Over the past 12 months I have witnessed the challenge of changing years of habits by people inside and outside of the Church of Jesus Christ. I have seen, and occasionally been part of, the perpetuating pattern.
Sometimes, when attempting to follow counsel, we race to get through the name of the Church with such speed that it actually makes it impossible to even understand what we are saying. At other times our tone makes it sound like we are apologizing to the listener for having to say the complete name — as if it were a chore. And sometimes our temperament in stating the name of the Church feels like we are an exasperated child saying something precisely right only because a pushy-parent is demanding such precision.
I recently learned an important lesson about the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from two reverends and the chairman of the NAACP in Detroit. My colleagues and I had the opportunity to interview longtime civil rights leader Reverend Amos Brown, Reverend Theresa Dear and NAACP Chairman Leon Russell about their interaction with President Nelson and their historic partnership that is providing Self-Reliance training to people struggling in America’s inner-cities.