CHURCH NEWS POLL
A questionnaire, in English, was mailed to 900 randomly selected local Church leaders, seminary and institute teachers and Church News subscribers. Of the 900 ballots, 454, or 50 percent, were received in time to tabulate. While recognizing the limitations of such a poll, our editors found it to be an interesting measure of opinion. The following are the top 10 stories with the percentage of those who picked them, and the number of first-place votes each received.
Revelation on priesthood: Priesthood extended to all worthy males.
Percentage of the total: 86 percent; Number of first-place votes: 265
Temple building: More nations have temples, smaller temples proliferate to reach 100.
Percentage of the total: 59 percent; Number of first-place votes: 24
First Presidency: Statements on God, the origin of man; First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve proclamations to the world, including the Proclamation on the Family.
Percentage of the total: 56 percent; Number of first-place votes: 58
Scriptures published: New editions of scriptures with helps, new subtitle for Book of Mormon, emphasis on reading, sharing Book of Mormon; many translations; new sections added to Doctrine and Covenants.
Percentage of the total: 53 percent; Number of first-place votes: 29
Missionary work: "Every Member a Missionary" and "Every young man should serve a mission" help fuel the increase in missionary force, increase of local missionaries, creation of missionary training centers and the implementation of standard missionary discussions.
Percentage of the total: 41 percent; Number of first-place votes: 13
Growth of Church: Internationalization of Church outside Intermountain area to 160 nations including Eastern Europe, Africa, Latin America, Asia and the Caribbean; proliferation of stakes throughout the world.
Percentage of the total: 39 percent; Number of first-place votes: 33
Family history expansion: Worldwide microfilming of records, computers help expand vicarious work.
Percentage of the total: 29 percent; Number of first-place: 3
Technology age arrives: Radio, television, video, satellite, etc., facilitate work of gospel; general conferences and special programs made available to large area of the world.
Percentage of the total: 27 percent; Number of first-place votes: 2
Quorums of the Seventy created: Decentralization of administration with area presidencies, and additional quorums of the Seventy; local seventies discontinued.
Percentage of the total: 25 percent; Number of first-place votes: 4
Priesthood correlation: Development of Correlation Committee; empowering of priesthood quorums, creating a standard curriculum, correlating magazines, formalizing home teaching and family home evenings.
Percentage of the total: 24 percent; Number of first-place votes: 3
1) THE REVELATION EXTENDING THE PRIESTHOOD TO ALL WORTHY MALES
This revelation was received by President Spencer W. Kimball, his counselors N. Eldon Tanner and Marion G. Romney, and the Quorum of the Twelve during prayer while in a meeting in the Salt Lake Temple on June 8, 1978, and announced by the First Presidency the following day, June 9, 1978
The statement released by the First Presidency noted, "Accordingly, all worthy male members of the Church may be ordained to the priesthood without regard for race or color," and concluded, "We declare with soberness that the Lord has now made known His will for the blessing of all His children throughout the earth who will hearken to the voice of His authorized servants, and prepare themselves to receive every blessing of the gospel." This revelation was accepted by the Church membership in general conference with a sustaining vote on Sept. 30, 1978.
So dramatic was the impact of the announcement of this revelation that the news of it spread across the world in a matter of hours, "bringing tears of humility, elation and happiness to many members, especially those of African origins, and to their families." 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. Faithful Latter-day Saint men of African ancestry throughout the United States and in other lands soon had the priesthood conferred upon them, and many were called to leadership positions. Joseph Freeman Jr. of Salt Lake City is believed to be the first black ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood following the revelation. Members in Brazil of African ancestry who, as they labored selflessly on the construction of the Sao Paulo Temple, had been a source of inspiration to the First Presidency were among those ordained. Marcus Helvecio Martins, who soon served in a stake presidency and as a mission president, became the first black General Authority when he was sustained to the Second Quorum of the Seventy on March 31, 1990.
In the Dominican Republic, the Eddie and Mercedes Amparo family, who had joined the Church in California, returned to their homeland on June 9, 1978, the day of the priesthood revelation announcement. The two families began doing missionary work. Within the next month, missionary work began in Haiti.
On Nov. 9, 1978, two missionary couples, Elder and Sister Rendell N. Mabey and Elder and Sister Edwin Q. Cannon Jr., arrived in Nigeria and taught and baptized Nigerians who had been meeting unofficially in the name of the Church since the 1950s. Within 10 years, Nigeria membership reached 10,000, and within 20 years the church had units in some 26 nations on the African continent. A rough estimate would place the number of Church members with African roots at year-end 1997 at half a million, with about 100,000 each in Africa and the Caribbean, and another 300,000 in Brazil.
This revelation transformed the Church into a universal, truly global organization.
2) THE PROLIFERATION OF TEMPLES ACROSS THE EARTH
Building temples has been a pattern of the Church since the Kirtland Temple was erected in 1836. The Nauvoo Temple was completed in 1846, but soon left behind as the Saints evacuated that city. Plans for the "Great Temple" in Salt Lake City were announced when Brigham Young arrived in what is now Utah in 1847, though 40 years passed and three other temples in Utah were completed before the Salt Lake Temple was complete. The first overseas temple was completed in Hawaii in 1919. Other overseas temples followed in the 1950s in Switzerland, New Zealand and England.
A film produced to assist patrons of the Swiss temple who spoke the various European languages was introduced in 1955. In 1974, the mammoth Washington Temple, which has since become a landmark, was completed. The temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil, completed in 1978, paved the way for other temples in Latin America that soon followed. On April 2, 1980, President Spencer W. Kimball announced that seven temples, smaller than traditional temples, would be built in the United States and in international areas. On April 1, 1981, he announced nine more such temples. During the 1980s, following the dedication of the Tokyo Temple in Japan as number 18, the number of temples increased to 43, with the dedication of the Las Vegas Nevada Temple. During the decade, first temples were built in Samoa, Tonga, Chile, Tahiti, Mexico, Australia, Philippines, Taiwan, Guatemala, Sweden, South Africa, Korea, Peru, Argentina and Germany. Then, on Oct. 4, 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley took the smaller trend initiated by President Kimball one step farther as he announced that temples would be yet smaller and built in many locations around the globe. Six months later, he announced that 30 such temples would be constructed immediately, and by the turn of the century a total of 100 temples would be in operation. Some of the locations for these 30 temples are in Alaska, Australia, Canada, Fiji, Ghana, Japan and Mexico, as well as in the United States.
The establishment of temples closer to the people has made a deep impact on the membership in other countries and in distant areas. First, it allows members of these countries to remain in their native countries and strengthen the Church at home instead of gathering to the centerplace of Zion, the practice followed during the 19th century. Second, it saves members the considerable expense of traveling great distances. Those in many Third World countries could never be sealed as a family. Third, it provides the blessings of the temple in an area, strengthening the members as they are sealed as families, thus strengthening the community as well. Fourth, a temple provides an intangible sense of identity to an area, and even the grounds provide a place of spiritual refuge for members. Fifth, a temple raises the visibility of the Church in a community.
3. STATEMENTS OF THE FIRST PRESIDENCY AND QUORUM OF THE TWELVE ON IMPORTANT DOCTRINAL MATTERS.
Important statements by the First Presidency had a profound effect on the members of the Church. These statements also influenced many others and provided an anchor in a rapidly changing world society. Among the most influential of these statements were the First Presidency's statement on the origin of man, published in the November 1909 Improvement Era, and the statement issued June 30, 1916, entitled "The Father and the Son," defining the relationship of God the Father and Jesus Christ. An important message on world peace was issued Oct. 6, 1939, shortly after the outbreak of World War II in Europe. A Proclamation to the World was issued by the First Presidency April 6, 1980, during the Sesquicentennial of the Church reaffirming the divine foundation of the restoration of the gospel and the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. On Sept. 30, 1995, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve issued "The Family: A Proclamation to the World," an influential document that has been presented to citizens and leaders around the world. This document declares the sacredness of the family unit and calls upon leaders everywhere to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.
4. THE PUBLICATION OF THE LDS SCRIPTURES IN AUGUST 1980 (BIBLE) AND AUGUST 1981 (BOOK OF MORMON, DOCTRINE AND COVENANTS AND PEARL OF GREAT PRICE, ALSO CALLED THE TRIPLE COMBINATION).
The publication of these scriptures represents a significant milestone in the story of the restoration of the gospel. For the first time all the scholarly helps, such as the footnotes, dictionary, maps, cross references and topical guide were written by Church members and approved as doctrine. For the first time the members with the English edition studied from the same edition of the scriptures. For the first time, all members could study from the same LDS version of scriptures throughout their lives. The purpose of the publication of any of these LDS editions was to "open the scriptures" to any literate person willing to read.
In the publication process, mistakes inadvertently made in the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants during many editions of printing were corrected. A topical guide was added after compiling the result of years of study by thousands of scholars and students.
During this time of reiterating the truths of the restoration, a subtitle, "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" was added in 1982 to the Book of Mormon. This subtitle assisted missionary work by showing the Book of Mormon as a second witness of Christ. Another milestone in scripture publication was reached with the publication of the Triple Combination in Spanish. During the 20th century, the Book of Mormon was translated and published in some 175 languages.
