Lengthening Our Stride

In 1974, newly ordained prophet Spencer W. Kimball called for Latter-day Saints to "lengthen our stride." When he delivered this landmark address, he encouraged all Latter-day Saints to think bigger, broader, and bolder about the ongoing globalization of the Church. Since President Kimball's clarion call, the geographical distribution and cultural inclusion of the Church spread and evolved. The still largely Intermountain West Church that President Kimball began to lead in 1974 looked very different from the Church four decades later. Ongoing global growth continues to be one of the Church's greatest opportunities (and challenges), just as President Kimball anticipated. This book is a compilation of addresses presented to the LDS International Society, a group that meets to discuss and share their best thinking about the past, present, and future of the global Church.

Pages 400

Reid L. Neilson

Reid L. Neilson was appointed Assistant Church Historian and Recorder of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in 2015. He has also served as managing director of the Church History Department since 2010. A native of Orange County, California, Neilson received a bachelor's and two master's degrees from Brigham Young University and a PhD in religious studies from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Wayne D. Crosby

Wayne D. Crosby graduated from the University of Utah with a bachelor's degree in business management. Since 1989, he has worked for the Church in several capacities. Since 2009, he has been the director of Global Support and Acquisitions. This division is responsible for decentralizing Church history operations, which is accomplished by working closely with Area Presidencies to collect, preserve, and share Church history.