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| Christoffel Golden Jr. | |
|---|---|
| First Quorum of the Seventy | |
| 31 March 2001 | |
| Called by | Gordon B. Hinckley |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 June 1952 Johannesburg, South Africa |
Christoffel Golden Jr. (born 1 June 1952) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2001. Golden was the first resident of Africa to become a general authority of the LDS Church.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership in the church who has administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. As a group, the general authorities are often referred to as "the Brethren". As of October 2017, there are 109 general authorities.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 16 million members and 67,000 full-time volunteer missionaries. In 2012, the National Council of Churches ranked the church as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States, with over 6.5 million members reported by the church, as of January 2018. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
Africa is the world's second largest and second most-populous continent, being behind Asia in both categories. At about 30.3 million km2 including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area and 20% of its land area. With 1.2 billion people as of 2016, it accounts for about 16% of the world's human population. The continent is surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea to the north, the Isthmus of Suez and the Red Sea to the northeast, the Indian Ocean to the southeast and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The continent includes Madagascar and various archipelagos. It contains 54 fully recognised sovereign states (countries), nine territories and two de facto independent states with limited or no recognition. The majority of the continent and its countries are in the Northern Hemisphere, with a substantial portion and number of countries in the Southern Hemisphere.
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Born in Johannesburg, South Africa, Golden joined the LDS Church in 1972. From 1977 to 1979 he was a missionary in the church's South African Mission. Following his missionary service, Golden earned undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of South Africa.
Johannesburg is the largest city in South Africa and one of the 50 largest urban areas in the world. It is the provincial capital and largest city of Gauteng, which is the wealthiest province in South Africa. While Johannesburg is not one of South Africa's three capital cities, it is the seat of the Constitutional Court. The city is located in the mineral-rich Witwatersrand range of hills and is the centre of large-scale gold and diamond trade.
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by 2,798 kilometres (1,739 mi) of coastline of Southern Africa stretching along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countries of Namibia, Botswana, and Zimbabwe; and to the east and northeast by Mozambique and Eswatini (Swaziland); and it surrounds the enclaved country of Lesotho. South Africa is the largest country in Southern Africa and the 25th-largest country in the world by land area and, with over 57 million people, is the world's 24th-most populous nation. It is the southernmost country on the mainland of the Old World or the Eastern Hemisphere. About 80 percent of South Africans are of Sub-Saharan African ancestry, divided among a variety of ethnic groups speaking different African languages, nine of which have official status. The remaining population consists of Africa's largest communities of European (White), Asian (Indian), and multiracial (Coloured) ancestry.
Missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints —widely known as Mormon missionaries—are volunteer representatives of the LDS Church who engage variously in proselytizing, church service, humanitarian aid, and community service. Mormon missionaries may serve on a full- or part-time basis, depending on the assignment, and are organized geographically into missions. The mission assignment could be to any one of the 421 missions organized worldwide.
According to the official LDS Church website, "He is an experienced businessman, with background in banking, pharmaceuticals, and optical marketing. He graduated from the University of South Africa in Pretoria, where he earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a post-graduate honors degree in international politics." [1]
Golden married Diane Norma Hulbert in 1981 and they are the parents of four children. Golden is an Afrikaner and is fluent in English and Afrikaans.
English is a West Germanic language that was first spoken in early medieval England and eventually became a global lingua franca. It is named after the Angles, one of the Germanic tribes that migrated to the area of Great Britain that later took their name, as England. Both names derive from Anglia, a peninsula in the Baltic Sea. The language is closely related to Frisian and Low Saxon, and its vocabulary has been significantly influenced by other Germanic languages, particularly Norse, and to a greater extent by Latin and French.
Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and, to a lesser extent, Botswana and Zimbabwe. It evolved from the Dutch vernacular of South Holland spoken by the mainly Dutch settlers of what is now South Africa, where it gradually began to develop distinguishing characteristics in the course of the 18th century. Hence, it is a daughter language of Dutch, and was previously referred to as "Cape Dutch" or "kitchen Dutch". However, it is also variously described as a creole or as a partially creolised language. The term is ultimately derived from Dutch Afrikaans-Hollands meaning "African Dutch".
Prior to his call as a general authority, Golden served in the LDS Church as a bishop, stake president, and area seventy. Though he had served previously as a stake president, in 1995, the Roodepoort South Africa Stake was created, with Golden serving as the first president. He served in that capacity for three months, prior to his call as an area seventy. In addition to parts of South Africa, the stake included all the LDS Church units in Botswana at the time. [2] He became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy in April 2001. Since becoming a general authority, Golden has served in the presidencies of the church's Africa West and Africa Southeast areas. In 2011, he was assigned to church headquarters in Salt Lake City, including service as Assistant Executive Director of the church's Curriculum Department. As of late 2016, Golden was serving as Executive Director of the church's Priesthood and Family Department. [3]
Bishop is the highest priesthood office of the Aaronic priesthood in the Latter Day Saint movement. It is almost always held by one who already holds the Melchizedek priesthood office of high priest. The Latter Day Saint concept of the office differs significantly from the role of bishops in other Christian denominations, being in some respects more analogous to a pastor or parish priest. Each bishop serves with two counselors, which together form a bishopric.
Roodepoort is a city in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa. Formerly an independent municipality, Roodepoort became part of the Johannesburg municipality in the late 1990s, along with Randburg and Sandton. Johannesburg's most famous botanical garden, Witwatersrand National Botanical Gardens, is located in Roodepoort.
An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes and the church as a whole.
In 2018 the World Congress of Families, which the Southern Poverty Law Center described as an "anti-LGBT hate group", announced that Golden would be attending its annual event and addressing the attendees. [4] [5]
The World Congress of Families is a United States coalition that promotes Christian right values internationally. It opposes same-sex marriage, pornography, and abortion, while supporting a society built on "the voluntary union of a man and a woman in a lifelong covenant of marriage". WCF comprises organizations in several countries, and most of its member partners are strongly active campaigners for pro-life positions and specific Christian views on marriage that oppose same-sex marriage. WCF was formed in 1997 and is active worldwide, regularly organizing "large international 'pro-family' conventions". Its opposition to gay marriage and abortion has attracted criticism. It was added to the list of organizations designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as anti-LGBT hate groups in February 2014 for its involvement with the 2013 Russian LGBT propaganda law and opposing LGBT rights internationally.
The Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is an American nonprofit legal advocacy organization specializing in civil rights and public interest litigation. Based in Montgomery, Alabama, it is known for its successful legal cases against white supremacist groups, its classification of hate groups and other extremist organizations, and for promoting tolerance education programs.
