Over the weekend, I stumbled upon the new Mormon missionary site, Mormon.org. I was blown away. I also stumbled upon the thought process behind the site. Turns out the site has been years in the making, much of which was research on people’s perceptions, misunderstandings, and beliefs about Mormons. Not surprisingly, the site was created specifically to address people’s preconceptions. As the Northtemple blog says:

For our prototype testing, we wanted to know more than anything if what we’re proposing would help improve perceptions of people about Mormons. We took our participants through several scenarios to help them explore the site. (There was a part of the test where we left the participant on their own for a few minutes and watched them click around the site. That was revealing.) We tested the visual design, tone of voice, information architecture, and interaction.

What we learned is that people did not know very much about the Mormons nor that we are a very diverse church. We also learned that people wanted to know what we believe in and, unfortunately, what we’ve prototyped was not enough. They wanted more. They also wanted to know some answers to frequently asked questions about the Mormons but didn’t know where to go. At the end of the session, each participant was asked if their perceptions of Mormons have changed after reviewing the prototype and most, if not all, said yes, on the positive.

Make no mistake, the new Mormon.org site is a carefully crafted project with a very specific purpose—to answer people’s objections, make a huge emotional impact, and to blur the lines between Christianity and Mormonism. By and large, I think they’ve succeeded. And as such, those of us who work in church communications have much to learn from the Mormons.

They Understand the Importance of Why

Recently, I posted a quote on Twitter from Simon Sinek, “People don’t buy what you do. They buy why you do it.” That quote came from his great TED Talk, which you can watch here. Sinek’s point is that people don’t buy a product or get behind a cause because of what it is or produces. They buy into it because of how it makes them feel. They respond first emotionally and then process cognitively. Apparently the Mormons understand this as well. Because the homepage is designed to create an emotional response. The entire thing is created to communicate the Why. Why are people Mormon? Why does the Mormon Church exist?

By answering these questions through diverse stories and striking imagery and design, the Mormon Church emotionally connects with their audience and opens the door for cognitive conversation in the deeper parts of the site.

They Understand the Importance of Communicating What They’re For—Not Against

If you’re weren’t a theologian and were a casual Christian, you would find nothing to make you think that Mormons had any significant theological differences than mainline Christianity. All throughout the copy the Mormons do a great job of talking about what they are for (family, service, learning, etc.), never going into the territory of what they’re against or addressing theological differences. This is intentional. For years the Mormon Church has waged a PR campaign to distance themselves from the stigma of polygamy and cultism. They desire to be and are actively promoting themselves as a Christian Church, albeit the one true Christian Church.

I’ve no doubt this statement from their homepage was meticulously crafted: “Who We Are: While our backgrounds and experiences are diverse, Mormons are united by a commitment to Jesus Christ. This site features Mormons sharing their stories and telling what their faith means to them. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the official name of the religion commonly called the Mormon Church. Mormons believe first and foremost that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world and the Son of God.”

What they don’t tell you is that they don’t believe in the Trinity as historical Christianity does (the Mormons believe that God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit are three separate divinities). They don’t even address it. Not in their FAQ’s. Not anywhere that I can find on the site. Nor do they address that they don’t believe in Salvation by faith alone. Instead they simply state what they are for in a way that is non-threatening and even ambiguous: “We believe that the atonement was provided for us through the grace of God. There are two aspects to the atonement. The first is resurrection. That is a free gift, as all will resurrect. The second is eternal life with Heavenly Father. That gift is not free and does require some effort on our part. We have to repent of our sins, and try to do our best each day. If we do our best, Christ will make up the difference for us, and we will be able to have eternal life. All of this is through the grace of God.”

They’re simply not concerned with addressing what they’re against. Only what they’re for. By doing so, they connect with their audience, many of whom will assume that their beliefs are in line with all of Christianity.

And this was also intentional, as Northtemple points out: “We also started to form the information architecture based on the content that was being discussed. Our first pass? People, Basic Beliefs, and Visit. Then it became: People, Faith, Values, and Visit. Our last iteration before testing was: Our People, Our Values, Our Faith, and Visit Us. We wanted to be clear that these are our perspectives and did not want to impose on other people’s beliefs.”

They Understand the Importance of Design

There’s no denying the Mormon site is beautiful. Here’s a great shot from the Northtemple site:

Every design detail of the site was meticulously planned out. Not doubt this is because they understand that design and presentation are key in invoking an emotional response. Additionally, the design is modern and innovative, which communicates an unspoken impression that the Mormon Church is also modern and innovative, visually rebutting many people’s preconceptions of the church. And because the site is so visually appealing and intriguing, it compels people to navigate it.

They Understand the Importance of Stories

One innovative and key component to the Mormon.org site is its featuring of stories of everyday Mormons, and the call for Mormons to share their stories on the site. As Northtemple explains: “One of the first major development pieces was our user-generated content. A big part of the new site is Mormons sharing their stories and answering frequently asked questions. About three months ago, we started inviting members of the Church to create their profiles and helping with user-generated content on the site. We wanted to launch with at least 1,000 profiles. We have since surpassed that. There has been a lot of great excitement on this ability to share your stories and testimony. I will definitely be sharing mine with my friends and family who may not know what my beliefs are.”