5. MISSIONARY WORK FLOURISHED DURING THE 20TH CENTURY.
Emphasis on missionary work was given frequently during the century. Following World War II, many young men returned from the service and then postponed marriage to serve full-time missions around the world. Standard missionary lessons were developed in the late 1940s. Standard missionary lessons were developed in the late 1940s. LeGrand Richards pioneered standard lessons while serving as president of the Southern States Mission. He outlined an ordinary way to present the gospel, and this outline was later published into a popular book, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. Missionaries Richard Anderson in the Northwestern States Mission and Willard A. Aston in the Great Lakes Mission developed their own plans for teaching in 1948 that were singularly successful. Gordon B. Hinckley of the Missionary Committee helped formalize a standard plan in 1952 that was used Church wide. The early 1950s became the pivotal period of the internationalization of the Church. Another boost to missionary work came in general conference on April 6, 1959, when President David O. McKay issued the challenge, "Every member a missionary! You may bring your mother into the Church, or it may be your father; perhaps your fellow companion in the workshop. Somebody will hear your good message of the truth through you." (Conference Report, April 1959, p. 122) In 1974, President Spencer W. Kimball in an address to the regional representative seminar, declared: "The question is frequently asked: Should every young man fill a mission, and the answer has been given by the Lord. It is yes."
President Kimball also emphasized the need for local missionaries from other countries and mature couples to serve full-time missions.
Part of the missionary program has been the training that young men and young women receive at missionary training centers throughout the world. The first formal training was done in a residential home in Salt Lake City in 1924, and this progressed over time to various missionary homes. Missionary training classes in each ward started in 1934. The Language Training Mission was started in 1963 to teach Spanish to missionaries. This was expanded in 1978 in the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, that accommodated all missionaries. International training centers were soon established, and utilized. On May 18, 1997, a new facility capable of accommodating 750 missionaries was dedicated in Sao Paulo, Brazil, the largest overseas training center.
The use of media in missionary work has been significant. The Church produced direct gospel message videos in the 1980s, and missionary satellite firesides have been held annually since 1992. Beginning in 1971, the Church's Homefront spots on radio and television, emphasizing the importance of the family and introducing the Church to millions, have been broadcast by stations around the world.
6. THE GROWTH OF THE CHURCH
During the last 100 years, the growth of the Church has been dramatic. The Church began the century with 271,681 members who nearly all lived in Utah and the West. It is projected that the Church will end the century with nearly 11 million members in more than 165 lands. In February of 1996, the milestone was reached of having more members outside the United States than within.
When the 20th century began, Utah and the Church were under a cloud of suspicion, just a decade away from serious persecution in some parts of the United States. When B.H. Roberts was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1900, that body refused to seat him. Apostle Reed Smoot, elected to the Senate in 1903, fared better but was seated in 1907 after lengthy and publicized investigation of the Church on the subject of plural marriage.
Yet, missionary work went forward. In 1901, Japan was dedicated for missionary work. Missionaries returned to Mexico and South Africa a few years later. In 1920-21, Elder David O. McKay made a worldwide tour of the missions, developing a broad perspective about the need for missionary work on an international basis. In 1925, the South American Mission was created, the genesis of which would bring millions of members into the Church in the next several decades. Following the end of the war, which coincided with the first million-member milestone, the Church began to grow in areas outside of Utah as never before. The percentage of membership in Utah was 49 percent before the war. This dropped to 41 percent in 1950, 38 percent in 1960, 21 percent in 1980 and 15 percent in 1997. Yet during this time, the membership in Utah increased from 350,000 in 1940 to 1,551,000 in 1997, while 76.1 percent of Utah residents in 1997 were LDS.
Membership proportions in other countries are growing. The Kingdom of Tonga has the greatest proportion of members of any country in the world with about 40 percent of its population LDS. Other countries with an increasing proportion include Chile, with 3 percent, the highest in Latin America. In the United States, about 1.8 percent of the population is LDS. The western states have the highest proportions of members with California, 733,000; Idaho, 333,000; Arizona, 289,000; Washington, 219,000; and Texas with 198,000, although Florida, with 105,000, has a sizeable LDS membership as well.
In other countries, Mexico, with 783,000, has the greatest LDS population, but growth projections indicate that Brazil, with 640,000, will become the nation with the second-largest LDS population in a few years. Brazil passed Mexico in the total number of stakes in March of 1997. The Philippines is the most populous LDS nation in Asia. Membership in the Philippines has grown from a handful in the early 1960s to more than 389,000 in 1997. Nigeria has the largest membership in Africa, gaining its first membership in late 1978 and jumping to 33,000 members in 1997.
Church members believe this growth is predicted by Daniel of the Old Testament, who saw, "a stone was cut out without hands … and the stone … became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth." (Dan. 2:34-35)
7. THE EXPANSION OF FAMILY HISTORY WORK.
The almost incredible progress in family history research and temple work has paralleled the proliferation of temples in the 20th century.
One of the greatest advances in this work was initiated through the vision of the redemption of the dead received by President Joseph F. Smith on Oct. 3, 1918, and later included in the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 138. In 1910, publication of the Genealogical and Historical Magazine by the Church began, and in 1914 the Relief Society began its inception of formalized lessons by including a regular lesson on genealogy. Due to the increased number of names being submitted for temple work, temples began in the second decade of the 20th century to have more than one session a day. In 1924, a card file was started to keep track of temple work for the dead. In 1938, the Church began microfilming genealogical records; the temple records of Nauvoo sealings were the first to be filmed. After the end of World War II, the Church began microfilming records in Europe. The first were in England in 1945, followed by Scandinavia in 1946. The need for a secure place of storage for these films became evident, and a granite mountain storage vault was completed in 1963 in Little Cottonwood Canyon east of Salt Lake City.
In 1944, the semi-independent Genealogical Society of Utah, for which the Church had provided most of the funding, was absorbed into the Church. Its name was changed to the Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Later, this became the Church's Genealogical Department.
A project to extract names, originally called the Record Tabulation Project, began in 1961 to provide names for temple work. Eventually this practice became widely adopted and the placing of these names on computerized records became a boon for people of all faiths involved in researching their family tree.
In 1965, the Three Generation Project was started, asking members to submit the first three generations of their genealogy, with the assumption that a shared heritage would emerge for most members. The project was soon expanded to the Four Generation Program. Efforts to involve computers in family history work began early and were particularly utilized in various extraction programs. In August of 1979, the Church hosted the World Conference on Records, which opened the door for the Church to have more access to records. A plea by President Spencer W. Kimball in the April 1978 general conference, followed by emphasis by President Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve and Elder J. Thomas Fyans of the Presidency of the Seventy, resulted in millions of names being submitted before July 1, 1981, a target date. That same year, local wards and stakes were enlisted in the Name Extraction Program. In 1984, the Church started a four-phase program to establish family history centers locally. In January of 1986, the Church released software for home computers called Personal Ancestry File (PAF). In 1987, the huge database contained on CD-ROMs was made available to local family history centers. In 1993, software was released to verify if work had been done for names about to be submitted for temple work so the verification could be done locally. Family history centers were established internationally during the 1980s and 1990s.
8. TECHNOLOGY AGE ARRIVES
The Church has been quick to take advantage of the developments in technology during the 20th century. President Heber J. Grant delivered the first message over the first radio station in Utah, KZN (now KSL), in 1922. General conference was broadcast by radio in 1924. The Tabernacle Choir began performing over the radio in 1925, and started its weekly broadcast in 1929. The first efforts to carry the gospel through mass media came on March 3, 1935, with a series of six national broadcasts over CBS called the "Church of the Air." Television, invented by LDS member Philo Farnsworth, was utilized to communicate general conference for the first time in October 1949. The first time general priesthood meeting was carried by direct wire was on April 5, 1952. In 1957, videotape was used to record and rebroadcast conference. The first satellite broadcasts of conference were made in 1979. In April 1980, for the sesquicentennial of the Church, general conference was simultaneously broadcast from Fayette, N.Y., and from the Tabernacle on Temple Square. Computers were used by the Church to record membership records as early as the 1960s and also by the Genealogy Department.
Technology was soon harnessed to help spread the gospel. Public service spots on radio and television, missionary videos and CD-ROMs were used to disperse gospel messages. The Church established a site on the Internet in 1997, and its various businesses have established dozens of other Web sites.
9. THE CREATION OF THE FIRST QUORUM OF THE SEVENTY ON OCT. 3, 1975, AND THE DECENTRALIZATION OF CHURCH AUTHORITY.
The creation of the First Quorum of the Seventy, announced by President Spencer W. Kimball, opened the way for calling many more General Authorities to serve in an international capacity. This in turn paved the way for General Authorities to assume more responsibility in local areas as they were called as executive directors and area supervisors. On Oct. 1, 1976, the Assistants to the Twelve and members of the First Council of the Seventy were called to the First Quorum of the Seventy. The creation of 13 area presidency areas on June 24, 1984, placed more authority locally. As the Church has grown, additional areas have been created to bring the total number of areas in 1998 to 28, with nine in the United States and Canada, six in South America, three in Mexico and Central America, three in Europe including the British Isles, two in Africa, two in Asia, two in the Pacific and one in the Philippines.
