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Percentage of Mormons in Utah's Population Increases Slightly

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

  The proportion of Mormons in Utah’s population has actually gone up a bit in recent years.  And one non-Mormon religious leader thinks that could be making all the churches in the state stronger. 

An analysis of public records by the Salt Lake Tribune shows about 62-percent of Utah’s overall population belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  Just over half the population of Salt Lake County is listed on church records.  There are three counties – Grand, Summit and San Juan – where Mormons are a minority.

The LDS church doesn’t provide information about how many of its members participate actively.  Reverend Lyn Zil Briggs is the vicar of the Episcopal Church of the Resurrection in Centerville.  She says many of the people attending her services each week are Mormon.  And she says the large Mormon population in Utah makes newcomers more interested in religion generally.

“Once they come here," Briggs tells KUER, "they realize it would be best for them to belong somewhere.  And if they haven’t belonged somewhere in the place where they came from, once they get here, it’s really important.”

The Tribune reports the recent increase in the LDS population is driven by the birth rate among Mormon families.  A slow economy in recent years reduced the number of people moving to Utah.

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