20th century (Mormonism)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a timeline of major events in Mormonism in the 20th century.

[edit] 1900s

[edit] 1900

[edit] 1901

[edit] 1903

  • January - Reed Smoot, an apostle, is elected by the state legislature to the 58th congress as a U.S. Senator. Controversy over his election arises immediately.
  • February - Despite allegations and controversy, Reed Smoot is allowed to be seated in the Senate.
  • March - Reed Smoot takes the senatorial oath and formally becomes a member of the senate.

[edit] 1904

  • January - Reed Smoot submits carefully prepared rebuttals to allegations against him and his church.
  • March - The Reed Smoot Hearings begin, evaluating whether Reed Smoot should be allowed to be a senator.
  • April 6 - Joseph F. Smith issues the "Second Manifesto," which reinforces the 1890 Manifesto and prescribes excommunication for those who continued to practice plural marriage.

[edit] 1905

  • April - John W. Taylor resigns from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreements with church policy regarding polygamy.
  • October 28 - Matthias F. Cowley follows John W. Taylor and resigns from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles due to disagreements with church policy regarding polygamy.

[edit] 1907

  • February 20 - After more than two years of hearings, the Smoot Hearings are resolved by a vote. The republican majority overturns objections to his seating. Reed Smoot serves another 26 years.
  • The church becomes debt-free.

[edit] 1909

  • The First Presidency issues an official statement regarding questions concerning the Creation of the earth and the theories of evolution and the origin of man.

[edit] 1910s

[edit] 1911

  • John W. Taylor is excommunicated for performing a plural marriage despite the Second Manifesto issued by President Joseph F. Smith. With this excommunication, the practice of new polygamous marriages is believed to be finally abolished. Polygamists who were married prior to 1905, continue to remain in good standing with the LDS church including, but not limited to, the President of the LDS church Joseph F. Smith

[edit] 1913

[edit] 1918

[edit] 1920s

[edit] 1920

  • John Williamson, Sr. died.

[edit] 1927

[edit] 1929

[edit] 1940s

[edit] 1945

[edit] 1948

  • President George Albert Smith petitions the Lord to lift the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood. He claims he is denied. The ban was not lifted until 1978.

[edit] 1950s

[edit] 1950

[edit] 1951

[edit] 1952

[edit] 1953

[edit] 1958

[edit] 1960s

[edit] 1961

[edit] 1962

[edit] 1963

[edit] 1964

[edit] 1969

  • Upon hearing news of Johnson's work in Ghana and others in Africa, President David O. McKay petitions the Lord to lift the ban on blacks receiving the priesthood. He is denied. It is not until 1978 that the ban is lifted.

[edit] 1970s

[edit] 1970

[edit] 1971

[edit] 1972

[edit] 1973

[edit] 1974

[edit] 1975

[edit] 1976

[edit] 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 dies.
  • 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.

[edit] 1981

[edit] 1980s

[edit] 1982

  • November 27: President N. Eldon Tanner dies. Consequently, Marion G. Romney is named as First Counselor, and Gordon B. Hinckley is named as Second Counselor.

[edit] 1983

[edit] 1984

[edit] 1985

[edit] 1986

[edit] 1988

[edit] 1990s

[edit] 1994

[edit] 1995

  • March 3: President Howard W. Hunter dies after serving only nine months as president. Gordon B. Hinckley becomes his successor.
  • March 12: President Gordon B. Hinckley is set apart as President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
  • April 1: Henry B. Eyring is ordained and set apart in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

[edit] 1997

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Church Update: Joseph W. B. Johnson - Ghana's Face of Light
  2. ^ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints OFFICIAL DECLARATION—2