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Show the Conference and "upon motion was adopted the body." Paragraph five of this report as follows: Mistales Should by was April, 1894, was there is an entire absence or failure of any record that could possibly be con- :d 1e!t::pet:l:sO;nc;!a;a!r 0; fixing of doctrine upon the body. ohn Ta lor in Au .1844, .two months after joseph's ust of eatp, inserted both of these letters in a new edition of t-he Doctrine and Covenants: We can only speculate why, _whe!l the' Reorganized Church issued its first edi tion of the Doctrine and Covenants these sections were not left out as they shoul,f have been. Of course, during the years from 1852 to 1866, the only Doctrine and Cove nants obtainable by our members was the original Or 1835 Edition or later edi tions put out by the Mormon Church, which may account, in a way, for the apparent default or failure by Our own __ . organization. Section 123, Doctrine and Covenants 1951 I raised a question of law :r!en;n i2;sk o:rr D! Historian, Elder John Blackmore, to re port to us what the official records dis close as to this section which, as will appear from paragraph one, is a report of a Joint Council of First Presidency, Councilor Quorum of Twelve, and Pre siding Bishopric. Here is the statement then made by our Church Historian: June 21, 1951 First Presidency Office Dear Brethren: This vote does not in any manner indicate that the Conference endorsed or approved the "Proceedings of the Joint Council." It was merely a motion to adopt the report of the Quorum of Twelve. There is no indication that the matter of the adopting of the pro ceedings of the Joint Council were ever again presented to the body. Therefore the request of the Twelve contained in their re port lapsed because of the failure of the Conference to carry further action on the "request" of the Twelve. The Revelation of 1894 Given in tbe General Conference of 1894 this revelation was accepted by the church as "the voice of the Lord," page 53 of Gen eral Conference Minutes of 1894. Later in the Conference a motion was moved that "the revelation be printed with the Doctrine and Covenants as Section 122." A motion to defer action for one year prevailed. I cannot find evidence that this matter of including the revelation of 1894 ever came before the General Conference for action until 1897. The Doctrine and Covenants published in 1896 included the revelation of 1894 but omitted to publish. the proceedings and" con clus.lOns of the JOInt Council of 1894. This indicates that no action was taken by the Conference of 1895, directing the Board of Publication to publish both sections the Revelation and the Joint Council proceelings. Ordered Published Revelation of 1894 The General Conference of 1897 took action the insertion of the revelation of 1894 in the Doctrine and Covenants. No mention is made of the Joint Council pro ceedings of 1894 in this action (Sailllf Herald April 21, 1897, page 242; also General Can: ference Minutes of 1897, page 31). I draw your attention again to the fact that the reve lation of 1894 had already been included and published in the Doctrine and Covenants of 1896. authorizing The your ing: Section 123 next piece of evidence is an advertise. 8e;{ i diin!ai't S:r'!vi!d AE'.l1tis:n 2;; the Doctrine and Covenants of 1897 advertisement contains the following: I have not been able to find any evidence that the "Proceedings and Conclusions" of this Joint Council we" evc« officially present ed to and considered by the General Confer nce of the church for adoption. However, m the General Conference of 1895, a report of the Quorum of Twelve was presented to New Revised Edition The manuscript ot this edition THE SAINTS' HERALD W83 care- tro:ora, wruce ::gi3prJho:ze General Assembly ot the church at Kirtland and known as Kirtland edition. Some typographical errors that crept into and passed through later editions have been corrected, and omissions suppl1ed. The revelation on the late CivJl War the '''Minutes ot the General Assembly" ot '1886 the minutes of the ".Tolnt Council" of 1894' some hrcevatl e. gt;:: 8\ lUreori volume. The "Lectures Faith·· on (56) ' which DOCfRlNE AND COVENANTS The Joint Council of First Presidency, Quorum of Twelve and Presiding Bishopric met immediately after the General Conference of 1894, pursuant to the instruction given in paragraph thirteen of the Revelation of 1894. 8 at persons and en places mentioned In included in the volume. revelations, are Ready reference to the book is greatly facilitated by the substitution of figures for the old style Roman letters in section and headings. glance. The This is page a edition figures issued can from be read new at brevier type. The Edition of 1897 request for research re garding the inclusion of Section 123 in the Doctrine and Covenants, 1 present the follow to provided for in the revelation. On motion or Brn. M. H. Forscutt and J. W. Waldsmlth the report was adopted. (Continued from page 5.) answer the Book of Doctrine and request the body to endorse R68fJectluliv submitted, HEMAN C. SMrrn.. Secreta", FeUer In In we : !eg!Shod 3ie jgictid:,Hr Not In names the thet:e:t tn gli'hent1f r':er: blf Covenants. ever The concordance has been revised and larged, greatly aiding study and general use the book. The concordance. and lfats or ot are omit ted, but may be published later In pamphlet rorm, or tor those who may want them. I do not find any instruction by the Gen eral Conference giving the Board of Publi cation authority to issue the revised edition or to include the Joint Council proceedings of 1894 as Section 123. The section appears in all succeeding publi cations. Publication was evidently predicated upon the adoption of the Quorum of Twelve Report of 1895, which was a "request" that the body endorse and publish. Failure of the General Conference to consider further this "request," in my opinion, caused the request to lapse . Note The distinction between a motion to "en dorse and order published" and a report "re quesling the body to endorse and order pub. lished" in my opinion is definite. As the Conference of 1894 adopted the report of the Twelve in which was contained a "request to endorse and order published" and subse quently failed to take further action on the "request" was, in my opinion, tantamout to laying on the table the "request" of the Twelve as contained in paragraph five of their report. JOHN BLACKMORE The salient features in this record are that this Joint Council, although com manded to be convened, did not make any official report to