Stephen B. Allen

Stephen Brown Allen

Allen in August, 2010
Born January 12, 1950
Salt Lake City, Utah, USA
Residence West Jordan, Utah, USA
Alma mater Brigham Young University
Occupation Managing Director, Missionary Depatment, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Known for His work developing new methods of missionary work using technology, traditional and new media, improved teaching methodologies and other creative means.[1][2][3]
Religion The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Spouse Nancy Billings
Children 6

Stephen B. Allen

Stephen Brown Allen[4] was born January 12, 1950, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Arthur Tranter and Virginia Brown Allen. His mother died from complications related to childbirth and his father subsequently married June Fowler Allen, the only mother he would know. His father was involved in the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints building program. On assignments his family moved to various parts of the world. Allen spent four years of his childhood in Australia and New Zealand. At the age of twelve his family moved to Montevideo, Uruguay, where he later graduated from high school.

He served an LDS mission in the Guatemala-El Salvador Mission from 1969 to 1971, returning to Brigham Young University where he graduated with a major in Communications—Television Production and a minor in Advertising and Public Relations.

He married Nancy Billings on January 28, 1972, in the Salt Lake LDS Temple. They have six children—four boys and two girls. All six children have served missions. The Allens now have 25 grandchildren.

Allen served as mission president of the Arizona Tempe Mission from 1993-1995. He has served as a Bishop twice, counselor in a stake presidency, and stake president.

Prior to his call as a mission president, Brother Allen was the director of Media and Public Programs in the Missionary Department of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He was responsible for the production and distribution of Church radio, television, and print media directed to nonmembers as well as Church pageants, visitors’ centers, and historic sites. Earlier in his career, Allen was the executive producer of all Homefront radio and television commercials and many other Church films, including Mr. Krueger's Christmas (1980), The Last Leaf (1983),

Allen is currently serving as managing director of the Missionary Department. On April 2, 2011, Allen was sustained as an Area Seventy.[5] He currently serves as a member of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy, assigned to the Utah Salt Lake City Area.

Contents

Key Projects

Ad Campaigns: Emmy Award-Winning[6] Homefront PSAs, I'm a Mormon[7]

Films: Mr. Krueger's Christmas(1980),[8] The Last Leaf (1983),[9] Man's Search for Happiness (1987 Remake),[10] The Nativity: Luke II (1986),[11] Our Heavenly Father's Plan (1986), Together Forever (1987), What is Real? (1990), Labor of Love (1990), On the Way Home (1992)

Visitors Centers, Pageants and Historic Sites: Hill Cumorah Pageant update, technology in visitors centers, Salt Lake Temple model, Mormon Batallion Visitors Center

Modern Missionary Work: Preach My Gospel, Reality TV Construct Makes Missionaries Better - The District I, The District II

Allen as LDS Church Spokesman

Following are quotes by Allen published in news media:

"In an article chronicling The LDS Church winning its 2nd Emmy for the Homefront public service announcement campaign, Allen said, "The Emmy doesn't fit in a suitcase," he explained. "Carrying it out of the banquet room, back to the hotel and on the plane - it didn't go unnoticed. We heard whispers and 'oohs' everywhere we went. It was surprising how many people recognized the Emmy."[12]
"We’re not secretive,” Stephen B. Allen, managing director of the church’s missionary department, who is in charge of the [I'm a Mormon] campaign, said in an interview. “And we’re not scared of what people think of us. If you don’t recognize the problem, you can’t solve the problem. If nobody tells you you have spinach in your teeth, how would you know?"[13]
"I’ll never forget this one woman,’’ said Stephen B. Allen, managing director of the church’s missionary program. When participants were asked how they would feel about doing community service with Mormons, “She said’’ — Allen adopted a stage whisper — “if you are serving alongside them, you can ask them the questions you always wanted to ask." [The I'm a Mormon Campaign's] principal purpose, Allen said, is to “dispel the myths and misperceptions’’ about Mormons, a critical task for a religion that considers proselytizing an ecclesiastical mandate. “Our motivator was, how do we help these young missionaries who are donating two years of their time and paying their own way and working their guts out overcome some of the obstacles, so they can share their message more openly?’’ said Allen in an interview in his Temple Square office last week.[14]

References

  1. ^ "Technology Used by Church From Early Years". Intellectual Reserve, Inc.. http://newsroom.lds.org/article/technology-used-by-church-from-early-years. 
  2. ^ "New Mormon.org Brings Mormons to the Forefront". Intellectual Reserve, Inc.. http://newsroom.lds.org/article/new-mormon-org-brings-mormons-to-the-forefront. 
  3. ^ "YouTube: New Mormon.org". http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DoDNYI26VDA. 
  4. ^ Hubbard, Jonice. "PIONEERS IN TWENTIETH CENTURY MORMON MEDIA: Oral Histories of Latter-day Saint Electronic Media and Public Relations Professionals". Department of Communications Brigham Young University. p. 35. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/ETD/image/etd2204.pdf. Retrieved 22 December 2011. 
  5. ^ "New General Authorities and Area Seventies Named at April 2011 Conference". LDS Church. http://newsroom.lds.org/article/new-general-authorities-and-area-seventies-named. Retrieved 31 May 2011. 
  6. ^ "Second Emmy in Two Years". http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/17406/Second-Emmy-in-two-years.html. Retrieved 10 Sep 1988. 
  7. ^ Priya David Clemens. "Mormons try to brush up image while in spotlight". CBS News, June 21, 2011. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/21/earlyshow/main20072948.shtml. 
  8. ^ "Mr. Krueger's Christmas on IMDB.com". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0081190/. 
  9. ^ "The Last Leaf on IMDB.com". http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0448227/. 
  10. ^ "Man's Search for Happiness in MLDB". http://mormonlit.byu.edu/lit_work.php?w_id=14900. 
  11. ^ "The Nativity: Luke II on MLDB". http://mormonlit.lib.byu.edu/lit_work.php?w_id=21785. 
  12. ^ "Second Emmy in Two Years". http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/17406/Second-Emmy-in-two-years.html. Retrieved 10 Sep 1988. 
  13. ^ Laurie Goodstein. "Mormons’ Ad Campaign May Play Out on the ’12 Campaign Trail". New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/18/us/mormon-ad-campaign-seeks-to-improve-perceptions.html?_r=2&pagewanted=1. Retrieved 17 Nov 2011. 
  14. ^ Lisa Wangsness. "Mormons’ image campaign". The Boston Globe. http://www.boston.com/news/politics/articles/2011/06/20/in_ads_mormons_introduce_themselves/?page=full. Retrieved 20 Jun 2011. 

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