The Second Quorum of the Seventy was created April 1, 1989, and its members were extended a five-year call. Many of these brethren are called to area presidencies and live overseas during much of their service as General Authorities. The Third, Fourth and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy, created April 5, 1997, are comprised of Area Authority Seventies. These leaders serve only within the areas where they are assigned. The Third Quorum is comprised of Area Authority Seventies in Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia and the Pacific. The Fourth Quorum is comprised of Area Authority Seventies living in Mexico, Central America and South America. The Fifth Quorum is made up of Area Authority Seventies living in the Unites States and Canada. These leaders live at home and serve on a Church-service basis.
10. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PRIESTHOOD CORRELATION.
The impact of priesthood correlation on the programs of the Church in the past century can hardly be overstated. In 1907, the General Priesthood Committee on Outlines was created that established uniform courses of study for all the priesthood quorums in the Church. A formal correlation committee was created on Nov. 8, 1912, and Elder David O. McKay, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, was asked to head this committee. It was charged to coordinate scheduling and avoid unnecessary duplication in the programs of the Church auxiliaries. This committee issued a major report in 1921 that correlated priesthood and auxiliary activities. Many of the committee's recommendations were eventually adopted. In July 1944, a committee was created to supervise the publications of all Church literature. In March of 1960, the General Priesthood Committee, under the direction of Elder Harold B. Lee, then of the Quorum of the Twelve, was asked to study Church curriculum for better correlation. In 1964, the home teaching program replaced ward teaching. The ward priesthood executive committee, which coordinates all ward priesthood activities, and a ward council were also started. Home evenings were re-emphasized in 1965. In 1970, Church magazines became correlated. Youth programs were started in 1972 under direct priesthood leadership. Also from correlation came the consolidated meeting schedule of 1980, and Relief Society/priesthood lessons from the same lesson manuals.
SIGNIFICANT EVENTS OF THE 20TH CENTURY
1900-1909
REED SMOOT HEARINGS
1900-1907: In the Manifesto of 1980, President Wilford Woodruff wrote, "We are not teaching polygamy or plural marriage, nor permitting any person to enter into its practice. … Inasmuch as laws have been enacted by Congress forbidding plural marriages, which laws have been pronounced constitutional by the court of last resort, I hereby declare my intention to submit to those laws, and to use my influence with the members of the Church over which I preside to have them do likewise." The impact of the manifesto was still being worked out in the first decade of the 20th century. B.H. Roberts of the First Council of Seventy from Utah was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives but was denied his seat because of the plural marriages he had contracted before the Manifesto. Elder Reed Smoot of the Quorum of the Twelve was elected to the U.S. Senate three years later in January 1903, and after an extensive investigation that lasted until 1907, was allowed a seat.
AUXILIARIES PUBLISHED PERIODICALS
1900-1902: The auxiliaries of the Church were vigorous and active at the turn of the century. The Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association and the Young Ladies Mutual Improvement Association published periodicals for the young men and young women of the Church. The Woman's Exponent was an independent publication aimed at the women of the Church, but enjoyed strong ties with the Relief Society. In 1901, The Juvenile Instructor was purchased by the Deseret Sunday School Union from the George Q. Cannon family and became the publication of the Sunday School. The Primary began publication of The Children's Friend in 1902.
SALT LAKE STAKE DIVIDED
1900, 1904: Just before the turn of the century, the Salt Lake Stake consisted of 51 wards and covered the entire Salt Lake Valley. The size of stakes such as Salt Lake would be reduced in the opening decade of the 20th century to create stakes of uniform size throughout the Church. In 1900, the Jordan and Granite stakes were organized from the Salt Lake Stake, and in 1904 saw the creation of the Ensign, Liberty and Pioneer stakes. Where formerly only one stake had existed in Salt Lake Valley, the Church now had six stakes. The smaller stake size allowed stakes to move in new directions to meet the needs of Church members. The newly created Granite Stake was particularly innovative. The Granite Stake in the first decade of the 20th century started the family home evening program, later adopted by the entire Church.
MISSIONARY WORK EXTENDED
1901-1906: On Aug. 12, 1901, Elder Heber J. Grant dedicated Japan for the preaching of the gospel and opened a mission there. Missions of the Church were reopened. Mexico, closed since 1889, was reopened in 1901, ad South Africa, closed in 1865, was reopened in 1903. On Aug. 4, 1902, the First Council of Seventy opened a Bureau of Information and Church Literature on Temple Square to preach the gospel to visitors to Salt Lake City. In the summer of 1906, President Joseph F. Smith became the first president of the Church to visit Europe.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGED
1901: The first president of the Church in the 20th century, Lorenzo Snow, died Oct. 10, 1901, after serving since Sept. 13, 1898. Joseph F. Smith was ordained and set apart as president of the Church on Oct. 17, 1901.
HISTORY EMPHASIZED
1902-1909: The Church was active in historical matters during the opening years of the century. In 1902, the Church published the first volume of the Documentary History of the Church, edited by B.H. Roberts. Volume two was published in 1904, followed by volume three in 1905, volume four in 1908 and volume five in 1909.
The Church acquired a number of historic sites in this decade. Carthage Jail in Illinois was purchased in 1903. In 1904, the Church bought 25 acres of land in Independence, Mo., part of the original 63-acre tract of land acquired by the Church in 1831. The Joseph Smith birthplace in Vermont was purchased in 1905. George Albert Smith purchased the 100-acre Smith family farm in Manchester Township near Palmyra, N.Y., including the Sacred Grove, in 1907. Property at Far West, Mo., was acquired in 1909.
CURRICULUM FOR QUORUMS INTRODUCED
1907-1908: At the turn of the century, the Church had no systematic courses of study in either the auxiliaries or priesthood quorums. Beginning in 1907, the First Council of the Seventy introduced a Church wide curriculum for seventies quorums. On April 8, 1908, a General Priesthood Committee on Outlines was created that established uniform courses of study for priesthood quorums throughout the Church. The Church's General Priesthood Committee also recommended in 1908 that young men in the Church be ordained deacons at age 12, teachers at 15, priests at 18 and elders at 21. The grouping of young men in the Aaronic Priesthood quorums according to age has continued, although the ages for ordination to the different offices in the priesthood have changed over time.
CHURCH DEBT ELIMINATED
1907-1908: In 1907, President Joseph F. Smith announced that the Church had completely retired its debt. This was due, in part, to the renewed emphasis on the payment of tithing by President Lorenzo Snow during his presidency. On Dec. 7, 1907, Charles W. Nibley became the Presiding Bishop of the Church and helped implement a number of changes in the way the Church was operated financially. An immediate change was made in 1908 when the Church moved to an all-cash basis and no longer issued tithing scrip.
ORIGIN OF MAN STATEMENT ISSUED
1909: As the decade drew to a close, the First Presidency issued an important statement on the origin of man. This message, published in the November 1909 Improvement Era, remains an important document for the Church's teaching on the origins of mankind.
1910-1919
FAMILY HISTORY WORK EMPHASIZED
1910,1914: Family history work received an emphasis with the publication of the Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine beginning in 1910. In January 1914, the Relief Society became the last of the Church's auxiliary organizations to adopt a standardized curriculum. A part of that curriculum was the inclusion of a regular genealogical lesson. More genealogical research provided the information necessary to increase work for the dead in the temples. The decade saw the number of temple sessions in the temples increase to more than one per day.
YOUTH PROGRAMS CREATED, ADOPTED
1911,1913: The opening of the decade saw the creation of several Church programs that would be important to the young people of the Church for years to come. In 1911, the Church created the MIA Scouts as a program to meet the needs of teenage boys. On May 21, 1913, the Church was granted a charter by the Boy Scouts of America and the Scouting program of the Church became affiliated with the national Scouting organization. The Church also adopted the Campfire Girls summer program in 1913, but this program was replaced a year later with the Church's own Beehive Girls.
STAKE MISSIONS ESTABLISHED
1911-1912: With the approval of the First Presidency, the Granite Stake on Oct. 26, 1911, called 61 seventies living in the stake to stake missionary assignments. Within the next several months, many other stakes followed the Granite Stake's lead in establishing stake missions. In the fall of 1912, the seminary program of the Church began at Granite High School in Salt Lake City, providing weekly religious instruction to high school students.
MEXICAN REVOLUTION FORCES MANY LDS TO FLEE COUNTRY
1912: The Saints who had founded colonies in northern Mexico were forced to flee the country because of the Mexican Revolution. Although many members never returned, others eventually found their way back to their homes in Mexico. A new constitution adopted in 1917 required all ministers of religion to be native Mexicans. This constitutional provision had a serious negative effect on missionary work in the country as missionaries were forced to leave.
ELDER TALMAGE'S CLASSICS PUBLISHED
1912,1915: Important publications during the decade include James E. Talmage's classic books The House of the Lord, published in 1912, and Jesus the Christ, published in 1915. In 1914, the Relief Society Magazine began publication, replacing the independently published Woman's Exponent as a magazine designed for the women of the Church.
CORRELATION COMMITTEE CREATED
1912,1921: On Nov. 8, 1912, the First Presidency created a Correlation Committee, headed by Elder David O. McKay, and asked it to coordinate scheduling and prevent unnecessary duplication in programs of Church auxiliaries. A Social Advisory Committee of the General Boards was merged with it in 1920. The combined committee issued a major report April 14, 1921, offering proposals for correlating priesthood and auxiliary activities. Many of its recommendations were thereafter adopted.
