RLDS First Presidency statement published in SAINT'S HERALD entitled, "Our Position on Race and Color:" "The internal racial problems in our church have been very minor. Integration has been such a natural process that there would be no need to discuss it in these columns were it not for the national attention that has resulted from the tense integration question. We have Negroes in our branches, in our priesthood, and in our church college. Our integration preceded any social pressures or Supreme Court decisions. It would be difficult to say how many of our Negroes now hold priesthood. No systematic records have been kept based on race or color. We have felt no reason for such accounting." The RLDS church allowed Blacks to have the priesthood in the 1800's
[Source: http://www.advent-adam.com/jakestand.html (cached, based on http://amzn.to/newmormonstudies)]
The RLDS church has allowed Blacks to have the priesthood since May 4, 1865. [Source: HC (RLDS) 3: 415-416.
ReplyDeleteTCOJC (organized July 5-8, 1862 at Green Oak, Pennsylvania) ordained its first black man to the priesthood in October 1898 General Conference at ???, PA. His name was Bro. George Washington. [Source: HC (TCOJC) 1:95]
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