Spencer W. Kimball

Spencer W. Kimball

1895–1985 (90 years)

Hometown: Salt Lake City, Utah

Biography

Spencer W. Kimball was the twelfth President of the LDS Church, serving from 1973 to 1985. Born in Salt Lake City but raised in Arizona, Kimball worked as a bank clerk and businessman before his call to the apostleship in 1943. He is famous for authoring “The Miracle of Forgiveness” (1969), an influential but controversial book on repentance that has been criticized for its harsh treatment of sexual sin, particularly regarding homosexuality and masturbation.

Kimball’s presidency was marked by dramatic changes. Most significantly, in June 1978 he announced Official Declaration 2, which reversed the long-standing ban on Black men holding the priesthood and Black members receiving temple ordinances. This revelation came after years of pressure and Kimball’s own personal struggle with the issue. The announcement fundamentally changed the church’s global possibilities.

Under Kimball, the church dramatically expanded its missionary force (he set a goal for every young man to serve) and temple building program. He reorganized the First Quorum of the Seventy and expanded general conference to include Saturday sessions. His phrase “Lengthen your stride” became a rallying cry.

His final years were marked by declining health, including throat cancer that required surgery affecting his voice, brain surgery, and heart problems. Critics noted the church was essentially run by counselors during his incapacity. He died in 1985 after 12 years as president.

Served Under

Church presidents during this leader's apostolic service:

Heber J. Grant Heber J. Grant 1856–1945 (88 years) George Albert Smith George Albert Smith 1870–1951 (81 years) David O. McKay David O. McKay 1873–1970 (96 years) Joseph Fielding Smith Joseph Fielding Smith 1876–1972 (95 years) Harold B. Lee Harold B. Lee 1899–1973 (74 years)

Apostles Who Served During This Presidency

Ezra Taft Benson Ezra Taft Benson Mark E. Petersen Mark E. Petersen Delbert L. Stapley Delbert L. Stapley Marion G. Romney Marion G. Romney LeGrand Richards LeGrand Richards Hugh B. Brown Hugh B. Brown Howard W. Hunter Howard W. Hunter Gordon B. Hinckley Gordon B. Hinckley N. Eldon Tanner N. Eldon Tanner Thomas S. Monson Thomas S. Monson Alvin R. Dyer Alvin R. Dyer Boyd K. Packer Boyd K. Packer Marvin J. Ashton Marvin J. Ashton Bruce R. McConkie Bruce R. McConkie L. Tom Perry L. Tom Perry

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Wives (1)

#NameMarriage DateHer AgeHis AgeAge DiffChildren
1 Camilla Eyring Nov 16, 1917 232214

Children (4)

With Camilla Eyring (4 children)

  1. Spencer LeVan Kimball (b. Aug 26, 1918)
  2. Olive Beth Kimball (b. Jul 31, 1922)
  3. Andrew Eyring Kimball (b. Mar 5, 1927)
  4. Edward Lawrence Kimball (b. Sep 23, 1930)

Related Posts (20)

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You are to become a career woman in the greatest career on earth—that of homemaker, wife, and mother. It was never intended by the Lord that married women should compete with men in employment. They have a far greater and more important service to render - Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, Page 128, 1972 | wasmormon.org "When I ask for more missionaries, I am not asking for more testimony-barren or unworthy missionaries. I am asking that we start earlier and train our missionaries better in every branch and every ward in the world. That is another challenge—that the young people will understand that it is a great privilege to go on a mission and that they must be physically well, mentally well, spiritually well, and that “the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance. I am asking for missionaries who have been carefully indoctrinated and trained through the family and the organizations of the Church, and who come to the mission with a great desire. I am asking for better interviews, more searching interviews, more sympathetic and understanding interviews, but especially that we train prospective missionaries much better, much earlier, much longer, so that each anticipates his mission with great joy." - Spencer W. Kimball, 1974 | wasmormon.org "I am asking for missionaries who have been carefully indoctrinated" - LDS President, Spencer W. Kimball, 1974 | wasmormon.org "Even in a forced contact such as rape or incest, the injured one is greatly outraged. If she has not cooperated and contributed to the foul deed, she is of course in a more favorable position. There is no condemnation where there is no voluntary participation. It is better to die in defending one's virtue than to live having lost it without a struggle." - Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 1969 | wasmormon.org "It is better to die in defending one's virtue than to live having lost it without a struggle." - Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, 1969 | wasmormon.org “Numerous divorces can be traced directly to the day when the wife left the home and went out into the world into employment.” - Spencer W. Kimball, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1977 | wasmormon.org “I beg of you, you who could and should be bearing and rearing a family: wives, come home from the typewriter, the laundry, the nursing, come home from the factory, the café. No career approaches in importance that of wife, homemaker, mother—cooking meals, washing dishes, making beds for one’s precious husband and children. Come home, wives, to your husbands. Make home a heaven for them. Come home, wives, to your children, born and unborn. Wrap the motherly cloak about you and, unembarrassed, help in a major role to create the bodies for the immortal souls who anxiously await.” - Spencer W. Kimball, LDS Church President - As Living Prophet, 1977 | wasmormon.org “The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet. Beware of those who would pit the dead prophets against the living prophets, for the living prophets always take precedence.” - LDS Church President Spencer W. Kimball, Fourteen Fundamentals in Following the Prophet, 1980 | wasmormon.org “We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background (some of those are not an absolute necessity, but preferred), and above all, the same religious background, without question” (Spencer W. Kimball, 1976 Devotional Speeches of the Year) Institute Eternal Marriage Student Manual: Marriage and Divorce 2002-2024 | wasmormon.org “Soul mates” are fiction and an illusion; and while every young man and young woman will seek... it is certain that almost any good man and any good woman can have happiness and a successful marriage if both are willing to pay the price. - LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce | wasmormon.org “We recommend that people marry those who are of the same racial background generally, and of somewhat the same economic and social and educational background, and above all, the same religious background, without question.” - LDS Church President, Spencer W. Kimball 1976 BYU Devotional, Marriage and Divorce | wasmormon.org "In June 1978, after “spending many hours in the Upper Room of the [Salt Lake] Temple supplicating the Lord for divine guidance,” Church President Spencer W. Kimball, his counselors in the First Presidency, and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles received a revelation... The revelation rescinded the restriction on priesthood ordination. It also extended the blessings of the temple to all worthy Latter-day Saints, men and women. The First Presidency statement regarding the revelation was canonized in the Doctrine and Covenants as Official Declaration 2." - Race and the Priesthood, LDS Church Gospel Topic Essay. Spencer W Kimball, center, with his counselors in the First Presidency from 1973 to 1981: Presidents N Eldon Tanner (left) and Marion G Romney (right) | wasmormon.org "I learned early to put aside those gospel questions that I couldn’t answer. I had a shelf of things I didn’t understand" Camilla Kimball, Wife of Spencer W Kimball, Church President | wasmormon.org Mark W. Hofmann, left, and LDS Church leaders N. Eldon Tanner, Spencer W. Kimball, Marion G. Romney, Boyd K. Packer and Gordon B. Hinckley examine the "Anthon Transcript" on April 22, 1980.