the General Con ference, though a report of the Joint Council's proceedings accompanied a re port from the Quorum of Twelve. Notwithstanding the Twelve requested the General Conference to endorse the Joint Council report if or "in the event" the Conference should order the revela tion of April, 1894, to be published, * neither at that time was done. As you will note by the report of the Church Historian, the revelation of 1894 (Section 122) was approved by the 1894 General Conference; but it was not or. dered to be included in the Doctrine and Covenants until the General Confer. ence of 1897. The Conference did not, however, as requested by the Quorum of Twelve in 1895, order the inclusion of the Joint Council Report (Section 123) in the Doctrine and Covenants. So it appears from the record that while the Quorum of Twelve report to the General Conference in 1895 was ap proved, the report Or Proceedings of Council was not approved, neither did the General Conference issue any order to inolude in the book of Doc. tht; Join • This revelation (in paragraph 13) provided that the Jomt Council should "remain at Lamoni to counsel together," etc. trine and Covenants the proceedings of that Joint Council. Thus there seems to have been a com plete failure to take the requisite steps either to approve the report of the Joint Council proceedings or to order their inclusion in the Doctrine and Covenants. How, then, can we escape the conclu sion that Section 123 has been a part of our Book of Covenants entirely without warrant or authority? It might appear to some of us that it is a sort of sequel to Section 122, and therefore should rightfully be print On the other hand ed in connection. strong argument has been urged for the it out of book, because it is taking not intended as a revelation, and it never the received support necessary to give it standing with the rest of the book. In the light of these facts, I feel that before another .edition of the Doctrine /;e":caoil!isr : these sections from tions, our book of revela by appropriate retain them to or action. It would be well for all those who are likely to have the right to vote in our next General Conference to give the careful thought, since it is E(der Smith with the "lost" projector and note which accompanied it foregoing possible that there may be an attempt delete Sections 109, 110, and for the reasons herein presented. to 123 RURAL LIFE INSTITUTE College Graceland is conducting an Rural Life, Sunday, March Institute on 13, 1955. This conference is designed for young people and their leeders of the church lamoni. It is designed for those who live in rural areas and also for those in urban in the stakes and districts near in t! a belief that the rural and urban need to understand each other. Enrichment of rural life through eqri cultural uplift is considered an inherent part of the social program of our In many farm areas the future church. of the church is conditioned by what we bring about in our rural society. The Institute will open at 9:30 •. m. and continue until 4:00 p.m. The pro and those attend gram will be a unit, ing are urged to attend the entire ses sion. Meetings will be held in Memorial Center on Graceland Campus. At noon a co-operative basket dinner will be served as a part of the get acquainted regions the program. On the staff will be Bishop G. L. o;i:I:il b:d Dh:: h; achc 'Zinser, Nel and Cheville, Ray Norman The detailed program will be pub. lished later. Branches and stakes or districts are urged to select delegations of young people and adults. Inquiries may be ad· dressed to James White, Director of Public Relations, Graceland College, L.· moni, Iowa. son. Stolen Projector Back after Three Years (The following story by Mary McGarey appettfed all the front page of the Columbus "Boening Dispatch," Colnmbus, Ohio, and is flsed with permission of that publication.) THE REVEREND E. E. SMITH and his North Side congregation welcomed the return of a rusty old projector Wednesday with a strange elation. It isn't so much for the projector but for the note that came with it. The anonymous letter was a confession and a plea for for giveness from a boy who took the projector from the church nearly three years ago. No one knew, really, that the projector It was used by Reverend had been stolen. Smith's church, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints at Tompkins It was also used Street and Medary Avenue. by two oth er churches in the city. When it disappeared in 1952, before Me. Smith was assigned to Columbus, everyone decided it had been mislaid in transit. Monday night the doorbell rang at the home of A. E. Anderton, 2423 Medary Ave nue, a member of the Reverend Smith's con- aob·ox.A .?J liur s:oAnderton. oj he told Mr. and film that I used," Mr. Anderton asked, "From whom did you When borrow it?" and got no answer. he asked, OOWhat's your name ?.. the boy vaulted from the porch and disappeared In the darkness. In the case Anderton found the lng missing projector, musty-smelling, moldy and rusted, apparently from long concealment in It He also found the note. a damp place. read: Several years "To whom it may concern. ago, a friend and I broke into this church and took this projector. My friend spoke He times of returning the projector. died in 1953 before we ever returned it. Now, a year later, I finally have returned it. I hope "I feel that lowe you something. you can find it in your hearts to forgive us In for the wrong I am trying to right. I am with myself making peace doing so, I know that this is wrong and my friend. to merely return it in the condition it is in, but the projector itself is still in working order and I hope that the case will be serviceable for many years. Humbly, Anony mous." "Next Sunday," said the minister, "I'm going to take this smelly projector right into the pulpit, and I'm going to read the letter." Then, he's going to preach a sermon about conscience and integrity and the innate good. ness of young people. Meantime the minister and his parishioners have this message for an unknown boy: "As far as we're concerned, this is for gotten. We don't know who you are, and we We realize you had don't want to know. no coercion from anyone to no compulsion, do the right thing-but you did it. ooWe're glad to have the projector back, but we're happier that you have been sincere and honest in trying to correct something you Come to Our church, or any did wrong. many church, to help you develop good qualities. May good conscience and integrity guide you the rest of your life." JANUARY 17, 1955 (57) 9 |
