Friedman and the Globalization of a Church

Thomas Friedman in The World is Flat approached the flattening of the world from many perspectives.  I would like to add a perspective.  The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been slowly flattening the world since the mid-1800s.  From its inception, the Church has sent missionaries to the nations of the earth, bringing the gospel to foreign lands and establishing branches of the Church.  These branches were independent in many ways, especially when communication was difficult and expensive.  However, they understood that they were part of a worldwide organization, and their perspective was enlarged beyond the narrow confines of their place and time.  As time has progressed, and new technologies have come into being, the Church has sought to stay current.  Now, the Church is connected more than ever.  General Conference is broadcast around the world in many, many languages.  Church materials are available in mp3s and podcasts.  Manuals can be downloaded onto mobile devices.  The Missionary Training Center hosts live chat on mormon.org for those curious about Church beliefs.

In recent years, the Church has begun to embrace the concept of Globalization 3.0.  The new Family Search program, for example, is built around the concept of social networking.  Collaboration with individuals around the world is made easy and intuitive.  It is the same idea as a business outsourcing a process.  Let everyone with a comparative advantage do what they are best at and collectively the group will succeed beyond the capacity of any individual.  Contributors from Ireland may have easier access to gravestones or documents not yet digitized.  I don't need to fly 4600 miles to track that information down.  Another example is the Church's distribution center.  Jim Christensen, manager of product development for Church Distribution Services, says “we ... have many, many members of the Church who are hours away [from a center] who can have products right at their fingertips—shipped directly to their door so they don’t have to travel to a distribution center."

As the world becomes more connected, and the allure of free trade opens the nations of the earth previously under political oppression, the Church will have greater access to foreign lands.  To compete in the global market, developing nations will have to foster a culture of curiosity and innovation.  This same attitude will open minds to new religious ideas.  I think in the near future we will see significant growth in church membership in places like India and China, where education, communication, and the doctrine of free trade is rapidly spreading.  These are as precursors, preparing the way.  And with more than a billion people in each country, the Church certainly has its hands full.