-- During September 1979
Church publishes its own edition of the King James Version of the Holy Bible, 725 ―including a 500-page Topical Guide, a uniquely LDS Bible Dictionary, and an enhanced system of footnotes and cross references that linked the Bible with all the other standard works. 726 The Church uses Cambridge University Press in England for the typesetting, and copies are printed in England, Scotland, and the United States (Pennsylvania and Massachusetts). 727 The publishing of the LDS edition of the Bible by the Church is a culmination of nearly seven years of work, which began in 1972 after the Church‘s correlation committee recommended a new edition of the Bible. (1)
-- Oct 4, 1979 -
[Change in Presiding Church Patriarch Office] Eldred G. Smith
(Patriarch emeritus) Honorably released from duties and granted emeritus status (2)
-- Oct 6, 1979
Patriarch to the Church Eldred Gee Smith granted emeritus status; no successor was appointed. (3)
-- Oct 24, 1979
President Spencer W. Kimball, on a tour of the Middle East, dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Gardens on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. (4)
[Spencer W. Kimball] Dedicates the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden in Jerusalem. (5)
-- Oct 29, 1979
The first two converts of eastern Africa were baptized in Kenya. (4)
-- During October 1979
Church first experiments with satellite direct during General Conference. Five sessions televised via satellite direct to 9 locations in the United States in an experiment using ―earth stations with receiver dishes set up for the test. (1)
-- Dec 5, 1979
[Utah] Feminist Sonia Johnson was formally excommunicated by the Mormon Church because of her outspoken support for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution. (6)
-- 1979
Church Membership at end of year: 4,404,121
New Converts : 237,267
Percent Change from previous year: 5.69% (7)
-- During December 1979
[Equal Rights Amemdment] Sonia Johnson was excommunicated from the Mormon church in December 1979. (8)
-- During 1979
[African Americans in Utah] In 1979, the National Basketball Association's New Orleans Jazz relocated to Utah and became the Utah Jazz. The popularity of the NBA coupled with the organization's public relations efforts involving players and the team's winning record has elevated some Jazz players to a celebrity status in the community. The players are looked upon as role models on and off the court by all segments of the population. (9)
[Equal Rights Amemdment] In 1978, when proponents of ERA knew they could not achieve thirty-eight state ratifications by 1979, they succeeded in gaining an extension of time. In the Congressional hearings on 15 August Senator Orrin Hatch squared off against a D.C. area housewife, Sonia Johnson, who had been born and raised in Logan, Utah, and was an active Mormon. Her feisty testimony in support of ERA caught media attention and Sonia became a lightening rod for Mormon and other religious supporters of equality. (8)
The dedication of Orson Hyde Memorial Park in Jerusalem is broadcast via satellite live to televisions in Salt Lake City. (1)
Footnotes:
1 - Sherry Baker: Mormon Media History Timeline: 1827-2007, http://byustudies.byu.edu/showTitle.aspx?title=7984
2 - Wikipedia, Chronology of the Presiding Patriarchs of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presiding_Patriarch#Chronology_of_the_Presiding_Patriarchs_of_The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints
3 - Hemidakaota, "Church Chronology from 1800-2000," http://www.lds.net/forums/scripture-study-forum/12108-church-chronology-1800-2000-part-1-a.html#post214550
4 - Church News: Historical Chronology of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, http://www.ldschurchnews.com/articles/58765/Historical-chronology-of-The-Church-of-Jesus-Christ-of-Latter-day-Saints.html
5 - Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, Salt Lake City, Utah
6 - Ratnikas, Algis, TimelinesDb, http://www.timelinesdb.com/listevents.php?subjid=201title=Utah
7 - Wikipedia, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Membership History, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Church_of_Jesus_Christ_of_Latter-day_Saints_membership_history
8 - Utah History Encyclopedia: Equal Rights Amemdment, http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/e/EQUALRIGHTS.html
9 - Utah History Encyclopedia: African Americans in Utah, http://www.media.utah.edu/UHE/a/African_Americans.html
Mormon History Timeline /Chronology
http://lds-church-history.blogspot.com/
