Idaho Falls and Pocatello - religious affiliation? (Ammon, Star: daycare, homes)

[Gaius Magnus]

I don't really know for certain, but most Jack Mormons I know that aren't church attending still consider themselves Mormon generally.

It's just a high number, hehe.

[banjomike]

Originally Posted by Gaius Magnus

I don't really know for certain, but most Jack Mormons I know that aren't church attending still consider themselves Mormon generally.

It's just a high number, hehe.

For sure. They may never set foot in church for 70 years, but they want to have a funeral there.

[pw72]

My numbers were taken off an internet site, which ALWAYS can be believed.

I will repeat, that among "church going" responses, this is what they came up with. The percentages of those who consider themselves church goers, LDS would naturally be lower than all religions combined. Yes, there are non-LDS church goers in IF and Poky. One of them is kitty-corner to where I work, and has great attendence every week.

[Gaius Magnus]

Originally Posted by pw72

My numbers were taken off an internet site, which ALWAYS can be believed.

I will repeat, that among "church going" responses, this is what they came up with. The percentages of those who consider themselves LDS would naturally be lower than all religions combined. Yes, there are non-LDS church goers in IF and Poky. One of them is kitty-corner to where I work, and has great attendence every week.

I don't have any problems with Mormons.

My mom and dad are from Jerome and Richfield respectively, and knew plenty of Mormons. Of course that's SC Idaho. My dad's best man is Mormon and is now a retired educator in Utah.

My mom had more problems with her strict Presbyterian family from Kansas, lol. No dancing and what not. This was in the '50's though.

My cousins from Richfield aren't Mormon though their dad is. They never attended and don't consider themselves Mormon. My older cousin married a Mormon and is in Salt Lake now, owns a construction business.

I have an Aunt in IF, and cousins in Pocatello. With lot's of family spread out through SC and SE Idaho. It's just heavily Mormon, hehe. That's about all I can say without knowing an exact percentage.

I don't really keep good track of what all religion everybody is, as it doesn't really matter in daily life. The Mormons might as you once what Temple you attend, and if you don't attend, I've not heard another word about it, myself. I'm not bothered by the missionaries, hehe.

I'm not really trying to fight with ya PW, just saying what I know.

You have a good weekend.

[pw72]

Oh, Galius, you have misinterpreted my post. I'm not LDS. Please read my thread again and you will see that I am posting with (hopefully) some humor. I think you missed my main point, that being that yes, there are many LDS in E. Idaho, but many who are not. Sorry if I didn't communicate this clearly.

[atvwife]

We currently live in MA and if/as soon as we can get our house sold we will be heading to the Idaho Falls area. We are non-LDS but church and Christian school for our son is very important to us, so we have looked into the whole religious landscape there. I am surprised by the Wikipedia statistic about Idaho being less religious than MA, as from our experience MA is like a desert when it comes to church attendance and religion in general. (One main reason we want to leave) MA is very liberal and they consider themselves "enlightened." Quite honestly I'd rather live in a neighborhood full of Mormons than liberal atheists, but that is just me. My husband and I laugh as we look at house listings...7,8,9 bedrooms...we figure with only having one child, if we live next to a family of Mormons he'll have lots of friends. A neighborhood and there will be an instant football team. Sorry, just a little humor. Anyway, from what we can tell so far there seems to be enough non-LDS diversity to make it a nice place to live. Just my two cents

[Gaius Magnus]

Originally Posted by atvwife

We currently live in MA and if/as soon as we can get our house sold we will be heading to the Idaho Falls area. We are non-LDS but church and Christian school for our son is very important to us, so we have looked into the whole religious landscape there. I am surprised by the Wikipedia statistic about Idaho being less religious than MA, as from our experience MA is like a desert when it comes to church attendance and religion in general. (One main reason we want to leave) MA is very liberal and they consider themselves "enlightened." Quite honestly I'd rather live in a neighborhood full of Mormons than liberal atheists, but that is just me. My husband and I laugh as we look at house listings...7,8,9 bedrooms...we figure with only having one child, if we live next to a family of Mormons he'll have lots of friends. A neighborhood and there will be an instant football team. Sorry, just a little humor. Anyway, from what we can tell so far there seems to be enough non-LDS diversity to make it a nice place to live. Just my two cents

Yes. My aunt has lived in Idaho Falls for 40+ years and loves it. Never left it after attending ISU and leaving home from Richfield.

My cousin, her daughter lives there as well.

[max.b]

Atvwife,

Did you go to church in both places and the ID one was more packed?

Maybe it's more about the number of churches per capita and the willingness of people to attend it?

P.S. Wikipedia's source links are broken, but I found the survey here (PDF).

[atvwife]

Originally Posted by max.b

Atvwife,

Did you go to church in both places and the ID one was more packed?

Maybe it's more about the number of churches per capita and the willingness of people to attend it?

P.S. Wikipedia's source links are broken, but I found the survey here (PDF).

Max B,
I grew up in PA in an area with a lot of church diversity, and have lived in MA for ten years. I would have to agree with the following stats:

If there is an unreached people group in the United States, it is New Englanders. A 2009 Gallup poll placed the six states of New England in the top ten least religious states in the nation. While the Bible Belt is approaching a completely unchurched generation, New England is already there. There is no high attendance at Easter and Christmas, because nobody even has the nostalgia factor driving them to recapture childhood visits to church. There is no biblical literacy to speak of, of course. According to the Glenmary Research Center, via NETS Institute for Church Planting, those in New England who attend evangelical churches hover between 1 and 3% of the population. There is a higher percentage of evangelical Christian churchgoers in Mormon Utah than in Rhode Island!


I did visit two churches in Northern Idaho but not in Idaho Falls yet, so I am just basing IF info on research and word of mouth right now. Just a personal comparison - the Christian school we are looking at in IF for our son(non-Mormon) has about 450 students. The only Christian school left in our area here is lucky if they get 130 students. Church is not a part of life for most here in MA. They are closing left and right and the ones that are open...the church with the highest attendance in our area has about 150-200 regular attenders. The two churches in ID I visited (would be classified as Baptist or evangelical non-denominational) were definitely way more packed. I'd also have to say we have a few Mormons here, but they are few in number...we have more Jehovah's witnesses.

[RugbyDave]

Poky's got it in drips and drabs but the University helps to dilute it around here. However, I found (after spending a few years there) the areas right outside of Poky are pretty staunch. Sort of a 'we didn't go down the path of liberalism and dilution that Poky did' - again as with most of my posts, please take this with a huge grain of salt, but I do stand by my opinion

Again, percentages on paper are vastly different than feet on the ground (or butts in pews, as the case may be). Shopping on Sundays in Poky is amazing for those of us non-affiliated. Though it was difficult at the time, looking back on my time in Poky, I am glad there is a healthy mix there. There's even a gay bar there, though a very sad incident happened there this year with some locals.

Either way, the best feel for the area is in going there. I would say if you're a staunch mormon, you could be happy in Poky. I would say if you are a more liberal mormon, you could be happy in Poky. I would say if you are a non-mormon, you could be happy in Poky. There's enough mormon infrastructure there to support you if you want it, but there's also a huge amount of ex-mormon infrastructure there to support it as well.

Basically life is what you make of it, and if you're open-minded enough, you could find happiness wherever. I mean, I'm a liberal humanist gay guy from Alaska who lives in Hawai'i and I was able to be happy in Poky and make some long-lasting beautiful friendships with people there, regardless of their affiliation! I hope this makes sense!