A new BYU Study shows the percentage of LDS members leaving the church:
“The survey defined retention as the percentage of those raised in a religion who continue to identify with the same faith in adulthood…nearly half (46%) have stopped identifying with the faith entirely.” Go here to read the article.
Why are nearly half of LDS church members leaving? I think the answer to this question is important.
Following is a quote from an Ensign Magazine article written by President Joseph Fielding Smith in June 1972. He gives insight into why nearly half of church members leave the church.
“Baptism and confirmation into the Church do not necessarily insure our exaltation in the kingdom of God. They do, provided we are true and faithful to every covenant and obligation required of us in the commandments of our Eternal Father. It is he who endures to the end who will be saved.
However, it is my judgment that there are many members of this Church who have been baptized for the remission of their sins, and who have had hands laid upon their heads for the gift of the Holy Ghost, but who have never received that gift—that is, the manifestations of it. Why? Because they have never put themselves in order to receive these manifestations. They have never humbled themselves. They have never taken the steps that would prepare them for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Therefore, they go through life without that knowledge; they are lacking in understanding. When those who are cunning and crafty in their deceit come to them criticizing the authorities of the Church and the doctrines of the Church, these weak members do not have understanding enough, information enough, and enough of the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord to resist false doctrines and teachings. They listen and think that perhaps they have made a mistake, and the first thing you know they find their way out of the Church, because they do not have understanding.” To read the article go here.
In the parable of the 10 Virgins the Savior taught that half of the virgins had lived in such a way that they had the Holy Ghost. The other half didn’t and they were not able to enter the wedding feast which represents readiness for the second coming of Christ (D&C 45:56-57).