Elder M. Russell Ballard, an apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently talked about the need to contribute to the national conversation about the Churchs.
You can listen to him speak or print out the transcript of his talk to read by going to lds.org. Navigate to it through the link on the current home page or here then click on the videos tab and press the play arrow to listen to the talk or press PRINT under the title and print your copy. You can even email the article to yourself or someone you think would be interested in it.
Also, you can get Elder Ballard’s biography by clicking his name highligted in the summary of the article as well as two related full news stories regarding church information resources.
The first news story, Church Web Sites: Information Resources for the Public explains the evolution of the church’s use of the Internet to disseminate information about the church. It also explains where to go to get official L.D.S. church information is on the following sites:
www.newsroom.lds.org
Resource for news media, opinion leaders and the public containing:
- news stories
- official Church statements on public issues
- official Church responses to news reports about the Church
- background reference material on Church beliefs & practices
- topics
- biographies of senior Church leaders
- identifies Church spokespersons & how to contact them
www.lds.org
Content written for Church-member audience such as:
- lesson manuals
- lay clergy resources
- scriptures
- magazines
- senior leadership talks
- ideas to strengthen families
- chapel locations & meeting times
- local congregation Web pages
- links to all other Church sites
www.familysearch.org
This official genealogy site for the Church containing family history records which include:
- census indexes
- vital records
- user-submitted pedigree charts
Also, this site:
- is connected to the Family History Library in Salt Lake City
- provides locations of family history centers of the Church across the globe
www.mormon.org
Dedicated to helping the general public understand the basic beliefs and practices of the Church
- information is provided in a simple format, avoiding the use of words that may only be familiar to members of the Church
- answers often-asked questions by new Church converts or those seeking to know more about Church beliefs
- the ability to chat live with a Church member
www.providentliving.org
Designed for Church members, but also useful for the wider public, includes information and resourses on such things as:
Information regarding
- self-reliance
- emergency preparedness
- humanitarian efforts
- family budgets
- food storage
- updates on ongoing global initiatives
- emergency disaster response
The second article, Using New Media to Support the Work of the Church, is the transcript of Elder Ballards speech mentioned above.
Nice to know that the Church is interested in using technology to reach out to those who are and aren’t members in getting accurate information into the public realm.