Recently I went to the Church Cultural Arts Department, doing research for my new BYU Studies article on the Arts and the Church. I asked all the hard questions, such as this one: Is Spencer Kimball's Gospel Vision of the Arts no longer valid? ( Ensign, July 1977).

The answer was clear — they knew of no prophet whose declarations became suddenly invalid. Now here we are, 31 years later.

Where Are We Now?

Since then, where have we come? How will the things President Kimball spoke of — excellence, craftsmanship, worldwide exposure, and exemplary and inspiring subject matter (indeed, even implicitly Mormon in nature and done by worthy Latter-day Saints) — come to pass?

For many years, and even now, two basic career paths for creative LDS people have existed. The first is to use the channels of production, distribution and marketing that exist for the arts on a national level. Many faithful Latter-day Saints have won praise for finding a niche in the national market that does not compromise their standards, and have carved out a successful path as individuals.

The second is to create channels of distribution within the LDS world market that cannot be compromised or controlled by the large entertainment conglomerates of the world. Many have made significant contributions in this arena as well.

I have advocated for years that both are necessary to bring people to Christ. Those who are doing positive, uplifting entertainment using the world's marketing tools, and well as those who are doing material strictly geared to Latter-day Saints, are much needed in the overall picture of President Kimball's vision.

I see those speaking to an LDS audience as being lighthouses, perfecting the Saints — and those working in the world's markets faithfully doing positive entertainment, as tugboats bringing souls towards the harbor, doing pure missionary work. Both are part of the Church's mission statement. Also included are those artists in between — faithful members of the Church working in genres not necessarily LDS. Everyone is needed.

The Church itself has established world-wide online product distribution, and a comprehensive website (www.lds.org) devoted to every aspect of the Gospel. Tremendous amounts of information are available there to all Saints and good people everywhere.

The Internet Indeed, in my opinion, the internet itself is the very tool for bringing to pass President Kimball's vision.

As internet, radio, television, cable, video, satellite and online publishing communication become increasingly consolidated into the TV set, (and/or perhaps smaller handheld devices), the path will exist for all the world to hear both official Church- and independently-produced products and art in their own tongue.

The internal LDS network is significantly growing in recent years. BYU TV is making major expansions and additional language programming, as the demand for international content has expanded exponentially. A current Arbitron study showed one in five radio listeners are online radio consumers. Online radio will be increasingly important. Apostles have encouraged the use of blogs and websites to promote the Church by individuals.

Recent Developments

Several potent English language ventures currently reach many all over the world. Of note are www.MormonTimes.com, a new online venture launched by the Deseret News, www.yourLDSneighborhood.com, a new online LDS mall, www.MeridianMagazine.com, www.LDSLiving.com, BYU TV, BYU Radio, and more comprehensive Church website expansion. Significant vehicles exist for music in iTunes, www.LDSaudio.com, www.LDSTunesNow.com, www.LDSMusicNow.com, www.PositiveMusicandArts.com, as well as an excellent new film called Emma Smith: My Story, and a host of other ventures too numerous to mention.

All combine into a literal wave of effort for the good of the Kingdom. Each individual drop fills the bucket of goodness in the world that much more.

It is important to remember that most of these are commercial ventures, in addition to the direct efforts of the Church's own limited resources. All are needed to be pervasive throughout the world, and provide vehicles for good music and art to reach massive audiences. This translates into good news for the arts.

Because of all these things, there has never been a better time to be creating good, positive art. My next message will deal with specifics of taking advantage of this worldwide evolution, and what it means to all artists.