Biography of Roberta Hagar Jamieson

ROBERTA HAGAR JAMIESON
A BIOGRAPHY
MEMOIRS OBITUARY SUBMITTED TO
THE JOURNAL OF
THE CALIFORNIA-NEVADA CONFERENCE OF
THE UNITED METHODIST CHURCH
BY
ROBERTA M. LOCHER
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA
1983
ROBERTA HAGAR JAMIESON

Roberta Hagar Jamieson was born in Mansfield, Ohio, January 20, 1895. After her father's untimely death, her mother brought her two daughters back to New Orleans, Louisiana where her family lived. Roberta attended Catholic schools in that city and was a sensitive teenager when she began to work full time to help support her impoverished family. One of her jobs was helping at the Mary Wherline mission in New Orleans French quarter. Hugh Jamieson, the lay minster in charge of this "neighborhood house," encouraged her to enroll at a Methodist school for girls. In the fall of 1915, he went to Shreveport, Louisiana to enroll in Centenary College and finish his schooling for the ministry. He invited Roberta to attend the state fair in Shreveport in January of 1916 and convinced her to marry him rather than return to school. Thus, on January 15, 1916, they were married in a friend's home -- incidently, this friend was a cousin of Mrs. Lizzie Glide. Hugh continued school where he was the editor of the student paper. Roberta helped him with his student pastorate assignments which included the Queensborough Church (a newly organized church in a suburb of Shreveport and now Mangum Memorial United Methodist Church) and a county circuit.

In October 1916, their first child, Roberta Melissa, was born. In January 1918, their first son, Hugh William Jr. was born. Later that year, Hugh became and Army YMCA secretary serving Fort Sam Houston and other locations in this capacity.

After the war ended, Roberta and Hugh moved back to New Orleans where Hugh served as Army and Navy executive secretary for the YMCA and served several churches as supply minister. One was a rural circuit north east of New Orleans and finally as pastor of Second Methodist Church in New Orleans. During these years, Roberta had two more sons, Roberta Hagar, and David Lewis. Also, during this time, Tulane University played a big part in their lives. Hugh did "Y" work on the campus, and Roberta took medical students into her home as housing on campus was scarce.

In 1926, Hugh accepted Bishop Cannon's call to come to the Pacific Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church south to serve at Wesley House in the mission district of San Francisco. Roberta, often in frail health, became very ill in San Francisco. She found strength returning after they moved to southern California. With her children all in school, she became active in the PTA, serving as a unit president one year as well as in women's society and Sunday school affairs at church.

During those years when she served with Hugh in San Bernardino, Norwalk, and Trinity Church in Los Angeles, she taught children's classes and helped decorate the church often, with flowers grown in her own garden. Her home was always open to anyone need, from groups of one hundred youth for an after church Sunday evening "sing" with refreshments, to lonely troubled folks who needed a quiet place to refuge for a time.

Though never in robust health, she coped with the double demands of church responsibilities and a lively, active, growing family. In the fall of 1936, she moved with Hugh and youngest son David to the San Francisco Bay area where Hugh became presiding elder of the San Francisco-Fresno district of the Pacific Conference. After the older children transferred from UCLA to UC Berkeley in January 1937, she traveled the district with Hugh. After unification with the Methodist Episcopal church, their service remained in northern California, including pastorates at Hollister, Colusa, Farmington and Glide. During World War II, she was an honored plane watcher and at the request of parishioners, went to work in their walnut orchards. Man power shortages took Hugh into Stockton to help with the boys work at the YMCA and Roberta into the children's department of JC Penny. Both continued their church work at Farmington -- she grew vegetables and canned them and fruit in quantity for whoever needed it. They moved to Glide where he served until retirement. After retirement, Hugh served Hunter's Point Church, where Roberta decorated the altar and taught the children -- including an extended session with handwork for the needy children. While they lived in San Francisco, Roberta worked regular hours as a retail sales person at the Emporium. She continued this work until Hugh's death in 1958.

Becoming ill soon thereafter, she moved to Sacramento to be near her daughter and lived out her days there -- in her own home at first, with grandchildren staying with her. Later when she became ill, she stayed with her daughter. Failing health in November 1981 necessitated the medical care of a convalescent hospital where she lived peacefully until God took her home on Easter Monday afternoon.

Those Sacrament years were one of a ministry of prayer and meditation. Her special prayers were for the Bethlehem Mission and the American Bible Society but all the needs she knew of she lifted to God many hours a day. Her grandchildren, great-grandchildren and many refugee children honored her as their Grandma J who had a word or gift or thought for them. Her minister son -- now deceased, dedicated his first sermon and three study books he authored to her. Her electrical engineer son emulated her study patterns. Her son and daughter teachers continued her example of work with children and youth, especially those less fortunate. Now her grandchildren are continuing the chain she started. All possess her love of God's beautiful things, too, as their love of flowers and gardening attest. God's work continues as her example is followed.

File uploaded, September 20, 1999. by Erin copyright 1983 Roberta M. Locher, Updated March 26, 200

Personal Testimony of Revelation on Priesthood

by Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Priesthood [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], pp. 126-37


I was present when the Lord revealed to President Spencer W. Kimball that the time had come, in His eternal providences, to offer the fulness of the gospel and the blessings of the holy priesthood to all men.

I was present, with my brethren of the Twelve and the counselors in the First Presidency, when all of us heard the same voice and received the same message from on high.

It was on a glorious June day in 1978. All of us were together in an upper room in the Salt Lake Temple. We were engaged in fervent prayer, pleading with the Lord to manifest his mind and will concerning those who are entitled to receive his holy priesthood. President Kimball himself was mouth, offering the desires of his heart and of our hearts to that God whose servants we are.

