Tech Forum

The help for the Official Communication Library says: "When a new letter or notice is added to the library, English-speaking stake presidents receive an e-mail message with a link to the document in the library."

Does anyone know if that feature will be extended to Bishops or others? Every year we get a printed letter (via the post office) regarding tithing settlement and when it can officially start. We always get the letter after the official start time. If that notice was sent via email, we'd know sooner.

In this case, since the Bishop gets their own letter, I don't know if the same letter is sent to the Stake President via email and if they could have passed that along to all the bishops before the postal letter arrived.

sasgrw wrote:Does anyone know if that feature will be extended to Bishops or others?

I have no idea, but the policy of informing only stake presidents electronically has been in place for many years.

sasgrw wrote:In this case, since the Bishop gets their own letter, I don't know if the same letter is sent to the Stake President via email and if they could have passed that along to all the bishops before the postal letter arrived.

Such letters are indeed sent to the stake president via email. Typically that happens on the very day the letter is dated, which is typically also the day it appears in the Official Communications Library. And these letters always clearly state who receives them, so the stake president would know that a copy is on its way to the bishops. Thus I see no reason why he couldn't choose to let the bishops know promptly as well.

The only issue that requires sensitivity is security. Such emails are sent to the stake's LDSMail account (at least as far as I know), and some of the messages can be sensitive. Thus simply forwarding the messages via unsecure email might not be appropriate (although in the case of Tithing Settlement deadlines, I doubt that there's anything very sensitive).

There is nothing to keep a member of the stake presidency or bishopric from accessing the site on a regular basis, say weekly or monthly, to find out what letters are on the way in the white envelope.

lajackson wrote:There is nothing to keep a member of the stake presidency or bishopric from accessing the site on a regular basis, say weekly or monthly, to find out what letters are on the way in the white envelope.

Of course we can check the website weekly but that's exactly why I was asking my original question in allowing 'push' notifications rather than 'pull'.

sasgrw wrote:Of course we can check the website weekly but that's exactly why I was asking my original question in allowing 'push' notifications rather than 'pull'.

I agree with you and understand this would be nice. I think the challenge is that the notification goes to the official stake email account, and so far the Church has not set up official ward email accounts.