When Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy was called as Church Historian and Recorder in 2005, he filled a position that stemmed from the earliest days of the Church but had been vacant since 1997 and essentially inactive since 1989.
Now, with his release pending in October, when he will become an emeritus General Authority, Elder Jensen looks back on a remarkable string of accomplishments by the Church History Department during his seven-year tenure. He detailed some of them in a June 21 address at the Church History Museum.
Before doing so, however, he traced the history of the Church Historian position itself, noting that the first person called to that office was Oliver Cowdery, replaced after about a year by John Whitmer.
After a period of turbulence in the Church, Willard Richards was called in 1842 in Nauvoo, Ill., to be Church Historian. When the Saints were driven from that city, he saw to it that the Church's historical records were brought to the new settlement in the Salt Lake Valley.
Apostle George A. Smith, a man with a keen memory, served thereafter, helping to finish the history of Joseph Smith (who was his cousin) and begin the history of Brigham Young.
Albert Carrington and Orson Pratt were his successors, followed by Wilford Woodruff, whose meticulous journals have been an invaluable resource in Church history.
He was succeeded by Franklin D. Richards and Anthony H. Lund.
Joseph Fielding Smith served from 1921 until he became Church president in 1970. He then appointed Elder Howard W. Hunter to the office, who served for two years, followed by Leonard Arrington, an economist from Utah State University. Elder G. Homer Durham of the Seventy then served, followed by Elder Dean L. Larsen, who was released in 1997.
After Elder Jensen's release in October, his successor will be Elder Steven E. Snow of the Seventy.
Elder Jensen said that when President Gordon B. Hinckley called him to the position of historian and recorder in 2005, he asked the Church president what his expectations of Elder Jensen were. The reply: "Read the scriptures and do your duty." Asked about the recorder component of the office, President Hinckley said, "I haven't given that a bit of thought. But you'd better."
He followed President Hinckley's counsel, and the accomplishments of the Church History Department that he detailed in his presentation are the results.
Among the milestones Elder Jensen cited are these:
Elder Jensen said, "Four years ago ... it wasn't as apparent to us that this witnessing and defending function would be as critical as it has become in this Internet age, because of erroneous and negative and often anti-Mormon information that's being published on various sites of the world of the Internet."
The department, therefore, can help "to give to people a reason for the hope that is in them," he remarked.
"We've begun, in a modest way, to collect Church histories all across the world now," Elder Jensen said.
For example, mission presidents and area presidents, upon leaving office, are now interviewed for the purpose of recording the history they have witnessed while in office.
"In years to come, this globalization of Church history will stand out as one of the significant accomplishments in this period of time," he added.
The Church Historian emphasized that the department does its work under the auspices of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve and expressed his personal gratitude to the department's advisers. He also expressed appreciation to the devoted and talented staff members of the Church History Department.
"I think our history is very faith promoting and very optimistic," he concluded, "a very wonderful thing to study and to draw from and to be a part of."
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