The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) has released a new version of its Web site mormon.org. This fresh new version of the site includes a new video channel with a library of Church videos that can be watched online, embedded into blogs, or shared through e-mail or social networks.
A cutting-edge feature of the “share” and “embed” functionality is the option for the viewer to crop a video clip to a specific section and then share or embed just that piece. (Just drag the beginning and ending arrows to mark the section you want.) This is a great way to do missionary work online.
Three weeks ago, some 600 young single adults converged on Boston for the LDS Education Conference. Missionary work was the theme. The speakers were David Neeleman, founder of JetBlue Airways; Clayton Christensen, a professor at Harvard Business School; and Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Brother Neeleman spoke about sharing the Gospel on the Internet and the More Good Foundation. (Disclosure: I previously worked there.) Elder Christensen taught several great principles for sharing the Gospel in person. Elder Ballard called David and Clayton some of the best member missionaries in the Church.
The day included a “science fair” for missionary ideas. Each table of 10 people brainstormed ways to better share the Gospel and then created a presentation using large notepads and colored markers. During the “fair”, we circulated among the presentations, voting for our favorites with paper tickets.
Here were some of my favorites:
WhyIBelieve.org (hypothetical) — Give each Church member a page and unique address for posting a testimony and photo. Offer easy-to-use templates. (More Good Foundation operates a similar website at mormonsbelieve.org.)
AskaMormon.com (hypothetical) — Visitors pose questions to everyday members. (They can already pose questions to missionaries at Mormon.org.)
Custom pass-along cards — Members pick their own picture, message, language, and size (wallet size or larger). Available for physical printing, or as a blog widget. The card could link to a specific testimony page, e.g. www.mormon.org/john-doe instead of www.mormon.org.
Facebook app — Indicate that you’re a Mormon on your Facebook profile page. Post your testimony. Allow friends to ask questions anonymously and read your previous answers. (More Good has a similar Facebook app called The LDS App.)
iPhone app — Basic beliefs, “find a Mormon”, meetinghouse locations, events, and videos all on your iPhone.
Sacrament meeting agenda on LDS.org — Allow visitors to see upcoming sacrament meeting schedules in their area and bios of the speakers. For example: “Next Sunday, Sarah Smith, a sophomore at Palo Verde High school, will speak about faith in Jesus Christ. She’ll be followed by Tom Jones, an orthopedic surgeon in the area, who will speak about forgiveness. The meeting begins at 11:00 at 9011 Hillpointe Road.”
Ward blogger — Who will keep the sacrament meeting schedules on LDS.org up-to-date? The ward Media Missionary Correlator, of course. Each ward will call its own specialist to manage their portion of LDS.org and do online testimony drives.
Gospel sharing at work — How can you better share the Gospel at work? Post quotes on your cubicle or a picture of the Savior as your desktop wallpaper. If someone asks what you did over the weekend, don’t shy away from where you were on Sunday for 3 hours.
Mormon.org email addresses — Give each Church member his/her own mormon.org e-mail address (e.g. john_doe@mormon.org) to drive interest in Mormon.org. The footer of each transmitted email could optionally include quotes or scripture citations.
The Mormon Challenge — Challenge people to walk in a Mormon’s shoes for 14 or 30 days. (One group suggested 14 days, another suggested 30.) Try living the law of chastity and Word of Wisdom. Can you do it? (Reality TV show?)
Give away Mormon Tabernacle Choir music, and other beautiful music, for free. Invite the Spirit through music.
Several groups emphasized the need for training programs to teach members about social media.
Likely due to Elder Christensen’s comments on service, several groups suggested websites for coordinating community service projects with members of other faiths.
MormonTabernacleChoir.org is the official site of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It contains all the latest information on events, tickets, and recordings related to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Temple Square Chorale, the Orchestra at Temple Square, the Bells on Temple Square, and the Organs on Temple Square.
While visiting the site, be sure to check out the following:
Sign up for the Choir’s weekly e-newsletter.
Find links to the latest on-line stories about the Choir.
Look for Choir music on a searchable database and buy or download Choir recordings.
