"I say unto you, be one," a new Church website reads, quoting Doctrine and Covenants 38:27.
The new website,BeOne.lds.org, has been created to promote the Church's celebration of the 40th anniversary of the priesthood revelation on June 1, 2018, and the theme is “Be One." The celebration will feature a message from the First Presidency, stories of faith of Church members, and music from Gladys Knight, Alex Boyé, the Bonnor family, the Unity Gospel Choir International, and members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
About the new website, Mormon Newsroom says:
In scripture, Jesus tells us to “be one; and if ye are not one ye are not mine.” . . .
The 1978 revelation was a truly monumental day in the history of the Church and the world. President Spencer W. Kimball, the Lord’s prophet on the earth at that time, announced that the opportunity to receive all the blessings of the priesthood would be extended to all of God's children everywhere in the world.
While the June celebration will hail the history of black Mormon pioneers and reaffirm the reality that “all are alike unto God” in His global family, the event is intended to be much more than a celebration. It will also be a renewal of our collective commitment to pursue oneness in our relationships with each other and with heaven.
President M. Russell Ballard said, “We need to embrace God’s children compassionately and eliminate any prejudice, including racism, sexism, and nationalism. Let it be said that we truly believe the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are for every child of God.” Added Elder Quentin L. Cook, “anyone who claims superiority under the Father’s plan because of characteristics like race, sex, nationality, language, or economic circumstances is morally wrong and does not understand the Lord’s true purpose for all of our Father’s children.”
Along with the invitation, the website features the Official Declaration 2, which extended the priesthood to all worthy male members of the Church, and the Church's groundbreaking "Race and the Priesthood" essay, which clarifies Church history and doctrine regarding race, stating, "Today, the Church disavows the theories advanced in the past that black skin is a sign of divine disfavor or curse, or that it reflects unrighteous actions in a premortal life; that mixed-race marriages are a sin; or that blacks or people of any other race or ethnicity are inferior in any way to anyone else. Church leaders today unequivocally condemn all racism, past and present, in any form."
The website also features prominently the stories of black pioneers like Jane Manning James, a convert to the Church who sacrificed much to build up Zion in Illinois and Utah, and Elijah Abel, one of the first black Latter-day Saints to hold the priesthood and the first African-American elder and Seventy in the Church.
For tickets to the event go to BeOne.lds.org.