The Church is known for visuals like those highlighted in their Easter and Christmas campaigns and beautiful pictures of Christ on lds.org that show what we believe in and how members live the gospel.
And these visuals are more important than some members think.
In the article "Images of Christianity: How America’s Top 20 Churches 'Brand' Their Message," pictures from the websites of the top 20 Christian churches in America, according to reported membership, showed there is a surprising lack of pictures of Christ on Christian church websites.
For example, out of the 20 Christian churches listed, the LDS Church, coming in at no. 4 on the list, was one of only three churches that actively share pictures of Christ on its website, according to the article.
"Perhaps the most image-rich of all the denominations’ websites, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormon Church) has a heavy visual emphasis on daily living according to Jesus Christ’s teachings." the article noted. "Images emphasize service, strong family relationships, praying, friendship, forgiving, marriage, giving humanitarian aid, sharing the gospel, and remembering heritage. It is one of the few websites that displays actual images of Jesus Christ."
Though sometimes Church members are confronted with accusations that the Church does not believe in Christ, the Church openly shows our beliefs visually with pictures of Christ on and offline.
In an April 2017 general conference session, Elder Mark A. Bragg shared the story of Los Angeles firefighters braving flames in a burning LDS meeting house to rescue pictures of Christ on the walls.
"As the fire raged, a battalion commander called an LDS friend to ask where the sacred relics and sacrament cups were kept so they could be saved," Elder Bragg says in his address. "His friend assured him that there were no sacred relics and that the sacrament cups were actually very, very replaceable. But the commander felt he should do more, so he sent firefighters back into the burning building to pull every painting of Christ off of the walls that they might be preserved. They even placed one in the firetruck in the hope that the firefighters might be watched over."
And, as Elder Bragg's address shows, the use of LDS pictures of Christ is not limited to LDS members.
In 2013, the Juvenile Instructor posted an article about how "The Lord is My Shepherd" painting by LDS artist Simon Dewey was featured on a brochure for a Methodist church in New Jersey.
It's interesting to see that as the Church grows, our belief in Christ and gospel values are sometimes shared by pictures, not words.
See the full list of Top 20 Christian Churches at thevisualcommunicationguy.com