To the extent that popular catchphrases can encapsulate the administration of a Church president, a couple of them reflect both the vision and the drive that characterized the presidency of Spencer W. Kimball, who served from the end of 1973 through early November 1985 as the 12th president of the Church.
A new compilation of President Kimball's teachings — the latest in the Church's Teachings of the Presidents of the Church series — is the basis for instruction in Sunday Relief Society and Melchizedek Priesthood classes in 2007 and is now being distributed to Church units. The new manual reflects the excitement and historic significance that marked his presidency as well as his personal wisdom born of humility and long and rich experience in the Lord's service.
Remarkable for their pithiness, the sayings attributed to President Kimball were "Lengthen your stride" and "Do it!" Together, they evoked a tone of eagerness and urgency that found expression in an array of landmark developments during his presidency:
Dramatic expansion in missionary work.
An unprecedented surge in temple building, with a total of 18 new ones being dedicated.
A new revelation granting the blessings of the priesthood to all worthy Church members without regard for race or color.
A streamlined and consolidated meeting schedule that left more time for personal initiative in righteous endeavors and fostering family solidarity.
New editions of the Church's Standard Works, with improved and expanded study aids, including a Topical Guide, cross-referencing system, footnotes, index, Bible Dictionary and maps.
Reconstitution of the First Quorum of the Seventy, setting the stage for dramatic global expansion and decentralization of the Church.
Clarifying that the mission of the Church is three-fold: proclaiming the gospel, perfecting the saints and redeeming the dead.
The motto "Do it!" was on a sign President Kimball reportedly kept on his desk. The expression "Lengthen your stride" grew out of a memorable address that he gave to General Authorities and regional representatives on April 4, 1974, just over three months after he was called and the day before the general conference convened at which he was sustained in solemn assembly by the Church membership.
The topic of the address was acceleration and expansion of missionary work, but it galvanized Church leaders in all aspects of building the kingdom of God.
"My brethren, I wonder if we are doing all we can," he said. "Are we complacent in our approach to teaching all the world? We have been proselyting now 144 years. Are we prepared to lengthen our stride? To enlarge our vision?"
In a conference address a year and a half later, Elder W. Grant Bangerter of the Seventy recalled the effect the address had on President Kimball's listeners: "We became alert to an astonishing spiritual presence, and we realized that we were listening to something unusual, powerful, different from any of our previous meetings. It was as if, spiritually speaking, our hair began to stand on end. Our minds were suddenly vibrant and marveling at the transcendent message that was coming to our ears. With a new perceptiveness we realized that President Kimball was opening spiritual windows and beckoning us to come and gaze with him on the plans of eternity. It was as if he were drawing back the curtains which covered the purpose of the Almighty and inviting us to view with him the destiny of the gospel and the vision of its ministry."
Noting that the number of missionaries then serving was about 17,500, President Kimball declared, "We can send more. Many more !" He boldly declared the obligation of every worthy young man in the Church to fill a mission after having been "carefully indoctrinated and trained through the family and the organizations of the Church and who come to the mission with a great desire."
He spoke of the prospect of Church units in lands outside the United States furnishing missionaries to meet needs in their own and other countries. And he emphasized the need for preparation: "I believe the Lord can do anything He sets His mind to do. But I can see no good reason why the Lord would open doors that we are unprepared to enter. Why should He break down the Iron Curtain or the Bamboo Curtain or any other curtain if we are still unprepared to enter?"
He looked ahead to the development of technology that would accelerate the spread of the gospel message, declaring, "I believe that the Lord is anxious to put into our hands inventions of which we laymen have hardly had a glimpse."
A momentary consideration of the technological innovations that have been invented or come into widespread use that have had direct application to the work of the Lord is enough to dramatize the prophetic nature of President Kimball's words. They include videocassettes and recorders; compact discs; DVDs; personal computers with convenient, inexpensive mass data storage and instant retrieval; the "information superhighway" now known as the World Wide Web or Internet; and refinement and increased accessibility of satellite broadcasting technology.
As for the expansion of missionary work and the doors of nations being opened, since President Kimball gave that address, the world has witnessed the breaching of the Berlin Wall followed shortly by the bloodless collapse of the Soviet Union and the near-sudden end of the Cold War, a seemingly hopeless ideological conflict that had prevailed since World War II. Since then, the Church has been established in many Eastern European countries.
The 1978 revelation extending priesthood blessings to all worthy Church members was followed shortly by the establishment of the Church in the nations of Ghana and Nigeria, climaxed by the construction of temples in those countries, as well as South Africa. Since then, the Church has been established in many additional African nations.
And in contrast to the 17,500 missionaries when President Kimball gave that address, today there are some 55,000.
Through the crucible of personal trial and challenge, the Lord prepared President Kimball for the day when he would lead the Church into an exciting new era. He suffered heart attacks and throat cancer that required the surgical removal of one vocal cord and part of another, leaving him with a hoarse-sounding but not unpleasant voice for the rest of his life.
The surgery did not silence his clarion witness of the truth. Like Job in the Old Testament, President Kimball was not destroyed by adversity, but rather, enlarged and strengthened through it. What emerges from a survey of the chapter topics in the new lesson manual is a man of personal humility but ironclad values and integrity, a lifelong student of the scriptures with a keen gospel understanding, one with a profound love for and reliance on the Lord, and a sense of service and esteem for others.
One incident in the book gives a snapshot glimpse of Spencer Kimball's abiding love for others of the human family including those with whom he was unacquainted. It pertains to a pregnant young mother stranded by bad weather in a Chicago airport overnight, under a doctor's orders not to lift or carry her 2-year-old child because of the threat of a miscarriage.
"The terminal was noisy, full of tired, frustrated, grumpy passengers, and she heard critical references to her crying child and to her sliding her child along the floor with her foot as the line moved forward. No one offered to help with the soaked, hungry, exhausted child.
"Then, the woman later reported, 'someone came towards us and with a kindly smile, and said, "Is there something I could do to help you?" With a grateful sigh, I accepted his offer. He lifted my sobbing little daughter from the cold floor and lovingly held her to him while he patted her gently on the back. He asked if she could chew a piece of gum. When she was settled down, he carried her with him and said something kindly to the others in the line ahead of me, about how I needed their help. They seemed to agree and then he went up to the ticket counter (at the front of the line) and made arrangements with the clerk for me to be put on a flight leaving shortly. He walked with us to a bench, where we chatted a moment until he was assured that I would be fine. About a week later I saw a picture of Apostle Spencer W. Kimball, and I recognized him as the stranger in the airport." (In Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, pp. 79-80.)
Later, a young man hearing the story in priesthood meeting would recognize the woman as his own mother and would write to President Kimball: "This act of love took the strain and tension off my mother. I was born a few months later in Flint, Michigan. I just want to thank you for your love. Thank you for your example." (Teachings, pp. 80-81.)
E-mail to: rscott@desnews.com