In his prayer President Kimball asked that all of us might be cleansed and made free from sin so that we might receive the Lord's word. He counseled freely and fully with the Lord, was given utterance by the power of the Spirit, and what he said was inspired from on high. It was one of those rare and seldom-experienced times when the disciples of the Lord are perfectly united, when every heart beats as one, and when the same Spirit burns in every bosom.

Perfect Unity Among Presidency and Twelve
I have thought since that our united prayer must have been like that of the Nephite disciples--the Lord's Twelve in that day and for that people--who "were gathered together and were united in prayer and fasting" to learn the name that the Lord had given to his Church (3 Ne. 27:1-3). In their day the Lord came personally to answer their petition; in our day he sent his Spirit to deliver the message.

And as it was with our Nephite brethren of old, so it was with us. We too had come together in the spirit of true worship and with unity of desire. We were all fasting and had just concluded a meeting of some three hours' duration that was attended by nearly all of the General Authorities. That meeting was also held in the room of the First Presidency and the Twelve in the holy temple. In it we had been counseled by the First Presidency, had heard the messages and testimonies of about fifteen of the Brethren, had renewed our covenants, in the ordinance of sacrament, to serve God and keep his commandments that we might always have his Spirit to be with us, and, surrounding the holy altar, had offered up the desire of our hearts to the Lord. After this meeting, which was one of great spiritual uplift and enlightenment, all of the Brethren except those in the Presidency and the Twelve were excused.

President Kimball Directs
When we were alone by ourselves in that sacred place where we meet weekly to wait upon the Lord, to seek guidance from his Spirit, and to transact the affairs of his earthly kingdom, President Kimball brought up the matter of the possible conferral of the priesthood upon those of all races. This was a subject that the group of us had discussed at length on numerous occasions in the preceding weeks and months. The President restated the problem involved, reminded us of our prior discussions, and said he had spent many days alone in this upper room pleading with the Lord for an answer to our prayers. He said that if the answer was to continue our present course of denying the priesthood to the seed of Cain, as the Lord had theretofore directed, he was prepared to defend that decision to the death. But, he said, if the long-sought day had come in which the curse of the past was to be removed, he thought we might prevail upon the Lord so to indicate. He expressed the hope that we might receive a clear answer one way or the other so the matter might be laid to rest.

The Brethren Share Feelings
At this point President Kimball asked the Brethren if any of them desired to express their feelings and views as to the matter in hand. We all did so, freely and fluently and at considerable length, each person stating his views and manifesting the feelings of his heart. There was a marvelous outpouring of unity, oneness, and agreement in council. This session continued for somewhat more than two hours. Then President Kimball suggested that we unite in formal prayer and said, modestly, that if it was agreeable with the rest of us he would act as voice.

Brethren Unite in Prayer
It was during that prayer that the revelation came. The Spirit of the Lord rested mightily upon us all; we felt something akin to what happened on the day of Pentecost and at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple. From the midst of eternity, the voice of God, conveyed by the power of the Spirit, spoke to his prophet. The message was that the time had now come to offer the fulness of the everlasting gospel, including celestial marriage, and the priesthood, and the blessings of the temple, to all men, without reference to race or color, solely on the basis of personal worthiness. And we all heard the same voice, received the same message, and became personal witnesses that the word received was the mind and will and voice of the Lord.

President Kimball's prayer was answered and our prayers were answered. He heard the voice and we heard the same voice. All doubt and uncertainty fled. He knew the answer and we knew the answer. And we are all living witnesses of the truthfulness of the word so graciously sent from heaven.

Ancient Curse Removed
The ancient curse is no more. The seed of Cain and Ham and Canaan and Egyptus and Pharaoh (Abr. 1:20-27; Moses 5:16-41; 7:8, 22)--all these now have power to rise up and bless Abraham as their father. All these, Gentile in lineage, may now come and inherit by adoption all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Rom. 8:14-24; 9:4; Gal. 4:5; Eph. 1:5; Teachings, pp. 149-50). All these may now be numbered with those in the one fold of the one shepherd who is Lord of all.

A Powerful Witness
In the days that followed the receipt of the new revelation, President Kimball and President Ezra Taft Benson- the senior and most spiritually experienced ones among us- both said, expressing the feelings of us all, that neither of them had ever experienced anything of such spiritual magnitude and power as was poured out upon the Presidency and the Twelve that day in the upper room in the house of the Lord. And of it I say: I was there; I heard the voice; and the Lord be praised that it has come to pass in our day.

"All Are Alike unto God"
Not long after this revelation came, I was scheduled to address nearly a thousand seminary and institute teachers on a Book of Mormon subject. After I arrived on the stand, Brother Joe J. Christensen, under whose direction the symposium was going forward, asked me to depart from my prepared talk and give those assembled some guidance relative to the new revelation. He asked if I would take 2 Nephi 26:33 as a text. This I agreed to do, and, accordingly, spoke the following words:

I would like to say something about the new revelation relative to our taking the priesthood to those of all nations and races. "He [meaning Christ, who is the Lord God] inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness; and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and Gentile" (2 Ne. 26:33).

These words have now taken on a new meaning. We have caught a new vision of their true significance. This also applies to a great number of other passages in the revelations. Since the Lord gave this revelation on the priesthood, our understanding of many passages has expanded. Many of us never imagined or supposed that they had the extensive and broad meaning that they do have.

I shall give you a few impressions relative to what has happened, and then attempt--if properly guided by the Spirit--to indicate to you the great significance that this event has in the Church, in the world, and where the rolling forth of the great gospel is concerned.

Gospel Preached on a Priority Basis
The gospel goes to various peoples and nations on a priority basis. We were commanded in the early days of this dispensation to preach the gospel to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people (see D&C 133:8, 16). Our revelations talk about its going to every creature (D&C 18:26-28; 58:64; 68:8; 80: 1; 112:28-29; 124:128). There was, of course, no possible way for us to do all of this in the beginning days of our dispensation, nor can we now, in the full sense.

