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Eldridge Cleaver 1968
Eldridge Cleaver, a former leader of the Black Panther Party, who joined the Church.

Black people have been members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since it began. However, for many years, the Church had rules that made it harder for Black people to join or hold certain positions. Before 1978, there were not many Black members.

Since then, the number of Black members has grown a lot. By 1997, there were about 500,000 Black members worldwide. This was about 5% of all members. Most of these members lived in Africa, Brazil, and the Caribbean. This growth has continued, especially in West Africa, where two temples have been built. By 2018, about 6% of Church members around the world were Black. In the United States, about 1% of members are Black.

Early Black Members of the Church

The Church's first goal was to share its message with everyone. This included people of all races and those who were enslaved. But when the Church moved to Missouri, a state where slavery was allowed, its rules started to change.

In 1833, the Church stopped allowing free Black people to join. The reasons for this are not fully known. By 1835, the Church said that enslaved people could not be taught the gospel without their owner's permission. The next year, this rule became even stricter. They decided not to preach to enslaved people at all until their owners became members first.

Some Black people joined the Church before these rules were put in place. These included Joseph T. Ball, Peter Kerr, and Walker Lewis. Others joined with their owners, such as Elijah Abel and William McCary.

Jane Manning James was born free and worked in the home of Joseph Smith, the Church's first prophet. She wanted to receive special temple blessings. Her request was denied at first. Later, Wilford Woodruff, a Church president, allowed her to be "sealed" to the Smith family as a servant. This was not exactly what she wanted, as it did not include all the important temple blessings. She kept asking for these blessings until she died in 1908. Church president Joseph F. Smith honored her by speaking at her funeral. In 1979, she received the full temple blessings after her death through a special ceremony.

Green Flake was baptized into the Church at age 16 in the Mississippi River, but he was still enslaved. After his owner died in 1850, Green Flake was given to the Church as a form of tithing. Some of his family members believe that Brigham Young freed him in 1854. However, one of his descendants says that Green was never truly freed.

Samuel D. Chambers was another early African American pioneer. He was secretly baptized at age 13 while still enslaved in Mississippi. He could not join the main group of Church members and lost touch with them until after the Civil War. He was 38 when he saved enough money to move to Utah with his wife and son.

Black Members in the United States

Before 1978, not many Black people who joined the Church stayed active members. Those who did often faced unfair treatment. An apostle, Mark E. Petersen, told a story about a Black family trying to join the Church. Some white members said they would leave if the Black family stayed. So, the Black family was not allowed to attend meetings.

Church leaders also showed some unfairness. In 1971, the Genesis Group was started. This group was created to support Black members, help new converts, and encourage members to stay active. It still meets today in Utah. Don Harwell, the current president of the Genesis Group, said that while the Church itself is not racist, some people within the Church have had racist ideas.

From 1985 to 2005, the Church became more popular among middle-class African Americans. Membership grew from very few before 1978 to an estimated 5,000 to 10,000 in 2005. A 2007 study found that 3% of American members were Black. African Americans made up 9% of all new converts in the United States.

Sociology professor Armand Mauss says that African Americans are especially drawn to the Church's focus on strong families. However, Black members are still a small part of the Church in the United States. This suggests that some African Americans are still hesitant to join, partly because of the Church's past. Don Harwell believes this is changing, and people are looking past old ideas about the Church.

In 1987, historian Wayne J. Embry spoke with several Black Church members. They all reported times when white members were distant or refused to shake their hands. Some even heard racist comments. One Black member kept attending Church meetings for three years even though no one would speak to her. She even had to write directly to the Church president to find out how to be baptized.

In 2004, researchers Newell G. Bringhurst and Darron T. Smith wrote that the number of African American members had not grown much since the 1980s. They also noted that many Black members left the Church. One study showed that 60% to 90% of African American members in two towns left the Church.

In 2007, journalist Peggy Fletcher Stack wrote that many Black members still feel treated differently. She said it was as if they were a separate group. Some were even called hurtful names at church. They also wished to see more Black faces among the Church's top leaders.