I’ve always been a firm believer that stories, not facts, change people and cultures. The reason, again, is because stories create an emotional response that then primes people for a cognitive discussion. By featuring everyday Mormons, they church goes a long way towards normalizing itself for potential converts.

They Understand the Importance of Evangelism

The tenacity with which Mormons evangelize could be talked about ad nauseum. We all know that seeing a couple guys in black pants and white short sleeve shirts riding bikes through the neighborhood spells a knock at the door. But the Mormons have created a less threatening and very inviting evangelism opportunity with their new site. One prominent feature you notice off the bat is the “Chat with us” feature that is ever present no matter which page you’re on and that follows you as you scroll down the page. Also prominent are calls to action to contact the church. You can even chat online if you’re so compelled.

By doing so, the Mormons create a site that is engaging and welcoming. And they open the door for many conversations about the church. This takes 24-hour staffing and a deep financial commitment by the Mormons. But when you’re church is closed and there’s no way to get a hold of you, people can always get a hold of the Mormons. They are deeply committed to their mission and eager to share their faith.

My Final Thoughts

As pastors, you should familiarize yourself with this new site. It’s important to know how the Mormon Church is talking about themselves. And it’s important to understand how they do it so well. If you’re a communication director or pastor in ministry, there is much to learn from the Mormons—pragmatically. In many ways they are beating us at the communication and evangelism game. And that is a shame because our message is one of such greater hope. The Gospel of Jesus is one of free grace and forgiveness of sin—not Christ making up the difference if we do our best. It is the Good News that all men are equally sinners, equally deserving of judgement, yet, God in His mercy is willing to save us through the death of His son, Jesus, not because of any work we have done or can do, but because He loves us.

We have a high calling to communicate the true gospel: “For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not a result of your own doing; it is a gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them” (Ephesians 2:8-10). Let’s do so with excellence.

“Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? (As the Scriptures say, ‘For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep.’) No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.”

- Romans 8:35-37

To stay focused, early stage CEOs need to remember that there are just three important things that need to get done in a business — 1) planning, 2) selling, and 3) executing — and that these tasks require three different mindsets. Some entrepreneurs can excel in all three roles, but the best ones are aware of their strengths and weaknesses and build their teams accordingly.

He then goes on to give three types of entrepreneurs.

The Architect: Big-Picture Planning

This is the visionary. The leader who can set the culture and inspire the troops, but who isn’t as skilled in executing that plan. They’re great at finding the right team members and inspiring them to own the vision, run with it, and make it successful. But they’re not too concerned with the details.

The Storyteller: Researching and Selling

This is the person who can take a vision, communicate it well, and get others outside the organization to buy into the vision or purchase the product. The Storyteller knows the details in and out and can communicate them with passion, blending the communication and selling.

The Disciplinarian: Executing

This is the leader that is great at making sure the plan’s details are perfectly executed. Where The Architect loves to build the farm, The Disciplinarian loves to cultivate it. This person measures results, builds structures, and develops systems.

Tjan’s article is dead on in terms of the business world. But it also strikes me as just as important for churches—especially church plants. The counterparts to these roles in the ministry world are the Lead Pastor, the Communications Director, and the Executive Pastor. While a successful church plant requires more than just these roles to be successful—most importantly God’s blessing and calling—I think one would be hard-pressed in this day and age to be successful without them.

Often church planters, and even seasoned pastors, try to do all three roles themselves. After all, resources are limited, and it’s hard to let others run with your vision. But as Tjan points out, it’s important to identify your strengths, leverage them, and bring others on to fill the important roles better than you can.

By building a great team that compliments each other, a church can far more effectively reach the world with the transforming gospel of Jesus.

Regardless of whether porn is the #1 or #2 activity, the reality is that it’s a huge industry—and thus a huge problem.

There’s also been huge coverage about Steve Jobs clamping down of porn with the iPad, but the reality is that anyone with an iPad can access porn through the Safari browser. And the lack of accountability software will only make porn that much more accessible. I wrote about that here, Why the iPad will be a smashing success…porn.

Below is the latest statistics on porn use. The numbers are staggering.

I’m curious as to how church leaders are addressing the porn issue. Can you share with me how your church is being proactive (or reactive) in regards to this issue?

Via: Online MBA

“Sunday’s Coming” Movie Trailer from North Point Media on Vimeo.

What will?

Porn.

A great article (warning: there are some risque pixilated images, but no nudity) in Fast Company hits it on the bulls eye.

Its laser-like focus on cash has given porn an edge in technology development history. And it’s a business that’s always looking for new and novel ways to deliver its product through systems that appeal to its consumers–the one who gets there quickest gets the biggest share of the booty. Pornographic Web sites test drove online payment systems as ways to make quick bucks while everyone else bit their nails and waited years for PayPal. Broadband crushed slow dial-up in part due to users’ hunger for speedy, sexy data…porn. Going back further, porn was thriving at the dawn of cable TV and photography itself. One of the first popular uses of the printing press was to publish pornographic writing and imagery.

