Mormon Adoption, LDS Adoption, Child Adoption - LDS Church history and adopted Black children, part 5

04/03/07

LDS Church history and adopted Black children, part 5

Posted by : Tana W. in LDS Adoption Blog at 12:42 am , 359 words, 450 views
Categories: Transracial/Transcultural, Talking with Kids, Difficult Topics, Church History

Additional resources:

The Genesis Group

From the website:

The Genesis Group was established to meet the needs of Black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of whom were descendants of early pioneers, with the hope of reactivating those who had left the Church and of supporting new converts of African descent. It was established in 1971 under the direction of President Harold B. Lee with the assistance of Elders Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and Boyd K. Packer. The current General Authority responsible for Genesis is Seventy President Merrill J. Bateman.

The Genesis Group meets on the first Sunday of each month from 7:00 to 8:30 pm at 6710 South 1300 East in Salt Lake City, Utah. Everyone is welcome to attend. The monthly meetings feature a fireside format with guest speakers, a Black gospel song as a practice hymn, and testimonies. The organization operates with Relief Society, Singles, Youth, and Primary auxiliaries.

Genesis is not a substitute for ward activities, but is a support to members of the Church and to those interested in the Church.

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Black LDS

From the website:

There is a lot of folklore and misinformation about black members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Black Mormons not only have to deal with their own families and their own salvation, but they also have to deal with these myths that continue to be spread about blacks in the LDS church. Some of these myths include the idea that blacks are not welcome in the LDS church, or that the LDS church teaches that blacks are somehow less valiant than their white brothers and sisters.

Full text of “Neither White nor Black: Scholars Confront the Race Issue in a Universal Church,” by Lester E. Bush, Jr. and Armand L. Mauss

News story on the 25th anniversary of the revelation on the priesthood

Dispelling the Curse of Cain, by Armand Mauss

"Blacks and the LDS Priesthood" PODCAST (re-delivery of a presentation originally given at BYU)

"Church, Race and Misplaced Apologetics", FAIR publilcation

Order a DVD of the original FAIR conference presentation of "Church, Race and Misplaced Apologetics"

Elijah Abel photo credit: Black LDS

5 comments

Comments, Pingbacks:

Comment from: forever_family [Member]

Thank you for covering this topic. As we watched our soon to be adopted AA toddler playing a few evenings ago my husband said to me with a sad look "what are we going to tell him when he asks about the church?" I knew what he was talking about without clarification. Its not that we haven't talked about this or planned on this. I would agree with you that 99% of the church does not understand this-I don't feel we will have all the answers in this lifetime.

100% of people outside of our church membership do not understand-goes without saying. In order to accept this they would have to believe in revelation and that our church receives this said revelation. Obvious problem for those outside of our faith.

One of my very good friends who is of African heritage (she is from England so not AA) explained to me how she gained a testimony of the gospel despite her families protest and many well intentioned clergy from her Protestant church. I wrote it down. In the end we felt it best for our foster son, if adopted, and we feel he will be adopted, to have an adult AA member of the LDS faith as a mentor. We also discussed the importance of being prepared-so thanks again for covering this topic.

Permalink 04/03/07 @ 05:12

Comment from: Tana W. [Member]

· http://lds.adoptionblogs.com

Just this week I also talked with an African American church member who essentially bore her testimony to me, too. It helps so much to hear those testimonies. You're so fortunate to have a friend who can be a mentor to your foster son.

Permalink 04/03/07 @ 18:30

Comment from: Lila [Member]

· http://casadeking.blogspot.com/

This is so interesting that you posted this as I have also been researching black history in the LDS church. I appreciate all your thoughts and the links. I've read some of the references you gave but several that you listed I was not aware of-will have to check them out. It's most important to me that I convey to my children how much our Heavenly Father loves them no matter what their skin color is versus their Mom's or their Dad's.

Permalink 04/03/07 @ 20:12

Comment from: Tana W. [Member]

· http://lds.adoptionblogs.com

Thanks, Lila. It was tough to write and I hate opening up the door for more criticism from outside the church, but like I said, if we won't talk about it with our kids, someone else will, and they likely won't have the same perspective we do.

Permalink 04/03/07 @ 21:48

Comment from: Reba [Member]

I just had that conversation with a friend (not lds) last week. We have two black children and it is time I got my head around this subject....

Permalink 04/04/07 @ 16:36

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