A Report on General Conference a Century ago, in April of 1927…

 

  Latter-day Saint General Conference roughly a century ago, was held on Sunday, April 3, to Wednesday, April 6, 1927 (This was the 97^th annual conference). So, there was no conference on a Saturday that time around …And, the date of April 6 (Church’s anniversary), was the focal point for when April conference was held, and not the weekend itself, as it is today.

  Here’s my analysis of interesting things then:

  -General Conference was 4 days long, not just 2 days.

 -Talks were delivered in both the Salt Lake Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall – and some were given at the same time. (The Assembly Hall was considered the place for the overflow crowd, that could not fit into the Tabernacle.)

  -It wasn’t just General Authorities who talked in Conference, some were stake presidents and others were mission presidents. In fact, some talks were delivered by former mission and stake presidents.

 -Talks were published in a 180-page booklet, since there was no Improvement Era or Ensign magazine yet. (All of this blog’s source material is that official published Church report.) There was also an ad, of sorts, for 3 church books, on sale at Deseret Book, printed on the back cover of the Conference booklet (And, also on the inside back cover.)

  -As reported at Conference, for the year 1926, $1.5 million was spent on wards and stakes; $188,00 was given to various charities; $322,000 was used for temple construction and maintenance; $739,000 was spent on missions and related expenses.

  -Various church statistics were announced: There were 96 stakes, 915 wards and 77 independent branches; plus, 27 missions and 734 branches in those missions.  Also, 72 percent of members own their own homes; There were 2,188 full-time missionaries serving.

  -President Charles W. Nibley (second counselor in the First Presidency) noted that thanks to the recent advent of radio broadcasts of General Conference, all shouting, or pounding of the pulpit is now strongly discouraged and inappropriate – just talk in a “conversational tone” now. (Salt Lake’s KSL radio, known at first as “KZN,” had started broadcasts just 7 years earlier, in 1922.)

  -None of the talks given had subject titles, like they do now. Talk subject ranged from examples of the healing power of the priesthood, to testimonies of Jesus Christ and Joseph Smith and of life in various mission fields. There were also calls to keep the Sabbath Day Holy, live the Word of Wisdom and repent of one’s sins.

  -Talks were not strictly set to a time table and some speakers, like Elder B.H. Roberts, had to apologize at the end of his discourse, for going over time.

   -Elder Charles A. Callis, president of the Southern States Mission, said he recently released a missionary whose farming family had spent $8,000 keeping him and another brother on their missions. (Based on inflation, that’s more than $140,000 in 2026 year dollars.)

   -Church President Heber J. Grant promoted the Tabernacle Choir and said that they would be singing at a Tabernacle program the next week – and that admission was 25 cents to 50 cents – so in those days, the Choir was NOT fully funded by the Church. Also, the Dutch Choir of Salt Lake provided the music in the Assembly Hall. And, few of the songs sung at the Conference were ones that are familiar today. (“See, the Mighty Angel” and  “Inflammatus” are examples of these obscure hymns sung.)

   -Elder Eugene J. Neff, former President of the Hawaiian Mission, told how when the Church recalled all missionaries from there, during the Johnston Army crisis in Utah Territory (1857-1858), that a former missionary returned there and was charging members money for a priesthood confirmation and other things. He was becoming rich at their expense and would not stop doing so and eventually had to be cut off from the Church. Elder Neff that former missionary moved the San Francisco and began disparaging the Church. He died there in obscurity, as some church leaders had prophesied years earlier.,

  -Elder J. Golden Kimball did not swear in his talk or seem to say anything out of line (So, he was capable of giving "standard" church discourses!) In his talk, he said: “God never created a man that could please all the Mormon people – and if anyone ever tried to please all of them, he will fail. You cannot please all the people. The Savior did not please all.” Elder Kimball also referred to Salt Lake City as “the most beautiful of cities” and claimed that the population in town would now be about 500,000, if so many people had not moved to California. Elder Kimball also stressed that his father, Heber C. Kimball, was not made rich at the expense of others – and neither did Brigham Young or other leaders do so. He said his father used to own all the land where the State Capitol is now and beyond. He sold lots there for just $2.50 each.

  -Elder Andrew Jenson, assistant Church Historian, said that by his count the Church had sent out 35,275 full-time missionaries, from 1930 and through 1926. He said that an estimate of local missionaries serving was at least another 70,000 during that period.

  -Elder George Albert Smith said that his family’s records showed there to have been 2 feet of snow on the ground, 57 years earlier, on April 4, 1870, as compared to the warm and sunny day in 1927.

  -Elder David O. McKay said that its full-time missionaries over the decades have likely spent a combined total of some $17.5 million on their two-year missions. He also said that it used to grieve him that the Church was not listed among the ranks of the Protestant Churches in existence. But, now he realized that the Church is more than a protest to the Catholic Faith, it is the only true Christianity on the face of the Earth.

  -President Heber J. Grant also introduced three new stake presidents during the close of the second day of conference.

  -Elder Marvin J. Ballard, Apostle, spoke on how the Word of Wisdom was given to fortify the Saints. He said living the Word of Wisdom will fortify members to avoid temptations of all kinds, “giving us the power to resist.” He said this power includes not giving in to greater temptations of immorality.

  -All in all, 45 brethren spoke during the conference.  

 

 NOTE: This article and all of the NighUntoKolob blog are NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are the author's conclusions and views only.