A View From the Font

LDS and Technology

In about 2001 I was called to be the Ward “website specialist” – I assume from my geeky nature it was a good calling to have.  It actually got me pretty inspired to provide some real value online for the local members.  Although my ideas of 8% online tithing and Relief Society gossip columns didn’t pan out, it was fun to put together a web site for the ward for calendar items and a leadership directory.  Within months, however, I was asked to take it down (as were others across the country) by request of the office of the First Presidency.  The letter (in my recollection) stated something along the lines of wanting to ensure the message of the church as well as the safety of the members…or something like that.  Effectively my calling ended when that letter was received.  It made me wonder why the Church was so afraid of new technology, but they have their reasons I guess.  It also noted that something was being worked on for the entire Stakes/Wards across the globe and that in due time we’d be able to participate.  Well, those “Stake and Ward Websites” finally came to fruition I think about 4 years later (maybe a year sooner?) as we now know them on the Church web site.  It’s a good resource for the Ward/Stake and I find really the most use of it as a directory…that information is provided by the membership…calendar items, etc. are dependent upon by the clerks and sometimes aren’t always that descriptive.

Aside from the web sites for Wards and Stakes, the Church actually has been embracing technology a lot more lately.  I credit that to the openness of the new(er) CIO, Joel Dehlin (former Microsoft employee :-)).  Here are some resources for LDS members provided by the Church and elsewhere that you may find interesting…

LDS Tech – pretty much the hub of information coming from the Church IT department.  Is full of forums and such.  I suggest you subscribe to the RSS feed for the best information.  What?!  You don’t know what RSS is? (I find that hard to believe since you are here.)  If you (or others) need a primer on what RSS is, check out this video.

Online Tech Talks – the Church started 2 years ago with this concept of “Tech Talks” – getting out into the community and talking about how the Church is using technology and answering questions.  I attended the first ones in Provo and it was good to meet a lot of the folks there that work on the systems that some of us use.  Recently they started doing online versions to reach more people.  The innaugural event was held on 28 August 2008 and was recorded as well.  You can check out the recording here.

LDS CIO – I’ve mentioned Joel’s name a few times already.  He’s also got a blog.  Check it out.

Familysearch – I’d be surprised if a member didn’t know about familysearch.org, but just in case, here it is listed.  Familysearch.org is a great genealogy resource for finding your ancestors and doing prepatory work for the Temple.  If you want to see what their teams are working on, check their labs site.

Coloring Pages for Kids – This is a great resource for finding things for the little ones in your family to color or use as visual aids during conference meetings or during sacrament.  Hey if you don’t allow your little ones to color during Sacrament, that’s fine…but if you do, wouldn’t you rather have them coloring religious images than barney or hello kitty?

LDS Media Talk – A site that talks about some of the Church’s use of media and other technology to spread the word.  This used to be formerly “ldswebguy” but now has a few more authors.

North Temple – This is the site for the interactive design/development group within the Church IT department (although I’m sure they probably don’t want to be associated with “IT”).  The Church has some really great designers on staff.  This site started out talking about the design aspects of stuff they build for the Church, etc. but has really taken a different path this past year.  I find most of it irrelevant to the Church, but perhaps that is the direction they want to go now.  Regardless, it is a team that is online, so I wanted to list it here.

LDS Maps – An interactive map application to help members find places of worship across the world.  Originally the Church had a very non interactive ‘meeting house locator’ that served a purpose but wasn’t real modern…and maybe that was okay.  The geek in me said it wasn’t.  In January of 2007 there was a discussion on the LDS (then beta) tech forums.  I posted a prototype of something I had been working on that used the interactive map APIs from Microsoft Virtual Earth.  While not implemented exactly how I had it in my prototype (with boundaries, etc.—check out the video link in the forum post link) I think this is a great implementation and feature for members.

LDS Blogs, Mormon Archipelago, Mormon Blogs – These are all non-church resources but are aggregate listings of LDS bloggers around the world.

ReturnAndReport.org – This web site won an award during the LDS Tech Talk recently.  It is an online resource for Elder Quorums/Relief Societies to help facilitate reporting of Home/Visit Teaching.  Interesting that the Church would award/recognize this as it shows a change from the days of ‘take down the web site.’  I’m trying to get my EQ to implement this to test it out.

PDA Resources: Want scriptures for your mobile phone/PDA?  Here you go: iPhone (ReadScriptures.com) – online and has an iPhone native application for $15; The Scriptures for iPhone – native iPhone app for FREE; Church publications for Handhelds; Mobile MLS tools.

There are some great online resources for LDS members.  If you know of more, please post them here in the comments!