The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is continuing to roll out changes to various communication channels to follow the Savior’s direction to use the correct name of His Church.
President Russell M. Nelson has said these corrections will better place Jesus Christ and His Atonement at the center of the Church and individual Latter-day Saint lives as we strive to make Him the focus of everything we do.
Focusing on Jesus Christ and His Great Atoning Sacrifice
President Nelson talked about the full name of the Church in October 2018 general conference. Here's a summary of what he said.
The First Presidency said in a letter released in March 2019 that “this is a complex effort in numerous global languages and much work remains.” This letter notes the changes for the following English websites:
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LDS.org is now ChurchofJesusChrist.org
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Mormon.org is now ComeUntoChrist.org
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Mormon Newsroom is now Newsroom.ChurchofJesusChrist.org
Updating Names of Mobile Apps and Media Channels
A an update, the following Church mobile apps and media channel names have changed in English and have changed or will soon change in other languages:
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LDS Tools, now Member Tools, provides a ward directory, a Church calendar, missionary referral tools, and directions to nearby meetinghouses and temples.
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LDS Media Library is now Gospel Media on the mobile app as well as online. “The Gospel Media app and website is the Church’s library of all public videos, images, and music,” said Matthew Anderson, Gospel Media product manager. “The media is organized into collections that help you find, use, and share media at home, at church, and on the go. The mobile app lets you create media presentations and download the media so you can present offline. You can also trim videos, mark favorites, sync presentations across devices, and share your presentations with others.”
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Mormon Messages are now Inspirational Messages. These videos usually feature an inspirational story about a Church member or a message from a Church leader. They can be found in Gospel Media, in the Gospel Library app, and on the Church’s YouTube channel. “While the name of this series of short videos changed, the purpose did not change, which is to amplify the prophetic word and inspire positive feelings and actions,” said Rob Jex, Inspirational Messages product manager.
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LDS Music is now Sacred Music. “This name change acts as an added reminder of the sacred quality of the music we use to worship in our homes and meetinghouses,” said Audrey Livingston, Sacred Music product manager. “Sacred music increases faith in our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. It teaches doctrine powerfully and clearly. It invites joyful singing, comforts the weary, inspires us to endure in faith, and unifies Latter-day Saints around the world. This application offers sheet music in addition to text-only versions of hymns and songs, audio recordings (instrumental and vocal), as well as indexes for topics, authors, and composers. Playlists can also be created and shared.”
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LDS Sing-Along is now Sing-Along Hymns. “This app was created with children in mind, and it provides beautiful imagery to accompany sacred hymns and songs,” Livingston said. “Words on the screen and a bouncing ball to indicate which word should be sung make it easier for children to sing along as they learn the music we use to worship at home and at church.”
Various other services and mobile apps, such as LDS Account and LDS Seminary and Institute, have simply removed or will remove “LDS” and simply be referred to as Account, Seminary, and Institute. All these changes are to further emphasize the Savior Jesus Christ’s connection with His Church and His covenant people.
Describing Objects, Scriptures, or Doctrines of Jesus Christ and His Church
Latter-day Saints are the Lord’s covenant people; therefore, “LDS” and “Latter-day Saint” should not be used to qualify objects such as temples, scriptures, or doctrine that belong to the Lord or His Church and not to Church members.
Instead of referring to “LDS temples” or “Latter-day Saint temples,” for example, the more appropriate reference would be “temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Church leaders recognize that implementing these and additional adjustments will continue over time and will require a coordinated effort.
“If we will be patient and if we will do our part well, the Lord will lead us through this important task,” President Nelson has encouraged. “I promise you that if we will do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord’s Church, He whose Church this is will pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen.”