On Aug. 27, 1971, President Joseph Fielding Smith spoke to more than 14,000 Church members assembled in Manchester, England, for the Church's first area conference.
The conference — which attracted members from throughout England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales — opened a new page in history for the Church, marking the beginning of a decade known for unparalleled growth: a decade of missionary work; a decade of building; a decade when LDS leaders made greater strides in reaching out to the Church's growing worldwide membership.
Elder Francis M. Gibbons, who served as secretary to the First Presidency from 1970 to 1986 prior to his call to the First Quorum of the Seventy, recalled the 1970s as an exciting time for the Church.
"It was a period of unparalleled growth up to that point in time," recalled Elder Gibbons. "It was a period when there was a great increase in the dedication of members of the Church. It was a period when there was great excitement about the growth of the Church and the future of the Church. That excitement was manifested all over the world as members, in whatever country they lived, felt that they had a significant work to do in their home countries."
During the historic area conference in England, 14 General Authorities, as well as auxiliary leaders, addressed members — sending the message that they would no longer need to leave their homeland to partake of the blessings of Church membership, that they would no longer need to journey thousands of miles to hear the prophet or mingle with other members in great numbers.
Elder Gibbons noted that the conference was intended to "focus on the international character of the Church, to make those living in the outlying areas feel that they were part of the Church. This set a pattern that was followed for several years, even past the 1970s."
The conference came as a result of the growth of the Church worldwide. The Church began the decade with 600 stakes. By the end of 1979, that number had almost doubled to 1,100. Membership also almost doubled during the decade, with 2.4 million members in 1970 and just under 4.6 million 10 years later.
On July 4, 1976, the United States celebrated its bicentennial — a birthday that united a country which began the decade divided by years of involvement in Vietnam and the Watergate Scandal, ultimately leading to the resignation of U.S. President Richard Nixon.
Just as the country found unity in its 200th birthday celebration, members excited about the Church's bright future and growing membership united during the 1970s.
In response to growth, the Church embarked on a decade of building: including the 28-story Church Office Building which was completed in 1972 and dedicated three years later on July 24, 1975. Four temples were constructed during the 1970s: the Ogden Utah Temple, dedicated Jan. 18, 1972; the Provo Utah Temple, dedicated Feb. 9, 1972; the Washington D.C. Temple, dedicated on Nov. 19, 1974; and the Sao Paulo Brazil Temple, dedicated on Oct. 30, 1978. The Arizona, St. George and Logan temples were also rededicated after remodeling during the decade.
Elder Gibbons explained that Church leaders also responded to the growth with significant changes in the structure of the Church, including the creation of the First Quorum of the Seventy and, at headquarters, the departments of Internal Communications and External Communications (later changed to Public Communications, then to Public Affairs).
The First Quorum of the Seventy, created on Oct. 3, 1975, opened the way for calling many more General Authorities to serve in an international capacity, said Elder Gibbons. "Later on," he continued, "there was a move to delegate authority from the leading brethren to local ecclesiastical leaders." Stake presidents began to do tasks previously done by General Authorities, such as the ordaining of bishops and patriarchs, he explained.
Elder Gibbons noted that the departments at Church headquarters were created to relieve the Quorum of the Twelve of many of their responsibilities at headquarters. "Their role is defined in revelation to set in order the affairs of the Church throughout the world," he explained. "For them to have administrative responsibilities at Church headquarters impinged upon that overall worldwide authority and responsibility."
The Department of External Communications handled the Church's public affairs. The Department of Internal Communications' main function was to manage the vast worldwide activities of the Church in respect to preparation, publication, translation, correlation and distribution of Church documents, books and manuscripts. "It was a vast operation," Elder Gibbons said.
In January 1971, Church leaders discontinued the Improvement Era and the Relief Society magazines, and began publishing the Ensign, the New Era and The Friend as the correlated magazines of the Church. Elder Gibbons noted that the move was just one of many to provide materials for a worldwide and rapidly growing Church.
Missionary work was one of the greatest contributors to the Church's rapid growth during this time.
At a regional representatives seminar in 1974, President Kimball declared that every young man in the Church should serve a mission. As the prophet traveled the world, said Elder Gibbons, he continued to emphasize a young man's missionary responsibility. "It was this missionary movement that was the dynamic force in the Church, leading to extraordinary growth."
In 1974, at the time of the announcement, there were about 18,000 missionaries serving throughout the world. By 1980, however, almost 30,000 missionaries were serving.
During the 1970s, missionaries also entered the mission field better prepared. In 1973 a new set of missionary discussions was introduced. A new Language Training Mission was constructed in 1976 near BYU in Provo and two years later, on Sept. 8, 1978, a new missionary training program was announced. The language training mission and the mission home in Salt Lake City were discontinued and consolidated into the Missionary Training Center.
