Priesthood Ban
Elder Oaks: Be One, Unless You’re Gay
I attended the “Be One” celebration last night at the Conference Center. It was truly an amazing service. I encourage you all to watch it. Gladys Knight, the Bonner Family, the Be One Choir, and all the performers were amazing. I got a little emotional as I listened to these wonderful black performers discuss the […]
Baptist Church Problems with Race
Mormons have long had a problem with race regarding the ban that resulted in blacks being denied priesthood and temple blessings until 1978. Mormons aren’t the only ones with racial problems though. According to Wikipedia, In May 1845, the Baptist congregations in the United States split over slavery and missions. The Home Mission Society prevented slaveholders from […]
BYU/Studio C’s Interracial Couple
My kids love to watch Studio C. For those of you unfamiliar with Studio C, it is a sketch comedy show on BYU-TV, and they also publish comedy routines on YouTube. It definitely appeals to the pre-teen, teen crowd, but adults will find some of their routines funny too. Here’s one where Sleeping Beauty has […]
Gays & the 2nd Article of Faith
There was an interview released last week where Paul Reeve admitted being the source behind the Race & Priesthood essay at LDS.org. While I think that was a nice scoop, there was another part of that interview that I think is very important and may have gotten lost in the headline. I have been very vocal […]
Awesome Interviews for #BlackHistoryMonth
As many of you know, one of my favorite topics has been the priesthood and temple ban on black church members. There’s a new podcast called Gospel Tangents I want to HIGHLY recommend. Here are some of my favorite quotes so far in interviews with Dr. Paul Reeve, a history professor at the University of […]
The LDS Church in Ghana
Many of you are familiar with the story documented by Greg Prince in his biography of David O. McKay where blacks in Nigeria discovered the Book of Mormon and asked for missionaries in the 1960s. Nigeria wasn’t the only place; Dr. Emmanuel Abu Kissi has documented a similar history in Ghana in his book Walking […]
Joseph Freeman: In the Lord’s Due Time
A friend asked that a read a book about the first black man ordained to the LDS Priesthood after the 1978 revelation: Joseph Freeman. (I’ve documented about 6 black men who were ordained in the 1830s and 1840s, as well as a few others who avoided the restriction despite the ban.) The book was […]
MHA 2016
I really enjoyed the Mormon History Association meetings at Snowbird, Utah this weekend. I can’t tell you how much fun these meetings are for me. The thing I hate most is when there are 2 sessions at teh same time that I want to attend. It can be difficult to choose at times, but I […]
Comparing 1978 to 1985
Continuing with the theme of Black History Month, I thought I’d reflect on changes in the past 30 or so years. In 1978, the LDS Church announced the lifting of priesthood restrictions. In 1985, the RLDS Church (now known as the Community of Christ) announced the lifting of priesthood restrictions on women. Not a single […]
The Mormon Church & Blacks
February is Black History Month. I recently finished Matthew Harris & Newel Bringhurst’s most recent book, The Mormon Church & Blacks: A Documentary History. The black priesthood ban has been a pet topic of mine; I have written nearly 60 posts on the topic over the past 8 years.
Mormon Heretic 