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Formal Reporting Systems of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1830-1975

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Formal Reporting Systems of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1830-1975 Brigham Young University BYU ScholarsArchive Theses and Dissertations 1976 Formal Reporting Systems of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1830-1975 Dennis H. Smith Brigham Young University - Provo Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd Part of the History of Religion Commons, Mormon Studies Commons, and the Public Affairs, Public Policy and Public Administration Commons BYU ScholarsArchive Citation Smith, Dennis H., "Formal Reporting Systems of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, 1830-1975" (1976). Theses and Dissertations. 5121. https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/etd/5121 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by BYU ScholarsArchive. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of BYU ScholarsArchive. For more information, please contact [email protected], [email protected]. L jaj7767 FORMAL REPORTING SYSTEMS OF tileTHETRIE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTERDAYLATTER DAY SAINTSSAINTSP 183019751830 1975 A thesis presented to the department of church history and doctrine brigham young university in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree master of arts by dennis 11 smithsinith aprilAP rilrii 1976 this thesis by dennis H smith is accepted in its present form by the department of church history and doctrine of brigham young university as satisfying the thesis requirements for the degree of master ofoc arts Ricrichardricliardliardl&lamlimul0 cowan committee chairman e vnv n J pe t e ene committee me abembe r 4 daleadale7Da porter department chairman 11 acknowledgments there are banycianynianymany people who deserve an expression of appreciation for theltheitheirr supportisupportssupportivesupportiportle help in the writing of this thesis dr richard 0 cowncowan inymy committee chairman more than anyone I1 know exemplifies the maomastersstersaters teaching of going the extra mile words are notadequatenot adequate to express Mmyy sincere aparapprappre-e ciation for his advice patience and encouragement and the count- less hours he spespentnt helpingnthelping me to edit this thesis my thanks is extended to dr melvin J petersen minor commitcommitteetebtee membermeniberl and dr larry C porter major department chairman who made valuable suggestions which rendered the thesis accettaacceptableacceptablebie gratitude is expressed to earl olson for suggesting this project and to david mayfield ron watt gladys noyce pat knecht beverly berg duffy fenn and linda haslam of the church historical department for the hours of helpful assistance appreciation is also extended to lavoy hill for her many suggestions on the difficult format and for typing the thesis to my mom and dad a special thanks for all their love and encouragement all my life my fatherfathers death in 1974 prevented him from seeing the completion of this work a dream we had 1liilili i IV long shared together to him and mom this work is affectionately dedicated finally to my wife and sweetheart sue goes my love and appreciation for her constant support to her for sacrificing so much time and compansionship this thesis and any good dederivedrived from it is also affectionately dedicated TABLE OF CONTENTS page acknowledgmeacknowledgmentsNTS iii chapter 1 introduction 1 significance OF THIS STUDY 1 SCOPE AND delimitationsdelimitatfons 2 METHODS OF PROCEDURE AND SOURCES USEDUSEID 3 2 scriptural EVIDENCE ON tiieTHETITE DOCTRINE OF RECORD KEEPING 5 ANCIENT scriptural RECORDS 6 Rerecordscordiscordas kept from the beginning 6 the purpose for keeplngkeepingthese records 9 MODERN scriptural RECORDS 10 records kept from the beginning of this dispensation 10 the purpose for keeping these records II11 Is IV 11 0 it 13 conclusioncon jltjsl0n 6 3 statistical REPORTS 14 staritSTAKE QUARTERJQUARTERJYQUARTERLYY relreiREPORTSFORTS 185219031852 1903 14341.4 185112 1 0 185218641852185112186418.511218641864 0 6 0 6 e t 0 0 0 0 14 186518761865 1876 16 187719031877 1903 16 v viVI chactechaptechapterr page FORM J ANNUAL FINANCIAL AND statistical REPORTS 190419381904 1938 17 comparative totals 18 miscellaneous totals 23 MISSION ANNUAL REPORT 191019511910 1951 29 statistical REPORT WITH FORM EEY 191419721914 1972 0 0 0 0 0 29 STAKE AND WARD QUARTERLY REPORTS 191919381919 1938 32 MONTHLY statistical REPORT 193919611939 1961 33 MONTHLY WARD statistical REPORT 1964 34 QUARTERLY confidential REPORT OF stees a STKESSTAKESST eesKES IP 1964 35 QUARTERLY STAKE ACTIVITY REPORT 196519671965 1967 6 0 0 16 0 36 MONTHLY STAKE statistical SUMMARY 196519671965 1967 0 0 11 0 6 5 0 0 s e e 37 conclusion 37 4 CHURCH membership RECORDS AND REPORTS 38 OFFICIAL RECORDS