“Latter-day Saints and Religious Liberty: Historical and Global Perspectives” is the theme of this year’s Church History Symposium, sponsored by the Church History Department and BYU’s Department of Church History and Doctrine, on March 10-11.
Keynote speakers include Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sarah Barringer Gordon, University of Pennsylvania professor of constitutional law and history. Sister Sharon Eubank, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency and president of Latter-day Saint Charities, and former Utah Gov. Michael O. Leavitt, president of The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, will also participate in a panel discussion.
Topics for the breakout sessions include religious liberty in the Pacific, navigating legal and religious liberty obligations in Europe, missionary work, Joseph Smith’s presidential campaign, and conflicts and context in 19th-century Missouri.
The conference will begin at 9 a.m. MST on Thursday, March 10, with Gordon’s keynote address. Thursday’s sessions will be at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah.
On Friday, March 11, the in-person sessions are in Salt Lake City at the Church History Department and the Church Office Building. The concurrent sessions begin at 8:45 a.m., with the panel discussion at 2:30 p.m., and Elder Gong will speak at 4 p.m.
The biannual event is free and open to the public with both in-person and streaming options. Registration is required. For registration and a full program, see rsc.byu.edu/conferences/church-history.
In 2020, the theme was “Vision and Visionaries: Joseph Smith in Comparative Contexts,” and President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, and Sheri Dew, former Relief Society general presidency counselor and Deseret Management Corp. vice president, both presented.
2022 Church History Symposium
- Elder Gong shares how religious liberty is seen in the Church’s doctrine, history and global experience, during 2022 Church History Symposium
- Church History Symposium panel: Defending religious liberty as both a Church member and citizen, and in societies around the world
