Stake Websites

[sdmahouston]

Is there a way to create a stake website similar to what you can create for wards on https://local.churchofjesuschrist.org?

[russellhltn]

From Activity Sharing

Announcements
- Stake activities can now be published by stake leaders directly to the ward web pages.

FAQS:
Do stakes have the ability to create and publish stake activities through Activity Sharing technology?
Yes, stake leaders can publish activities and meetings on the ward web pages in their stake. They do this by creating a public facing activity or meeting using calendar.churchofjesuschrist.org and ensuring they select a stake calendar. Stake leaders can also view the RSVPs for these events in the Activity Sharing Report in the Reports tab in LCR, under Unit Information.

The following callings have the ability to create and publish stake activities:

• Stake Presidency, including clerks and secretaries
• Stake High Councilors
• Stake Communication Director
• Stake Assistant Communication Director
• Stake Communication Specialist
• Stake Relief Society Presidency, including secretaries
• Stake Young Men Presidency
• Stake Young Women Presidency
• Stake Sunday School Presidency
• Stake Primary Presidency
• Stake Technology Specialist

It was previously stated that stakes do not have a page. That was a bit of a disappointment to us as traditionally our main events for attracting non-member was at the stake level.

I'm guessing the underlying theory is to attract non-members to their local ward, where socializing is done rather than to the stake.

[DrJubal]

I have shared Stake activities as "public events" and they show up on our English-speaking ward websites, but NOT our spanish language unit. As you might imagine, this is a problem and risks the 'togetherness' that we're trying to foster, rather than an 'us and them' mentality.

Has anyone else experienced this? Does anyone know a work-around?

[russellhltn]

The whole point of a Spanish ward is to reach those that speak Spanish as their primary language. I'm not surprised the church isn't going to put an English version of an event on the Spanish webpage.

I'd suggest having the Spanish ward create an event (in Spanish), and push it out to their webpage. Of course they can't select "Church facility" for a location, but they can select "Other" or "Address". The stake event organizers need to be aware of the situation and make sure the Spanish ward calendar person is aware of any changes that are made.

[DrJubal]

Activitysharing <ActivitySharing@churchofjesuschrist.org>

John, thank you for reaching out and this is a known issue. Right now, stake events are published on English unit web pages, all other languages are not being published. We are working to resolve this gap and hope to have a solution in the next month.

Activity Sharing Support Team

[sbradshaw]

I'd suggest having the Spanish ward create an event (in Spanish), and push it out to their webpage.

And if you do this, also make sure someone who speaks Spanish will be there at the event and available to translate – or make the language clear in the event info. If a Spanish-speaking community member sees an event with all of the information in Spanish, they might expect the event itself to be in Spanish, and could be confused/disappointed if it turns out to be an English event.

[russellhltn]

And if you do this, also make sure someone who speaks Spanish will be there at the event and available to translate.

Valid point. I hope those working on the automation consider that.

[BrianEdwards]

Language-support seems a higher-level issue than simply automating outward-facing websites. If a stake has enough members to form some kind of "internal" language unit (group/branch/ward), then it seems the stake's "outward" efforts should likewise take that into consideration. Obviously individual stake events will have unique aspects, and different levels of language-support (from "none" to "full") might be desired. My experience is that many language units feel left out from stake participation, and that here in the USA many times the stake leaders are mainly focused on English-speaking members (or in this case, the English-speaking public). And they leave the language aspects to the local leaders of those language units, which unfortunately disconnects those members from the blessings of stake leadership and support.

In stakes with language units, I've found the most success comes when stake leaders have a 'standing action item' for their events, to consider what (if any) language support is desired. They then communicate and coordinate with local leaders as needed, to balance language-specific resources with needs for that specific event. It does add an additional burden on the stake when they plan activities (whether internal or external), but I've seen small efforts have great results when this is intentionally considered. Since stake leaders were called and set apart to serve all within their boundaries, if there's a language-unit in their stake, they should take ownership of that as well.

Just my two cents, as it happens to hit close to home for my current calling