Genesis Group

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The Genesis Group is an official affiliate of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for African American members and their families. It was organized for the first time in Salt Lake City in 1971. The purpose of this organization was that the African American members meet and support one another.

The Genesis Group provided meetings for black members, especially Relief Society , Primary, Young Men, Young Women, and Testimonial Meetings. Members of Genesis were still expected to attend Sunday services in addition to attend the other meetings. It was like a small church without the authority of the priesthood. The group was led by Ruffin Bridgeforth from 1971 to 1978. Shortly after the priesthood revelation in 1978 , the group's membership decreased sharply. The group was then officially dissolved in 1987. It was also dissolved because it placed additional obligations on members. In general, active Mormons have a relatively large number of church commitments. In 1985, Marva Collins started a "Genesis II" group in Oakland and published news about Black Mormons until 1988.

The Genesis Group was reorganized in 1996 because it was discovered that African Americans benefit from meeting and supporting one another. The group leaders are Darius Gray (1997-2003), Don Harwell (2003-2018), and Davis Stovall (2018-until now). Local Church leaders made connections with the Genesis Group and a General Authority was formally included as a liaison .

Other Genesis groups existed in Washington, DC and other cities.

See also

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c d Jessie L. Embry: Black Saints in a white church: contemporary African American Mormons . Signature Books, Salt Lake City 1994, ISBN 1-56085-044-2 , pp. 183-191 .
  2. ↑ Tom Christensen: History of the LDS three-hour Sunday block . In: Standard Examiner . April 18, 2014. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  3. ^ A b Peggy Fletcher Stack: Faithful witness . In: The Salt Lake Tribune . July 7, 2007. Retrieved July 17, 2017.
  4. ^ Tad Walch: LDS Church reorganizes Genesis Group leadership (en) . In: DeseretNews.com , January 7, 2018. 
  5. ↑ Jessie L. Embry: Separate but Equal? Black Branches, Genesis Groups, or Integrated Wards? . 1990. Retrieved July 17, 2017.

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