Religion Communicators Council Visits Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

The Nashville Chapter of the Religion Communicators Council recently paid a visit to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to receive a tour and learn about this faith community.

For its May 2013 meeting, the Religion Communicators Council (RCC) in Nashville visited the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) Stake Center in Franklin, TN.

The Council was led on a tour of the center by Nashville Mission President William McKee.

“When you get the chance to hear about someone directly from them, always take it.  It’s the best way to learn truth.  That’s what was so exciting about the visit to this church – it was an education and it was truth about the LDS Church,” says Rev. Brian Fesler, President of the Nashville Chapter of the RCC.

RCC members learned that the LDS church has a mission to help people find their roots. The Franklin Stake Center houses a facility where research is conducted,  both by members of the church and the community at large, to discover genealogical history. The church runs a free website: familysearch.org where this research can also take place.

One of the core tenets of the faith is that the Lord permits Church members to be baptized in behalf of their friends and relatives who have departed this life (see mormon.org). Baptism of the dead evolved from the beliefs that baptism is necessary for salvation and that the family unit can continue to exist together beyond mortal life if all members are baptized, according to an article on LDS members at pbs.org.

RCC members were given a rare glance into the LDS Temple, a site in which visitors are often restricted, and were able to sit in the anteroom and get questions answered by the Temple President. 

The Religion Communicators Council (RCC), founded in 1929, is an interfaith association of religion communicators at work in print and electronic communication, marketing and in public relations. Members of the RCC come from many different religions and backgrounds including Baptist, Jewish, Baha’i, Scientology, Muslim and Methodist among others. For more information, visit religioncommunicators.org.