Fifth Sunday Lesson on Church Technology and Tool Offerings

As a member of the bishopric in my ward, the bishop has assigned me to teach about new features in technology tools that the ward may not be aware of. I want to address some of the material in Gospel Library (e.g. My Covenant Path, Gospel Essays, etc.) as well as some new features (such as the new Ward Experience on the home card of Gospel Library.) What would you include in such a lesson relating to the Church website, Gospel Library and/or Member Tools? More importantly, how can I ensure that a talk on tech stays focused on the Savior and strengthens the testimony and resolve of members to use these tools to draw closer to Christ?

Assuming the ward was using the calendars correctly, you might point out the sync feature in the calendar so you'd have the selected ward events synced to your personal calendar. You can also see it in Tools.

I did one of these earlier in the year. As expected, it can get messy. At the beginning I asked members to please save any questions around how something works until after and stated that the session was not intended to be a "follow along" (otherwise you would hardly get through anything!). I also stated that I would put out a facebook post describing the content covered so people could also ask questions via facebook. This helped me to keep some control of the session. To keep it focused on the Savior it would be worth explaining the ultimate purpose or the "why" of each tool. If you cannot relate it back to the Savior and His work then you should question whether it should be included.

Obviously the main thing that people need to know about is paying tithing. You can also provide information about all of the different categories they can donate to. It is also helpful to explain how to contribute to a missionaries fund who lives outside of your ward. Here are my notes from what I covered (with some updates):

LDS.org
-Donation categories and how to pay
-Contributing to missionary funds outside of the ward
-Temple appointments
-Temple prayer roll
-My calling
-FIR (via ward council members, also on mobile)
-Calendar (and ability to autosync with google/apple/microsoft calendar)
-Missionary referral

Member Tools
It is worth noting that recently a transformation of Member Tools mobile app was announced so that its functionality will mirror that of LCR. This is due to be completed mid-2023.

Gospel Living
-Video
-Feeds
-Goals
-Circles

Family Search
-Ordinances ready (it starts with selecting a name and ends with booking the temple session, so a great one-stop tool)
-Bluetooth search for nearby relatives(people found relatives in my ward which helps boost connectiveness)
-Famous relatives

Other miscellaneous unofficial/interesting things you don't really need
-Missionary meal rosters
-LDSLiving
-LDS365
-Leading Saints
-Ldsbot.com

Bryce2787 wrote: Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:55 pm Member Tools
It is worth noting that recently a transformation of Member Tools mobile app was announced so that its functionality will mirror that of LCR. This is due to be completed mid-2023.

Your timeline should be updated to be in line with the 28 September notice that states "Improvements are coming to the Leader and Clerk Resources website and the Member Tools mobile app ... . These changes will be made incrementally in 2023 and 2024 ... ."

jdlessley wrote: Wed Oct 25, 2023 2:19 am

Bryce2787 wrote: Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:55 pm Member Tools
It is worth noting that recently a transformation of Member Tools mobile app was announced so that its functionality will mirror that of LCR. This is due to be completed mid-2023.

Your timeline should be updated to be in line with the 28 September notice that states "Improvements are coming to the Leader and Clerk Resources website and the Member Tools mobile app ... . These changes will be made incrementally in 2023 and 2024 ... ."

Thank you. On reflection one might question the wisdom of mentioning LCR at all in a fifth Sunday setting, given that many will only get a "access denied" message.

I should also add that I had my computer wired to the chapel tv in an effort to keep members engaged and show them how things worked. I received good feedback on the session from some of our senior members. The projector would have been better however, we have a shared meetinghouse so it was unavailable.

Bryce2787 wrote: Tue Oct 24, 2023 11:55 pm I did one of these earlier in the year. As expected, it can get messy. At the beginning I asked members to please save any questions around how something works until after and stated that the session was not intended to be a "follow along" (otherwise you would hardly get through anything!)...

Thanks for the excellent guidance and ideas for lesson content.

I like the suggestion above about focusing on the "why" as much as possible, and providing another forum for the "how to."

Features in Church apps and websites can be grouped into two categories – "tools" and "content." When talking about "tools" (directory in Member Tools, prayer roll online, taking notes in Gospel Library), it's easy to get caught in the weeds of how-to. These types of things are easier to teach one-on-one or in small groups. There will be a lot of questions and distractions as people are trying to keep up. People will have different levels of comfort with technology. People who can't keep up may feel left out.

There's no need to completely avoid mentioning tools, but for a fifth-Sunday lesson, focusing more on content might lead to a more gospel-centered discussion.

For example, maybe you could ask specific ward members in advance to explore a certain set of content, then come prepared to share what they found and how they feel it could be used to strengthen their relationship with the Savior, or to strengthen their family. This might include:
– "Topics and Questions" in Gospel Library
– "Life Help" in Gospel Library
– "Handbooks and Callings" in Gospel Library
– "Youth and Contemporary" in Sacred Music

P.S. Sorry for the late comment, given that October's fifth Sunday has already passed.

sbradshaw wrote: Tue Oct 31, 2023 4:32 pm P.S. Sorry for the late comment, given that October's fifth Sunday has already passed.

You make an excellent suggestion. And I sense that there will be another fifth Sunday in my life again in the not too distant future.