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by
Maurine Jensen Proctor
Editor-in-Chief, Meridian Magazine
For members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
it has been a year of remarkable moments, unprecedented gatherings
in staggering numbers, national television coverage and shared grieving
over Elizabeth Smart, the sweet teenager that seemed kidnapped from
all of our houses. It was a year never to be forgotten for both
sober and grand reasons.
If the pioneers
thrust from their homes in dead-winter 1846 could have seen the
rebuilt Nauvoo temple, their tears would have dried. Instead we
rejoiced and felt their presence at a dedication that we attended
from all corners of the world. We grimaced at the 10th Circuit Court’s
Plaza decision and read alternately with joy and bewilderment the
news coverage given the Church as Utah hosted the 2002 Winter Olympics.
The Church continued to move at breakneck speed under a prophet
both visionary and energetic. We collectively shook our heads in
amazement as he traveled through Europe at a pace that would fell
a thirty-year-old. We felt quietly affirmed that the stone cut without
hands would fill the entire earth as we read that the Church had
become the fifth largest denomination in the United States. We noted
that the number of temples had more than doubled since 1997.
At Meridian,
our job is to lift and inspire, to inform and educate, and frankly
to bring you the news of the Church as quickly and up-to-the-minute
as the Internet makes possible. Saints in Qatar have their finger
on the pulse of the Church as immediately as those along the Wasatch
Front, thanks to this mind-boggling new dimension of cyberspace.
From our vantage as news watchers and reporters, we’ve picked
the top ten Church stories of the year—the ones we felt compelled
to cover, that carved out 2002 as an historic and memorable moment
in the kingdom.
1. Dedication of the Nauvoo
Temple
 Commemorating
not just the day, but the very hour Joseph and Hyrum Smith were
martyred at the Carthage Jail in Illinois, 155 years earlier, the
first of 13 dedicatory sessions of the rebuilt Nauvoo Temple was
held with tears and celebration on June 27, 2002. President Hinckley
called it “Joseph’s Temple” and it was widely
held to be a watershed moment in Church history.
 The
congregation gave an audible gasp at the April 1999 General Conference
when President Hinckley announced that the Nauvoo Temple would be
rebuilt. It had been a silent hope and unspoken dream for generations,
as we have identified and felt with the pioneers who simultaneously
built their temple and their wagons to head West. The temple was
built in record time and shines against the nighttime sky in Nauvoo
not just like a reconstruction, but a resurrection—like the
original but more excellent in every detail. Saints in 72 nations
joined in the dedication. If you missed Meridian’s photo essays
or coverage, click here.
2. First Visit
of a Prophet to Ukraine and Russia
September found the ever vitally energetic President Gordon B. Hinckley
on a frantically-paced journey visiting the Saints in Europe. Try
this: Saturday, September 7, he rededicated the expanded Freiberg,
Germany temple and stopped in Paris for meetings; Sunday he dedicated
the temple in The Hague; Monday, he preached to the largest assembly
of Saints ever to gather in Ukraine; Tuesday, he arrived in Moscow
and addressed nearly 2,000 Saints there; and finally Wednesday he
stopped in Iceland for a gathering there.
What is remarkable
about the journey is not just the pace, but the joy President Hinckley
brought to Saints in Moscow and Kiev who have never seen the prophet
and Church president on their soil. President Hinckley looked at
the vast number of Saints in Moscow, some who had come from as far
away as Siberia to hear him, and said, “I never dreamed that
I could come to Moscow, Russia and see a congregation of this kind
with this hall filled.” Meridian was there and captured the
moment in words and photo essays. To travel with him through this
momentous journey, click
here.
3. Salt
Lake 2002 Winter Olympics
The eyes of
the world were on Salt Lake City February 8-24 as the torch was
lit for the Winter Olympic Games whose theme was “Light the
Fire Within.” This meant, of course, that all eyes were also
on the Church, which was anticipated well in advance with a sophisticated
media center where journalists could gather information for their
stories. Church members volunteered by the thousands to help at
the games, language skills gained on missions made foreign visitors
feel at home, and stories emerged of acts of kindness and service
toward visiting guests that warmed all of us from a distance. For
better or worse, but mostly better, the Church found itself covered
in media outlets around the earth. A public affairs specialist in
the Netherlands told us that journalists there were so impressed
with the Church during the Olympics, it completely changed their
coverage of the new temple in The Hague. To view Salt Lake once
more bedecked for the Olympics, click
here.
4. Two
Apostles Take Overseas Assignments
When Elder Dallin
H. Oaks and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland were given year assignments
to preside in the Philippines and Chile beginning in August, it
signaled once again that this is an international Church. Certainly
other apostles have labored internationally as did Parley P. Pratt
when he served in South America, but it has been half a century
since apostles were given permanent international assignments. See
Meridian’s coverage.