NEW BUILDINGS ERECTED
1913-1919: A number of new Church buildings were built in the decade. The Church built the Hotel Utah in 1911, providing travelers with a first-class hotel when visiting Utah. On July 27, 1913, President Joseph F. Smith dedicated the site for the Alberta Temple that would be completed a decade later. In 1913, the Church established the Maori Agricultural College in New Zealand. The college was destroyed in an earthquake in 1931 and never rebuilt. On Oct. 2, 1917, construction was finished on the Church Administration Building at 47 E. South Temple in Salt Lake City. On June 1, 1915, President Smith dedicated the site for a temple in Hawaii. The Hawaii Temple was dedicated Nov. 27, 1919, by President Heber J. Grant.
FIRST PRESIDENCY STATES DOCTRINE
1916, 1918: Perhaps the most important events during the second decade of the 20th century had an impact on the doctrines of the Church rather than on new buildings or programs. On June 30, 1916, the First Presidency ad Quorum of the Twelve issued an official exposition, "The Father and the Son", on the identity and relationship of God the Father and Jesus Christ. On Oct. 3, 1918, Joseph F. Smith received a vision of the redemption of the dead, now Section 138 in the Doctrine and Covenants.
RELIEF SOCIETY WHEAT ALLEVIATES WORLD WAR I SHORTAGES
1918: The Relief Society had been storing wheat since 1976, a legacy of pioneer life and provident living. In May 1918, the Relief Society's wheat was put to good use and sold to the United States government to alleviate shortages during World War I.
CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP
1918: President Joseph F. Smith died Nov. 19, 1918, after serving some 17 years. Heber J. Grant was ordained and set apart as president of the Church Nov. 23, 1918.
HAWAII TEMPLE DEDICATED
1919: The first overseas temple was dedicated Nov. 27, 1919, in Laie, Hawaii, by President Heber J. Grant.
1920-1929
WORLDWIDE MISSION TOUR TAKEN
1920-1921: The third decade of the 20th century opened with a worldwide tour of the missions by Elder David O. McKay of the Quorum of the Twelve. Elder McKay traveled with Hugh J. Cannon, editor of the Improvement Era and president of the Liberty Stake. The pair traveled nearly 56,000 miles. They visited the Saints in the Pacific Islands, New Zealand, Australia and Asia, and then made stops in India, Egypt and Palestine, before visiting the missions in Europe. Elder McKay was the first General Authority to ever visit many of the countries included in the tour.
MEXICO MEMBERSHIP GOES UP
1922: Missionaries, absent since the 1912 revolution, were once again allowed to enter Mexico. But in 1926, all foreign clerics were required to leave the country, including all American missionaries. Despite these difficulties, the membership of the Church in Mexico grew from 2,300 to 4,700 in the 1920s.
PRIMARY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL OPENED
1922: An important building erected by the Church was the Primary Children's Hospital, which was opened in the downtown area in May 1922. The decade saw the creation of Zion's Security Corporation in 1922, a corporation to manage taxable and other non-ecclesiastical Church property.
M-MEN, GLEANER PROGRAM, INSTITUTE STARTED
1921, 1926: The M-Men and Gleaner program for young men and women ages 17 to 21 began in 1921. In addition, the Church, having established weekday religious instruction for high school students a decade earlier, began a program of weekday religious instruction for college students with the establishment of an institute of religion at the University of Idaho at Moscow in 1926.
HILL CUMORAH, WHITMER FARM PURCHASED
1923, 1926, 1928: Historic properties acquired by the Church included part of the Hill Cumorah in New York in 1923. In 1928, additional land was acquired, giving the Church ownership of the entire hill. The Peter Whitmer Farm in Fayette, N.Y., was acquired Sept. 25, 1926.
ALBERTA, ARIZONA TEMPLES DEDICATED
1923,1927: President Heber J. Grant dedicated the Alberta Temple in Cardston, Alberta, on Aug. 26,1923, and the Arizona Temple on Oct. 23, 1927.
CONFERENCE BROADCAST ON RADIO
1924, 1925, 1929: Radio station KSL broadcast the general conference of the Church for the first time on Oct. 3, 1924. The Church explored the use of radio to further its programs during the 1920s. The Tabernacle Choir also began broadcasting some of its performances in 1925. On July 15, 1929, the Choir started broadcasting on a weekly basis.
SOUTH AMERICAN MISSION CREATED
1925: In another area of the world, Elder Melvin J. Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve established a mission in South America with headquarters in Buenos Aires, Argentina. On Dec. 25, 1925, he dedicated South America for preaching the gospel. Success in South America was slow. By 1930, there were only 751 members in Argentina and Brazil, most of them from the German population.
1930-1939
GREAT DEPRESSION SLOWS WORK
1930s: The decade of the 1930s was a time of great economic depression. As unemployment mounted and wages decreased, the Church saw a drop in the tithes and offerings it received. Economy and provident living were important principles to follow, and many Church programs and projects were scaled back. It was an especially difficult time to finance construction projects, and the erection of meetinghouses and other buildings was often postponed.
CENTENNIAL CELEBRATED
1930: At the opening of the new decade, the Church celebrated its first 100 years. At the April conference on April 6, 1930, many of the messages revolved on the centennial of the Church. A pageant, "Message of Ages," was presented during the week of April conference. B.H. Roberts' Comprehensive History of the Church was written as an official Church publication for the centennial.
CHURCH NEWS STARTED, MEDIA USE INITIATED
1931, 1933: The first issue of the Church News was printed April 6, 1931, by the Deseret News. Despite the financial problems caused by the Depression, the Church remained active in preaching the gospel. Of special note were efforts to carry the gospel message through the mass media. On March 3, 1933, the first of a series of six "Church of the Air" broadcasts was carried nationwide by the Columbia Broadcasting Company.
WORD OF WISDOM
1932: The Church launched a campaign against the use of tobacco on April 2, 1932. The Church's code of health, as defined by the Word of Wisdom, which was received in 1832, was emphasized during the 1930s. The Church also proscribed alcohol. However, Utah was the 36th state in the United States to vote repeal of prohibition, the last state needed to repeal the constitutional amendment. Utah's vote was an embarrassment for President Heber J. Grant, whose efforts to curtail the many evils associated with alcohol consumption were well known. The repeal of prohibition caused the Church to redouble its efforts in preaching the benefits of living the Word of Wisdom.
HISTORIC SITES ACQUIRED
1932-1940: The Church continued to acquire and spotlight historic sites as Mormon Trail markers were unveiled at Henefer, Utah, and Casper, Wyo., on July 16, 1932. Other efforts continued through the decade. The first historical marker in Nauvoo, Ill., was placed by the Relief Society on July 26, 1933, at the site of its 1842 organization in Joseph Smith's store. A monument at the Hill Cumorah was dedicated July 21, 1935. The Winter Quarters monument at Florence, Neb., was dedicated Sept. 20, 1936. Wilford C. Wood purchased a portion of the Nauvoo Temple lot for the Church on Feb. 20 1937. The Church also purchased 8.8 acres of the Martin Harris Farm in 1937. On June 19, 1939, Brother Wood also purchased Liberty Jail in Missouri for the Church.
MISSIONARY WORK EMPHASIZED
1932-1936: The missionary program of the Church saw several significant developments, including beginning missionary training classes on Jan. 10, 1932, in every ward of the Church. The stake seventies were instructed in a letter from the First Council of Seventy, dated Feb. 3, 1934, that they had the duty, under the direction of the stake president, to do missionary work in the stakes. In April 1936 the supervision of stake missions was given to the First Council of the Seventy, and missions were soon organized in every stake.
FAIRS, PAGEANTS
1933-1939: the Church opened a 500-foot exhibit in the Hall of Religions at the Century of Progress World's Fair in Chicago on June 1, 1933. The exhibit was prepared by sculptor Avard Fairbanks. The Hill Cumorah Pageant, "America's Witness for Christ," began on an outdoor stage at the Hill Cumorah in the 1920s, but was expanded for broader appeal in July 1937. On Feb. 18, 1939, the Church built a miniature Salt Lake Tabernacle for its exhibit at the San Francisco World's Fair.
WELFARE PROGRAM CREATED
1936,1938: The Welfare Program of the Church was announced during April general conference in 1936. The economics of the decade called for active Church involvement in providing for the temporal needs of the members. The program provided assistance to needy members of the Church and helped those who were unemployed. Initially called the Church Security Program, it was renamed the Church Welfare Program in 1938. Deseret Industries, a thrift store to provide work opportunities to the elderly and handicapped, opened its first store Aug. 14, 1938, in Salt Lake City.
GENEALOGICAL MICROFILMING BEGINS
1938: The Church became aware of the possibilities for microfilming records in conjunction with its genealogical program in the 1930s. The first genealogical records filmed by the Church were the Nauvoo Temple sealing records in November 1938.
1940-1949
MEMBERSHIP RECORDS CENTRALIZED
1941: A centralized membership system was created by the Presiding Bishopric's office. Membership cards were created for each member, with the local congregation retaining one copy and a second copy placed on file at the Presiding Bishopric's Office. Also, the need for increased Church leadership led to the calling of the initial Assistants to the Twelve on April 6, 1941.
RESPONDING TO TRAGEDY OF WORLD WAR II
1942: Responding to the war and its impact on the members of the Church, the counselors in the First Presidency, J. Reuben Clark Jr. and David O. McKay, read important messages to the Church's general conference on April 6, 1942. The first half of the 1940s was dominated by the tragedy of World War II.
