Eighteen months in the making, mormon.org 4.0 is now online and being used by thousands of people interested in gaining greater understanding and insight into The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Media coverage of the launch includes the Deseret Morning News, KSL-TV and the Salt Lake Tribune.
Additional online interviews from department staff give context to the reason for the redesign.
More than a Web site, mormon.org facilitates more effective person-to-person connection modeled after unique qualities found in face-to-face communication. Today, those conversations have been brought online.
Conversations include people like Keenan and Camille, Mormons, each with a unique way they live their faith. Keenan is a native Hawaiian, speaks Dutch and joined the Church at age 18. Camille teaches math and is a foster mom, grandmother and collector of nearly two thousand neckties.
"The goal here is for people to understand that any institution, any collection of people, is really just a manifestation of the beliefs of its members," said Scott Swofford, director of media in the Church's Missionary Department.
Gabriel studies languages and is preparing to be a chaplain in the U.S. Army. One of the languages he speaks is Haitian -- a language he learned and a people he came to love during a two-year mission to Florida.
Cindi is a blogger whose grandparents joined the Mormon Church in Switzerland. She is a mother of five who believes there is value in having dinner as a family every night.
Thousands of Mormons have completed online profiles with biographical information, personal interests and individual testimonies. In addition, doctrinal questions are answered by members of the Church, not for the Church, but representative of the Church's worldwide membership.