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Meet Portal FAQ
New Tools and Guidelines for Managing Local Broadcasts
Managing Local Broadcasts
Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, local broadcasts such as stake conferences or sacrament meetings were managed through a tool called Webcast. During the pandemic this tool was replaced by enterprise Zoom licenses. The Church created a portal for managing Zoom licenses called “Church Meet”, which can be found at meet.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
Zoom has been approved as the tool for conducting local broadcasts and has built-in settings to ensure users are following principles outlined in the General Handbook: Serving in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We encourage units to begin using Zoom, as available, to take advantage of this new feature. YouTube and other services are currently being reviewed but are not approved as official tools for broadcasting Church events.
New Feature: Church Meet Portal “Events” Section
To more easily inform Church members about local Zoom broadcasts, events created using a Church Zoom license are now automatically imported into the Church Meet “Events” section. This allows event managers to view and publish their scheduled local Zoom events onto the Church’s public “broadcast” page alongside all Church broadcasts at broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Local events will only be visible to members within their designated unit and when they are logged in.
Event Codes
Each event will now have a code, which event managers can share with anyone to view the broadcast. This may be helpful for sharing links for special events like baby blessings, funerals, Primary programs, and multi-unit events. The code can be entered at broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org to access the broadcast.
Please consider using this “Events” section in the Church Meet portal to publish local events on the Broadcast page and inform members they can access their meeting links at broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Refer to the enclosure for frequently asked questions.
Church Meet Portal: Frequently Asked Questions
October 26, 2023
FAQs
Who can access and manage Zoom broadcasts?
Zoom "Events" section can be accessed by event managers who have access to the stake/ward Zoom account. Those with the following callings entered into Leader and Clerk Resources will automatically be event managers:
- Mission presidents
- Stake presidencies
- District presidencies
- Bishoprics including executive secretary and clerk
- Branch presidencies including executive secretary and clerk
- Members of Stake and Ward Councils
- Mission, Stake, District, Ward, and Branch Technology Specialists
Additional callings can be added manually.
Who can access the “Local Unit” section and manage Zoom licenses?
“Local Unit” section of the portal can still be accessed only by stake
technology specialists.
If the Zoom event has a password, will that still be required?
Yes, members will be able to log in and see the event link but will still need to use the password once they are on the Zoom platform.
Which languages is Church Meet available in?
English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean.
What if Zoom meetings/webinars from recurring series are not displayed inthe Church Meet portal for publishing?
If meeting data from a recurring series is not returned to the “Events” section of the Church Meet portal, event managers will need to create a new recurring series.
How can local leadership provide specific guidance or instructions to limit the distribution of links?
All Zoom events come into the portal as unpublished by default. If you toggle the event to publish, it will be seen by all members of the unit on the “Broadcast” page. If you want to segment the audience to a specific user or group, event managers simply leave the event unpublished from the “Events” section of the Church Meet portal and use the provided event IDs to grant access to specific individuals (such as, for one-on-one meetings, for those who are sick or unable to leave their homes, and so forth)
Note: Event codes change after each occurrence of recurring meetings. However, after publishing a recurring series, you’ll receive a prompt asking if you’d like to publish all events within the series to avoid the need to return each week for publication.
Status of using YouTube and other services
In the announcement above, the statement “YouTube and other services are currently being reviewed but are not approved as official tools for broadcasting Church events.” has raised numerous additional questions, such as, ‘Was the intent to say "Don't use YouTube", or just "know that YouTube hasn't been evaluated, so use it at your own risk?"
Reply to YouTube users: The use of YouTube and local YouTube accounts for local unit broadcasts is increasingly problematic due to risks impacting the church’s flagship channel and the church’s YouTube partnership program.
Although we are currently not restricting the use of YouTube Live, we are encouraging local event managers to shift from using YouTube to using Zoom whenever possible. By using a church sponsored Zoom license, event managers can more effectively communicate with members about local unit broadcasts through the new Live-Watch page found at Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Additionally, we're working on making local zoom events available on the new Gospel Stream mobile app, ensuring that all local, area, and headquarters-sponsored events can be accessed from a single channel.
This change will enhance the accessibility and convenience of local unit broadcasts for members by enabling viewing options in frequently used TV applications and will only be available using the church-sponsored Zoom licenses.
If you choose to continue using YouTube, please take the following precautions to limit the risk of the church’s flagship channel being taken down.
- Do not use the name of the Church in your channel name or channel dashboard info.
- Avoid use of any copyrighted materials
- The YouTube recording of the live streams should be deleted by the end of the day
- Be mindful of content being published to Ward or Stake channels
A general handbook revision is being recommended that will provide specific instructions around YouTube and its use in local unit broadcasting. Watch for a follow up communication with additional guidance.
The Meetinghouse technology team is also looking at options to enhance the streaming capabilities of the Zoom platform to enable a full transition more seamlessly from YouTube to Zoom for those that cannot make the transition immediate.