LDS SERVICEMEN'S COMMITTEE FORMED
1942: The LDS Servicemen's Committee, chaired by Elder Harold B. Lee, was organized in October 1942. A year earlier, in May 1941, Hugh B. Brown was called as the LDS Servicemen's Coordinator to meet the needs of the many American members of the Church called into the armed services. During the war, large Church-sponsored gatherings, such as general and auxiliary conferences, were not held. The Tabernacle was closed and lights of the Salt Lake Temple were extinguished. Only older men were called as missionaries and they carried the work forward. The Navajo-Zuni Mission was created March 7, 1943.
COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATIONS CREATED
1944: The Church organized the Committee on Publications in July 1944, which was chaired by Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, to supervise the preparation and publication of all Church literature.
EUROPEAN RECORDS MICROFILMED
1945-1946: In the aftermath of the war, the Genealogical Society began the microfilming of European records. The first microfilming projects were in England in 1945 and Scandinavia in 1946. Recognizing that the Genealogical Society of Utah was in reality a Church organization engaged in a vital activity of the Church, with 98 percent of its budget coming from the Church, the society changed its name in November 1944 to the Genealogical Society of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES
1945: President Heber J. Grant died May 14, 1945, just a few days after the war ended in Europe. He had served nearly 27 years. George Albert Smith was sustained and set apart as President of the Church seven days later, on May 21, 1945.
WAR ENDS, MISSIONARY WORK RESUMES
1945: With the end of World War I, missionary work resumed in war-torn areas of the world. New mission presidents were called beginning in September. Missions were re-opened, and by the end of 1946 some 3,000 missionaries were in the field.
IDAHO FALLS TEMPLE DEDICATED
1945: Begun before the United States entered the war, the Idaho Falls Temple was finished and dedicated Sept. 23, 1945. During the year, the temple ceremonies were presented in the Spanish language at the Arizona Temple.
WELFARE SUPPLIES RELIEVE SUFFERING IN EUROPE
1945-1946: George Albert Smith met with U.S. President Harry S. Truman on Nov. 3, 1945, and discussed the proposal for the use of Church welfare supplies to relieve post-World War II suffering in Europe. The meeting paved the way for the beginning of the shipment of supplies in January 1946. On Feb. 4, 1946, Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve began his tour of war-torn Europe. He helped establish the process for sending relief supplies, assessed the health and strength of the Church and prepared the way for the re-establishment of missions.
PRESIDENT SMITH VISITS MEXICO, SEES REUNIFICATION
1946: President George Albert Smith visited Mexico in May 1946, the first President of the Church to visit the country, and helped reunify a group known as the Third Convention. The group had become temporarily disaffected with Church Leadership.
DUTCH SAINTS SEND POTATOES TO GERMANY
1947: Although the Church continued to send welfare supplies to Europe for the next several years, the European Saints made remarkable progress in helping themselves and helping those in need in other European nations. The members of the Church in The Netherlands established a number of welfare projects where potatoes were grown. The Dutch Saints sent truckloads of potatoes in November 1947 to destitute members of the Church in Germany.
MONUMENT DEDICATED ON PIONEER CENTENNIAL
1947: The 100th anniversary of the entry of the pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley was celebrated July 24, 1947, with the dedication of the This Is The Place Monument. The centennial year also saw the first performance of the musical "Promised Valley."
MISSIONARY LESSONS INSTIGATED
Late 1940s: The preaching of the gospel was influenced by many developments. Systematic plans for teaching the gospel were developed by Richard L. Anderson in the Northwestern States Mission and Willard A. Aston in the Great Lakes Mission. An earlier effort to present the gospel to investigators had been outlined by Elder LeGrand Richards when he had served as the president of the Southern States Mission in the 1930s in the 1930s. Elder Richards expanded his earlier work and published it in 1950 under the title A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. The book became a classic and was used as an aid to missionary work for many years.
GENERAL CONFERENCE TELEVISED
1949: The Church aired the first public television broadcast of general conference in October 1949. New technologies were being established at the end of the decade. The Church would use the technology to help preach the gospel.
1950-1959
EARLY-MORNING SEMINARY INTRODUCED
1950: A new way of providing weekday religious instruction for high school students was established in September 1950 when the Church introduced the early-morning seminary program in Southern California. The program was later widely instituted where applicable throughout the Church.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES
1951:President George Albert Smith died April 4, 1951, after serving six years. David O. McKay was sustained as president of the Church April 9, 1951. President McKay would lead the Church for the next two decades.
MISSIONARY WORK PROGRESSES
1951-1953: The emphasis on international missionary work continued despite the setback during the Korean War as the number of missionaries called from the United States was reduced. On Jan. 20, 1951, the First Presidency issued a call to seventies to fill missions, resulting in the service of a number of married men as full-time missionaries. With the end of the war, younger elders again comprised the bulk of the missionary force. The remainder of the 1950s saw a slow but steady increase in the number of young men called to serve missions. In 1952, a Systematic Program for Teaching the Gospel was published by the Church, the first Church-produced missionary plan. On March 25, 1953, the First Presidency announced that returning missionaries would report to their stake presidency and high council instead of to General Authorities.
PRIMARY CHILDREN'S HOSPITAL DEDICATED
1952: The new Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City was dedicated March 2, 1952. In a second notable event during the year in the Primary program, the Cub Scouts became part of the Primary on Dec. 31, 1952.
GENERAL PRISTHOOD MEETING CARRIED BY DIRECT WIRE
1952: The priesthood session of general conference was carried by direct telephone wire to buildings outside of Temple Square for the first time on April 5, 1952.
DECADE OF TEMPLE BUILDING
1952-1958: President David O. McKay toured Europe for six weeks in the summer of 1952. During the tour, he announced the selection of Zollikofen, in Bern, Switzerland, as the site of the first European temple. He also selected the site for the second European temple in London, England. A year later, in August 1953, he broke ground for the Swiss Temple and dedicated the site for the London Temple. On Jan. 2, 1954, he left on a trip to England, South Africa and South and Central America. During January and February 1955 he toured the South Pacific. During this trip a site was selected for a temple in New Zealand and plans for building a Church college in New Zealand were discussed. The European ad New Zealand temples were completed before the end of the decade. The Swiss Temple was dedicated Sept. 11, 1955; the New Zealand Temple April 20, 1958; and the London Temple Sept. 7, 1958, all by President McKay. Another temple in the United States was dedicated March 11, 1956, in Los Angeles.
APOSTLE CHOSEN FOR U.S. CABINET
1952: In the United States, Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve was chosen Secretary of Agriculture on Nov. 25, 1952, by U.S. President-elect Dwight D. Eisenhower. Elder Benson served in that capacity in the Eisenhower cabinet for eight years.
EDUCATION EMPHASIZED
1954-1958: The inauguration of the Indian Placement Program was announced in July 1954. An educator by training, President David O. McKay was vitally interested in the educational needs of Church membership around the world. On Sept. 26, 1955, the Church College of Hawaii was opened, and President McKay dedicated the buildings Dec. 17, 1958. The Church College of New Zealand was dedicated April 26, 1958. Until 1957 the Church's schools in the Pacific were under the direction of the missions of the Church. In July of that year the Pacific Board of Education was established to take over the supervision of all Church schools in the Pacific. The decade saw a doubling of enrollment at seminaries, institutes of religion and at Brigham Young University.
AGE LOWERED FOR AARONIC PRIESTHOOD HOLDERS
1954: On Aug. 31, 1954, the First Presidency approved a change in the age young men were ordained to the offices in the Aaronic Priesthood. While deacons were still ordained at the age of 12, the age of teachers was lowered to 14 and the priests to 16.
TEMPLE FILMS INTRODUCED
1955: The new international temples provided temple service to the Saints in Europe and the South Pacific in their own languages. In part, as an aid in meeting the needs of linguistically diverse patrons, the new temples made use of a filmed presentation of the endowment ceremony. Presentation of the endowment by film would eventually be adopted by most of the Church's temples.
BYU CAMPUS WARDS, STAKES CREATED
1956: An important development for college-age students occurred as the students at BYU were organized Jan. 8, 1956, into campus wards and stakes. The success of the BYU wards led to the organization of other student wards at campuses across the United States.
TABERNACLE CHOIR TOURS EUROPE
1959: The Tabernacle Choir became part of the Church's international outreach in August and September 1959 with a concert tour of Europe. On Nov. 29, 1959, the choir received a Grammy award for its recording of the "Battle Hymn of the Republic."
1960-1969
CURRICULUM, CORRELATION STUDIED
1960: In March of 1960, the First Presidency requested the General Priesthood Committee, with Elder Harold B. Lee as chairman, to make a study for Church curriculum with the object of providing for better "correlation." The committee's work on correlation would bring about major changes in Church organization and curriculum in the next decade.
