Read the Newsroom story about the new Church Web site JesusChrist.lds.org.
But sure to watch the video by Elder Russell M. Nelson explaining why we are using the Internet today to spread the message of the Gospel.
The Church’s new Web site about the Savior Jesus Christ has been recognized at Best Web Gallery, which is an inspirational gallery site that features quality Web sites (Quality Design = Visual + Technical + Creativity).
If you would like to link to the Church’s new Web site from your blog or Web site, there are some attractive images (and code) you can use at lds.net. Two examples are below. This is a great way to share teachings of the Savior with your readers and visitors.
The memoriam for President Gordon B. Hinckley is now available online in text and PDF. (To see the PDF, just click View on the Table of Contents page.)
You can access it in two ways:
The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life just released an extensive new survey about religious affiliations of the American public and explores the shifts taking place in the U.S. religious landscape. There are some cool interactive maps on that site. It was also summarized in a USA Today story.
Here are a few interesting facts:
See the new Web site about the Lord Jesus Christ and His essential role in our lives. JesusChrist.lds.org is the newest Web site sponsored by the Church.
Using the words of latter-day prophets and apostles as its foundation, the site focuses solely on the life, teachings, and mission of the Savior and how we can come unto Him and invite others to do the same. In addition to the teachings of Church leaders, the site provides links to the scriptures, additional articles, and multimedia presentations.
We invite you to share this information with your friends and to link to the site from your personal blogs and Web sites.
The two fastest-growing churches in the United States and Canada are Jehovah’s Witnesses and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to the National Council of Churches’ 2008 Yearbook of American & Canadian Churches.
Although Jehovah’s Witnesses currently rank 25th in size with over 1.06 million members, they reported a 2.25 percent increase in membership in a year. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints grew 1.56 percent and is listed as the fourth largest “church.”
The following are the largest 25 churches in the US and Canada (ranked by membership):
1. The Catholic Church – 67,515,016
2. Southern Baptist Convention – 16,306,246
3. The United Methodist Church – 7,995,456
4. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – 5,779,316
5. The Church of God in Christ – 5,499,875
6. National Baptist Convention, U.S.A., Inc. – 5,000,000
7. Evangelical Lutheran Church in America – 4,774,203
8. National Baptist Convention of America, Inc. – 3,500,000
9. Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) – 3,025,740
10. Assemblies of God – 2,836,174
11. African Methodist Episcopal Church – 2,500,000
12. National Missionary Baptist Convention of America – 2,500,000
13. Progressive National Baptist Convention, Inc. – 2,500,000
14. The Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod (LCMS) – 2,417,997
15. Episcopal Church – 2,154,572
16. Churches of Christ – 1,639,495
17. Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America – 1,500,000
18. Pentecostal Assemblies of the World, Inc. – 1,500,000
19. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church – 1,443,405
20. American Baptist Churches in the U.S.A. – 1,371,278
21. United Church of Christ – 1,218,541
22. Baptist Bible Fellowship International – 1,200,000
23. Christian Churches and Churches of Christ – 1,071,616
24. The Orthodox Church in America – 1,064,000
25. Jehovah’s Witnesses – 1,069,530
Read more at The Christian Post.
According to recent estimates there were 6.6 billion people in the world in 2007. Of that number, 1.15 billion (17.5%) were regular Internet users. By 2012, eMarketer projects that over 1.7 billion people worldwide (24.5%) will access the Internet at least once a month.
This year will see China overtake the United States as the most populous Internet nation in the world and the Asia-Pacific region will top 500 million Internet users.
Funeral services for President Gordon B. Hinckley were held Saturday, February 2. Audio and video files are now available online.
On Saturday, February 9, a worldwide leadership training meeting was broadcast over the Church satellite system. Online archives are now available in text, audio, and video formats.
A special 32-page memoriam has been produced to commemorate the life of President Gordon B. Hinckley. This booklet includes include a biography of President Hinckley’s life and the talks from his funeral on February 2, 2008. It will be produced in English for the Ensign and many other languages for the Liahona.
This booklet will be sent to Ensign subscribers with their March magazine and to Liahona subscribers at a later date.
The March 2008 issue of the Liahona and Ensign is focused entirely on the Lord Jesus Christ. In this issue, General Authorities teach vital doctrines about the Savior, and members from around the world share testimonies of the power of the Atonement in their lives.
This issue was created specifically to help readers better understand Jesus Christ, receive a witness of His divinity, and feel a desire to follow Him. It will also give members an opportunity to share with others restored truths about the Savior.
Until June 30, 2008, special pricing is available within the United States and Canada for those who want to purchase extra magazines to share. The price is U.S. $33 for a box of 30 magazines. (At this bulk rate, magazines may be ordered only in boxes of 30.) Smaller quantities and copies ordered after June 30, 2008, will cost $1.50 per copy, shipping included.
Please share copies of this magazine with less-active members and those not of our faith. You can order copies online.
Today is LDS.org’s 12th birthday!
On February 14, 1996, the domain www.lds.org was activated with an “under construction” page.
Below are a few screen shots of the early site, which for the first four years was a static site. The first piece of major content was the Global Media Guide, published by Public Affairs. Soon, General Conference transcripts were added and other resources started to appear.
In 1999, LDS.org was redesigned to add a new level of warmth.
On June 30, 2000, LDS.org became a dynamic site, redesigned to accommodate an increasing amount of content.
On January 30, 2007, the Church launched the redesigned LDS.org. This included a redesigned Gospel Library with a simplified user interface and materials in many more languages. Also included was an expanded section of gospel topics to answer frequently asked questions about the Church.
LDS.org is now being translated into into nine additional languages (Chinese, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish). Future enhancements will include upgrades to the Gospel Library and the Meetinghouse Locator.
I invite you to join the Facebook group Mormon e-Missionaries.
The More Good Foundation created this group to encourage online member missionary work. Spread the word to others you think may be interested.