And so, guided by inspiration, we began to go from one nation and one culture to another. Someday, in the providences of the Lord, we shall get into Red China and Russia and the Middle East, and so on, until eventually the gospel will have been preached everywhere, to all people; and this will occur before the second coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:14; JS -- M 1: 31 ).

Not only is the gospel to go, on a priority basis and harmonious to a divine timetable, to one nation after another, but the whole history of God's dealings with men on earth indicates that such has been the case in the past; it has been restricted and limited where many people are concerned. For instance, in the day between Moses and Christ, the gospel went to the house of Israel almost exclusively. By the time of Jesus, the legal administrators and prophetic associates that he had were so fully indoctrinated with the concept of having the gospel go only to the house of Israel that they were totally unable to envision the true significance of his proclamation that after the Resurrection they should then go to all the world. They did not go to the gentile nations initially. In his own ministration, Jesus preached only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and had so commanded the Apostles (Matt. 10:6).

It is true that he made a few minor exceptions because of the faith and devotion of some gentile people. There was one woman who wanted to eat the crumbs that fell from the table of the children, causing him to say, "O woman, great is thy faith." (Matt. 15:28; see also Mark 7:27-28; Matt. 9:10; Luke 7:9.) With some minor exceptions, the gospel in that day went exclusively to Israel. The Lord had to give Peter the vision and revelation of the sheet coming down from heaven with the unclean meat on it, following which Cornelius sent the messenger to Peter to learn what he, Cornelius, and his gentile associates should do. The Lord commanded them that the gospel should go to the Gentiles, and so it was. (Acts 10:1-35 .) There was about a quarter of a century, then, in New Testament times, when there were extreme difficulties among the Saints. They were weighing and evaluating, struggling with the problems of whether the gospel was to go only to the house of Israel or whether it now went to all men. Could all men come to him on an equal basis with the seed of Abraham?

There have been these problems, and the Lord has permitted them to arise. There is not any question about that. We do not envision the whole reason and purpose behind all of this; we can only suppose and reason that it is on the basis of preexistence and of our premortal devotion and faith.

You know this principle: God "hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth, and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their habitation; That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him" (Acts 17:26-27)--meaning that there is an appointed time for successive nations and peoples and races and cultures to be offered the saving truths of the gospel. There are nations today to whom we have not gone- notably Red China and Russia. But you can rest assured that we will fulfill the requirement of taking the gospel to those nations before the second coming of the Son of Man.

Gospel to Cover Earth Before Second Coming
And I have no hesitancy whatever in saying that before the Lord comes, in all those nations we will have congregations that are stable, secure, devoted, and sound. We will have stakes of Zion. We will have people who have progressed in spiritual things to the point where they have received all of the blessings of the house of the Lord. That is the destiny.

We have revelations that tell us that the gospel is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people before the second coming of the Son of Man (Matt. 24:14; JS--M 1:31). And we have revelations that recite that when the Lord comes, he will find those who speak every tongue and are members of every nation and kindred, who will be kings and priests, who will live and reign on earth with him a thousand years (Rev. 5:9-10; I Ne. 14: 12; D&C 90:11). That means, as you know, that people from all nations will have the blessings of the house of the Lord before the Second Coming.

We Follow Living Prophets
We have read these passages and their associated passages for many years. We have seen what the words say and have said to ourselves, "Yes, it says that, but we must read out of it the taking of the gospel and the blessings of the temple to the Negro people, because they are denied certain things." There are statements in our literature by the early Brethren that we have interpreted to mean that the Negroes would not receive the priesthood in mortality. I have said the same things, and people write me letters and say,

"You said such and such, and how is it now that we do such and such?" All I can say is that it is time disbelieving people repented and got in line and believed in a living, modern prophet. (See Following the Prophets home page) Forget everything that I have said, or what President Brigham Young or President George Q. Cannon or whoever has said in days past that is contrary to the present revelation. We spoke with a limited understanding and without the light and knowledge that now has come into the world.

We get our truth and light line upon line and precept upon precept (2 Ne. 28:30; Isa. 28:9-10; D&C 98:11-12; 128:21). We have now added a new flood of intelligence and light on this particular subject, and it erases all the darkness and all the views and all the thoughts of the past. They don't matter anymore.{1}

It doesn't make a particle of difference what anybody ever said about the Negro matter before the first day of June 1978. It is a new day and a new arrangement, and the Lord has now given the revelation that sheds light out into the world on this subject. As to any slivers of light or any particles of darkness of the past, we forget about them. We now do what meridian Israel did when the Lord said the gospel should go to the Gentiles. We forget all the statements that limited the gospel to the house of Israel, and we start going to the Gentiles.

Time Had Come in the Lord's Timetable
Obviously, the Brethren had had a great anxiety and concern about this problem for a long period of time, and President Spencer W. Kimball had been exercised and had sought the Lord in faith. When we seek the Lord on a matter, with sufficient faith and devotion, he gives us an answer. You will recall that the Book of Mormon teaches that if the Apostles in Jerusalem had asked the Lord, he would have told them about the Nephites (3 Ne. 15:18-24; 16:4). But they did not ask, and they did not manifest the faith and they did not get an answer. One underlying reason for what happened to us is that the Brethren asked in faith; they petitioned and desired and wanted an answer--President Kimball in particular. And the other underlying principle is that in the eternal providences of the Lord, the time had come for extending the gospel to a race and a culture to whom it had previously been denied, at least as far as all of its blessings are concerned. So it was a matter of faith and righteousness and seeking on the one hand, and it was a matter of the divine timetable on the other hand. The time had arrived when the gospel, with all its blessings and obligations, should go to the Negro.