MISSIONARY WORK UNIFIED
1960s: A unified approach to doing missionary work was developed. From June 26 through July 5, 1961, mission presidents from around the world attended a seminar in Salt Lake City. The newly published Uniform System for Teaching Investigators was introduced as the standard teaching plan for use by every mission in the Church. In November of that year, a Missionary Language Institute was established at Brigham Young University. In 1963, it became the Language Training Mission. Training was initially given only in Spanish, but other languages were added later in the 1960s. On Jan. 3, 1969, the First Presidency informed the mission presidents of the Church that every missionary going to a non-English-speaking mission would receive two months of language training prior to departure for the assigned missions. Missionaries assigned to the Pacific and Orient were sent to a Language Training Mission at the Church College of Hawaii, missionaries assigned to Scandinavia or The Netherlands were sent to an LTM at Ricks College. Spanish, Portuguese, German, French, Italian, Navajo and eventually Afrikaans were taught at the LTM at Brigham Young University.
NON-ENGLISH STAKES ORGANIZED
1961-1970: The spread of the gospel to all the world saw several important developments in the 1960s. The first non-English speaking stake in the Church was organized on March 12, 1961, in The Netherlands. In February 1965, the Italian government gave permission for missionaries to proselyte in that country. No missionary work had been done in Italy since 1862. The first stake in South America was organized in Sao Paulo, Brazil, May 1, 1966. In June 1969, the first missionaries were sent to Spain; in January 1970 the first missionaries were sent to Indonesia. The first stake in Asia was organized in Tokyo, Japan, on March 15, 1970.
RECORDS EXTRACTION STARTED
1962: Important developments in family history work were the beginnings of the records extraction program. The Church's secure storage facility at the Granite Mountain Vault in the mountains east of Salt Lake Valley was completed in December 1963.
CHURCH PURCHASES RADIO STATION
1962: In support of the members of the Church outside the United States, the Church on Oct. 10, 1962, purchased shortwave radio station WRUL with studios in New York City and a transmitter in Boston. The short-wave station permitted the transmission of general conference outside the United States.
NAUVO RESTORATION FOUNDED
1962: Nauvoo Restoration Inc., founded on July 27, 1962, was the organizational beginning for the restoration of historic Nauvoo, Ill. Since then some 17 buildings have been restored or rebuilt.
The Mormon Pavilion was opened at the New York World's Fair in April 1964. The pavilion was a very successful missionary tool, due in large measure to the excellence of the displays, including a replica of the Christus statute by Thorvaldsen and the film "Man's Search for Happiness." A new visitors center was opened in August 1966 on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. The visitors center capitalized on the experience gained at the New York World's Fair. The new visitors center in turn provided a model for the construction of smaller visitors centers that would be built at historic sites, temples and other locations.
POLYNESIAN CULTURAL CENTER DEDICATED
1963: The cultural origins of the Saints in the Pacific were celebrated with the dedication of the Polynesian Cultural Center Oct. 12, 1963, at Laie, Hawaii.
CORRELATION ADMINISTRATION INSTITUTED
1964: The 1960s saw the implementation of a number of programs designed by the general priesthood committee under its March 1960 charge to study Church programs and curriculum with an eye to providing better "correlation." The home teaching program was begun in January 1964, replacing the ward teaching program. The new program was administered by local priesthood leadership under the overall direction of the bishop. The 1964 Melchizedek Priesthood Handbook established a priesthood executive committee in each ward to coordinate all priesthood activities. A ward council was also created to coordinate the activities of the auxiliary as well as priesthood leadership. The priesthood executive committee and the ward council have come to be the very heart of the correlation on the ward level.
SCHOOL SYSTEM UNIFIED, EXPANDED
1964, 1968: The Pacific Board of Education was discontinued in October 1964. The Church's schools in the Pacific became part of the Unified School System of the Church. In August 1968 the Benemerito de las Americas, a large Church school in Mexico City, was dedicated.
OAKLAND TEMPLE DEDICATED
1964: A temple at Oakland, Calif., was dedicated on Nov. 17, 1964, by President David O. McKay. It would be the last temple dedicated by President McKay.
HOME EVENING ESTABLISHED THROUGHOUT CHURCH
1965, 1970: New energy was given to the home evening program in January 1965. Although the Church had encouraged a family home evening for many years, the Church published a manual for use during 1965. In 1970, Monday night was established as home evening throughout the Church, with no other Church activity to be scheduled for that night.
CORRELATION PROGRAM INSTITUTED
1965: Publication of the Priesthood Bulletin was the first in a string of developments spawned by the correlation program. Other fruits of the correlation program included the adoption of a uniform curriculum year in 1967, and the creation of a stake and ward executive secretary beginning in 1967. The calling of executive secretary was more fully outlined in instructions given in 1969. Also related to the correlation effort was the creation of the meetinghouse library program in 1969.
REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES CALLED
1967: The position of regional representative of the Twelve was announced Sept. 29, 1967, and the first 69 regional representatives were called. This helped the General Authorities meet their administrative responsibilities incident to the growth of the Church. The position was eliminated with the calling of Area Authorities on April 1, 1995.
BOOK OF ABRAHAM PAPYRI ACQUIRED
1967: A part of the Egyptian papyri owned by Joseph Smith while he translated the Book of Abraham was acquired by the Church in November 1967 from the New York Metropolitan Museum of Art.
WORLD CONFERENCE ON RECORDS HELD
1969:The World Conference on Records was held on Aug. 3-8, 1969, in Salt Lake City, establishing the Church's reputation as an important repository of records.
1970-1979
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES
1970: At the opening of the decade on Jan. 18, 1970, President David O. McKay died after serving nearly 19 years. President Joseph Fielding Smith became the president of the Church Jan. 23, 1970.
MANY NEW TEMPLES, OTHER BUILDINGS COMPLETED
1970s: The building program of the Church continued at a record pace, and included a number of new temples. The Ogden temple was dedicated Jan. 18, 1972, the Provo Temple was dedicated Feb. 9, 1972, the Washington Temple was dedicated Nov. 19, 1974 and the Sao Paulo Temple was dedicated Oct. 30, 1978. In addition to the temples, a new 28-story Church Office Building was completed in 1972 and was dedicated July 24, 1976. On March 23, 1974, the Church acquired the Brigham Young winter home in St. George and the Jacob Hamblin home in Santa Clara, Utah.
CHURCH DEPARTMENTS CREATED
1970s: While the Church was influenced in its administrative thinking by the principles of priesthood correlation, the Church also asked for input from several experts in organizational management. The experts observed that the demands of Church administration placed a great burden on the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. It was recommended that new Church departments be created to manage the details of Church administration and leave the First Presidency and Twelve more time for their ecclesiastical callings.
CORRELATION EFFORTS CONTINUED
1971: The correlation efforts begun in the previous decade continued in the 1970s. Perhaps the most visible of the changes came in January 1971 with the publication of the Ensign, the New Era and the Friend as the correlated magazines of the Church. The three new magazines replaced the earlier magazines published by the auxiliary organizations of the Church. The process of unifying the international publications of the Church, such as the Millennial Star in Great Britain, had begun in the 1960s, and was completed in the early 1970s.
MISSIONARY PROGRAM ADAPTS TO INTERNATIONAL NEEDS
1971: The medical missionary program – later called the health missionary program – was begun in July 1971, the first of several changes for the missionary program in the 1970s. In 1973 a new set of missionary lessons was introduced, the first rewrite of the missionary discussions since 1961. In February 1973, the first agricultural missionaries were sent to the Guatemala-El Salvador Mission. President Spencer W. Kimball addressed the Regional Representatives Seminar in April 1974 and declared that every young man should serve a mission. His address gave a big boost to missionary numbers. In 1974, there were more than 18,000 missionaries in the field. By 1980, almost 30,000 missionaries were serving.
AREA CONFERENCES BEGUN
1971-1974: In an effort to reach out to members around the world, the first area conference of the Church was held Aug. 27-29, 1971, in Manchester, England. Area conferences would continue to be held throughout the 1970s. On March 22, 1970, the first stake was organized in Africa at Transvaal, South Africa.
RELIEF SOCIETY INCLUDES ALL WOMEN IN THE CHURCH
1971: The Relief Society in November 1971 automatically included all women in the Church and eliminated the payment of membership dues.
MULTIPLE DEPARTMENTS CREATED
1972: The Church established an Internal Communications Department and an External Communications Department. The name External Communications was later changed to Public Communications and then Public Affairs. The Internal Communications Department was eventually divided into three departments, the Curriculum Department, the Correlation Department and the Translation Department. The creation of these departments was designed to place the production and distribution of Church materials in the hands of managers with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve giving direction and focus.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES TWICE
1972-1973: President Joseph Fielding Smith died July 2, 1972. President Harold B. Lee became president of the Church July 7, 1972. On Dec. 26, 1973, President Lee passed away and President Spencer W. Kimball was ordained and set apart as president of the Church Dec. 20, 1973.
YOUNG MEN, YOUNG WOMEN PROGRAMS STARTED
1972: The Mutual Improvement Association, the Church's activity program, became the Aaronic Priesthood MIA and the Melchizedek Priesthood MIA, and was placed directly under priesthood leadership. On June 23, 1974, the name of the Aaronic Priesthood MIA was changed to the Aaronic Priesthood and the Young Women. The Aaronic Priesthood program was changed to the Young Men program, May 14, 1977.
WELFARE SERVICES DEPARTMENT CREATED
1973: The creation of the Welfare Services Department was announced April 7, 1973. Three separately administered welfare functions – health services, social services and welfare ¬– were brought together and correlated in a single department.