Biographies of Choir leaders, music directors, and staff.
Ticket information about upcoming concerts.
Detailed calendars with upcoming activities.
Audition information for the Choir and other other music groups mentioned above.
A video press kit with interviews of Choir leaders, members of the Choir and Orchestra, and key staff.
Links to the Newsroom with press releases, downloadable high resolution photos for press use, and other background information for both media and individuals.
Information about the Choir’s Music and the Spoken Word broadcast and links to the Music and the Spoken Word site for streaming of the broadcast.
Detailed information about Choir recordings including latest release information, a full listing of all choir recordings with a searchable database by album title and song title with links to purchase CDs and downloads.
If you’re going to be in the DC area this Christmas or have friends who will be, check out the Festival of Lights. Click on one of the share buttons on the web page to invite your friends or link to it from your blogs!
For nearly a decade, the Newsroom Web site has provided journalists, and the public at large, with news and information about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Read about the progression of the Newsroom site from 2000 to today in an article on the Newsroom Blog.
At the end of the article, they invite your [...]
DVDs and audio CDs of the October 2009 LDS General Conference are now available at Church distribution centers or online at LDSCatalog.com.
Last month, we reminded you that you can subscribe to get the general conference DVDs and audio CDs mailed to you automatically as soon as they are available. If you had subscribed, you would have already [...]
The LDS Church’s Mormon Messages channel was just named the “Best Use of YouTube” at the 2009 Utah Social Media Awards.
The Utah Social Media Awards recognize excellence in social media practitioners and practices throughout the state of Utah.
The judges said this was a great use of a very accessible media medium for an organization with [...]
The Church Music site on LDS.org (music.lds.org) contains links to all the music and music-related resources that the Church has placed online. Along with sheet music, resources include an interactive music player to play, read, or transpose hymns and children’s songs. Access learning materials on conducting music, accompanying others, teaching songs to children, adding variety [...]
Have you seen the new catalog Gospel Resources for the Home?
This 8-page mini catalog shows basic materials you can use at home to teach the gospel, such as scriptures, general conference products, magazines, music, gospel art, books, manuals, pamphlets, videos, and CDs.
In addition to viewing it online, you can also order a printed copy of [...]
See the new LDS Church page Finding Hope at lds.org/topic/finding-hope. With text and multimedia, it addresses the questions “What does it mean to have faith in Christ?” “How does faith in Jesus Christ affect my life?” and “How can I increase my faith?”
This is one in a series of new topic pages on LDS.org. See [...]
See the new LDS Church page on the Book of Mormon at lds.org/topic/book-of-mormon.
It explains how The Book of Mormon is a companion scripture to the Holy Bible, providing another testament to the ministry of Jesus Christ.
With text and multimedia, it addresses the questions “What is The Book of Mormon?” “How can reading the Book of Mormon affect my [...]
A Washington, D.C., based advertising and marketing firm has recognized The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for a Public Service Announcement (PSA) produced on the importance of fatherhood.
Read more about it on the Church’s Newsroom site.
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Beginning with the November 2009 issue, the New Era magazine will feature a section titled “General Conference and You.” The intent of this new section is to help teens study and learn from the conference messages. This section will be included in each May and November issue of the New Era, which directly follows general [...]
Conference on the Affects of Pornography on the Brain in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Rexburg, Idaho.
Last year, we told you about an anti-pornography conference in Idaho. The promotional video about that conference was viewed nearly 53,000 times!
This year’s conference will be on Saturday, November 14, 2009, in Pocatello, Idaho Falls, and Rexburg, Idaho. Dr. Donald [...]
The 64 videos on the Mormon Messages site have been viewed more than 6 million times!
Below is a list of the most popular videos at MormonMessages, along with the number of times the videos have been viewed, as of 10/7/09:
An Apostle’s Easter Thoughts on Christ: 568,095
Why Mormons Build Temples 455,492
What Matters Most 311,322
Finding Hope 281,410
Dieter [...]
MormonTabernacleChoir.org is the official site of the 
While visiting the site, be sure to check out the following:
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