Mormons in America

ARDA LEARNING RESOURCES Exploring Denominations: Mormons in America

Exploring Denominations: Mormons in America

Of the many religions that originated in the United States, one of the largest and most widespread is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (also known as the Mormon Church). Like members of many churches in the United States, Mormons can be found in most areas of the country. However, while they may be located in every region, they make up a different proportion of the population depending on which state they’re located in. In this Learning Module, we’ll explore how members of religions (and Mormons in particular) are spread throughout the United States.

Open your web browser and go to the homepage for the Association of Religion Data Archives (www.theARDA.com).

Start by searching for information on the Mormon Church in “QuickLists.” Go to the “QuickLists” section of the site. Under “U.S. Religious Groups,” click “A-C” and then “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” Then click on “States.” Using this information, answer the following questions:

1. Which three states have the largest percent Mormon population? (Hint: Re-sort the list by clicking on the “Percent” column heading.)

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2. Which three states have the largest number of Mormon adherents? (Hint: Re-sort the list by clicking on the “Adherents” column heading.)

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Next, go to the “Religious Groups” section of the ARDA, and then click on the “Religious Groups” tab. Remember, Mormons are often referred to as Latter-day Saints. Click on the

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“Latter-day Saints Family (Mormonism)” and select the “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Here you will find historical information about the church as well as official membership data. For assistance using religious group profiles on the ARDA, click here.

3. What year was the Mormon Church founded?

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Next, click on the “Distribution” tab. [Note: This map will not come up if you are using Mozilla Firefox.]

4. Briefly describe the distribution of Mormonism across the United States. In what regions of the country do Mormons tend to be concentrated?

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5. Is this distribution surprising to you? Why or why not? What do you know about Mormon history that might explain this distribution pattern?

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6. Using the QuickList links, which U.S. county has the highest rate of Mormon adherents? Is it in the state in which you thought it would be?

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Go back to the distributions map for the LDS church. Next, click on “click here” below the map of the United States. Above the map of the United States, you will see a table titled

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“Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints--Rates Of Adherence Per 1000 Population (2010).” Find your state in this table. [Note: This link will not come up if you are using Mozilla Firefox.]

7. What is your state?

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8. Are there many Mormons in your state or just a few? How many Mormons are in your state?

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Next we will examine how the number of members in the Mormon Church has changed over time. Click “back” on your web browser and then select the “Trends” tab at the top of the page. [Note: These tables do not appear if you are using Internet Explorer.]

9. Looking at the trends on the graph, has the membership of the Mormon church grown or declined over time?

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10. So far we have been looking at the largest denomination of Mormonism (i.e., The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Now, go back and select another denomination within the Latter-day Saints family to examine. What is the history of this denomination? For assistance using the denominational profiles feature, click here.

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11. How many members were there in this group in the most recent year in which data was collected? Based on the long-term trends for this group, would you expect this group to continue growing, declining, or to remain stable in the near future?

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