Today it’s a multi-billion dollar industry powered by the human psyche and high technology. It’s hard to put a finger on it precisely, but the U.S. porn industry alone is probably worth a long way north of $10 billion per year. Remember the famous adage: “If all the porn was clensed from the Internet, then there’s just be a single Web site in the world. It would say–’bring back all the porn!’” Porn has always been with us, and probably always will in one form or another.

Continuing:

But if there’s one single industry which is agile–aggressively so–and ready to quickly adopt a new technology fast in order to make a quick buck, it’s the adult content industry. You can bet many sites’ll be wrapping video content in iPad-friendly code before too long, and charging visitors handsomely for the privilege (or embedding the sites with ads, and making a profit this way.) Then, because HTML5 video is also compatible with desktop browsing too, Flash might well go the way of Betamax and HDDVD.

As we all know, porn is a huge industry and a huge problem for the church. Not only our young men and women, but also our pastors and leaders are being aced out by addictions to porn. Marriages and families are being torn apart. Churches are being devastated.

The rise of access to porn on devices like the iPad should be of great concern. One, because just as with the iPhone, there will be a significant lag between access to content and porn filtration software development. Two, because access to this content will become that much easier for both people in the church and for pastors.

This furthers the need for the church to provide a holistic healing of the mind and spirit when it comes to porn. While blockers are great, they are merely a stop gap. Our minds, and the minds of the people in our churches must be transformed to the point where we can overcome temptation rather than just manage it.

This will also create a greater need for openness and accountability among brothers and sisters in Christ.

If you’re not praying for the sexual health of your church, I encourage you to do so. We’re in a war and new weapons are being deployed every day.

I can (sort of) understand where they are coming from in the sense that if idolized the game can take away from God–of course we could do the same thing with Antiques Road Show if we wanted to. After all, we have the capacity to turn everything into an idol. But we don’t do that for Antiques Road Show because it’s not such a powerful cultural event.

But I have to admit I find Ray Ortlund’s post a little mystifying this morning:

The Super Bowl is not just another NFL game. It has become an intensified concentration of vulgarity and ego, with enough athletics in the game and cleverness in the commercials to trick me into watching. It’s simply not what I’m living for.

That was my last Super Bowl.

Mike Pohlman thinks that Pastor Ortlund “may be on to something” with this post. I agree. He’s certainly on to something, but I’m not so sure that it’s something we should be onto.

Listen, I get it if you don’t like the Super Bowl. There’s certainly things about the event that are distasteful. But don’t be a hater for Christ’s sake (pun intended).

This kind of post villianizing the Super Bowl doesn’t seem to accomplish anything other than stir controversy, make Christians yet again look like joy-kills, and pit people who simply enjoy football and don’t mind having a good time watching the Super Bowl against more “spiritual” people who place the Super Bowl as some sort of event that diminishes Christ, and the Christian for watching it. “It’s simply not what I’m living for.”

To me this seems like a better idea: Let’s redeem the Super Bowl. Let’s get our neighbors together to watch the game. Let’s host parties at our house. Let’s expose people to Christian community that stops talking about what they’re not living for and instead starts talking about what they are living for.

Let’s not revert to being people known for what we’re against. We spent decades doing that, and it hasn’t served us or Christ very well.

So, what do you think? Am I over reacting here? Even worse, am I completely wrong?

I spend a lot of time in bars. I like bars. I like the people and the beer. I like hanging out with my friends and having a good time.

As a pastor, I’m also highly aware of my need to be a good witness. For some pastors, that means they avoid bars and “unseemly” places. I don’t see that as a good strategy. And this week was proof positive for me on that.

A couple great things happened in the bars this week.

First, I met with my friend and fellow A29 pastor, Brent Thomas, at Lis Doon Varna in Peoria. The topic was The City and how it might help his church. We then moved on to what God was doing in our churches. It was a great time of talking about Jesus and what he was doing in the Valley–all over a couple pints.

Towards the end of our conversation, I remember distinctly saying, “I just want to see people’s lives transformed by Jesus,” when a girl who was sitting at the bar across the room asked, “Are you guys talking about religion?”

Well, I got what I asked for. Long story short, this young woman came over to sit with Brent and I, broke down in tears, admitted her need for Jesus, and promised she’d be at Brent’s church this weekend. It was an awesome and humbling moment to be in the middle of a bar, holding hands, and praying with this broken and hurting woman.

Second, members from our worship team at Praxis Church are in a band called Maple Ash. They played a show last night at Rogue Bar in Scottsdale–and they rocked. Here’s a clip from the show shot by Justin Garbinski’s (the drummer) wife, Audra:

It was awesome to see tons of young people from our church packed into this little dive bar to listen to the band. We did little things, like tip well. The owners know Maple Ash is from Praxis. All of this is part of Garth’s (our worship director and front man for Maple Ash) vision to have his music teams out doing professional as well as church music to engage the culture.

Some would accuse us of cavorting with publicans and sinners. But I’m pretty sure we’re in good company for doing so.

[Photo by acnatta]