Darius Aidan Gray, Midvale, president of the Genesis Group

In 1964, on the eve of his baptism, Darius Gray learned he would not be able to receive the LDS Church's priesthood because of his race. He said that although he felt inspired to join the Mormon church, the priesthood restriction seemed an insurmountable issue. He considered canceling the baptismal ceremony.

"This black man, this proud black man, could not say, 'OK, I can do this,' " said Gray. "Finally, I went to God in prayer, and I received personal revelation. It didn't mention the priesthood restriction, whether it was just or unjust, whether it was of God or of man, didn't touch it. It was very direct: This is the restored gospel, and you are to join."

Gray was the original first counselor in the presidency of the Genesis Group, an unit of the LDS Church established in 1971 to support black members.

But by 1978, he said, slights, hurt feelings and racist comments had caused him to cease activity in the church.

The day the church announcedthatall male members could qualify to hold the priesthood, Gray said he felt "a feeling of disbelief -- I didn't think it would happen in my lifetime -- some elation, a lot of feelings of guilt, too, for being inactive and not being in a position that I could expect the priesthood."

Twenty-five years later, Gray has co-authored a trilogy of historical fiction novels about black pioneers with Brigham Young University creative writing instructor Margaret Young. He also co-directed the LDS church's 11-year efforts to digitize the records of a failed post-civil war bank that contained a wealth of black genealogical information.

In addition, Gray is the current president the church's Genesis Group, whose Salt Lake meetings are attended by hundreds of Latter-day Saints, both black and white. The group also supports black Latter-day Saints throughout the United States.

Marion D. Hanks, 81, Holladay, general authority emeritus of the LDS Church

In 1978, Marion D. Hanks was serving as a general authority of the LDS Church. He was one of the leaders who gathered in the Salt Lake Temple to hear the priesthood announcement before the church released it to the media.

Of that day, Hanks said there was a feeling of great joy: "It was such a startling moment, and I couldn't control my emotions and simply said, 'I thank God I lived long enough to see this day.' ... Many of us, like I, wept, because this had never been a comfortable position for people who had a normal sense of the value of the human soul."

Hanks said that the lifting of the priesthood ban has made for a more diverse, culturally rich church membership. While many were uncomfortable with the church's position before 1978, Hanks said he now sees "no reticence, no hesitancy" among members to be united in faith.

"The worth of souls is great in the sight of God," he said. Hanks quoted from the Book of Mormon: "... and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God ..."

"The worth of souls is great in the sight of God," he said. Hanks quoted from the Book of Mormon: "... and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; and he remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God ..."

Tamu Smith, 30, Provo, cosmetologist

Twenty-five years after the priesthood ban was lifted, misinformation and racist views still exist among some members of the LDS Church, said Tamu Smith, a 30-year-old cosmetologist.

"The first time ever in my life that I was called a nigger to my face was in the Salt Lake Temple, inside of the temple," said Smith. That was in 1993, just weeks after she was married.

The 30-year-old Provo resident joined the church with her grandparents when she was 11 and living in San Bernadino, Calif.

She said that negative opinions about blacks expressed by some early church leaders continue to be quoted today, while at the same time some within the church speak out against interracial marriage.

Smith, who is black and married to a white man, said these viewpoints are hurtful and make it more difficult to be a black Mormon.

"It's a double-edged sword: You have to defend the church to other people, but you have to defend to people of the church why your skin is black."

The cosmetologist said she takes comfort from the stories of early black pioneers and from her own faith.

"There is no way I could look my savior in the face and say, 'I had the truth, and I left it because people were mean.' "

To improve cultural relations within the church, Smith said she wishes that LDS leaders would speak out very specifically against racism. And she said healing wounds within the church's membership requires one crucially important thing: love.

"When you give love, it is returned. In the gospel we are brothers and sisters, and if we treat everybody as such, we won't have to ask questions like how do we bridge the gap, how do we get past this issuefi"

Joseph Freeman, 49, West Valley City, building maintenance worker and driver for a hospice company

Joseph Freeman joined the LDS Church in 1973, five years before the church changed its stance on the priesthood.

He said the restriction was an issue he struggled with, but he said he believed the church's teachings and ultimately felt compelled to join.

"When I got to the point of studying and being prayerful about it, I knew this was the right decision, and nothing else really mattered," he said.

It was still common in the 1970s for some religions to have segregated congregations, he said. "In that era of time, there were a lot of things that were denied black people. There were just some things you weren't going to change very easily, and this was one of them. It was something that was beyond man, and that was the way I looked at it."

When the church announced that the priesthood restriction had been lifted, Freeman said he was overjoyed.

"It was just a very exciting moment," he said. "We didn't expect it to happen in our lifetime."

The Sunday following the announcement, Freeman received the priesthood in an LDS chapel in West Valley City. He is believed to be the first black LDS man to be ordained after the announcement.

"It's one of the most wonderful experiences that can happen in your life, one that it is almost impossible to think would ever happen, but then it does ... What a glorious time."

