Unable to log in to church website - workaround

Sometime between when I logged in on Sunday and when I logged in today, the church changed the authentication to its website and it's not working for me (it was a rare day that I didn't log in yesterday).

Login now goes through Okta. When I tried logging in, I was redirected to pages at Okta. Then I tried clearing all browser data. The system still didn't let me log in, but I wasn't redirected to the Okta website (the URL still had id.ChurchOfJesusChrist.org, but the page was from Okta). Now when I try logging in, it said it needed a password, even though there is one filled in. Then it just hung and I couldn't do more from the page.

Workaround
I tried different pages that have me log in. I finally found that if I highlight a scripture, the menu pops up and asks me to log in. That login process went to the old authentication system and I was able to log in.

Having the same problem here. You're workaround worked for me too but hopefully they get things fixed up soon because that's rather inconvenient.

I cleared all the cookies associated with "lds.org" and "churchofjesuschrist.org". Then the new system worked. That's how I got in.

I never loaded my membership id so how can I get it

Maximumoverheat wrote:I never loaded my membership id so how can I get it

Talk to your ward clerk.

russellhltn wrote:I cleared all the cookies associated with "lds.org" and "churchofjesuschrist.org". Then the new system worked. That's how I got in.

I cleared all browser data from the beginning of time and it didn't work for me. So far, I've only tried it on Chrome on a Mac.

mevans wrote:I cleared all browser data from the beginning of time and it didn't work for me. So far, I've only tried it on Chrome on a Mac.

I'm not sure if clearing the cache will take care of the cookies in question.

Same here. We use Okta at work (State Gov) and sorry but it's the worst. I was able to log in also via bypassing it and used my current id and pw bypassing okta. Now I can do my ward duties (clerk). Thanks for the post. Your solution worked for me also.

russellhltn wrote:I'm not sure if clearing the cache will take care of the cookies in question.

Yes, cookies are on the list of what is cleared.

New Workaround
Chrome on a Mac still doesn't work properly for me. Today I tried logging in via Opera on a Mac and it worked fine with the new authentication.

I submitted feedback on this when I encountered the problem. I head back today and they sent me to the Church Account FAQs, which isn't helpful. I replied back that this is a more general problem that impacts more than one person and is due to a recent technical change. I suspect that there are several people who just can't log in and, therefore, can't even get to the forums to read these messages. If you're someone who had problems and managed to get in, I suggest you also submit Feedback about the problems you encountered. They might need more reports of problems to escalate this to technical people who can investigate the problems.

mevans wrote:I suspect that there are several people who just can't log in and, therefore, can't even get to the forums to read these messages.

Everything posted here is publicly visible. No login required.

I was able to do a little more testing today. I can't test church things on Windows at this time, so my results are only from testing on a Mac. I'm on a different Mac today and here's where I had problems logging in using the new church authentication. I tried clearing the cache/cookies/etc.

Mac Browser Tests

• Safari 403 Access Forbidden
• Chrome 403 Access Forbidden
• Opera 403 Access Forbidden. This is interesting, since it worked on a different Mac.
• Firefox Success
• Edge 403 Access Forbidden. This was a completely new installation, so there aren't any remnants of prior logins.

I did follow up with the Feedback helper and I believe the issue is being escalated to technical people who can investigate further.

russellhltn wrote:Everything posted here is publicly visible. No login required.

That's interesting. Sometimes I can't read messages forum without logging in. Today I was able to.

mevans wrote:That's interesting. Sometimes I can't read messages forum without logging in. Today I was able to.

It may depend on what link you use. Certain features, such as "unread posts" are not available if you're not logged in. (Without a login, it doesn't know what you have and haven't read.)

If you're like me and have the page up but the session has expired, and try to use those features, you'll be presented with a login screen.

But if you were to land in the forum as a result of a web search, you'd have no problem reading anything.

I can't login via okta either. I've sent feedback (link at bottom of page) as someone suggested. Around Jun 6 I did get an email about a username conflict and did add a period/dot in between my old username which I later realized did not solve the issue I was warned about (okta should've not let me do that) In any case, I hope I get help so I can do my duties as Exec. Secretary. Thanks for workaround suggestion which for for me as well.

I'm usually logging in to study, and the workaround I identified works for that. I found that my authentication doesn't work everywhere, so I started testing various sites to see what works. Here are my results:

What I can access

• Scriptures and Conference Articles
• Account Settings
• Dashboard (this must be something newer - I never realized it existed)
• Tech Forums
• My Temple
• My Family Tree (however, authentication is not passed to Family Search)
• Notes
• Patriarchal Blessing
• Calendar
• Donations
• Meetinghouse Locator
• Online Store (it opens in a new tab and I need to log in, which I can, but the page from which I launched it goes to the Okta login page; I don't remember if the authentication used to pass through or not)
• All Tools and Support
• My Seminary
• Employment - My Talent Network
• Leader and Clerk Resources (I no longer have access, it I can get to the access denied screen without an Okta challenge)
• Senior Missionary
• Classic Maps

What I cannot access

• Ward Directory and Map (one time it appeared momentarily and then it switched to the Okta login screen)
• Online Missionary Recommendation (I don’t know if I could do anything here before, but I get the Okta login screen)
• Recreation Camps

I hope the church fixes this sometime soon.

Something else you might try: creating a different "user" in chrome. That user won't have the "baggage" your normal user would. You could also give incognito mode a try.

russellhltn wrote:Something else you might try: creating a different "user" in chrome. That user won't have the "baggage" your normal user would. You could also give incognito mode a try.

I don't use "users" in Chrome; however, I did try incognito mode. I was able to log in with that. I don't know why incognito mode works and clearing all browser information (all checkboxes checked) from the beginning of time will not work. I'm about ready to try creating a new computer user account and seeing if I can login normally from there.

I also found a new site for which my authentication using the old method won't transfer: Technology Manager.

mevans wrote:I don't know why incognito mode works and clearing all browser information (all checkboxes checked) from the beginning of time will not work.

Make you wonder if that's doing what you think it should be doing. I'm 2 for 2 in deleting just church cookies. No problems since.

I am starting to have some success with logging in with the new authentication method. I'm not sure if it's working 100% the way it should, but I have been able to log in without an incognito/private window.