1977
Statistical Report 1976
May 1977


“Statistical Report 1976,” Ensign, May 1977, 18

Saturday afternoon session, April 2, 1977

Statistical Report 1976

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.