The Core Purpose of Public Affairs

Though public affairs work focuses on those not of our faith, baptism and conversion are not its primary aim. Rather, public affairs is primarily concerned with helping priesthood leaders to establish positive relationships with key individuals. These individuals, commonly referred to as opinion leaders, are those with influence who can affect the public reputation of the Church or who can help or hinder the Church in the achievement of its mission. Building these important relationships constitutes the core purpose of public affairs.

Who Are the Opinion Leaders?

Opinion leaders are those who, by virtue of their position or prominence, have influence on the opinions and beliefs of other people. Often they are empowered to make decisions that affect many others, including the Church. Some examples include elected or appointed officials, leaders of academic institutions, prominent business people, religious leaders, and members of the media.

Opinion leaders may have a profound influence on the Church’s ability to build temples or chapels, proselytize in a given country, microfilm genealogical records, or distribute humanitarian assistance. Their positive or negative opinions of the Church may be shared with other influential individuals or the media, ultimately shaping perceptions. As opinion leaders learn more about the Church and its doctrine and practices, see its good works, and become acquainted with Church members, they may be more willing, in appropriate settings and circumstances, to endorse and legitimize the Church, authorize the Church’s activities and, when necessary, even defend the Church.

A positive relationship between Church leaders and any opinion leader is valuable and should be considered a blessing to the Church. However, some opinion leaders occupy more influential positions than others. Moreover, their influence can increase or decrease over time. Consequently, relationships with those who are currently in a position to help or hinder the work of the Church are considered more vital than with those who do not currently occupy such a position.

The most vital of all are those who can directly affect the outcome of a specific and current Church initiative in a given area. Building positive relationships with these individuals should be the primary work of the local public affairs council. See Fundamentals of Relationship Building for more information.

In order to identify key opinion leaders, public affairs councils must first have a firm understanding of the issues that make them key in the first place. For this reason, public affairs councils are often reminded to consider the What before considering the Who. Stated another way, they should seek first to understand what the objectives of their priesthood leaders are, as well as the local issues facing the Church. With this knowledge, they can understand who has influence related to that objective or issue and who they should be directing their relationship-building efforts toward.

This consideration of the What before the Who is part of a recommended Three-Step Process for Building Opinion Leader Relationships. Following this process will help ensure that the essential work of public affairs councils is not sacrificed in pursuit of activities that may provide a lesser long-term benefit to the Church. It will also ensure that the time of priesthood leaders and public affairs councils is used effectively and that the Lord’s resources are utilized to their best possible advantage.

Community outreach opportunities with general authorities are initiated and coordinated through the Public Affairs Department in Salt Lake City, USA. On occasion general authorities are in your area to preside at a stake conference or for other purposes. Priesthood leaders who are contemplating outreach opportunities should first contact the Public Affairs Department for coordination with the visiting general authority.