Why Did Lifting the Mormon Priesthood Ban Take So Long?

Video: 

Introduction

Why did it take so much time to change the policy allowing Blacks in Mormonism to receive priesthood ordination and temple ordinances? The leadership councils of the church are often hesitant to change policies, especially those created by leadership councils before them. Also, it takes a unanimous vote of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Mormon Church to change any policy. However, this doesn’t mean the leaders of the church didn’t discuss the issue for decades before it was finally changed in 1978. 

Possible Error

Concerning the priesthood ban, Spencer W. Kimball wrote in 1963 that he hoped that God would release the ban and forgive “the possible error” that “brought about the deprivation.”¹ Concerning this statement, two things might be worth noting. First, religion is not practiced in a vacuum–it is practiced by people who live in a society and culture, which inevitably influences them for good or for ill. It would be naive to assume that the leaders of the Mormon Church who initiated the policy of restricting Black people from receiving priesthood ordination and temple ordinances weren’t influenced by the racist culture that surrounded them.

Second, Mormons do not believe that prophets are infallible or that God does not let His children and leaders make mistakes. This includes things like the Mormon priesthood ban. President Ezra Taft Benson said this about agency and mistakes, “God has to work through mortals of varying degrees of spiritual progress. Sometimes he temporarily grants to men their unwise requests in order that they might learn from their own sad experiences.”²

How to Change the Policy?

Prophets and leaders of the Mormon Church before Spencer W. Kimball wondered about the policy to bar Black people from priesthood ordination and temple ordinances. President David O. McKay ended the policy of church members in Africa having to prove their European heritage.³ He also formed a committee of members in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to study the issue of the Black priesthood ban. They concluded that there was no scriptural basis for the ban, but did not think that the membership was “prepared for its reversal.” President McKay also felt that changing the policy demanded a revelation from the Lord, which he sought. However, his biography states that he felt that the time was not yet right for the repeal of the policy. 

J. Reuben Clark, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and member of the First Presidency, voiced concerns over the arbitrary nature that the way that the LDS priesthood ban was applied. Clark, a lawyer by training, felt this injustice keenly and wanted the policy to be reformed at the very least, but more preferably, ended. He voiced this opinion from the 1940s until his death in 1961.

Spencer W. Kimball wrote in 1963 that he believed the Lord could end the policy of the Black priesthood ban and the possible error that brought it about. It seems that Kimball, like President McKay, felt that the matter required revelation. Hugh B. Brown, a member of the First Presidency, hoped to end the priesthood ban in 1969 with a policy vote, rather than a revelation. This did not happen. It should be noted that during these decades there were also those who believed the policy should not be changed, many citing precedence as a major concern for changing the policy. 

It was in 1978 that Spencer W. Kimball, who had been an advocate for the end of the priesthood ban, received a revelation from God about the end of the policy. On June 8th, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced that the ban was rescinded. The blessings of priesthood ordination were open to Blacks in Mormonism and temple ordinances were open to all worthy members of the Church, no matter their race or ancestry.

For further information on Blacks in Mormonism, visit mormonismexplained.org.

Footnotes

1. Edward L. Kimball (ed.) The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball (SLC: Bookcraft, 1982), 449.
2. Ezra Taft Benson, “Jesus Christ—Gifts and Expectations,” BYU Devotional, December 10, 1974, accessed June 4, 2024, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/ezra-taft-benson/jesus-christ-gifts-expectations/.
3. This is also called the “one drop” policy.