President Kimball Offers Inspired Prayer
Thus, in that setting, on the first day of June 1978, the First Presidency and the Twelve, after full discussions of the proposition and all the premises and principles that are involved, importuned the Lord for a revelation.

President Kimball was mouth, and he prayed with great faith and great fervor; this was one of those occasions when an inspired prayer was offered. You know the Doctrine and Covenants' statement that if we pray by the power of the Spirit we will receive answers to our prayers and it will be given us what we shall ask (D&C 50:30). It was given the President what he should ask. He prayed by the power of the Spirit, and there was a perfect unity, total and complete harmony, between the Presidency and the Twelve on the issue involved.

Revelation Came--and Comes--by Holy Ghost
And when President Kimball finished his prayer, the Lord gave a revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. Revelation primarily comes by the power of the Holy Ghost. Always that member of the Godhead is involved. But most revelations, from the beginning to now, have come in that way. There have been revelations given in various ways on other occasions. The Father and the Son appeared in the Sacred Grove. Moroni, an angel from heaven, came relative to the Book of Mormon and the plates and relative to instructing the Prophet in the affairs that were destined to occur in this dispensation. There have been visions, notably the vision of the degrees of glory. There may be an infinite number of ways that God can ordain that revelations come. But, primarily, revelation comes by the power of the Holy Ghost. The principle is set forth in the Doctrine and Covenants (D&C 68:3-4), that whatever the elders of the Church speak, when moved upon by the power of the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the mind and will and voice of the Lord.

Presidency and Twelve United Witnesses
On this occasion, because of the importuning and the faith, and because the hour and the time had arrived, the Lord in his providences poured out the Holy Ghost upon the First Presidency and the Twelve in a miraculous and marvelous manner, beyond anything that any then present had ever experienced. The revelation came to the President of the Church; it also came to each individual present. There were ten members of the Council of the Twelve and three of the First Presidency there assembled. The result was that President Kimball knew, and each one of us knew, independent of any other person, by direct and personal revelation to us, that the time had now come to extend the gospel and all its blessings and all its obligations, including the priesthood and the blessings of the house of the Lord, to those of every nation, culture, and race, including the black race. There was no question whatsoever as to what happened or as to the word and message that came.

The revelation came to the President of the Church, and in harmony with Church government, was announced by him; the announcement was made eight days later over the signature of the First Presidency. But in this instance, in addition to the revelation coming to the man who would announce it to the Church and to the world, and who was sustained as the mouthpiece of God on earth, the revelation came to every member of the body that I have named. They all knew it in the temple.

Eternal Import of This Revelation
In my judgment this was done by the Lord in this way because it was a revelation of such tremendous significance and import; one that would reverse the whole direction of the Church, procedurally and administratively; one that would affect the living and the dead; one that would affect the total relationship that we have with the world; one, I say, of such significance that the Lord wanted witnesses who could bear record that the thing had happened.

Now, if President Kimball had received the revelation and had asked for a sustaining vote, obviously he would have received it and the revelation would have been announced. But the Lord chose this other course, in my judgment, because of the tremendous import and the eternal significance of what was being revealed. This affects our missionary work and all of our preaching to the world. This affects our genealogical research and all of our temple ordinances. This affects what is going on in the spirit world, because the gospel is preached in the spirit world preparatory to men's receiving the vicarious ordinances that make them heirs to salvation and exaltation. This is a revelation of tremendous significance.

Revelation Affects Both Sides of the Veil
The vision of the degrees of glory begins by saying, "Hear, O ye heavens, and give ear, O earth" (D&C 76:1 ). In other words, in that revelation the Lord was announcing truth to heaven and to earth because those principles of salvation operate on both sides of the veil; and salvation is administered to an extent here to men, and it is administered to another extent in the spirit world. We correlate and combine our activities and do certain things for the salvation of men while we are in mortality, and then certain things are done for the salvation of men while they are in the spirit world awaiting the day of resurrection.

Saints Should Avoid Speculation and Exaggeration
Once again a revelation was given that affects this sphere of activity and the sphere that is to come. And so it has tremendous significance; the eternal import was such that it came in the way it did. The Lord could have sent messengers from the other side to deliver it, but he did not. He gave the revelation by the power of the Holy Ghost. Latter-day Saints have a complex: many of them desire to magnify and build upon what has occurred, and they delight to think of miraculous things. And maybe some of them would like to believe that the Lord himself was there, or that the Prophet Joseph Smith came to deliver the revelation, which was one of the possibilities. Well, these things did not happen. The stories that go around to the contrary are not factual or realistic or true, and you as teachers in the Church Educational System will be in a position to explain and to tell your students that this thing came by the power of the Holy Ghost, and that all the Brethren involved, the thirteen who were present, are independent personal witnesses of the truth and divinity of what occurred.

Revelation Incomprehensible to Carnal Mind
There is no way to describe in language what is involved. This cannot be done. You are familiar with the Book of Mormon references where the account says that no tongue could tell and no pen could write what was involved in the experience and that it had to be felt by the power of the Spirit (3 Ne. 19:32; see also 3 Ne. 17:15-17). This was one of those occasions. To carnal people who do not understand the operating of the Holy Spirit of God upon the souls of man, this may sound like gibberish or jargon or uncertainty or ambiguity; but to those who are enlightened by the power of the Spirit and who have themselves felt its power, it will have a ring of veracity and truth, and they will know of its verity. I cannot describe in words what happened; I can only say that it happened and that it can be known and understood only by the feeling that can come into the heart of man. You cannot describe a testimony to someone. No one can really know what a testimony is--the feeling and the joy and the rejoicing and the happiness that come into the heart of man when he gets one --except another person who has received a testimony. Some things can be known only by revelation. "The things of God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God" (JST 1Cor. 2:11 ).

