Keywords

Church correlation, organizational growth, priesthood leadership

Abstract

Correlation has a long history of starts and stops, successes and setbacks. Often misconstrued as solely related to curricular issues, correlation has had a much broader focus from the beginning. President Harold B. Lee stated that one of the primary purposes of correlation was to place “the Priesthood as the Lord intended, as the center core of the Kingdom of God, and the auxiliaries as related thereto; including a greater emphasis on the Fathers in the home as Priesthood bearers in strengthening the family unit.”¹

Though the vision has been large as eternity, the work of the kingdom for the first century was largely local in focus and readily directed by the presiding brethren at Church headquarters. Though missionaries were sent throughout the world starting as early as 1830, most converts were encouraged to emigrate soon after their conversion. Though some converts stayed in their native lands, the Church’s international presence was relatively small. The work became far more challenging as the Church continued to expand both numerically as well as geographically. The auxiliary organizations were created in an effort to better serve the needs of an ever-expanding membership. Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Men, Young Women, and Primary became vital organizations to help the presiding authorities meet the needs of the members worldwide.² By the end of the nineteenth century, the administration of the Church had grown much more complex, and at times the leaders struggled to minister to and manage the growing membership and organizations meant to serve them. Correlation in the twentieth century served as one of the primary means of helping the presiding authorities in Salt Lake City guide the Lord’s work.

Original Publication Citation

Correlation, The Turning Point (1960s), Goodman, M.A. (2011). In Salt Lake City: The Place Which God Prepared. Esplin, S.C. & Alford, K.L. (Eds.) (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book/Religious Studies Center), 259-284.