Name E. LeBaron | ||
Died December 3, 2009, Provo, Utah, United States | ||
Education Brigham Young University | ||
the inspiring stories of church pioneers in africa e dale lebaron 2001
Elwin Dale LeBaron (October 8, 1934 – December 3, 2009) was a Canadian scholar of the Latter Day Saint movement and a professor of Church History and Doctrine at Brigham Young University (BYU). He is known for his work on the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in Africa, where he served as mission president when the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood was announced.
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Biography
LeBaron was born in Taber, Alberta, Canada and grew up in nearby Barnwell, Alberta. As a young man he served as an LDS missionary in South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Receiving his B.A., M.S., and Ed.D. from BYU, LeBaron worked as a teacher and administrator for the Church Educational System in Alberta, Wyoming, and Utah. In 1972 he returned to South Africa to organize LDS Seminaries and Institutes of Religion. Following that assignment he was called as president of the South Africa Johannesburg Mission from 1976 to 1979. When the LDS Church announced the 1978 Revelation on Priesthood, which extended the priesthood to black people, the missionary work under LeBaron expanded dramatically.
Influenced by his experiences in Africa, LeBaron worked to collect, publish, and speak on the history of Africans in the LDS Church. He has collected oral history interviews in about ten countries in Africa to preserve knowledge of the beginnings of the LDS Church there. After his work in Africa, LeBaron returned to Utah as a professor of religion at BYU from 1986 to 2001.
LeBaron died 3 December 2009, after being struck by an automobile not far from his home.
Writings
Besides various publications relating to the LDS Church in Africa, LeBaron has also written a biography of Benjamin F. Johnson. He also edited a biography of Glen G. Fisher.