LDS missionary program offsets falling birthrates — for now | Episode 387

As a proselytizing faith with a committed corps of volunteer missionaries, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is forever driven to boost its ranks and broaden its reach. It did so last year at a level not seen in decades.

Convert baptisms topped 308,000 in 2024, a 27-year high, and pushed total membership above 17.5 million. The army of missionaries shot past 74,000, a number not seen since 10 years ago after leaders lowered the age minimum for full-time service. And the tally of missions around the globe swelled to 450, more than at any point in the faith’s 195-year history.

Amid all these encouraging statistics for the church, discouraging trends persisted. Babies added to the rolls continued to fall and the loss of members continued to rise.

This week’s show aims to make sense of all these figures, including nations where the church is growing the fastest or shrinking the quickest, with the help of independent researcher Matt Martinich, who tracks such data for the websitescumorah.com and ldschurchgrowth.blogspot.com.