Bloomberg Exposes Mormon Land Empire, Baseball Baptisms & More - Mormon News 8.28.26 | Ep. 2187

From Mormon Stories Podcast by Dr. John Dehlin

August 28, 2026 · 1h 59m

About this episode

The episode discusses Bloomberg's investigation into the Church's real estate holdings and various concerns regarding membership growth and changes to Sunday meetings.

For this weeks Mormon News Podcast, John Dehlin and Meggan Hayes dig into what Bloomberg uncovered about the Church's growing real estate empire, plus warnings about "baseball baptisms" and the push for convert growth, concerns about the Church's new Sunday meeting schedule, the sentencing of a polygamous sect leader, and a new LDS strategy for bringing nonmembers into local meetinghouses. Bloomberg's investigation examines just how much land The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owns across the United States and how its property holdings have grown. We look at the numbers, where that land is concentrated, and what the investigation reveals about the scale of the Church's real estate portfolio. Links: Bloomberg Digs Into the Church's Land Holdings: https://youtu.be/G0pU8s0hlJU Historian Matthew Bowman warns against chasing membership growth at the expense of meaningful conversion, pointing to the infamous era of "baseball baptisms." What can that history teach us about today's emphasis on missionary numbers and Church growth? Links: Beware the "Baseball Baptisms": https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2026/08/26/be-wary-baseball-baptisms-quest/…

People in this episode

Host: John Dehlin

Guest: Meggan Hayes

Topics covered

real estate empire
membership growth
Sunday meeting schedule
convert growth
polygamous sect
missionary numbers

Keywords

Mormon News
real estate
Church growth
Sunday meetings
baseball baptisms
membership
polygamy
missionary work

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Bloomberg