Public relations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Public relations of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) has become increasingly important to the church's hierarchy since the church's growth internationally after World War II. By the 1960s and 1970s, the LDS Church was no longer primarily an Intermountain West-based church, or even a United States-based church. Rather, it had become a worldwide organization.

The church's organized public relations efforts have deep roots. The Bureau of Information, the predecessor of the Temple Square Visitors Centers was started on Temple Square in Salt Lake City with Le Roi Snow, a son of Lorenzo Snow, as the first director.

The origins of the use of the media to spread the message of the church can be traced to the formation of the Radio, Publicity and Missionary Literature Committee in 1934. This organization was headed by Stephen L Richards, of the Quorum of the Twelve, with Gordon B. Hinckley serving as the executive secretary and initially as the only employee. During the 1930s, the Committee developed film strips for use by church missionaries.

In 1957, the church split the Radio, Publicity and Missionary Literature Committee into the Church Information Service with the goal of communicating the church's message to the media and an internal communications department. The Church Information Service worked with the goal of being ready to respond to media inquiries and generate positive media coverage. The organization kept a file to provide photos to the media for church events, such as temple dedications. It also would work to get stories covering Family Home Evening, the church welfare plan, and the church's youth activities in various publications.

In 1972, the Church Information Service was renamed the Department of Public Communications. In 1973, it was renamed again to the Public Communications Department. It was also placed directly under the supervision of the First Presidency, unlike most church departments that were directed through the Quorum of the Twelve. At this point, Wendell J. Ashton was the director. Shortly after this, supervision of LDS Visitors Centers and production of ads produced by the church was added to the department's responsibilities. To assist with these aspects, Heber Wolsey, Brigham Young University's public relations director, was recruited. The department then came out with the Homefront ads with their tag line, "Family: isn't it about time?".

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