As Elder Kyle S. McKay recently accepted a donation of historic artifacts on behalf of the Church, he emphasized the items, records and histories have one overarching purpose — “to bear witness of Jesus Christ.”
“I hope that as you look at them, you will somehow see and find Jesus Christ and how He worked in the places that are represented,” said Elder McKay, a General Authority Seventy who serves as Church historian and recorder and as executive director of the Church History Department. “All of this is intended to bring us unto Christ. I hope you will allow it to do that.”
“Jesus Christ at the Center of Church History,” combined with the scriptural phrase, “I Am in Your Midst” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:44, 61:36), is the theme of a conference being organized by the Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The conference is scheduled for Friday and Saturday, Sept. 5-6, at the Conference Center Theater.
The conference will feature panels with current and past Church leaders, scholars and educators covering a wide variety of topics and perspectives. They will also explore how Church history reveals the Savior’s central role in the history of the Church.
Everyone can benefit from a deeper understanding of the Savior’s presence and influence throughout Church history, said Matthew C. Godfrey, a senior managing historian in the Church History Department.
“We were hoping with this conference to try to help people see ways that we can see the Savior in Church history, the role that He plays in it, how we can use His Atonement to deal with some of the challenging aspects of Church history and some of the difficulties that people might have with our history, and see His presence throughout our history,” Godfrey said.
The event is free, and registration is available online. The event will also be available for viewing online through a live streaming link.
Organizers want to spread the message that this conference is not just intended for scholars and historians; rather it’s open to a general Church audience, said Petra Javadi-Evans, an editorial manager in the Church History Department.
“This conference has something for everyone, from those who love Church history and are entrenched in it to those who may be wary of Church history ... and those who may have a passing interest,” she said.
What to expect
The conference will open on Friday, Sept. 5, with a keynote address by Elder McKay on the theme of the conference.
The rest of the conference’s first day will feature panels and roundtables with historians, scholars and educators on the following topic titles:
- “Making Peace with Challenging Questions in Church history”
- “That They Might Know Him: Helping Students Find the Savior in Church History”
- “Learning by Study and by Faith: Methods to See the Redeemer in the Church’s Past”
The second day of the conference, Saturday, Sept. 6, will begin with a session featuring Elder McKay and the three previous Church historians and recorders — Elder LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., Elder Steven E. Snow and Elder Marlin K. Jensen.
Godfrey and Javadi-Evans said the four will offer insights into the role and duties of a Church historian, initiatives they have supervised and how they have kept Christ at the center of Church history.
Other Saturday topics include:
- “Light and Life of the World: The Son of Man in Global Church History.”
- “‘Had Witnessed for Themselves’: Latter-day Saint Women Testify of the Savior.”
- “Standing in Sacred Places: Inspiring Faith through Historic Sites.”
Organizers hope these roundtables and presentations can provide insights and ideas for all Latter-day Saints, especially those who teach on Sunday, on how to bring the Savior into lessons on the Doctrine and Covenants and Church history.
“We hope people will come and be edified,” Godfrey said. “Sometimes we can lose track of the Savior when we are looking at our history. I hope this will help people be able to see His presence, the miracles He performed, everything that He has done throughout our history, and know that He really is the center. He is directing the Restoration, and He uses imperfect people to do it, but He is always there to oversee and make sure that we’re on the right path. That’s important for people to learn.”