STAKE NAMES CHANGED, MADE CONSISTENT
1974: The names of stakes around the world were changed Jan. 14, 1974, to reflect a consistent style in identifying them geographically. The stakes were often originally named after local counties or valleys or natural features. The new style named stakes after their headquarters city. Mission names were similarly changed June 20, 1974.
'LENGTHEN YOUR STRIDE' ADDRESS DELIVERED
1974: President Spencer W. Kimball delivered his "Lengthen Your Stride" address at a Regional Representatives Seminar April 4, 1974. His statement captured the urgency of improving individual and organizational efforts and was widely quoted. In the 1970s, the Church reflected the desire on the part of Church members to live up to President Kimball's challenge.
SEVENTIES QUORUMS PLACED UNDER STAKES
1974: The local quorums of seventies throughout the Church were placed under the direct supervision of stakes on Oct. 3, 1974. A seventies quorum was authorized for every stake, and the quorums were named after the stake rather than given a general Church quorum number.
CHURCH DIVESTS ITSELF OF HOSPITAL CHAIN
1975: The Church discontinued operating a chain of hospitals in the western United States on March 21, 1975, and divested itself of its 15 hospitals. Intermountain Health Care, a non-profit, non-Church corporation, assumed ownership.
INTERNATIONAL ADMINISTRATION BEGINS WITH AREA SUPERVISORS
1975: Six Assistants to the Twelve were called in May 1975 as area supervisors to live outside of the United States and administer Church programs in an assigned area of the world. Also in May of the year, a program of mission supervision in the United States and Canada was announced with a member of the Quorum of the Twelve as adviser and other General Authorities as the supervisors of 12 areas.
REGIONAL MEETINGS REPLACE AUXILIARY CONFERENCES
1975: Auxiliary conferences would no longer be held after an announcement June 27, 1975. These long-standing conferences were replaced by annual regional meetings involving both priesthood and the auxiliary leaders.
FIRST QUORUM OF THE SEVENTY ORGANIZED
1975: The organization of the First Quorum of Seventy was announced in general conference on Oct. 3, 1975. A year later, on Oct. 1, 1976, the First Council of Seventy and the Assistants to the Twelve were released and sustained into the First Quorum of Seventy.
LANGUAGE TRAINING CENTER BECOMES MISSIONARY TRAINING CENTER
1976, 1978: A new Language Training Mission was constructed in 1976 near Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah. Missionaries studying every language were sent to the new LTM rather than being trained at separate language-learning facilities at BYU, Ricks and BYU-Hawaii. On Sept. 9, 1978, a new missionary training program was announced. The Language Training Mission and the Mission Home in Salt Lake City were discontinued, and the two training programs were consolidated in a single Missionary Training Center in Provo. Missionaries sent to English-speaking missions would receive four weeks of training; those learning other languages would receive eight weeks of training at the new center. The 1970s also saw the creation of area missionary training centers to give pre-mission training to missionaries called from outside the United States and Canada.
ECCLESIASTICAL, TEMPORAL ROLES OF LEADERS DEFINED
1977: An important definition in Church governance was announced on Feb. 5, 1977, when the Church published articles explaining the ecclesiastical role of the Quorum of the Twelve and the temporal role of the Presiding Bishopric.
PRIESTHOOD EXTENDED TO EVERY WORTHY MAN
1978: The First Presidency announced on June 9, 1978, that the priesthood was extended to every worthy man in the Church. The general conference of the Church, held Sept. 3, 1978, included the letter as Official Declaration – 2 of the Doctrine and Covenants. The letter stated: "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. 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."
EMERITUS STATUS GRANTED TO GENERAL AUTHORITIES
1978-1979: Another important change in the organization of the General Authorities was announced Sept. 30, 1978, with the designation of seven members of the First Quorum of the Seventy as emeritus General Authorities. Patriarch to the Church Eldred Gee Smith was granted emeritus status on Oct. 6, 1979. Because of the large increase in the number of stake patriarchs and the availability of patriarchal service throughout the world, no new Patriarch to the Church was called.
GOSPEL INTRODUCED INTO WEST AFRICA
1978: Elder and Sister Rendell N. Mabey and Elder and Sister Edwin Q. Cannon Jr. arrived in Nigeria Nov. 8, 1978, to begin missionary work in West Africa that would branch to dozens of other African nations.
1980-1989
CONSOLIDATED MEETING SCHEDULE INTRODUCED
1980: Partly as a response to better utilize physical facilities for Sunday worship, the Church implemented a consolidated meeting schedule on March 2, 1980, that put priesthood, sacrament and auxiliary meetings in one three-hour block. This change was gratefully received by members, especially those who lived some distance from their meetinghouses. The change also allowed more efficient use of meetinghouses.
TEMPLES INCREASE IN NUMBER
1980-1989: The number of temples increased from 17 to 43. The Tokyo Temple was dedicated Oct. 27, 1980, and the Seattle Temple was dedicated Nov. 17, 1980. In 1981, the Jordan River Temple in Salt Lake County was dedicated. In 1983, the Atlanta Georgia, Apia Samoa, Nuku'alofa Tonga, Santiago Chile, Papeete Tahiti and Mexico City temples were dedicated. In 1984, the Boise Idaho, Sydney Australia, Manila Philippines, Dallas Texas, Taipei Taiwan and Guatemala City temples were dedicated. In 1985, the Freiburg Germany, Stockholm Sweden, Chicago Illinois, Johannesburg South Africa and Seoul Korea temples were dedicated. In 1986, the Lima Peru, Buenos Aires Argentina and Denver Colorado temples were dedicated. In 1987, the Frankfurt Germany Temple was dedicated. In 1989, the Portland Oregon and Las Vegas Nevada temples were dedicated. The number of temples had more than doubled in a single decade.
SATELLITE SYSTEM INSTALLED
1981: The Church began building a network of satellite dishes at stake centers, rather than relying on short wave radio and direct wire broadcasts as it had in the past. During the next years, satellite broadcasts would be an increasingly important part of the Church's effort to preach the gospel. This reflected the changing technology that caused the Church to shift its focus on the best way to bring the benefits of general conference and other general Church meetings to the membership throughout the United States and the world.
EXECUTIVE COUNCILS CREATED
1981: Three top-level Church executive councils were created on March 18, 1981: the Missionary Executive Council, the Priesthood Executive Council and the Temple and Genealogy Executive Council, a significant change in general Church administration.
LOCAL BUDGET, BUILDING FUNDS ELIMINATED
1982, 1989: The Church announced on April 2, 1982, that meetinghouses were to be constructed from general Church funds rather than separate local building funds. On Nov. 25, 1989, a change in policy for financing local Church units in the United States and Canada was announced. Members would no longer have stake and ward budget assessments.
SUBTITLE TO BOOK OF MORMON ADDED
1981: On Sept. 26, 1981, the Church began distribution of a new edition of the Triple Combination (Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price). The subtitle "Another Testament of Jesus Christ" was added on Oct. 3, 1982, to the title of the Book of Mormon. Also in 1982, a visitors center and historic site was opened in the partially restored Grandin printing building in Palmyra, N.Y., where the first copies of the Book of Mormon were printed in 1830.
HUMANITARIAN EFFORTS EXPANDED
1985: A special fast on Aug. 2, 1985, to benefit victims of famine in Africa, raised more than $6 million, an extraordinary example of the Church's effort to reach out to aid those in desperate need around the world. This initial effort led to regular contributions to humanitarian needs by the Church and its members.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES
1985: President Spencer W. Kimball died Nov. 5, 1985, after serving nearly 12 years. President Ezra Taft Benson was set apart Nov. 10, 1985, as president of the Church. President Benson delivered a series of major addresses emphasizing the Book of Mormon as the "keystone" of the Church.
NEW HYMNAL PUBLISHED
1985: The Church not only published new editions of the scriptures in the 1980s, but also a new edition of the hymnal on Aug. 2, 1985. This was the first new hymnbook since 1948, and one-fourth of the hymns were new. The new hymnbook contained a message from the First Presidency on the importance of music in Church worship services.
MISSIONARY LESSONS CHANGED
1986: Missionary work underwent two significant changes during the decade. A new set of missionary discussions was introduced in July 1986. The new discussions did not require memorization of specific dialogue but focused on an outline and the use of the missionaries' own words. In addition, the use of media was increased to spread direct gospel messages.
INTERNATIONAL MILESTONES REACHED
1988-1989: Church growth internationally was highlighted by several milestones. On May 15, 1988, the Aba Nigeria Stake was organized, the first in West Africa. On June 1, 1988, the Church was granted legal recognition in Hungary. On Nov. 12, 1988, it was announced that missionaries could enter the German Democratic Republic (DDR), and that members in the DDR could serve missions in other countries. On June 25, 1989, the 100th stake in Mexico was created in Tecalco.
1990-1998
RECORD NUMBER OF NEW MISSIONS
1990: New missions in the Eastern European countries of Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Poland highlighted a record 29 new missions created in 1990. Also, as of November 1990, the financing of missionaries was equalized with a standard amount required for maintaining all full-time missionaries from the United States and Canada.
