Senior leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will host a special worldwide broadcast next month to help church members more naturally share the gospel of Christ, according to an official letter sent Tuesday to congregations, missionaries and leaders around the globe.
What is the church changing about missionary work?
A letter sent Tuesday by the church’s Missionary Department and Priesthood and Family Department shared new details:
- During last month’s general conference leadership meeting, church leaders began to roll out an effort for sharing the gospel in more natural and genuine ways rooted in three principles: love, share and invite.
- Those principles already are being discussed in area, mission, stake, ward, branch and coordinating councils.
- The goal is to help those responsible for evangelizing — from full-time missionaries to congregation mission leaders and organization presidencies — to “learn to do so in ways that are natural, sincere and joyful.”
“Sharing the gospel can be as simple as loving God and our neighbors, sharing with them and inviting them to be with us,” according to the church website.
What is different?
Church leaders have been encouraging members for several years to be more open and natural about the way they share their faith in person and on social media. Some church members will recognize some parts of the new initiative from recent talks by church leaders.
“The invitations are normal and natural,” Elder Marcus B. Nash, a General Authority Seventy, said during April’s general conference leadership session for the church’s general authorities, area authorities and organization leaders. He added:
“I pray for inspiration and courage to know how to invite my friends to ‘come and see’ and feel the goodness of the restored gospel and Church of Jesus Christ. I invite them to ‘come and help’ us serve God’s children. I invite them to ‘come and belong’ to his church.”
To see more from the leadership session, see ChurchofJesusChrist.org/media/collection.
When is the broadcast and who is invited?
The 45-minute broadcast will air June 26 at 10 a.m. in conjunction with the annual Mission Leadership Seminar for 105 new mission presidents and their spouses. The event will include President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; three quorum members, Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar and Quentin L. Cook; and General Young Women President Bonnie H. Cordon.
Elder Uchtdorf, who is the chairman of the church’s Missionary Executive Council, delivered a talk last year titled “Come and Belong,” and Elder Bednar gave one titled “Come and See” in 2014.
How to watch
The event will be livestreamed on Share.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and broadcast on the church satellite system and other media.
Those who cannot join the broadcast live can watch it on Gospel Library any time after the event begins. See the broadcast schedule for details.
The broadcast will be transmitted in American Sign Language, Cantonese, Cebuano, English, French, German, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Mandarin, Portuguese, Russian, Samoan, Spanish, Tagalog and Tongan.