This Revelation a Sign of the Times
This is a brief explanation of what was involved in this new revelation. I think I can add that it is one of the signs of the times. It is something that had to occur before the Second Coming. It was something that was mandatory and imperative in order to enable us to fulfill all of the revelations that are involved, in order to spread the gospel in the way that the scriptures say it must spread before the Lord comes, in order for all of the blessings to come to all of the people, according to the promises. It is one of the signs of the times.

All the Brethren United in Testimony
This revelation that came on the first day of June 1978 was reaffirmed by the spirit of inspiration one week later on June 8, when the Brethren approved the document that was to be announced to the world. And then it was reaffirmed the next day, on Friday, June 9, with all of the General Authorities present in the temple, that is, all who were available. All received the assurance and witness and confirmation by the power of the Spirit that what had occurred was the mind, the will, the intent, and the purpose of the Lord.

God Guiding the Church
This is a wondrous thing; the veil is thin. The Lord is not far distant from his church.

President Kimball is a man of almost infinite spiritual capacity --a tremendous spiritual giant. The Lord has magnified him beyond any understanding or expression and has given him His mind and His will on a great number of vital matters that have altered the course of the past -- one of which is the organization of the First Quorum of the Seventy. As you know, the Church is being guided and led by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the Lord's hand is in it. There is no question whatever about that. And we are doing the right thing where this matter is concerned.

Great Gratitude Because of This Revelation
There has been a tremendous feeling of gratitude and thanksgiving in the hearts of members of the Church everywhere, with isolated exceptions. There are individuals who are out of harmony on this and on plural marriage and on other doctrines. but for all general purposes there has been universal acceptance; and everyone who has been in tune with the Spirit has known that the Lord spoke, and that his mind and his purposes are being manifest in the course the Church is pursuing.

We talk about the scriptures being unfolded--read again the parable of the laborers in the vineyard (Matt. 20:1-16) and remind yourselves that those who labor through the heat of the day for twelve hours are going to be rewarded the same as those who came in at the third and sixth and eleventh hours. Well, it is the eleventh hour; it is the Saturday night of time. In this eleventh hour the Lord has given the blessings of the gospel to the last group of laborers in the vineyard. And when he metes out his rewards, when he makes his payments, according to the accounts and the spiritual statements, he will give the penny to all, whether it is for one hour or twelve hours of work. All are alike unto God, black and white, bond and free, male and female. (Priesthood [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], pp. 126-37.)

---

Notes

1. Illustrating the perfect harmony that exists between the doctrine and practice of the Church both here and in the spirit world, Elder McConkie said to a family gathering in Colorado Springs, on July 26, 1978, "This means that the same revelation had to be given to the Brethren in the Church in the spirit world, so that they can conform their preaching of the gospel to our new system on earth."

At that same gathering, to dramatize the significance of this revelation, he said, "This revelation is something in the same category as the revelation which caused Wilford Woodruff to issue the Manifesto."

Doctrines of the Restoration, Chapter 9

Copyright © by Bookcraft

Gladys Knight 1974-1983

In 1975, Gladys Knight married Barry Hankerson. This ceremony was first-class, but it had it's share of disasters. First little Jomo Hankerson, age four, was dropped off in play clothes. Everyone else was dressed to the nines, so it was off to Sax Fifth Avenue for a new suit. There was no time for Gladys to have her hair done. Gladys wedding dress, which was custom made by Giorgio, was four inches too short. Gladys' sister Brenda was the matron of honor, and she fell down the stairs with a great crash, moments before whe was supposed to walk down the aisle. The ceremony began two hours late. The best snafu: the groom couldn't say his bride's name properly: "Maria Knight Gladys, I mean, Gladys Knight Maria." Also this year, she appeared in and episode of The Jeffersons.

Shanga Ali Hankerson was bory August 1, 1976. Six months later, Jimmy died at the age of thirty-five of a ruptured spleen. Gladys Knight made her acting debut this year in Pipe Dreams about love set among the Alaskan oil piplines. She also appeared in an episode of The Muppet Show.

In 1977, Gladys and her brother Bubba won $3,000 one night in Las Vegas at craps. They cashed it into $100 bills and threw them up in the air just like in the movies.

In 1979 Glady appeared in an episode of Benson.

Gladys Knight 1964-1973

In 1964, Jimmy left. Gladys was only 20 years old with two small children. Gladys left her children in Atlanta with her mother while she was on the road trying to earn a living for them. They did a record with Maxx Records titled "Giving Up Is Hard to Do" which got a lot of air time and did well.

In 1965, Gladys Knight and The Pips followed Maxx Records to Motown on a seven-year contract. They toured with the Supremes, but they were not on the A-list at Mowtown, and they were ignored a good deal. Gladys and Bubba bought a big house in Detroit where their mother and sister joined them.

In 1967, Gladys Knight and The Pips got a big hit titled "I Heard It through the Grapevine," which got them all kinds of work at clubs all over.

In 1969, Gladys Knight met Joe Jackson and his sons The Jackson Five. She called her manager at Motown to try to get somebody to take a look at these very talented kids, but Motown didn't come see them until Bobby Taylor saw them a few months later. Gladys Knight appeared in an episode of Sesme Street.

In 1971, Gladys Knight and The Pips had another big hit, "If I were Your Woman." Gladys never felt very comfortable with the song, but the audience loved it.

In 1973, their contract with Motown was up. They had one more hit, "Neither One of Us" ("Wants to Be the First to Say Good-bye").Then, they signed with an independent label, Buddah Records where they got a lot more attention and their careers soared. Their first album with Buddah went triple platnium with three gold records: "Midnight Train to Georgia, "Imagination," and "Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me." (Trivia note: "Midnight Train to Georgia" was originally titled "Midnight Plane to Houston.")

the position of the Church with regard to the Negro (1969)

The following is a letter from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to the membership clarifying the confusion regarding the Church's position regarding the Civil Rights Movement. I am reprinting it here because it's hard to find elsewhere, and I find it a very interesting document in chronicling the Church's changing attitude toward African Americans.

