ldsWebguy

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:

1. There is a link to it from the Ensign home page. From the LDS.org home page, click Gospel Library > Magazines > Ensign, then see the feature in the center of the page.
2. There is also a link to the PDF on the broadcast page for the funeral services.

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:

• Mormonism is one of the strongest religions in the West.
• Mormons share the tradition of Black Protestants with large young families.
• Mormons also have one of the highest percentages of women members.
• Mormons have a higher percentage of Black members than American Catholics and mainstream Protestant churches.
• Mormons top the middle class income range (50-75K) and are in no way richer than other religious affiliates.
• Mormons have the highest level of post secondary education with over 32% attending at least some college.
• Mormons have the highest level of married status (next to Hindus) and the lowest % of “never married.”
• Mormons have the lowest percentage of families with no children and the highest percentage of families with 4 or more children.

The Church has just posted a position to hire a Manager of Internet Coordination to assist me in coordinating the content and services on Church sites. Please pass this information along to anyone that you feel meets the requirements.

The Manager of Internet Coordination assists in coordinating the work of the various departments who provide services to build and maintain Church Web sites (such as writers, editors, audiovisual producers, intellectual property office, Correlation, translation, information architects, interaction designers, and developers). Also works with various product managers to coordinate the content on the major channels of LDS.org, as well as the Gospel Library, online scriptures, general conference, Church magazines, Gospel Topics, calendar, events, etc. Encourages content synergy around audiences and topics. Also develops and executes marketing and promotional plans for making people aware of LDS.org

Applying candidates must have each of the following:

• Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and currently temple worthy.
• Bachelor’s degree; masters preferred.
• 8+ years of experience managing content and services, including extensive experience managing and marketing corporate-level Web products and services.
• Experience in managing projects. Certified Associate in Project Management (CAPM) or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification preferred.

Exceptional candidates will have one or more of the following:

• Understanding of industry directions for developing and delivering content on the Web.
• Proven experience in managing the life cycle of Web content and services, including identifying business needs and success criteria, creating product plans, maintaining and supporting content and services, monitoring and evaluating content effectiveness (metrics), managing user feedback, and creating plans to increase effectiveness.

A more complete job description can be found online (job listing #0800246).

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.