I was reading some internal Church research recently regarding challenges most bishops face. One that caught my attention was that many bishops struggle to truly know their ward members. I don’t doubt this is true, but the statement did concern me in the context of some other research I did last August regarding a Church Web site feature that could help bishops better get to know their ward members.

Last summer, I did some analysis of the Stake and Ward Web sites statistics, and I found that 60% of wards have no member photos posted. A small percentage of units, 5%, mostly singles wards, are heavy users of this feature with over 100 photographs posted of the members of the ward.

I have never been a bishop, so perhaps there is something I am missing, but I would like to understand this better. Am I right that the photo feature of the Ward Web site would help bishops put names to faces? I know bishops want more than a name and a face, but isn’t that a good start?  Is there something impeding more bishops from utilizing this feature? If you are or have been a bishop, what could we do through the Church Web site to help you in your effort to get to know the members of you ward better?

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