How Active is Active?

[bobtheenchantedone]

http://theboard.byu.edu/questions/76433/

I heard recently that according to Church records, attending at least once a quarter counts as "active" (that is, attending less than that makes you "inactive.") Fun fact: This was mentioned in passing - what we were discussing was that apparently as much as 80% of the Church's young adults are inactive.

[Violet]

Given that I was the one who threw out that figure (actually, I think both of them), I think I should answer. It was given to me in the context of only young single adults, of record, 18-30. Young married adults apparently have higher activity rates.

I think BYU's counting of activity and the church's count for statistical records should vary at least a little bit, but when I've had a bishop say I can't miss more than 3 times in a semester, in contrast to the, we'll count you once a quarter, something has to give on either side.

Personally, if I only attended once a quarter, I would say I'm not active if someone asked me. But, I don't know where I'd draw the line to say, yes I'm active. Maybe an average of attending more than once a month?

[Marduk]

To be fair, BYU has as many different policies on that as there are bishops of students.

[Amity]

I've heard the same thing that bob has, that attending once a quarter means you're designated as "active" and less than that means you're "inactive" (source: I'm friends with my ward membership clerk). If anyone's curious and wants to strategically time their church attendance, the quarters run from Jan-March, April-June, July-Sept, and Oct-Dec.

Personally, if I only attended once a quarter, I would say I'm not active if someone asked me.

Agreed, but that's just how the church records work.

[bobtheenchantedone]

Given that I was the one who threw out that figure (actually, I think both of them), I think I should answer.

HA I actually completely forgot that was you. Sorry. Thanks for correcting me.

[Giovanni Schwartz]

My mission president always encouraged us to count people as active if they attended at least twice a month for three consecutive months. Or something like that. It basically equated to "At least half the time."