Next to the majestic organ pipes, J. Spencer Kinard is perhaps the most visible aspect of the Tabernacle Choir.
To be so closely associated in the minds of many people with the values the Church represents gives him a sense of responsibility, Kinard said. And he counts the blessings that come from it."The responsibility is one to be proud of and one to be humbled at simultaneously," he commented. "There is a constant reminder that you are a representative of something far greater than yourself."
Among the blessings he counts are the opportunity for him and his wife, Lynette, to have traveled around the world with the choir, and the opportunity to associate with the choir staff.
"One thing that stands out in my mind is that on a regular basis, people come up to me, having seen the choir perform, grab my hand, and, sometimes choked up to the point they can't complete a sentence, express what it has meant to them. In some cases the choir has changed their lives, and in some cases led them to understand the gospel and be baptized."
He expresses the rewards in the words of fellow broadcaster Tom Brokaw: "It's easy to make a buck, but it's hard to make a difference." Being affiliated with the choir, Kinard feels he can make a difference.
Kinard has been serving on a "somewhat temporary basis" for the past 17 years as the voice of the Tabernacle Choir.
The 48-year-old television journalist smiled as he told the story of his appointment in a recent Church News interview.
The passing of Elder Richard L. Evans of the Council of the Twelve in November 1971 left a conspicuous void. He had served for 40 years as the choir's announcer and author of the "Spoken Word" in its weekly broadcasts. He was the only man who had ever filled that position.
In February of 1972, Kinard was selected from 13 prospective announcers who had been asked to audition for the position. A couple of weeks later, he received a letter from President Joseph Fielding Smith and his counselors asking him to accept the assignment on a "somewhat temporary basis."
"That was the last written correspondence I have received from the First Presidency," he said with a hearty laugh.
But he added solemnly that President Harold B. Lee some months later let him know that the entire Council of the Twelve, after reviewing audition tapes from 13 prospective announcers, each wrote on a slip of paper their choice for the job. Each slip bore Kinard's name. "It was the Lord's choice that you're doing what you're doing," President Lee told him.
