Members of the church depleted tickets to a free performance Sunday, June 8, featuring Gladys Knight and the Saints Unified Voices Choir.

It's not a concert, but rather the monthly meeting for the Genesis group. And it makes up just one part of a weekend celebration commemorating 25 years since the revelation that all worthy males could receive the priesthood.

"I think the whole thing will be marvelous," said Margaret Young, program coordinator for Genesis.

The program, "The Long-Promised Day: A Celebration," will include choral performances by Genesis and Divine Heritage. Knight will conduct a choir she created of LDS saints called the Saints Unified Voices. The event is scheduled to begin at 7 p.m. in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.

"Gladys Knight didn't want it in the conference center because her choir has 110 members and the acoustics in the tabernacle are so spectacular," Young said. "That was where she really wanted to be."

Both Knight and her husband will speak at the Sunday program, which will mark 25 years to the day since Spencer W. Kimball received the priesthood revelation and temple ordinances became available to all families without restriction.

"It's something that changed the world," Young said. "We've gone from 300 members of African descent to over a million."

The evening program will close with everyone singing "The Spirit of God."

The Genesis group planned a full weekend of events to celebrate the priesthood revelation. Activities will include two performances of "I am Jane" (see accompanying article), a Saturday morning temple session, and a Saturday afternoon picnic.

The Genesis group serves as a support to Black LDS members. It officially formed in 1971 after six months of discussion, fasting and prayer in which Elders Hinckley, Monson, and Packer met with three black members of the church.

"It is an official arm of the church, not an offshoot apostate group," Young said. "The Church sought to meet the needs of black members, with the hope of reactivating those who had left the Church, and of supporting new converts of African descent."

Eugene Orr was one of those three men who felt concern over the situation of his black brothers and sisters and met with the leaders of the church. When Orr joined the church, he said he knew of no black members.

"After I was baptized, I decided to go and look for the lost black sheep," Orr said.

Although the priesthood did not extend to all men until 1978 and Orr had to wait 10 years to be sealed to his wife, he said the Holy Ghost sustained him.

"It wasn't hard for me to accept the gospel because the Holy Ghost was there bearing testimony of the truth of things," Orr said. "Anyone, regardless of whether its me or you, whether you're born under the covenant or not, if you do not gain a testimony through the Holy Ghost, your testimony will become shaken."

Orr said he knew from personal revelation that the priesthood would eventually be extended to him and his children.

"It didn't come as a surprise for me," Orr said.

The Genesis group meets in Salt Lake the first Sunday of each month. Anyone may attend.

"I see us in the process of cleansing ourselves of anything that would keep us from our brothers and sisters," Young said. "Certainly the message of the gospel is completely universal."

The Genesis group seeks to unify the body of the LDS church by dispelling decades of rumors and prejudice.

"Our BYU students now don't remember what it was like before," Young said. "Sadly, they still get some of the folklore. There was a lot of speculation about why blacks couldn't have the priesthood. We still deal with that. We still have students who believe that it was because of the curse of Cain or because Blacks were less faithful in the pre-existence. Those are completely false."



Copyright Brigham Young University 6 Jun 2003