In 2015, Joseph W. Sitati, a Church leader, said that about 15,000 immigrants from African countries had joined the Church in the United States.

Wynetta Willis Martin: A Pioneer

In 1970, Wynetta Willis Martin became the first African American teacher at Brigham Young University (BYU). She was also one of the first two Black members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She felt it was her personal mission to show the world that there were Black members and that the Church was not racist. She toured with the choir for two years. Then she began teaching nurses at BYU, helping them understand different cultures.

Joseph Freeman Jr.: A Historic Moment

Joseph Freeman, Jr. was the first African American man to receive the Melchizedek priesthood after the 1978 change. He was also the first Black member to receive all the special temple ordinances. On June 23, 1978, Freeman was sealed to his wife and five children in the Salt Lake Temple. This was done by Thomas S. Monson, who was an apostle at the time.

Black Members in South Africa

The Church started sharing its message with white English-speaking people in South Africa in 1853. But very few Black South Africans joined before 1978. Dunn, whose father was Scottish and mother was Zulu, is thought to be the first Black African convert in Africa in 1905. However, he did not stay an active member for long. Another early Black convert was William Paul Daniels, who joined in 1915 while visiting family in Utah.

In 1930, the Church started a program to help men trace their family history to European countries. This was to see if they could receive the priesthood. It was very difficult to prove a lack of Black African ancestry because records were often missing.

In 1954, David O. McKay, a Church leader, visited South Africa. He changed the rule to allow local leaders to approve men for the priesthood if there was "no evidence of his having Negro blood." This meant they did not need to do full family history research in every case.

The South African government had laws called Apartheid that separated Black and white people. The government asked that Black and white Church groups meet separately. Since Black members could not lead their own meetings without the priesthood, few joined. Some Black South Africans, like Moses Mahlangu, were close to the Church but not baptized. He taught from the Book of Mormon in African townships starting in the late 1960s. After the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, Mahlangu was baptized in 1980.

After the 1978 change, the South African government removed its limits on missionaries. The Church then began actively sharing its message with Black people. By the early 1990s, most members in South Africa were white. But between 2000 and 2005, half of the members became Black. This percentage has continued to grow. Two Black South Africans have become mission presidents.

Black Members in Brazil

At first, Church leaders were unsure about growing the Church in Brazil. This was because many people there had mixed ancestry. Missionaries arrived in 1928 but were told to only work with German people in the south, as they were less likely to be Black.

In the 1940s, a mission president asked potential converts to provide their family history. This was to check for "racial purity." Missionaries were told to avoid teaching Black people. They were supposed to look for signs of Black ancestry and teach about the "Curse of Cain" (an old belief that was later disavowed by the Church). If someone was found to have Black ancestry, they were discouraged from joining. If they were baptized but later found to have Black heritage, their records were marked, and they could not receive the priesthood.

Because of these strict rules, very few people with Black ancestry joined the Church. Brazilian members often did not agree with the American views on race. This caused problems between Brazilian members and American leaders. In 1967, the Church allowed members who did not appear Black to receive the priesthood, even if they could not trace their family history out of Brazil. In 1978, the priesthood was given to all worthy male members, and the old rules about ancestry were removed.

Helvécio Martins: A Leader's Story

Helvécio Martins was the first person of African descent to become a general authority (a high-level leader) of the Church. Martins was born in Brazil to parents whose families came from African slaves. He was successful in his job but felt something was missing in his religious life.

In 1972, missionaries visited his home. They were worried about teaching an African person because of the Church's rules at the time. Martins' first question was about the Church's views on race. But the spiritual feelings the Martins family had were stronger than their concerns about the rules. They were baptized. They faced challenges from their extended family and old friends but found peace. Martins served as a Sunday school teacher. He was not bothered by not having the priesthood, but others often asked him about it. He had made peace with it and did not expect to receive it.