5. Elizabeth
Smart Kidnapped
We felt a group
mourning and horror at the middle of the night, June 5 kidnapping
of fourteen-year-old Elizabeth Smart from her Federal Heights bedroom
in Salt Lake City, Utah. As her parents wrote on her website: “Elizabeth
was blessed with ideal circumstances: careful, loving parents, a
strong family, an obedient and modest character, a locked home,
a safe supportive neighborhood and a witness to the crime. If Elizabeth
could be taken, it could happen to any one of our children. Over
and over again, volunteers have simply explained, "I have a
child too." Elizabeth has become everyone's child and neighbor.
Like September 11th, it has made us realize how vulnerable we are
on a very personal level.”
Thousands of
prayers have been offered; for months the Smarts held a daily press
briefing to keep her story alive before the public, but she has
not been found. For Meridian’s story, “Christmas Without
Elizabeth”, click
here.
6. Plaza
of Peace Becomes Divisive
Salt Lake City
came to the Church and asked if they would be interested in buying
the portion of Main Street that divides Temple Square from the rest
of the Church headquarters. The Church agreed for a price of $8.1
million dollars, turning the former street into a plaza with fountains
and flowers. As part of the sale, the city asked for a passage and
access easement. The Church agreed provided that it not be a public
forum, and specific restrictions were specified in the sale.
Even though
property matters are state law, and Utah law specifically allows
the parties to a contract to lay down the conditions of passage
and access, the ACLU sued, claiming that the passage and access
had to be subject to freedom of speech provisions. The 10th Circuit
Court sided with ACLU taking a mere passage and access provision
where it has never gone before and throwing Utah into turmoil. The
Church has asked the Supreme Court to review the case, but meanwhile,
working with Utah’s Alliance for Unity, has agreed to trade
2 ½ acres on Salt Lake’s west side for the easement.
The ACLU has said if that deal is agreed to, it will sue again,
demanding that the plaza be fenced. Meridian weighed in with an
editorial, click
here.
7. United
States 1880 Census Made Available Online
 October
23, the Church announced it was making the United States 1880 census
and the Canada 1881 census available online free of charge. For
everyone who had an ancestor living in either country during this
period of time, this nearly guarantees that they can come online
to the Church’s family history website and find them. Genealogist
David Rencher, who has spent years researching his family tree,
commented on what a valuable tool the indexes can be in finding
ancestors who were once lost. "You can learn about their lives,
who they were and what they did. It’s like taking a trip in
a time machine." Read Meridian’s story about it here.
8. MTC
Opens in Ghana
At the current
rate of growth, Church membership in West Africa will double in
the next five years, fueled by a missionary force that is 80% native.
Like Scandinavia in the nineteenth century, where missionary work,
largely accomplished by new converts, caught fire and swelled the
ranks of the Church, so is West Africa today.
Thus, when the first African MTC was dedicated May 17, 2002 in Ghana,
West Africa, it was a great step forward. It is a robust facility
which will accommodate over 100 missionaries at any one time, both
male and female-and the work before those missionaries is great
as they go to a field ripe, already to harvest. To read about it
click
here.
 9.
Manhattan
Temple Announced
Every temple announcement is exciting. Meridian highlights the Manhattan
temple announcement August 7, as one of our top news stories this
year because of its unique location. Like the Hong Kong temple that
was built upon an already existing Church structure, the Manhattan
Temple will be built on top of the Church’s Manhattan Ward.
It is located in a prominent spot, across from Lincoln Center, in
New York City, meaning when New York City visitors cast their eyes
up, they will see more than canyons of skyscrapers. They will see
the mountain of the Lord. Click
here to read about it.
 10.
Walter Cronkite
Leads the Mormon Tabernacle Choir
Often known as the most trusted man in America, Walter Cronkite
joined with the Tabernacle Choir in an unforgettable performance
and evening of entertainment. Many talents were brought together
for this endeavor. Choir Director Craig Jessop said he had never
worked on a project where the Spirit of the Lord poured down so
freely.
Walter Cronkite said that when he was informed of the possibility
(of working with the choir), he found himself so eager that he reacted
more quickly than professionalism would normally dictate (he later
told the Deseret News, “We settled the scheduling conflicts
easily by canceling everything else.”). He said this was an
experience he looked forward to telling his grandchildren about.
Mr. Cronkite summed up his experience with the Tabernacle Choir:
“I have never been a religious person in the conventional
sense, but I have felt nearer to my God the past couple of days
than ever before.” Read
Meridian’s story about it here.
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© 2002Meridian
Magazine. All Rights Reserved.
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