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December 15, 1969

To General Authorities, Regional Representatives of the Twelve, Stake Presidents, Mission Presidents, and Bishops

Dear Brethren:

In view of the confusion that has arisen, it was decided at a meeting of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve to restate the position of the Church with regard to the Negro both in society and in the Church.

First, may we say that we know something of the sufferings of those who are discriminated against in a denial of their civil rights and Constitutional privileges. Our early history as a Church is a tragic story of persecution and oppression. Our people repeatedly were denied the protection of the law. They were driven and plundered, robbed and murdered by mobs, who were in many instances aided and abetted by those sworn to uphold the law. We as a people have experienced the bitter fruits of civil discrimination and mob violence.

We believe that the Constitution of the United States was divinely inspired, that it produced by "wise men" whom God raised up for this "very purpose," and that the principles embodied in the Constitution are so fundamental and important that, if possible, they should be extended "for the rights and protection" of all mankind.

In revelations received by the first prophet of the Church in this dispensation, Joseph Smith made it clear that it is "not right that any man should be in bondage one to another." These words were spoken prior to the civil war. From these and other revelations have sprung the Church's deep and historic concern with man's free agency and our commitment to the sacred principles of the Constitution.

It follows, therefore, that we believe the Negro, as well as those of other races should have his constitutional privileges as a member of society, and we hope members of the Church everywhere will do their part as citizens to see that these rights are held inviolate. Each citizen must have equal opportunities and protection under the law with reference to civil rights.

However, matters of faith, conscience, and theology are not within the purview of the civil law. The first amendment to the Constitution specifically provides that "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."

The position of THE CHURCH of JESUS CHRIST of Latter-day Saints affecting those of the Negro race who choose to join the Church falls wholly within the category of religion. It has no bearing upon matters of civil rights. In no case or degree does it deny to the Negro his full privileges as a citizen of the nation.

This position has no relevancy whatever to those who do not wish to join the Church. Those individuals, we suppose, do not believe in the divine origin and nature of the Church, nor that we have the priesthood of God. Therefore, if they feel we have no priesthood, they should have no concern with any aspect of our theology on priesthood so long as that theology does not deny any man his constitutional privileges.
A word of explanation concerning the position of the Church:

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints owes its origin, its existence, and its hope for the future to the principle of continuous revelation. "We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God."

From the beginning of this dispensation, Joseph Smith and all succeeding Presidents of the Church have taught that Negroes, while spirit children of a common Father, and the progeny of our earthly parents Adam and Eve, were not yet to receive the priesthood, for reasons which we believe are known to God, but which he has not made fully known to man. Our living prophet, President David O. McKay, has said, "The seeming discrimination by the Church toward the Negro is not something which originated with man; but goes back into the beginning with God .... "Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's preexistent state. President McKay has also said,

"Sometime in God's eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the priesthood." Until God reveals his will in this matter, to him whom we sustain as a prophet, we are bound by that same will. Priesthood, when conferred on any man comes as a blessing from God, not of men. We feel nothing but love, compassion, and the deepest appreciation for the rich talents, endowments, and the earnest strivings of our Negro brothers and sisters. We are eager to share with men of all races the blessings of the gospel. We have no racially segregated congregations.

Were we the leaders of an enterprise created by ourselves and operated only according to our own earthly wisdom, it would be a simple thing to act according to popular will. But we believe that this work is directed by God and that the conferring of the priesthood must await his revelation. To do otherwise would be to deny the very premise on which the Church is established.

We recognize that those who do not accept the principle of modern revelation may oppose our point of view. We repeat that such would not wish for membership in the Church, and therefore the question of priesthood should hold no interest for them. Without prejudice they should grant us the privilege afforded under the Constitution to exercise our chosen form of religion, just as we must grant all others a similar privilege. They must recognize that the question of bestowing or withholding priesthood in the Church is a matter of religion and not a matter of constitutional right.

We extend the hand of friendship to men everywhere and the hand of fellowship to all who wish to join the Church and partake of the many rewarding opportunities to be found therein. We join with those throughout the world who pray that all of the blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ may in the due time of the Lord become available to men of faith everywhere. Until that time comes we must trust in God, in his wisdom, and in his tender mercy.

Meanwhile we must strive harder to emulate his Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, whose new commandment it was that we should love one another. In developing that love and concern for one another, while awaiting revelations yet to come, let us hope that with respect to these religious differences, we may gain reinforcement for understanding and appreciation for such differences. They challenge our common similarities, as children of one Father, to enlarge the outreaching of our divine souls.

Faithfully your brethren,
THE FIRST PRESIDENCY

/SS/David O. McKay
/SS/ Hugh B. Brown
/SS/ N. Eldon Tanner

Excerpt from Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price

Excerpt from
Doctrinal Commentary on the Pearl of Great Price
Hyrum L. Andrus
Chapter 12

First published in 1967

Hyrum L. Andrus taught Pearl of Great Price classes at Brigham Young University.