"The missionaries, with the creation of the Missionary Training Center, went out well prepared," said Elder Gibbons. "When the missionaries went into the Missionary Training Center they were taught well."
Elder Gibbons noted that because of President Kimball's emphasis on missionary work, "missionaries were trained better. They were more numerous. They were more dedicated. The inevitable result of all of that was an extraordinary increase in Church membership."
Then came the biggest boost to missionary work.
On June 9, 1978, the First Presidency announced that the priesthood was extended to every worthy man in the Church.
"As we have witnessed the expansion of the work of the Lord over the earth we have been grateful that people of many nations have responded to the message of the restored gospel and have joined the Church in ever-increasing numbers," said the First Presidency announcement. "This, in turn, has inspired us with a desire to extend to every worthy member of the Church all of the privileges and blessings which the gospel affords. . . . [The Lord] has heard our prayers and by revelation has confirmed that the long-promised day has come."
Elder Gibbons recalled President Kimball's announcement of the revelation in the temple to the General Authorities. (As secretary to First Presidency, he was attending the meeting.) "There was absolute unanimity and excitement about the revelation and what it held for the Church. Some of the brethren had extraordinary spiritual experiences."
Elder Gibbons recalled that the acceptance of the revelation throughout the Church was the same as with the brethren. "I was in the office of the First Presidency at the time and our secretaries were kept busy for hours receiving calls from all over the world, to confirm the truth of the story that went out like wildfire."
The revelation was the lead story in the nightly news on television, and Time and Newsweek magazines held their deadlines to include the announcement. The New York Times, Washington Post, and Los Angeles Times were among the major newspapers that carried the announcement on their front pages.
The revelation opened the way for missionary work throughout Africa, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, the Caribbean and Haiti.
Beside being a decade for missionary work, this was also a decade for women — who in 1970 celebrated the 50th anniversary of the 19th amendment, giving all women in the United States the right to vote. Feminists, now moving into the business mainstream, lobbied for the passage for the Equal Rights Amendment.
Barbara B. Smith, general Relief Society president from 1974 to 1984, remembers the 1970s as a time when the unity of faith shared by the women of the Church was being ruffled by the difficult discussions about women taking place throughout the world. She recalled media reports that questioned the role of women in the home and glamorized women participating in the work outside the home.
During the 1970s Sister Smith spoke often about the need for equal rights for women. In those addresses, however, she publicly criticized the Equal Right Amendment — then being debated in the U.S. Congress — as an effective means to achieve them.
Sister Smith noted that many women in the Church were unaffected by the debates across the country because they had direction in their lives. "The women of the Church could hear the doctrine of the Church and could see where they fit in."
Shortly after becoming general Relief Society president, Sister Smith, under the direction of President Kimball, took on a project to erect a monument to women in Nauvoo, Ill., the birthplace of the Relief Society.
Relief Society sisters around the world donated money to the project, a memorial garden with 13 statues representing the numerous divine roles of women in the home, the family and the community.
On a "hot and muggy" day June 28, 1978 — just weeks after the revelation on the priesthood was announced — the garden was dedicated. "There was a wonderful spirit of sisterhood," recalled Sister Smith.
Sister Smith noted that Illana D. Rovner, assistant deputy to Illinois Gov. James R. Thompson, attended the prededicatory dinner, issuing an apology for the Mormon persecution in Nauvoo 130 years earlier, saying "please come back."
Elder Gibbons also remembers the dedication as a significant, important time when the role of women was emphasized. President Kimball was one of women's greatest advocates, he said. "President Kimball was very outspoken in urging the sisters to get as much education as they could, all the while emphasizing that the priority should be to care for the family."
A hallmark of President Kimball's administration, as well as the 1970s, was the desire to reach out not only to the women of the Church but also to all members — emphasizing the individual amid the Church's growing population.
On April 4, 1974, President Kimball delivered his "Lengthen Your Stride" address at a regional representatives seminar. The phrase became watchwords for members in the Church and was widely quoted. Members, said Elder Gibbons, had a desire to live up to the challenge: to be better missionaries, to build the Church in their countries, to be better Church members.
"I think [the challenge] had a tremendous impact on everybody," he said. "How in the world could you feel comfortable in sitting around? . . Here is a man in his 80s . . . traveling the world telling everyone to 'lengthen your stride and quicken your pace.' "
The century drew to a close as, on Sept. 29, 1979, the Church published a new 2,400-page edition of the King James version of the Bible, with many special features, including a topical guide, a Bible dictionary and a revolutionary footnote system. The event represented a significant milestone for the Church, leading to the August 1981 publication of the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, and the eventual translation of the scriptures and helps into other languages — preparing the Church's worldwide and growing membership for the decades ahead.
