Apostle's blog may be a first (LDS Caucus)

Mormon Time's ^ | Aug 18 2010 | Trent Toone

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A Mormon apostle recently used a unique avenue to share a gospel message.

Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Michael Otterson, managing director of the church public affairs department, both contributed a blog post to Patheos.com last week. Editors from the website, which is dedicated to religious and spiritual dialogue, asked The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide a written perspective on the future of Mormonism.

Both responses are available at: http://www.patheos.com/Topics/Future-of-World-Religions/Mormonism.html.

Elder Cook's blog, titled "Partnering with Our Friends of Other Faiths," may likely be the first publicly posted blog by an LDS apostle.

"We can't confirm whether this is the first time an apostle has communicated through a website. We just don't know," said Scott Trotter, a spokesman for the church. "As is well known, Elder (M. Russell) Ballard encouraged members to blog and engage in Internet conversations in a speech in Hawaii in December 2007."

Elder Cook's blog (http://www.patheos.com/Resources/Additional-Resources/Partnering-with-Our-Friends-from-Other-Faiths.html) reported that as the church moves forward, it would work with other like-minded faiths to follow the gospel of Jesus Christ in reaching out to fellow citizens.

"Finding common ground has translated into interfaith initiatives having lasting, positive effects throughout the world," Elder Cook writes. "As we've partnered with Catholic Charities, Muslim organizations, the Red Cross, and many others, there is joy and excitement that comes from putting into action what we jointly view as good and needed for our fellow men and women."

Otterson's piece discusses the church's reputation in the future.

Other contributors asked to address the future of the LDS faith included authors, scholars, a Mormon housewife, editors, a graduate student, speakers and filmmakers, among others.

Their topics ranged from the future of Mormon motherhood to politics to missionary work.

Patheos.com declares itself to be an objective and accurate online source for religion and spirituality, addressing subjects that really matter to the religions of the world.

"The Future of Mormonism" is part of a larger Patheos.com series on the future of religion.

"As new forms of worship and belief continue to evolve in the twenty-first century, we have asked leaders from a variety of religious traditions to talk about the future of religion," the website states.

Patheos.com, founded in 2008, indicated Mormonism is one of the world's fastest growing religious traditions.

Elder Cook was sustained as an apostle in October 2007.

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[radiohead]

Thanks for this post. I read a number of the articles and found them to be interesting and well-written. The article on diversity, and especially black American Mormon history, was quite welcome.

I find the LDS use, or apparently full embrace, of modern media to be a fascinating topic. My area of academic expertise is human information behavior. I’m giving some thought to how this might be researched and if LDS would accept/work with non-LDS on this issue.