The former decree of God concerning the Negro [i.e. the one found in the Pearl of Great Price] has been reaffirmed in modern times. According to George Q. Cannon, the Prophet Joseph Smith taught the following doctrine: "That the seed of Cain could not receive the Priesthood nor act in any of the offices of the Priesthood until the seed of Abel should come forward and take precedence over Cain's off-spring." Other reports confirm the fact that Joseph Smith taught that the Negro cannot yet receive the priesthood. In May, 1879, President John Taylor and other prominent men in the Church who had known the Prophet personally discussed the status of the Negro. Among these men was Zebedee Coltrin, who was intimately associated with Joseph Smith and had been appointed by him a member of the First Council of Seventy, when that Council was organized in this dispensation. President Taylor opened the discussion with the comment:

Some parties have said to me that Zebedee Coltrin had talked to the Prophet Joseph Smith on this subject, and they said that he (Coltrin) thought it was not right for them [i.e., Negroes] to have the Priesthood. Whereupon, Joseph Smith said to him that Peter, on a certain occasion had a vision wherein he saw heaven open, and a certain vessel descended unto him, as it had been a great sheet knit at the four corners, and let down to the earth, wherein were all manner of four footed beasts of the earth, and wild beasts, and creeping things, and fowls of the air. And there came a voice to him, Rise Peter! Kill and eat, but Peter said, Not so Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean. And the voice spake unto him again the second time, What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common (speaking of the Gentiles).

President Taylor then asked Brother Coltrin, "Did the Prophet Joseph Smith ever make such a statement to you?"

Brother Coltrin, "No sir, he never said anything of the kind in his life to me."

President Taylor, "What did he say?"

Brother Coltrin, "The spring that we went up in Zion's Camp, in 1834, Brother Joseph sent Brother J. P. Greene and me out south to gather up means to assist in gathering out the Saints from Jackson County, Mo. On our return home, we got into a conversation about the Negro having the right to the Priesthood, and I took the side that he had no right. Brother Greene argued that he had. The subject got so warm between us that he said he would report me to Brother Joseph when we got home, for preaching false doctrine, which doctrine that I advocated was that the Negro could not hold the Priesthood. 'All right,' I said, 'I hope you will.' And when we got home to Kirtland, we both went in to Brother Joseph's office together, to make our returns; and Brother Greene was as good as his word, and reported to Brother Joseph that I had said that the Negro could not hold the Priesthood. Brother Joseph kind of dropped his head and rested it on his hand for a minute, and then said, 'Brother Zebedee is right, for the Spirit of God saith the Negro has no right nor cannot hold the Priesthood.' He made no reference to scripture at all. But such was his decision. I don't recollect ever having any conversation with him [on the subject] afterwards, but I have heard him say in public, that no person having the least particle of Negro blood can hold the Priesthood." . . .

President Abraham O. Smoot said, "D. W. Patten, Warren Parrish, and Thomas B. Marsh were laboring in the Southern States in 1835 and 1836. There were Negroes, who made application for baptism, and the question arose with them whether Negroes were entitled to hold the Priesthood; and by those brethren it was decided they would not confer the Priesthood until they had consulted the Prophet Joseph. Subsequently they communicated with him and his decision, as I understood, was they were not entitled to the Priesthood, nor yet to be baptized without the consent of their masters. In after years, when I became acquainted with Joseph myself in Far West, about the year 1838, I received from Joseph substantially the same instructions. It was on my application to him what should be done with the Negro in the South, as I was preaching to them. He said I could baptize them by consent of their masters, but not to confer the Priesthood upon them."

Those men who knew Joseph Smith and received their understanding of the priesthood and its rights from him taught the same doctrine that he expressed. Brigham Young stated: Cain conversed with his God every day, and knew all about the plan of creating this earth, for his father told him. But, for the want of humility, and through jealousy, and an anxiety to possess the kingdom, and to have the whole of it under his own control, and not allow any body else the right to say one word, what did he do? He killed his brother. The Lord put a mark on him. . . . When all the other children of Adam have had the privilege of receiving the Priesthood, and of coming into the kingdom of God, and of being redeemed from the four quarters of the earth, and have received their resurrection from the dead, then it will be time enough to remove the curse from Cain and his posterity. He deprived his brother of the privilege of pursuing his journey through life, and of extending his kingdom by multiplying upon the earth; and because he did this, he is the last to share the joys of the kingdom of God.

The fact that descendants of Cain are presently denied the right to hold the priesthood is not based wholly upon the actions of their fathers. Deeper reasons go back into the pre-earth life, to the appointments that were made in sending spirits into the world to obtain bodies among the several families of the earth. Here one must understand the great doctrinal points taught in the Pearl of Great Price concerning the placement of man on earth. The problem must be viewed in light of the demands of eternal truth and justice, not merely in light of an immediate issue, for man is an eternal entity and God deals with him accordingly. In a letter to a student at Brigham Young University, President David O. McKay expressed his views on the subject as follows:

In your letter to me of October 28, 1947, you say that you and some of your fellow students have been "perturbed about the question of why the Negro race cannot hold the Priesthood."

In reply I send you the following thoughts that I expressed to a friend on the same subject:

Stated briefly your problem is simply this . . . Since, as Paul states, "the Lord hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on the face of the earth," why is there shown in the Church of Christ discrimination against the colored race? . . .

I believe, as you suggest, that the real reason dates back to our pre-existent life. This means that the true answer to your question (and it is the only one that has given me any satisfaction) has its foundations in faith . . . (1) Faith in a God of justice, (2) Faith in the existence of an eternal plan of salvation for all God's children. . . .

It was the Lord who said that Pharaoh, the first governor of Egypt, though a righteous man, blessed with the blessings of the earth, with the blessings of wisdom . . . "could not have the right of the Priesthood."

Now if we have faith in the justice of God, we are forced to the conclusion that this denial was not a deprivation of merited right. It may have been entirely in keeping with the eternal plan of salvation for all the children of God.

Revelation assures us that this plan antedates man's mortal existence, extending back to man's pre-existent state. . . .

Manifestly, from this revelation ("Abr. 3:22"Abr. 3:23Abraham 3:22-23) we may infer two things: first that there were among those spirits different degrees of intelligence, varying grades of achievement, retarded and advanced spiritual attainments; second that there were no national distinctions among these spirits such as Americans, Europeans, Asiatics, Australians, etc. Such "bounds of habitation" would have to be "determined" when the spirits entered upon their earthly existence or second estate. . . .

