JWHA 2016 Annual Conference – Kirtland, Ohio
“Ye Should Go to the Ohio and from Thence Among All Nations September 22-25, 2016, in Kirtland, Ohio
Ohio’s Kirtland Temple has long been associated with international expansion among Latter Day Saints. It was in Kirtland in 1837 that apostle Heber C. Kimball was called and set-apart to carry the message across the Atlantic to the British Isles, opening the work of the church in Europe. Even after the main body of members had moved on to Missouri and then Illinois, missionaries traveling overseas were required to detour first through Kirtland to be endowed, or empowered, by the Holy Spirit. In the 1870s, the RLDS congregation meeting in the temple was christened the Tiona Branch. Tahitian for “zion, the name celebrated the recent RLDS missionary success in French Polynesia. Recognizing the power of place, RLDS leaders in 1959 returned to Kirtland Temple and commissioned apostles preparing for the mission to Asia.
Adapted from section 38 of the Doctrine and Covenants, “Ye Should Go to the Ohio and from Thence Among all Nations, encourages a focus on the international expansion of Latter Day Saint communities, but also provides room for the exploration of gathering and gathered communities and for the quest for spiritual empowerment among Latter Day Saints. Proposals for complete sessions are encouraged, but individual papers, panel discussions, interviews, personal essays, debates, musical presentations, and more will also be considered. A Restoration Studies Track will be included in the program with a focus on theology and culture in Community of Christ and the larger Latter Day Saint movement.
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