OF MEMBERS 38 informal records 183018771830 1877 38 membership record books 187719401877 1940 40 looseleaflooseloude leaf systemsys ern 194119731941 1973 44 cornpwerizedsystercompuleriaed systema 1973 46 viivil chactechaptechapterr page FORFORMM E 47 conclusion 51 5 priesthood REPORTS 52 form J annual statistical report 191019381910 1938 53 monthly statistical report 193919611939 1961 55 melchizedek priesthood 56 seventies quorum reports 189519141895 1914 56 torbforbformtormvorm M annual report 191419431914 1943 57 quarterly monthly reports 194219631942 1963 59 confidential annual reports 194419641944 1964 63 AARONIC priesthood 65 annual report of the aaronic priesthood 190319091903 1909 65 form J annual statistical report 191019381910 1938 0 0 0 0 66 stake and ward quarterly reports 192319381923 1938 66 stake monthly reports for aaronic priesthood youth 194119671941 1967 66 stake monthly report senior members of aaronic priesthood 1944196194419671944 19619677 67 SUMMARY 67 6 AUXILIARY REPORTS 69 RELIEF SOCIETY 70 villviiiviii0 chactechapte r page statistical and financial report 188018811880 ihi1881 0 0 9 0 0 9 0 70 annual report 191419731914 1973 71 SUNDAY SCHOOL 76 annual reports 187219581872 1958 77 monthly reports 195919641959 1964 78 mission reports 196119661961 1966 79 YOUNG WOMENS MUTUAL improvement association 80 annual report 190719671907 1967 81 stake report of girls 196019671960 1967 87 YOUNG MENS MUTUAL improvement association S e 0 0 a 87 PRIMARY 0 0 0 0 0 88 conclusion 92 7 correlated REPORTS 93 ELEVEN PAGE REPORT 196719721967 1972 94 statistical 95 fast offeringwelfareoffering welfare statistics 98 home teaching 99 melchizedek priesthood 100 aaronic priesthood youth 102 aaronic priesthood adult 103 primary 104 ix chactechaptechapterr page relief society 105 sunday school a 01 0 9 0 0 41 0 0 0 0 107 YMMIA 108 yw14iaYWMIA 109log THREEPAGETHREE PAGE REPORT 1973 illlillii general 113 adult 114 youth 116 child 117 conclusion 117 8 SUMMARY lo10 v e 119 1877latter1877 latter nineteenth century 119 early twentieth century izz122 midtwentiethmid twentieth century 123 latelatertwentiethlater r twentiethtwelitieth century izaiz4124 FINDINGS 126 conclusions 127 USEFUL statistics 127 recommendations FOR FUTUREFUTURE STUDY 128 bibliography 131 appendixes A ARTICLE BYB Y DELBERT L STAPELY 136 x page B ARTICLE IN THE improvement ERA 143 C ADDRESS BY BOYD K PACKER 150 D CHART USEFUL statistics 154 E statistical REPORTS 157 F membership RECORDS AND REPORTS 170 G priesthood REPORTS 179 H AUXILIARY REPORREPORTSrrs 190 I1 correlated REPORTS 06og 06.06 I1 chactechaptechapterr I11 introduction significance OF THIS STUDY since the earliest days of its existence the church of jesus christ of latterlatterdayday saints has kept records of its members and their church activity A loose system of minutes and oral reports in 1830 has evolved into a very sophisticated system of record keeping today from all over the world reports are sent to church headquarters where they are compiled and analyzed this thesis will be a history of formal reports from stakes and missions relative to membership and vital data as well as activity in priesthood and auxiliary organizations the writer became interested in the subject upon hearing about the recommendation of earl E olson church archivist for such a project the writer has received not only encouragement by the church historical decartidepartidepartmentnent but enthusiastic cooperation david mayfield a member of the church library staff has sug- gested a further study in the area of church reports this would include making a master file year by year of every report formforni the church has ever used z this interest in reports althoaithoalthoughtighligh not new had been rekindled because of the increasedinc reaped emphasis placed on individual activity in the church in the past decade reports are described iti1 as alive and vibrant becaubebaubecausee they measure the living pulse of todaytodays activities they are a reflection of the quality and quantity of church participation they provide valuable feedback to church officials and in retrospect reveal longrangelong range trends SCOPE AND delimitations the earliest reports of activity and enrollment in church programs were given in the ward and stake histories or in personal correspondence1 between local leaders and church head- quarters this study is limited to information contained on printed forms that are available inI1 n the church historical department and were used church wide time did not allow the author to look at every one of the hundreds of thousands of reports on file in the church archives this thesis is based on only a sample of each folfoiforbformM usually every fifth year financial reports of organizations and separate individuals personal confidential matters and minutes of meetingsn will not be included idelbertdelbertdeibertL
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