Tuesday, October 12, 2018 LINK

On June 1, 1978 the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints extended priesthood ordination and full temple participation to members of African descent. Forty years later, scholars and students will gather at Brigham Young University to discuss the contexts of the restriction’s origins and the landmark revelation that lifted them, the revelation’s international dimensions, and the meaning of the revelation for today’s Church.

SESSION I: 19TH AND 20TH CENTURY CONTEXTS

9:00 am–10:45 am

Welcome and Chair: Spencer Fluhman, BYU
Commentator: Lerone Martin, Washington University in St. Louis 

Sylvester Johnson, Virginia Tech University
Janan Graham-Russell, Harvard Divinity School
Paul Reeve, University of Utah

SESSION II: INTERNATIONAL DIMENSIONS

11:00 am–12:30 pm

Chair and Commentator:  Leslie Hadfield, BYU

Marcus Martins, BYU-Hawaii
Khumbulani Mdletshe, CES Director, Gauteng, South Africa
Emmanuel Abu Kissi, Medical officer and LDS Area Authority Emeritus, Ghana

12:45-1:45 pm – Lunch 

SESSION III: FOR TODAY’S CHURCH

1:45–3:15 pm

Chair and Commentator: Jake Rugh, BYU

Cathy Stokes, Early African American convert
Ryan Gabriel, BYU
Marvin Perkins, Early African American convert
Déborah Aléxis, BYU student