1980–1989
Statistical Report 1979
April 1980


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.