"Mormon Mingle" - The Cottage Meeting in the Digital Age

LDS missionaries have organized "cottage meetings" for many years -- gatherings in homes where church members and investigators could meet in a comfortable setting where religious topics could be discussed but less formally. It has been a tried and true method by which good relationships could be built among missionaries, members, and friends of the church. Many such investigators have joined the church in this way.

Recently at the MTC the Referral Center missionaries (who are full time online missionaries with whom people chat at Mormon.org) have begun to pilot what they are calling the "Mormon Mingle" -- a version of the cottage meeting updated for the digital age. Instead of meeting in someone's home, those invited either meet in a group chat room or through a telephone conference call. The Mormon Mingle format is still in its infancy, but early efforts have proven so positive that these online missionaries are very encouraged and are now expanding their efforts.

This is how it works.