Crossing the divide: President Hinckley's words, example spurred interfaith efforts

For a while now, John Kesler has been carrying a little piece of paper in his wallet, in the plastic sleeve that holds his credit cards, right on top so it's the first thing he sees. It's a short reminder from LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, urging compassion and respect, not just Mormon-to-Mormon, but Mormon to everyone else.

The church's prophet, who died earlier this week, is being remembered for his many calls for inclusiveness, a public reaching out unprecedented in a church that was historically known for its isolation and that is often criticized for its claim to be "the only true church" — a declaration that Utahns of other faiths, in particular, often react to personally.

President Hinckley's messages — to put friendship over proselytizing, to reach out with love and helpfulness — put Latter-day Saints on notice that he expected something better than what existed when he became president in 1995. His reminders coincided, at the turn of the last millennium, with Utah's preparations to host the world during the 2002 Olympic Winter Games. The prospect of that global visit, with its scrutiny of Utah by the world's media, made residents take a closer look at one of their most distinctive characteristics — a chasm most easily symbolized by the delineation of "Mormons and non-Mormons."

President Hinckley didn't invent inclusiveness and was by no means the only prominent Utahn to encourage it. But he is credited with making it a priority for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and with helping Mormons understand that they have a Christian duty beyond their own inner circle.

He didn't mince words.

In an address during the church's general conference in April 2000, he specifically instructed members to "reach out to others not of our faith. Let us never act in a spirit of arrogance or with a holier-than-thou attitude. Rather, may we show love and respect and helpfulness toward them."

But that wasn't all. He added a mild chastisement that cut directly to the heart of what critics and observers alike had long said: "We are greatly misunderstood, and I fear that much of it is of our own making. We can be more tolerant, more neighborly, more friendly, more of an example than we have been in the past. Let us teach our children to treat others with friendship, respect, love and admiration. That will yield a far better result than will an attitude of egotism and arrogance."