Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will soon begin receiving an email message from the First Presidency for the first time. The first email is being sent this week to a small group of about 10,000 members in the United States as the system is tested. Emails will be sent to millions of Church members throughout the world in 10 languages on December 3 and 4, 2014.
The newsletter contains a message from the First Presidency and two announcements concerning the Christmas season, including a greeting and information about the upcoming “He Is the Gift” initiative and the First Presidency's Christmas devotional.
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“We are pleased to announce this new Church email newsletter that we will regularly publish and share with members throughout the world,” writes the First Presidency in the email message. “This newsletter is part of our effort to find more effective ways to communicate with our growing global membership in order to share timely and valuable messages that can strengthen our love for Jesus Christ, for our families, and for those around us.”
Church members will receive the messages at the email address they have listed in their online LDS Account. If members have already registered, they will need to make sure their email address is current, and those who have not registered can do so at any time. Church members who choose not to receive the messages may unsubscribe to the emails.
“In a world where communication channels are so numerous and fragmented, delivering a message that does not become distorted along the way is increasingly difficult,” said Elder Anthony D. Perkins of the First Quorum of the Seventy. “The Church has a unique advantage in that millions of faithful members have entrusted their email address to us. We feel the time has come to utilize these personal email addresses to improve the effectiveness of our communications to Church members.”
“One purpose of email newsletters is to assist members in becoming aware of Church resources that will strengthen their faith in Christ, bless their families and help them serve in the community,” said Elder Perkins.
The first email is part of the “News and Inspiration” email subscription. “We plan that over time members will have a few more specific choices in newsletters they would like to receive,” said Elder Perkins.
Church leaders say the email channel could also be used to notify members during emergency situations or for matters of urgent importance to the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
For more information, read the Church News article.