Church Implements Faster Way to Communicate with Leaders Worldwide
The Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City, Utah. The Church has implemented a system that allows immediate communication by email from headquarters to ward and stake leaders worldwide.
The Church has implemented a system that allows immediate communication by email from headquarters to ward and stake leaders worldwide. Now, when the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, or Presiding Bishop issues an official letter or notice, it is immediately emailed to local leaders worldwide.
That means that the Church will no longer use postal mail to send paper copies of official letters and notices from headquarters in Salt Lake City to leaders around the world, but will instead use email. This new system will be fully implemented by May 31.
According to a March 1 notice from the Priesthood and Family Department to bishops and branch presidents, sending communications electronically not only saves money on printing and postal fees but also allows the Church to communicate quickly with leaders worldwide.
Official Communication Library (OCL)
Letters from the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve, or Presiding Bishop, or official notices from Church headquarters are published in 40 languages in an online repository called the Official Communication Library (OCL).
Each time a new letter or notice is published in the OCL, the system notifies stake, mission, district, and temple presidents and bishops and branch presidents by email. The OCL uses the leader’s email address that is listed in his or her LDS Account information. (This is the email address that appears in the ward directoryon ChurchofJesusChrist.org and in theLDS Tools mobile app.)
The email includes a link that takes leaders to the OCL website. Leaders must sign in with their LDS Account to read, print, or save a PDF of the letter or notice. Leaders can access letters pertaining to their callings anytime at letters.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, as well as use keywords and phrases to search for applicable letters and notices.
Exceptions
The Church will continue to use postal mail to send some physical items, such as posters or tickets.
If a bishop or branch president does not have access to an email account, then his stake, mission, or district president will be responsible for delivering copies of the letters and notices using whatever method they currently use to communicate with their wards and branches.
Problems with the OCL
If leaders have problems with the OCL, they are encouraged to:
- Check to see that their current position is listed in the Church Directory of Organizations and Leaders (CDOL) and ask the stake clerk to make needed corrections.
- Log in to their LDS Account information at ldsaccount.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and verify that the correct email address is listed in “Contact Settings.”
- Add the address OfficialCommunications@ChurchofJesusChrist.org to the Safe Senders list in their email program.
- Contact the Global Service Center.
