The 1978 Revelation on Priesthood: What Changed and Why It Mattered
How the LDS Church extended priesthood eligibility to all worthy male members regardless of race, ending a century-old restriction.
- In 1978, LDS Church leadership announced that Black men could now receive the priesthood, reversing a policy in place since the 1800s.
- The change came through what church leaders described as divine revelation to President Spencer W. Kimball, not through external pressure alone.
- This opened temple participation and leadership roles to members previously excluded, reshaping the church's theology and demographics.
On June 8, 1978, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that men of African descent could now receive the priesthood—the religious authority to perform sacred rites and lead congregations. Until that moment, Black men had been systematically excluded from this role for over a century. The announcement, framed as a revelation to President Spencer W. Kimball, fundamentally altered who could participate in temple ceremonies, serve as missionaries, and hold leadership positions in the church.
What the Priesthood Restriction Had Been
From roughly the 1850s onward, LDS Church policy denied priesthood ordination to Black men and, by extension, barred them from full participation in temple ceremonies—the religion's most sacred rituals. While Black members could attend church and believe in LDS theology, they were formally excluded from the priesthood itself. This meant they could not be ordained as elders, serve as missionaries, preside over families in religious contexts, or perform rituals essential to LDS salvation doctrine. Women of all races were also excluded from the priesthood, a practice that continues today.
The theological justification offered by early church leaders varied and shifted over time. Some pointed to a biblical curse narrative; others suggested pre-mortal behavior determined racial status; still others simply stated it as doctrine without elaborate explanation. Regardless of the reasoning, the policy had created a caste system within the church that contradicted the religion's universalist claims about salvation being available to all believers.
How the 1978 Revelation Worked
Church leadership did not announce the change through a formal written scripture. Instead, on June 8, 1978, the church released an official statement—called a declaration—saying that President Spencer W. Kimball had received a revelation confirming that all worthy male members, regardless of race, could receive the priesthood. The statement was presented to and sustained by the church's Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other senior leaders, then announced publicly. Church members were asked to sustain it as binding doctrine in a general conference vote.
The practical effect was immediate: Black men could now be ordained to the priesthood at any level, from deacon to apostle. Black women gained access to temple ceremonies and rituals previously closed to them. Families could participate together in sacred ordinances. Black missionaries could serve full-time missions. Black men could hold bishoprics and stake presidencies. The change dismantled institutional barriers that had defined LDS membership for over a century.
Why the Timing and What Prompted It
Church leaders have said the revelation came through prayer and spiritual seeking by President Kimball, but historians and observers have noted the timing: the 1978 announcement followed decades of civil rights activism, mounting criticism from members and outsiders, legal pressure (the church faced discrimination lawsuits), and growing internal debate within the faith. The church was also expanding internationally and facing reputational damage that affected recruitment and institutional standing.
Whether the change resulted purely from spiritual revelation, external pressure, or a combination remains debated. Church doctrine frames it as revelation; secular historians often emphasize social and legal forces. Most scholars see it as both—that spiritual conviction and historical circumstance converged. President Kimball himself had long expressed discomfort with the restriction and had been praying about it for years before the announcement.
Why This Mattered Then and Now
For LDS theology, the priesthood is not ceremonial or honorary—it is understood as divine authority necessary for salvation and exaltation in the afterlife. Exclusion from it meant exclusion from the religion's core spiritual claims. The 1978 change meant that Black members could now access the same salvation pathway as white members. It also meant the church could grow in Black communities without maintaining a segregated spiritual system.
Institutionally, the change allowed the church to expand globally without the PR liability of an explicit racial caste system. It also opened leadership pipelines: Black men could now serve in bishoprics, stake presidencies, and eventually the highest councils of the church. Today, Black members occupy visible leadership roles that were simply impossible before 1978.
Theologically, the change required the church to reframe or quietly abandon earlier explanations for the restriction. Church leaders have since acknowledged that past statements about the policy's origins were wrong or incomplete. This created ongoing tension: if church leaders were wrong about this doctrine for 130 years, what else might be reconsidered? The 1978 revelation thus became a case study in how religious institutions change doctrine and how members reconcile past teachings with new ones.
- The restriction had no explicit scriptural basis in LDS canon—it was policy, not written doctrine, which made reversal theologically possible.
- Black Latter-day Saints had been members since the church's founding in 1830, but under increasingly restrictive conditions.
- The 1978 announcement did not include a formal apology or detailed explanation of why the restriction had existed.
Sources
- LDS Church official statement on the 1978 priesthood revelation (June 8, 1978).
- LDS Church essay 'Race and the Priesthood' (2013), which addressed historical inaccuracies in past justifications.
- Scholarly work by historians including Newell G. Bringhurst and Armand L. Mauss on LDS racial history.
