Can I Set Up a Stake Project?

[richardostewart]

So it may be OK to use a statement such as the following:

...is sponsored and presented by the ... Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This web site, the Facebook page, and the YouTube channel for this event are not official sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints or the ... Stake. They are managed, funded, and run by John Doe, Jane Doe, and Sam. For info, please contact them at ...

This would still give credit to the sponsoring institution, which is the Stake, but would also indicate that the site(s) associated with this effort are not church web sites.

Item 3 in the 'Members' Use of the Internet in Church Callings' section does say that members

should not state or imply that their Web site or activities are sponsored or endorsed by the Church.

I am guessing that 'activities' in this context means the internet activities, not the actual activities themselves, which probably have their own set of guidelines defined elsewhere in the Handbook.

I am still planning on running this by Stake leadership. I'd just like to offer up a suggestion that is the best we can come up with before going to them (think the Brother of Jared and the lights for his barges).

[jdlessley]

I would not use the words "is sponsored and presented by the ... Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Those words state the site is sponsored by the church. This is what the handbook states should not be done.

The disclaimer is the wording provided in the "Members’ Use of the Internet in Church Callings" section of 21.1.22. I would use it as exactly worded. The disclaimer is “This is not an official Web site of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”

Both the website and Facebook page should include the disclaimer and statement of 'responsible' people. A single disclaimer and statement for both the site and the Facebook page on just the site does not, IMO, meet the requirement in the handbook.

Item 3 in the 'Members' Use of the Internet in Church Callings' section does say that members

should not state or imply that their Web site or activities are sponsored or endorsed by the Church.

I am guessing that 'activities' in this context means the internet activities, not the actual activities themselves, which probably have their own set of guidelines defined elsewhere in the Handbook.

I agree with that interpretation.

I know my recommendation to remove the words "is sponsored and presented by the ... Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints" creates a problem in accomplishing a link to the stake. Definitely avoid using the words 'sponsored' or 'presented by' in direct relation to the Church or any Church unit. I think you can accomplish a relationship with the Church and the stake by including a statement about the purpose of the site. You could also make a statement such as "This site is sponsored and presented by members of the [stake name] stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." That statement establishes the link to the Church but makes it clear the site is sponsored by members of the Church. If you included this statement I would put in close proximity to the disclaimer statemtment.

[richardostewart]

I would not use the words "is sponsored and presented by the ... Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints". Those words state the site is sponsored by the church. This is what the handbook states should not be done.

What I am really working for is a statement that gives credit to the stake for organizing/sponsoring the event, while at the same time saying that the site is an individual/group effort on the part of the members. Maybe I explain how the event got started, who organizes it, etc. on the About page. This would give proper credit while avoiding the tricky wording that confuses the disclaimer.

Both the website and Facebook page should include the disclaimer and statement of 'responsible' people. A single disclaimer and statement for both the site and the Facebook page on just the site does not, IMO, meet the requirement in the handbook.

I agree with this. I would put a similar disclaimer about all of our internet presence on all of our sites. We'll be linking back and forth, and I want to make sure that any time people read the disclaimer, they realize that we have multiple sites, but none of them are sponsored by the Church.