If in their eagerness to take upon themselves bodies, the spirits were willing to come through any lineage for which they were worthy, or to which they were attracted, then they were given the full reward of merit, and were satisfied, yes, even blessed.

Accepting this theory of life, we have a reasonable explanation of existing conditions in the habitations of man. How the law of spiritual attraction works between the spirit and the expectant parents has not been revealed, neither can finite minds fully understand. . . .

By the operation of some eternal law which men do not yet understand, spirits come through the parentage for which they are worthy—some as Bushmen of Australia, some as Solomon Islanders, some as Americans, as Europeans, as Asiatics, etc., with all the varying degrees of mentality and spirituality manifest in the parents of the different races that inhabit the earth.

Of this we may be sure, each was satisfied and happy to come through the lineage for which he or she was prepared.

The Priesthood was given to those chosen as leaders. There were many who could not receive it, yet who knew that it was possible for them at some time in the eternal plan to achieve that honor. Even those who knew that they would not be prepared to receive it during their mortal existence were content in the realization that they could attain every earthly blessing, progress intellectually and spiritually and possess to a limited degree the blessings of wisdom.

George Washington Carver was one of the noblest souls that ever came to earth. He held a close kinship with his Heavenly Father, and rendered a service to his fellow men such as few have ever excelled. For every righteous endeavor, for every good deed performed in his useful life, George Washington Carver will be rewarded, and so will every other man—red, white, black, or yellow; for God is no respecter of persons.

Sometime in God's eternal plan, the Negro will be given the right to hold the Priesthood. . . .

From a statement of the First Presidency to President Ernest L. Wilkinson of the Brigham Young University, the position of the Church may also be ascertained. On that occasion, they wrote:

The attitude of the Church with reference to Negroes remains as it has always stood. It is not a matter of the declaration of policy but of direct commandment from the Lord, on which is founded the doctrine of the Church from the days of its organization, to the effect that Negroes may become members of the Church but that they are not entitled to the Priesthood at the present time. . . .

The position of the Church regarding the Negro may be understood when another doctrine of the Church is kept in mind; namely, that the conduct of spirits in the pre-mortal existence has some determining effect upon the conditions and circumstances under which these spirits take on mortality, and that while the details of the principle have not been made known, the principle itself indicates that the coming to this earth and taking on mortality is a privilege that is given to those who maintain their first estate; and that the worth of the principle is so great that spirits are willing to come to earth and take on bodies no matter what the handicap may be as to the kind of bodies they are to secure; and that among the handicaps, failure of the right to enjoy in mortality the blessings of the priesthood, is a handicap which spirits are willing to assume in order that they might come to earth. Under this principle there is no injustice whatsoever involved in this deprivation as to the holding of the Priesthood by Negroes.

Gladys Knight 1954-1963

In 1955 at the age of eleven, while visiting Aunt Gladys near Detroit The Pips hooked up with Maurice King who taught them how to perform and got them their first professional gig singing the Parker House Sausage. They also recorded "Whistle My Love" for Brunswick (Decca) Records, but it went nowhere fast. Brenda Knight and Elenor Guest left the group. Edward Patten and Langston George joined The Pips.

Gladys was twleve years old in 1956 when The Pips joined the Supersonic Attractions tour with Jakie Wison and Sam Cooke so that they could get more performing experience during the summer when they didn't have school.

Gladys was thirteen years old when her daddy, suffering from extreme depression, moved out of the house and got an apartment to himself. Gladys mother worked two jobs. Brenda, Bubba and Gladys got part time jobs, but bills still went unpaid sometimes and utilitys were occassionlly shut off. In spite of all that, Gladys joined the track team, the choir, the yearbook staff and the cheerleading squad. She even joined her music teacher's jazz band and met Aretha Franklin for the first time, but all she really wanted to do was hang out with her friends.
,br> Gladys was fifteen years old when a serial rapist attacked her in her own bed one night. Thankfully, her brother Bubba was able to run him off before Gladys sutained any injuries other than a swollen lip, but the police never did catch that guy.

Gladys was sixteen years old when she began her senior year in high school. She was still singing with The Pips and the jazz band, and she was in love with Jimmy, a sax player in the jazz band.

After one particular gig a fellow named Fats Hunter asked them to stick around and sing something so that he could try out his new recordeing equipment. They recorded "Every Beat of My Heart," and were surprized when they heard it on the radion a couple of weeks later. Without a contract, Fats Hunter had released the record under his HumTom label and then sold the master to Vee Jay Records who sold lots of copies. The song made the top ten, but nobody paid The Pips; however, Fury Records heard the song and offered them a contract.

Gladys didn't want to go to New York to record the song for Fury Records. She had a track meet to throw javelin for, but she went. Since she was lead singer, Fury Records recommened they use the name Gladys Knight and The Pips. The record did very well, even competing against the illegal release. At one point the songs were on the charts at number 2 and number 3, but Fury didn't pay Gladys Knight and The Pips either. They claimed to have spent so much in recording and promoting there was nothing left to pay the artists. But, they got a gig at The Apollo.

In 1960, Gladys Knight found herself pregnant and married her boyfriend Jimmy in an informal ceremoy. Her brother Bubba gave her away. Jimmy joined Gladys Knight and The Pips on the road. Gladys met Tina Turner for the first time at the Howard Theater where Tina gave Gladys a real rock and roll make over. Tragically, Gladys miscarried in her first trimester.

In 1962, Gladys Knight and The Pips recored their first album for Fury Records. "Guess Who" and "Letter Full of Tears" made the Top Five on the charts, but they were still not getting paid. George Langston left the group to pursue a solo career, and they became a quartet. Gladys became pregnant again and left the group, too. The Pips went to New York and had some sucess on their own working as back up singers. On August 13, 1962, Little Jimmy was born.