The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently issued a letter calling for the discontinuation of local unit Web sites until a policy can be established to govern them.
In a letter dated March 15 from the Presiding Bishopric to stake, mission and district presidents, as well as to branch presidents and bishops, instructions were given to discontinue all existing sites. Local church units and organizations were also told not create or sponsor Web sites until further notice.
"As the church grows, it is very important that information presented to the world be accurate and dignified and that it represent a single, unified church voice. In addition, it is imperative that the rights of third parties be protected and respected through strict compliance with applicable laws," the letter states.
"With this in mind, a policy for the creation, operation and maintenance of local unit Web sites is being developed and will be sent to priesthood leaders. Until the policy is established, the First Presidency has requested that local church units and organizations should not create or sponsor Web sites. They have also determined that existing sites should be discontinued."
The letter also noted that the church has developed several official Internet sites containing approved, correlated material that the church has deemed appropriate for the Internet.
LDS Church spokesman Dale Bills said church officials want the letter to speak for itself and have no further comment.
The letter was read in some ward sacrament meetings last Sunday.
According to the Mormon News Web site, an unofficial collection of LDS Church news at Mormons Today.com, there is some concern about possible misinterpretation of the letter from the Presiding Bishopric. That's because some may erroneously think it also pertains to privately operated or commercial Web sites like Mormons Today that serve LDS Church members.
Randy Ripplinger of LDS Church Public Affairs said there's never been a firm count made of LDS Church-oriented Web sites, but he estimates there are thousands. He also doesn't know how many wards or stakes may have their own sites.
Leonard Suprise, vice president of another LDS-oriented Web site (LDSliving.com), operated from Provo, hadn't heard about the letter.
He said it is too early to tell how it may affect his business.
"We feel real positive about how things have been going," he said. LDSliving has doubled its business in the past year, and some 75,000 people now subscribe to its free e-mail calendar service.
Maurine Proctor, who with her husband, Scot, has formed a Web site, based in Washington, D.C., called meridianmagazine.com specializing in LDS-related content, said Tuesday she hadn't heard anything about the letter. But after hearing it read to her over the phone, she said it sounded like it addresses church units and not Web sites such as her own.
"I think an independent, faithful voice is probably not in any way a negative," she said, as long as it's "very clear that it's an independent voice, that it doesn't represent the church and doesn't pretend to." She said Meridian makes clear that it doesn't represent the church. "Lots of times they don't have access to the breadth of material we or readers have access to. They seem to really enjoy it, not only those teaching but those unable to be in class or those who use it as background before they hear the lesson presented. We try to absolutely be sure that what we write about or what we're saying only quotes from best and most solid sources. Scot and I have had a lot of experience writing for church members and we're aware of what sources are considered valid and accurate. We're very careful in everything we do that way."
The site attracts almost 80,000 different indivdual users per month, she said. "Even so, we direct people all the time to things on LDS.org (the church's official web site). I hope that we're a helpful voice in that way."
Contributing: Carrie Moore
E-MAIL: lynn@desnews.com