,000 |
|
Seventies |
33,000 |
|
High priests |
161,000 |
(This represents an increase of 107,000 priesthood members during 1979.)
|
Full-time missionaries |
29,454 |
(This has been increased to over thirty thousand since the end of last year.)
Church School System
Total enrollment during the 1978–79 school year:
|
Seminaries and institutes, including special programs |
304,000 |
|
Church schools, colleges, and continuing education |
72,000 |
Welfare Services
|
Persons assisted with cash or commodities |
139,300 |
|
Persons assisted by LDS Social Services |
43,000 |
|
Persons placed in gainful employment |
23,400 |
|
Man-days of labor donated to welfare services |
479,500 |
|
Commodities distributed from storehouses (in pounds) |
23,253,000 |
Genealogical Society
|
Names cleared in 1979 for temple endowments |
4,574,000 |
The Genealogical Department is acquiring records in 39 countries and has a total of 1,024,000 one-hundred-foot rolls of microfilm, equivalent to 4,927,000 volumes of 300 pages each.
Temples
Number of endowments performed during 1979:
|
For the living |
51,600 |
|
For the dead |
3,873,300 |
|
Temples in operation |
17 |
|
Temples planned or under construction |
5 |
(This does not include temples announced last Wednesday.)
There were 116,700 more endowments done in 1979 than in 1978.
Prominent Members Who Passed Away During the Year:
Clair Stoddard Poelman, wife of Elder Ronald E. Poelman of the First Quorum of the Seventy; Finn B. Paulsen, president of the Sao Paulo Temple; Jay R. Payne, president of the Albuquerque New Mexico East Stake; Albert Stanley Green, president of the Nottingham England Stake; Madeline B. Wirthlin, widow of Bishop Joseph L. Wirthlin, former Presiding Bishop; LaVern W. Parmley, former general president of the Primary Association; O. Abram Murdock, Jr., former U.S. Senator from Utah; and Sherman P. Lloyd, former U.S. Representative from Utah.