LEGAL RECOGNITIONS BOLSTER INTERNATIONAL GROWTH
1990s: A number of legal recognitions took place during the decade. On Feb. 25, 1991, the Church was officially recognized in Kenya. Official recognition of the Church in Ivory Coast was announced April 19, 1991. On June 24, 1991, when the Tabernacle Choir was performing in Moscow, the Church received official recognition in the Russian Republic of the Soviet Union. The Church was registered in Zambia July 10, 1992, and was legally recognized in Tanzania on Oct. 8, 1992. The Church was granted formal legal status in Italy May 12, 1993, and on June 29, 1993, the Church was formally registered by the government of Mexico. The Church received legal status in Madagascar July 13, 1993, and was legally registered Sept. 9, 1993, in Cameroon and in Ethiopia Sept. 16, 1993. The Church was legally registered in Mongolia Jan. 17, 1994, and received recognition in Cambodia May 6, 1994. Official registration of the Church, however, is often not a one-time event. A new law governing religious organizations required the Church to submit a new application in the country of Russia. That recognition was given May 14, 1998.
PACE OF TEMPLE BUILDING INCREASES
1990s: Several temples were dedicated in the first half of the 1990s. The Toronto Ontario Temple was dedicated in 1990, the San Diego California Temple was dedicated in 1994, and the Bountiful Utah Temple in 1995. Temples dedicated since President Gordon B. Hinckley became president of the Church include the Hong Kong and Mount Timpanogos Utah temples in 1996, the St. Louis Missouri and Vernal Utah temples in 1997, and the Preston England and Monticello Utah temples in 1998. The announcement of small temples for many places increased the pace of temple building around the world.
HUMANITARIAN ASSISTANCE INCREASES
1990s: An emphasis by the Church on reaching out to others in times of need continued. President Thomas S. Monson, first counselor in the First Presidency, summarized some of those efforts at a banquet of Rotary International held in Salt Lake City on Nov. 20, 1997. President Monson indicated that since 1985 the Church had undertaken 2,340 humanitarian projects in 137 countries and rendered total assistance valued at $162.5 million. Spotlighted were major disaster efforts in Mexico in 1990; Bangladesh, China and the Philippines in 1991; Bosnia, Africa, Croatia and the southern United States in 1992; the Midwestern United States in 1993; California and Rwanda in 1994; Japan in 1995; and North Korea in 1996 and 1997.
TABERNACLE CHOIR TOURS
1990s: The Tabernacle Choir gave a boost to the Church's public profile with four extensive concert tours. In June 1991 the choir toured eight European countries: Germany, France, Switzerland, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the Soviet Union. In December 1992 the choir performed in Israel. The Choir also performed in New York City and Washington, D.C., in 1995, and participated in the pioneer sesquicentennial in 1997; The Choir traveled extensively in Europe in 1998, performing in world-renowned halls in England, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, Italy.
TECHNOLOGY HARNESSED
1990-1994: Technology in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s was driven increasingly by the use of computer applications. The Church had developed this technology very early, especially in applications dealing with membership records, finance and family history. Initially released in 1984, the Personal Ancestry File was upgraded and released in 1990 as Personal Ancestral File 2.2. That same year also saw the release of the Family History Department's FamilySearch, a personal computer program allowing access to some of the Family History Library's most important research tools. In 1991, 50 years after a centralized membership worldwide was begun, the Church announced that Church membership worldwide had been computerized. In 1993 the TempleReady program was released, and in 1994 the Personal Ancestry File was upgraded to be compatible with TempleReady. Used in conjunction with each other, these family history computer programs helped Church members research their family history, find out what temple work had already been done and submit names directly from their home computer for performing temple work.
ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MORMONISM PUBLISHED
1991: An important reference work, the Encyclopedia of Mormonism, was published in New York by Macmillan Publishing Co. The five-volume reference work, created by scholars of the Church, was placed in libraries around the world.
CHURCH LEADERSHIP CHANGES
1994-1995: President Ezra Taft Benson died May 30, 1994, after serving more than eight years, and within a year his successor, President Howard W. Hunter, died, bringing two changes of leadership to the Church within a nine-month period. President Hunter became president of the Church June 5, 1994, and served until his death on March 3, 1995. On March 12, 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley became president of the Church.
2,000TH STAKE CREATED
1994: A statistical milestone for the Church was reached when President Howard W. Hunter created the 2,000th stake of the Church, the Mexico Contreras Stake, in Mexico City on Dec. 11, 1994.
PRESIDENT HINCKLEY TRAVELS WORLDWIDE
1995-1998: President Gordon B. Hinckley was determined to visit the Saints around the world. His travel schedule was astounding. In August and September of 1995, he visited Ireland and the United Kingdom. In 1996 he visited Mexico in January; Japan, Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Cambodia, Vietnam and the Philippines in May; the Northern Mariana Islands, Spain, Belgium, The Netherlands, Denmark, Germany and Israel in June; Columbia, Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Brazil in November. In 1997, he visited Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in January; New Zealand and Australia in May; Mexico in June; Uruguay, Paraguay, Ecuador and Venezuela in August; Samoa, American Samoa, Tonga, Fiji and Tahiti in October; Mexico and Belize in November. In 1998, he visited Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Zimbabwe and South Africa in February; Mexico in March, and England, Germany, France and Switzerland in June, as well as the Canadian provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec in August. All of this international travel was in addition to a demanding schedule within the United States, including the dedication of two temples in Utah and one in Missouri, the dedication of the Mormon Trails Center at Winter Quarters, Neb., the dedication of the Mormon Handcart Visitors Center in Wyoming, the dedication of the Ensign Peak Memorial Garden and the First Encampment Park in Salt Lake City, the dedication of Simpson's Hollow in Wyoming, the dedication of the George Q. Cannon statue in Hawaii, and the dedication of the Book of Mormon Historic Restoration Site (Grandin Building) and Joseph Smith Log Home in Palmyra, N.Y. He also spoke at numerous regional conferences, members and missionary meetings and gave a major address on April 26, 1998, at Madison Square Garden in New York City, and at the United Center in Chicago on Oct. 19, 1998. He was also interviewed live for an hour on a popular cable television news program, "The Larry King Show" on Sept. 8, 1998.
POSITION OF AREA AUTHORITY SEVENTY CREATED
1995, 1997: A new priesthood position, Area Authority, was created in April 1995 to assist area presidencies in administering area affairs. Since 1984, the administration of the Church had been through area presidencies. Also announced was the discontinuance of the office of regional representative of the Twelve. In April of 1997 the Area Authorities were formed into the Third, Fourth and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy and were given the title of Area Authority Seventies.
PROCLAMATION ON FAMILY, EMPHASIS ON RETENTION GIVEN
1995, 1997: The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve on Sept. 23, 1995, issued the Proclamation on the Family, a major statement on the sanctity of marriage and the responsibility of Church members to their families. A letter sent to Church members on May 15, 1997, emphasized the need for fellowshipping new converts.
GENERAL AUTHORITIES WITHDRAWN FROM BUSINESS BOARDS
1996: The First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve announced Jan. 18, 1996, the withdrawal of General Authorities from boards of directors of business corporations, including Church-owned corporations except Deseret Management Corporation, effective at the next regular meetings of the respective corporations.
MORE THAN HALF THE MEMBERSHIP NOW OUTSIDE OF UNITED STATES
1996: Member and Statistical Records Division of the Church estimated on Feb. 28, 1996, that for the first time more than half of the Church membership lived in lands outside the United States. About 4,720,000 members lived outside the United States and 4,719,000 lived in the United States.
SESQUICENTENNIAL OF PIONEERS DRAWS UNPRECEDENTED PUBLICITY
1997: The celebration of the Church's Pioneer Sesquicentennial drew many members closer to their pioneer roots. A recreation of the pioneer trek April 21, July 22, 1997, brought the Church much favorable publicity. Saints around the world were encouraged to remember their heritage, with the Sesquicentennial theme "Faith in Every Footstep." An important part of the celebration was a service day July 19, 1997, where thousands of hours of volunteer work were rendered throughout the world during the month of July.
SMALL TEMPLES PLANNED FOR REMOTE AREAS
1997-1998: President Gordon B. Hinckley's announcement at general conference on Oct. 4, 1997, of plans for new temples was the sign of broad vision for the future: Small temples would be built in remote areas where Church membership is small. The initial announcement mentioned three cities where smaller temples were to be built: Anchorage, Alaska; Monticello, Utah; and Colonia Juarez, Mexico. At general conference on April 5, 1998, President Hinckley expanded the vision of building smaller temples by indicating that 30 of these new temples were planned. No specific sites were given, but the temples would be in Europe, Asia, Australia, Fiji, Mexico, Central and South America, Africa, The United States and Canada. The first small temple was dedicated in Monticello, Utah, on July 26, 1998. Within six months, sites for 24 temples were announced.
CABIN, PRINT SHOP DEDICATED
1998: Two sites important in the early history of the Church were dedicated. On March 28, 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated a replica of the Smith family cabin on the site where Joseph Smith Jr. lived when he received the First Vision. The Grandin Print Shop, where the Book of Mormon was first printed and long owned by the Church, was fully restored and also dedicated by President Hinckley on March 27, 1998.
CHURCH GROWTH CONTINUES
1998: Indicative of continual Church expansion, 13 new missions were created, effective July 1. And effective Aug. 15, five new Church administration areas were created. Brazil became the second country after Mexico to have two areas, and Peru and Bolivia were formed into the South America West Area. A new North America East Area, and Australia/New Zealand Area were created. In Africa, membership in West Africa reached the point where the Africa West Area was created.
