OPINION: Why the missionary age change?
On Oct. 6, 2012, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints made a significant change – another one. This time, it lowered the age of missionaries. Boys can go at 18, girls at 19. I’ve talked to several peers, both LDS and otherwise about why this change occurred. The answer, even when unsolicited, is almost unanimous: Young adults are going to college or working in a real-life environment, away from their parents, and are choosing not to serve missions.
I think it’s more complicated than that, though. According to statistics provided by the American Religious Identification Survey, Mormon young adults, particularly men, aren’t just not going on missions – they’re leaving the Church in droves.
Mormonnewsroom.org, a statistics site run by the Church, claims the official number of Mormons to be almost 14.5 million, but outside observers and statisticians tell quite a different story. In the same study done by ARIS, individuals reported which religions they considered themselves affiliated with, and the results are astonishing. Only 20 to 70 percent of what the Church reports are actually practicing Mormons – and even if it is a consistent 70 percent, that makes the actual number less than 10 million.
The Mormons are losing members, and fast. Despite being heralded as the fastest growing church in the world by both church and secular media, the church’s growth rate has been on the decline since the 1980s. Almost a third of members born in the church leave permanently. Armand Mauss, professor emeritus of Washington State University and an author of two books on the sociology of Mormonism, claims that 75 percent of international Mormon converts are no longer active within a year. Fifty percent of American converts drop out within the year.
How does the Church manage to present such large number when reality indicates the 14 million is false? There are a few reasons, the first and foremost being that when converts get baptized, their name is counted on the Church records as a member. When they stop going to church, their name isn’t taken off – even if they never go again in their lifetime. Additionally, if a parent converts and has children under the age of eight, those children’s names automatically are added to the church roster. If any existing member gives birth to a child, even if they never attend church, their names are added onto the records, and so on and so forth. If you’re not from Provo, you can look at your family’s ward directory and find a myriad of names that belong to people you’ve never even met who are supposedly members.
The only way to have your name removed from Church records is to send a letter to Church Headquarters – and in my case, even when I did that, they sent a confirmation letter warning me of the dire eternal consequences of my decision and, when I confirmed that decision, a bishop to visit me at home.
Regardless of the difficulty in officially leaving the Church. If the Church can immediately send kids from the protected atmosphere of high school and straight into the even more protected mission field for two of the most formative years of their live, the chances of them leaving the church are much lower. If more youth stay in the Church, even more will serve missions – and even though the estimated convert number is only about four per missionary now, that greatly suppresses the Church’s losses and will probably increase their growth numbers.
Who cares though, right? Why are earlier missions a bad thing? Well for one, it empowers 18-year-old boys to think they have all the answers when they don’t. It prevents them from being exposed to the real world – visiting a foreign country isn’t much use when you’re only there to tell the citizens to change their ways to your own. It keeps youth out of college for two very critical years in an ever-more competitive market, and it decreases their chances of being able to get scholarships, especially athletic offers.
The only positive I can imagine about this change is that it finally puts young women on almost-equal footing with their male counterparts when they’re actually in the field, although as far as holding real positions of authority goes, the women are still SOL because they can’t hold the priesthood.
So let’s call it like it is. The LDS Church has changed policies, again, to suit the changing environment. They’re losing members and are desperate to keep up appearances. They need more missionaries because they need more members. It’s not exactly something you’d expect from a religion governed by an omniscient, eternal God, is it?
– Liz Emery is a senior majoring in English with an emphasis in creative writing. Her column runs here every other Thursday. Comments may be sent to her at liz.emery@yahoo.com.