Twenty-five years later, Freeman presides over the very chapel where he received the priesthood. He is bishop of the Hillsdale ward.

Gloria Barnett, Payson, 72, retired

As a descendant of Utah pioneers, Gloria Barnett sometimes thought of the handful of black Mormons who crossed the plains during the migration West. When the priesthood restriction was lifted in 1978, Barnett, of Payson, said she pondered the black pioneers' legacy of faith.

That June, when she heard of the LDS Church's announcement, Barnett said she went to pray and thank God. "How grateful I was to be privileged to witness it in this day and age," she said.

Today, Barnett said she sees the need for all church members to be united.

"Everyone needs to open up their hearts and their arms and receive all the members, no matter what race they are," she said. "I do think that people are trying. They just need to try a little harder."

Margaret Blair Young, 48, Provo, novelist

Together with Darius Gray, Margaret Young has written three historical fiction novels chronicling the lives of early black pioneers. Young first became interested in the project when she stumbled across information about Jane Manning James, a 19th century black woman who walked more than 800 miles to join members of the church in Nauvoo, then hundreds more when they migrated West.

After reading James' story, Young wondered if there were other early black pioneers. She began a research project that would lead to three novels.

Young said she remembers that many white members of the LDS church were unhappy with the church's policy of excluding blacks from the priesthood.

Then came the 1978 announcement. "For those of us who had been living with the restriction, for the most part it was a day of absolute rejoicing," said Young.

Young now attends meetings of the Genesis Group, a unit of the church that supports black members.

She said that the priesthood revelation has brought members of different races closer together, but there is still yet more that needs to be changed. Specifically, she said some older church instruction manuals and literature perpetuate incorrect beliefs about blacks.

"The folklore is still with us, there is no question," she said. "We are not where we need to be."

Rob Foster, 26, Provo, producer

In 2002, Rob Foster became the first African American student body president in Brigham Young University's history. After graduating this year, Foster began working on a documentary following the lives of black members of the LDS Church, many who joined before 1978.

He said the project has given him new respect for his predecessors.

"What I've learned in doing it is that the things that I go through are minuscule compared to the things a lot of the people in the past have gone through and have had to overcome so that they could just be a member of the LDS Church," he said.

Foster joined the church at age 14, after the priesthood had been extended to all male members. But he said he was aware of the previous restriction.

"The priesthood revelation is a serious issue that people have to deal with and handle, but the foundation of the gospel is what builds testimony," he said.

He said the church and its members have come a long way toward racial harmony but haven't arrived. "We still have a long way to go. I think it comes to the point that we just struggle as people, and I don't think it has to do with the LDS Church itself. ...

"The people in the church are seeking help from Jesus Christ, and we can't expect those people to be perfect yet. That is going to take a lot of time."

Delora Bertelsen, Springville, managing director of employee relations and equal opportunity for BYU

Delora Bertelsen remembers the sometimes unflattering view of Latter-day Saints held by Easterners before 1978. When she lived in Washington, D.C., she said, some would automatically associate church with the priesthood restriction.

Twenty-five years after priesthood was extended to blacks, Bertelsen said she has seen the church's membership grow and become more diverse. "I think it broadened the missionary efforts a great deal," she said. "It's brought some wonderful members into the church."

Marilyn Smith, 47, Lindon, therapist

Marilyn Smith joined the church 23 years ago, while living in Germany. Had she been introduced to Mormonism before 1978, she said, it would have been more difficult for her to join. "I take my hat off to those early black pioneers," she said.

In the 21st century, Smith said that race relations within the church are markedly improving. Still, she said, some problems remain. "There is ignorance in the world; therefore there is ignorance in the church. I would say there is a lot of ignorance and misunderstanding."

But it's typically ignorance, not vindictiveness, that causes slights and miscommunications among different races within the church, she said. "I think the church is making major strides. People are trying to educate themselves about other cultures."

E. Dale LeBaron, 68, Orem, retired BYU professor

In 1976, when Dale LeBaron became president of the LDS Church's African mission, missionaries focused theirefforts primarily on converting white residents of South Africa.

But that was not for lack of interest among black Africans, he said. In the years leading up to the 1978 announcement, a growing number of African blacks had stumbled across LDS Church literature and were writing church headquarters in Utah, asking to be baptized, said LeBaron.

"Africa is the only part of this planet that we have knowledge of where literally thousands of people were converted and for over a period of 10 to 20 years were writing a flood of letters, pleading for the president of the church to send missionaries to teach and baptize them."

In 1978, during LeBaron's tenure as mission president, the church's decision to extend the priesthood to qualified black males dramatically affected African missionary work.

"I don't think we can even begin to appreciate the impact that revelation has had. For me, I'm totally incapable."

LeBaron points to the stunning growth of the church in Africa. According to LDS Church statistics, membership in Africa has grown from about 6,500 in 1970 to more than 188,000 in 2002.

The former mission president has collected oral histories of many black LDS Africans. He is working on a documentary of the LDS Church in Africa, which, he says, is an unique chapter in Mormonism.

"It's an incredible story."

This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page A2.