Mormon Diplomacy Part II: Public Affairs

I enjoyed writing about Mormon Diplomacy so much last week, I decided I wanted to write a small series on the subject. I felt it might be interesting to point out some of the Church's major institutionalized diplomatic efforts, as well as discuss some of the diplomatic needs of the Church.

Today I want to focus on what the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints refers to as “Public Affairs.” This wing of Church-sponsored diplomacy has become particularly interesting to me since coming to Romania. This interest, in part, stems from one of the callings I have received in our small branch: public affairs representative. Basically, my job is to help coordinate any and all church media efforts in our area.

As part of my calling, I have been lucky enough to receive some training in the public relations system of the Church. They have a very grand objective: To bring the Church out of obscurity. In other words, they seek to help more people who don't know anything about the Mormons know something about them, and most preferably, something positive.

The calling and trainings have led me to take an even deeper interest of some of the various efforts the Church makes around the world to help promote themselves. Using the power of the internet, I began to search for more information. Being aware of much of what goes on among the Mormons, I didn't expect to be too surprised by what I might find. I couldn't have been more wrong. I have been amazed by the extent and the organization of the Church's worldwide efforts.

Before sharing a couple of examples of these efforts, I wanted to point out two important facts of reality that have helped me understand the purpose of Public Affairs.

1) The first is a reality check. Most people know nothing about the Mormons. Despite the 13 million+ membership of the Church and its presence in most nations, the vast majority of people still know little to nothing about Mormons or their Church.

2) The second is understanding the difference between Public Affairs efforts and the job of the full-time missionaries. While the missionaries certainly do have much influence in representing the Church around the world, their scope is fundamentally different. Their task is that of teaching the religious doctrines of the Church. While they do a tremendous job of this, the truth is that not everybody is interested in learning about what the Church teaches. Public Affairs' direct purpose is not teaching or baptizing religious converts. It's role is purely informative and diplomatic.

Understanding these facts helps us to understand the importance of Public Affairs. While the Church certainly benefits from converts to their religion, it also benefits from genuine friends. These friends are ordinary people from all walks of life who are not members of the Church, but those who nevertheless have positive impressions of the Mormons. Public Affairs efforts promote Mormons as a people and as an organization, and to help people see that “hey, Mormons aren't so bad after all!”

A few of the Public Affairs programs struck me as particularly interesting. The first is an ambassadorial/diplomatic outreach to representatives from other countries serving in the United States. Ambassadors, diplomats, foreign ministers, and other official representatives receive invitations both to attend special church functions in the Washington, DC area, and for visits to Salt Lake City, Brigham Young University, etc. For instance, in 2006, 621 official visitors from 100 different countries came to Utah. In 2007, 562 visitors from 103 countries came. I was very surprised by how many people have participated in this program.

Another interesting and relatively new program is the Church's diplomatic outreach to the United Nations. A few years ago, Olene Walker, former governor of Utah, and her husband Myron, were called as the first “Ambassadors to the United Nations” for the Church. During their time in New York City they met with hundreds of officials from all over the world, and were able to share with them much about the work of the Church. For a more in- depth look at their work with the U.N., check out this video.

These are just two examples of the many institutionalized diplomatic outreach programs promoted by the Church's Public Affairs office. As they continue in their efforts, hopefully we too can all do our part in winning friends for the Mormons. In two weeks, I will talk more about some ways we can do this better.

For further reading, see the following article:
http://www.ldsinternationalsociety.org/isdb/publications/19th.pdf

Next Week: Mormon Diplomacy Part III: LDS Humanitarian Services