1970s (LDS)

Overview

The '70s are dominated by the 1978 revelation by Spencer W. Kimball that blacks may receive the priesthood. During the mid- to late '70s, President Kimball energetically encourages the members to "lengthen their stride," and the missionary effort meets great success.

1970

• January 18: President David O. McKay passes away and Joseph Fielding Smith becomes president.
• April 9: Boyd K. Packer is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1971

• June 8: The Genesis Group is formed. It becomes an official church auxiliary dedicated to serving the needs of black members, who cannot hold the priesthood at this time.
• November 1: Elder Richard L. Evans passes away.
• December 2: Marvin J. Ashton is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1972

• July 2: After serving for two years as president, Joseph Fielding Smith passes away and Harold B. Lee becomes president.
• Bruce R. McConkie is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1973

• December 26: After serving for little more than a year as president, President Harold B. Lee passes on. Spencer W. Kimball becomes president.

1974

• April 11: L. Tom Perry is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• July: The Church implements a major reorganization, including standardized naming of missions and stakes.

1975

• November 11–November 12 - President Spencer W. Kimball rededicates the St. George Utah Temple after renovation.
• December 2: Elder Hugh B. Brown passes away.

1976

• January 8: David B. Haight is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

1978

• June 1: President Spencer W. Kimball receives confirmation and revelation after supplicating the Lord regarding blacks and the priesthood. Moved by the exceeding faith of the Genesis Group, and moved by the dedication and perseverance of the mulattos in Brazil in building the São Paulo temple, he takes the matter before the Lord, as many previous presidents of the church have done.
• June 9: President Spencer W. Kimball, after receiving the revelation, and discussing the matter with the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Quorum of the Seventy, announces that the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood has been lifted, and all males may receive the priesthood according to their worthiness, regardless of race. Despite previous understanding that blacks were not to receive the priesthood until the millennium, the members of the church receive the announcement with jubilation and it gains worldwide press attention.
• June 23: Joseph Freeman, 26, the first black man to gain the priesthood in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, went in the Salt Lake Temple with his wife and 5 sons for sacred ordinances. Thomas S. Monson, member of the church's Quorum of Twelve Apostles, conducted the marriage and sealing ordinances. This event shows that blacks not only are able to gain the priesthood, but are able to interracially marry in the temple with the church's blessing. (Salt Lake Tribune, June 24, 1978)
• August 19: Elder Delbert L. Stapley passes away.
• September 30: President N. Eldon Tanner reads Official Declaration - 2 to the General Conference, and it is unanimously adopted as the word and will of the Lord on the same day. This is the declaration released publicly earlier in 1978, allowing blacks to receive the priesthood.
• October 1: James E. Faust is ordained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

See also

• 1970s (worldwide)

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