When the 1978 announcement came, he and his wife could hardly believe it. It was something they had not dared to hope for. Martins later served in many leadership roles, including a stake presidency, a bishop, a mission president, and finally as a seventy. His son was one of the first three Black men to serve a full-time mission for the Church in nearly 100 years.

Black Members in Europe

In the mid-2010s, most new members of the Church in European countries were immigrants, refugees, or students from various African countries. This was stated by Joseph W. Sitati, a Church leader.

Black Members in West Africa

The Church started getting letters from West Africa in the 1940s, asking for information. Two Church bookstores were even started there. Because Africans could not receive the priesthood, leaders were slow to send missionaries. In 1960, David O. McKay sent Glen G. Fisher to Africa. He found thousands of people waiting to learn about the Church. McKay decided to send missionaries, but the Nigerian government delayed their visas. After the government agreed, some Church leaders opposed teaching Black people and voted to cancel the plan.

Five months after the 1978 revelation, the first missionaries arrived in Nigeria. Anthony Obinna was one of the first to be baptized. Within one year, there were over 1,700 members in 35 small congregations in West Africa.

Growing Number of Black Members

After the priesthood restriction was removed in 1978, the Church grew very quickly in mostly Black communities. This happened while other major churches were losing members.

After 1978, Church growth in Brazil was "especially strong" among Afro-Brazilians. By the 2010s, Church growth was over 10% each year in Ghana, Ivory Coast, and other African countries. These areas also had some of the highest rates of new members staying active. From 2009 to 2014, half of the new members in Europe were immigrants from Africa. In the Ivory Coast, the Church grew from one family in 1984 to 40,000 people by early 2017. This led to over 30 congregations in Abidjan alone.

The 1978 revelation also helped the Church grow a lot in places like Africa and the Caribbean. The Church has been more successful among Black people outside the United States. This is partly because people there are less aware of the Church's past rules. In 2005, the Church had about 120,000 members in West Africa. It also had the Aba Nigeria and Accra Ghana temples.

Professor Philip Jenkins noted in 2009 that the Church's growth in Africa has been slower than some other churches. He said that some European churches had been in Africa for a long time. Also, the Church was slow to send missionaries to Black Africa when the priesthood restriction was in place. Other churches often gained members from non-Christian groups, while the Church of Jesus Christ often gained members from existing Christian communities. The Church also has had trouble fitting in with African cultural practices and worship styles. For example, the Church does not allow polygamy, which is still practiced in some parts of Africa.

Black Leaders in the Church

No Black person has yet served in the two highest leadership groups of the Church: the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. However, several Black members have served as General Authorities (high-level leaders). As of 2013, these included Helvécio Martins from Brazil, Joseph W. Sitati from Kenya, and Edward Dube from Zimbabwe.

Since Russell M. Nelson became president of the Church, more Black men have been called as General Authorities. In his first four years (through 2021), he called four Black men to these positions. These were Peter M. Johnson (the first African American General Authority in 2019), Thierry K. Mutombo from the DR Congo, Adeyinka A. Ojediran from Nigeria (both in 2020), and Afred Kyungo from the DR Congo (in 2021).

The first African woman to serve on the Relief Society general board (a worldwide women's organization) was chosen in 2003. In 2014, Dorah Mkhabela, a Black South African, became a member of the Young Women General Board. She was also the first Black woman to offer a prayer at a worldwide Church meeting in September 2014.

In 2005, Mauss said that the role of different minority groups in Church leadership was not very big yet, but it was growing. He noted it was especially important outside the U.S. About 5% of Church members have African ancestry. Most of these members are in Africa, South America, and the Caribbean.

Famous Black Members

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See also

  • 1978 Revelation on Priesthood
  • Black people and early Mormonism
  • Black people and Mormonism
  • Black people in Mormon doctrine
  • Joseph Freeman (Mormon)
  • Genesis Group
  • Mormonism and Pacific Islanders
  • Mormonism and slavery
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