David Lawrence McKay

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David Lawrence McKay (30 September 1901 – 27 October 1993) was the eighth general superintendent of the Sunday School of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1966 to 1971. McKay was a member of the general superintendency of that organization from 1949 to 1971.

Sunday School is an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All members of the church and any interested nonmembers, age 12 and older, are encouraged to participate in Sunday School.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints nontrinitarian Christian restorationist church

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.

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McKay was born in Ogden, Utah, the oldest son of future LDS Church apostle and church president, David O. McKay. David Lawrence McKay became the second assistant to George R. Hill, the general superintendent of the Deseret Sunday School Union in 1949. In 1952, he became Hill's first assistant, where he served until 1966 when succeeded Hill as general superintendent. McKay was released in 1971 and was succeeded by Russell M. Nelson.

Ogden, Utah City in Utah, United States

Ogden is a city and the county seat of Weber County, Utah, United States, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Great Salt Lake and 40 miles (64 km) north of Salt Lake City. The population was 84,316 in 2014, according to the US Census Bureau, making it Utah's 7th largest city. The city served as a major railway hub through much of its history, and still handles a great deal of freight rail traffic which makes it a convenient location for manufacturing and commerce. Ogden is also known for its many historic buildings, proximity to the Wasatch Mountains, and as the location of Weber State University.

Utah A state of the United States of America

Utah is a state in the western United States. It became the 45th state admitted to the U.S. on January 4, 1896. Utah is the 13th-largest by area, 31st-most-populous, and 10th-least-densely populated of the 50 United States. Utah has a population of more than 3 million according to the Census estimate for July 1, 2016. Urban development is mostly concentrated in two areas: the Wasatch Front in the north-central part of the state, which contains approximately 2.5 million people; and Washington County in Southern Utah, with over 160,000 residents. Utah is bordered by Colorado to the east, Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to the north, Arizona to the south, and Nevada to the west. It also touches a corner of New Mexico in the southeast.

In the Latter Day Saint movement, an apostle is a "special witness of the name of Jesus Christ who is sent to teach the principles of salvation to others." In many Latter Day Saint churches, an apostle is a priesthood office of high authority within the church hierarchy. In many churches, apostles may be members of the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency of the church. In most Latter Day Saint churches, modern-day apostles are considered to have the same status and authority as the Biblical apostles.

In the late 1960s, when his father was president of the LDS Church and ill, McKay often read his father's sermons in general conference. He also served as a mission president in the church's Eastern States Mission, based in New York City. While in this capacity he represented the church at a hearing on a constitutional amendment to overturn Roe v. Wade, expressing the church's support for the amendment. [1]

General Conference (LDS Church) biannual conference in Salt Lake City

General Conference is a gathering of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held biannually every April and October at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. During each conference, members of the church gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to sermons from church leaders. It consists of four general sessions. Since April 2018 the priesthood session is only held during the April conference, and a General Women's Session held during October's conference.

Mission president

Mission president is a priesthood leadership position in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. A mission president presides over a mission and the missionaries serving in the mission. Depending on the particular mission, a mission president may also be the presiding priesthood leader of some or all Latter-day Saints within the geographic boundaries of the mission. Mission presidents are ordained high priests of the church.

A mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a geographical administrative area to which church missionaries are assigned. Almost all areas of the world are within the boundaries of an LDS Church mission, whether or not Mormon missionaries live or proselytize in the area. As of July 2018, there were 407 missions of the LDS Church. On January 2, 2019, the LDS Church announced changes that will close 12 missions through boundary realignments and open up 4 new ones, effective July 1, 2019. When these changes take place, there will be 399 missions of the church.

McKay died in Salt Lake City, Utah at the age of 92. He was married to Mildred Dean Calderwood.

Salt Lake City State capital city in Utah, United States

Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous municipality of the U.S. state of Utah. With an estimated population of 190,884 in 2014, the city is the core of the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a population of 1,153,340. Salt Lake City is further situated within a larger metropolis known as the Salt Lake City–Ogden–Provo Combined Statistical Area. This region is a corridor of contiguous urban and suburban development stretched along an approximately 120-mile (190 km) segment of the Wasatch Front, comprising a population of 2,423,912 as of 2014. It is one of only two major urban areas in the Great Basin.

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References

Donald Quayle Cannon is a retired professor at Brigham Young University who specializes in Mormon history, particularly early Mormon history and international Mormon history.

Richard Olsen Cowan is a historian of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former professor in the Church History Department of Brigham Young University (BYU). He was one of the longest-serving BYU faculty and the longest-serving member of the Church History Department ever.

  1. Edward L. Kimball. Lengthen Your Stride: The Presidency of Spencer W. Kimball. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2005) p. 173