Church history · Faith and understanding
Remembering Black Latter-day Saints, studying the historical restrictions, and receiving the 1978 revelation with reverence.
Begin with care
For many readers, this history is personal. Approach it with reverence for sacred covenants and respect for the women, men, and families whose lives it affected. This study follows the Church’s published accounts and links to the sources so you can read them in their own context.
Begin with the Church’s Gospel Topics essay Race and the Priesthood. Its historical account accompanies the current topic Race and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Together they guide the history and teachings presented here.
01 · Remember and study
The Church’s Gospel Topics essay describes a few Black men receiving priesthood ordination during Joseph Smith’s lifetime. In 1852, Brigham Young publicly announced a restriction on ordaining men of Black African descent. Over subsequent decades, Black women and men were also restricted from receiving temple endowment and sealing ordinances. Black people continued to join the Church through baptism and confirmation. These distinctions matter when reading the lives of individual members.
2018 historical reflection
President Dallin H. Oaks reflects on the revelation at the 2018 Be One celebration. Listen to his counsel alongside the Church’s written historical account.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Media Library; copyright Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
The Church’s current Topics and Questions article states that there is no documented revelation establishing the restriction’s origin. It explains that later Church Presidents believed revelation was needed to end it. The article counsels against speculation. We can acknowledge what the records establish without assigning causes or motives beyond what those sources document. The Church disavows past racial explanations for the restriction.
Race and the Priesthood — Gospel Topics Essay Race and the Church — current questions and answers
02 · Remember and study
Elijah Able joined the Church in 1832. In 1836, Ambrose Palmer ordained him to the Melchizedek Priesthood; later that year he was ordained a Seventy. A carpenter and missionary, Elijah served in New York and Canada and later helped build the Salt Lake Temple. He and his wife, Mary Ann Adams, raised a family. His history is part of the story of the Saints who worked, worshipped, and shared their faith in the early Church.
Illustrated Church story
This illustrated Church story follows Elijah’s missionary service. Read his historical biography alongside the film to learn more about his family, work, and temple requests.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Elijah retained his priesthood office after the restriction was announced. Yet his requests to receive his endowment and be sealed to Mary Ann were denied, including another request in 1879. His earlier participation in washing and anointing in Kirtland was distinct from the later temple endowment he sought. The Church’s biography records both his continued service and these unfulfilled requests. He remained faithful until his death in 1884.
03 · Remember and study
Jane Elizabeth Manning James joined the Church in the winter of 1842–43 and reached Utah in 1847. She contributed to temple construction, participated in Relief Society, and provided for her family. Between 1884 and 1904, she repeatedly asked Church leaders for her endowment and sealing blessings. In 1888, she received permission to perform baptisms for deceased relatives. Her requests reveal how deeply temple worship mattered to her.
Illustrated Church story
The Church’s illustrated account follows Jane’s journey to Nauvoo. Continue with her biography to learn about her years of worship, service, and seeking temple blessings.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Jane did not receive her endowment or family sealings during her lifetime. The Church’s biography also describes an unusual 1894 proxy sealing to Joseph Smith’s household as a servant; this did not fulfill her requests for endowment and family sealing. She died in 1908, and those ordinances were performed on her behalf in 1979. Her faith and her efforts to receive temple blessings should be remembered together, with care for the person whose life the records preserve.
04 · Remember and study
In Brazil, Helvécio and Rudá Martins welcomed missionaries in 1972 and joined the Church. Helvécio later served on the São Paulo Temple public relations committee while expecting that the restriction would prevent him from receiving its ordinances. The Church’s account, “Joy of an Eternal Covenant,” remembers the couple’s gratitude when they learned of the revelation. They were subsequently sealed in the São Paulo Temple. Read their account as the story of a family seeking the Lord and cherishing His covenants.
Church film
In A New Day, Latter-day Saints remember the 1978 revelation. Hear their personal accounts alongside the histories of believers in Brazil and Ghana.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
In Ghana, Joseph William Billy Johnson, Raphael Abraham Frank Mensah, Rebecca Mould, and other believers shared the Book of Mormon and gathered for worship before the Church was officially established there. These were congregations of believers awaiting baptism and formal organization. The Church’s Ghana history recounts Johnson hearing news of the revelation on the radio in the summer of 1978. On December 9, Johnson, Mensah, and 123 other converts were baptized; a branch was organized in Cape Coast the next morning.
Joy of an Eternal Covenant · Brazil We’ve Waited Long for Thee · Ghana
05 · Remember and study
President Spencer W. Kimball sought the Lord’s will through prayer, study, and counsel with other Church leaders. “Witnessing the Faithfulness,” in Revelations in Context, places that seeking alongside the lives of Black members and believers. By early 1978, President Kimball was spending many hours praying in the temple. His counselors and the Apostles were also studying and praying about extending priesthood and temple blessings.
Church film
Hear N. Eldon Tanner present the revelation at general conference on September 30, 1978. This recording preserves its public acceptance and the sustaining of Church officers.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
Official Declaration 2 records that the revelation was affirmed to Church leaders in the Salt Lake Temple on June 1, 1978. The First Presidency’s letter, dated June 8, announced that every worthy male Church member could be ordained without regard to race or color, and that members and their loved ones could receive temple blessings. On September 30, N. Eldon Tanner presented the revelation in general conference. The assembly unanimously sustained it. These are distinct moments: sacred confirmation, the written announcement, and the Church’s public acceptance.
Witnessing the Faithfulness · Revelations in Context Official Declaration 2
06 · Remember and study
The revelation opened the way for Black men to receive priesthood ordination and for Black women and men to receive temple endowment and sealing ordinances. The Gospel Topics essay describes members responding with joy and entering temples throughout the world. Its concluding teaching affirms that redemption through Jesus Christ is available to the whole human family. Race does not determine a person’s standing before God.
Church film
A Person and A Sister shares personal experiences of belonging in the Church. Listen with care to the people telling their stories.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints · Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
The Church today rejects theories that associate Black skin with divine disfavor or conduct before birth, condemn interracial marriage, or claim that one race is inferior to another. Its current teaching calls members to repent of racial prejudice and oppose racism. Studying this history invites us to listen carefully, speak truthfully, and treat one another with the dignity and love owed to every child of God.
Race and the Priesthood — Gospel Topics Essay Race and the Church — current questions and answers
Read the revelation in full. Then turn to the Savior’s invitation and the qualities scripture asks of those who serve in His name.
Official Declaration 2 · Read the First Presidency’s letter and the record of the Church’s sustaining vote.
2 Nephi 26:24–33 · Consider the invitation to come unto Christ and the declaration that all are alike unto God.
Doctrine and Covenants 121:34–46 · Reflect on persuasion, gentleness, love, and the warning against unrighteous dominion.
These optional questions are invitations to personal study. Take the time you need.
What did you learn about Elijah’s or Jane’s service, family, and desire to worship? Which part of the official biography would you like to understand more fully?
What does the June 8 letter say about prayer, faithfulness, priesthood, and temple blessings? Keep its words beside the historical account as you study.
How could this study help you listen more carefully to someone’s experience? What can you do to welcome others and respond to prejudice with courage and kindness?
All historical and doctrinal sources in this study are published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The biographies and global histories are later accounts; Official Declaration 2 preserves the 1978 letter and conference presentation. The illustrated films are Church storytelling, while the conference recording documents the public proceedings.
Continue learning about priesthood authority and the call to serve.
Study the place of covenants and family sealing in temple worship.
Meet other Saints through their lives and recorded experiences.