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Summarized by Kent Larsen
LDS Business Confronts Misinformation in Putting LDS Stakes on Web
DAVIDSON, NORTH CAROLINA -- Two LDS entrepreneurs are trying to
overcome misinformation and put LDS stakes on the Internet. Kari
Thurber and John Lewis' site StakeInfo.com offers a place for LDS
stakes to make their information available to stake members and
visitors. But first, Thurber and Lewis must overcome rumors that the
LDS Church discourages such sites and suspicion that they are using
the Church's directory info against Church policy.
Many LDS Church members on the Internet have heard that the Church
discourages stakes and local congregations from establishing their
own web sites. But Randy Ripplinger of the Church's public affairs
department says the Church doesn't have a policy on the issue. "The
Church neither endorses nor prohibits private websites. At the
present time, the Church has no official plans to launch Church unit
websites."
Actually, according to Thurber, she and Lewis have been told that the
Church is looking at the issue, developing guidelines for stakes and
wards as well as producing graphics and watermarks that the stake can
use. Thurber says they will cooperate with whatever comes out, "If
and when they do [produce guidelines], we plan to adhere to whatever
guidelines they set.
StakeInfo.com started when Thurber and Lewis put together a site for
their own stake. During discussions about the proposed stake site,
they realized that other stakes might need the same thing, "we
realized that many other Stakes would also benefit from a website
with their calendar, directory and announcements." Part of the idea
is to make it easy for stakes to participate. "StakeInfo.com offers
Church units a very low cost website without the hassle of having a
Stake webmaster (a competent person who has time to maintain the
website.)"
Thurber and Lewis charge $10 a month to run the websites, and so far
they say 60 stakes have signed up. The websites include a stake
calendar, announcements, maps to meetinghouse locations and a
password-protected location for the stake directory. Protecting the
directory is a concern for many stakes. "The only concern that has
been expressed from Stake leadership is posting people's personal
information on the Internet where it can be accessed by anyone. To
alleviate this concern, we are offering password protection for pages
with personal information."
But marketing the service also led to difficulties for the
webmasters. The LDS Church's own "Directory of General Authorities
and Officers" lists all the LDS stakes, missions, districts and
congregations in the world, but the Church requires that its
information not be used for commercial purposes. This meant a list of
stakes with addresses wasn't available to Thurber and Lewis. They
have tried to turn this into an advantage. "We then noticed . . .
that this data is not readily available . . . A list of all Stakes
with contact information is a great service for members and
non-members who need information about a Stake other than their own."
Thurber and Lewis say they compiled their list of stakes from
researching public records.
In spite of their efforts, overcoming the concerns of a conservative
LDS Church hierarchy is a challenge. Many stakes may believe that
they can't start a website, in spite of the Church's statements that
they have no policy. One stake clerk told Mormon News that the Area
presidency had discouraged a proposed stake website, leading the
stake to drop the idea. Thurber and Lewis have heard that before too.
"Some Area Presidencies have proposed their own opinions for their
jurisdictions. We have contacted appropriate parties at Church
headquarters and have not been given any negative counsel," says
Thurber.
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