[Reorganzied Church of the Latter Day Saints]

The heritage of the reorganized church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in every sense a moving record. Not only does the story quicken the spirit and excite the intellect, it is a study in motion of interrupted but persistent progress in pilgrimage spiritually, socially, geographically. The dynamism of the present day church has been inherent in its members since its origin. The firm faith in spite of adversity of a perpetually revitalizing hope for a kingdom. That kingdom, of course, is Zion, God's kingdom here on earth. And the beginning was a grove, a green and quiet place. Nearly a century and a half ago, in a place such as this, near a small village in rural New York State, a young man was led to seek the revelation of the Lord, the hope for a kingdom. [Music] And here we will present our first main title, the title of our film, Hope for a Kingdom. This will dissolve into the seal of the church. And over this seal, our second main title will appear presented by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We open the body of our film with the earliest origins of the church, the revelations to Joseph, the prophet of the Book of Mormon, and to the first three and then the eight witnesses. Stressing the missionary element of the church from its origins. We will emphasize the fact that with the formal organization of the church, the quest for Zion had begun. Our film will depict the first settlement at independence, its early triumph, and then its tragedy. [Music] We will follow the increasing intensity of the attacks upon the saints. From the ravaging of the church's printing press through the illegal seizure of their arms and the subsequent aggressions against a defenseless people to the final expulsion of the saints across the river. We return with Joseph the prophet to Kirtland to its prosperity and harmony exemplified by the erection of the temple. [Music] The temple at Kirtland represented in its grace and strength what the church could accomplish for itself and for its neighbors when it was allowed to live in harmony with its fellow men. [Music] At the same time, hostility towards the Saints who had stayed behind in Missouri became murderously desperate, culminating in the massacre at Hans Mill, [Music] the arrest and incarceration of Joseph in a found with the ironic name of liberty. [Music] And finally, the unprecedented and unconstitutional official order to expel the saints beyond the borders of the state. But up the Mississippi, the sovereign state of Illinois was more hospitable and more civilized. At a great bend in the Mississippi, Joseph Smith Jr. established the city of Nauvoo, a transliteration by the saints of the Hebrew phrase for beautiful place. Beautiful it was and prosperous, becoming the largest city in the state. Heat. Heat. [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Applause] But the cyclic pattern of hostility which seemed ordained to attend each forward movement of the saints was tragically repeated in Illinois. Joseph Smith and his brother Hyram after having voluntarily surrendered to a civil charge in nearby Carthage were brutally murdered in the jail there by an officially unopposed mob. For the last time, Joseph and his brother journeyed to the beloved city. But though an official funeral was held, the caskets that were interred contained only stones. In fear of despoiling vengeance even after death, the bodies were hidden in this basement. And only sometime later removed up the hill toward the homestead. For over half a century, they remained there until Joseph with his brother Hyram and Joseph's wife Emma found a final resting place in the martyr. [Music] The years after Joseph's death seemed years of desolation. [Music] An arsonist destroyed the temple and even its ruins were finally to be leveled by tornadic winds. [Music] [Applause] The church itself appeared to dissolve in these years, dispersing, as we will indicate by maps and artwork, to Utah, to Texas, to Canada, and the East. [Music] But though the material resources of the church seemed blasted and dissipated, its spiritual heritage survived in Nauvoo in the person of the prophet's son and successor, Joseph III. Our film will depict how under his vigorous young leadership, the church regrouped its energies. Assuming its definitive form, the reorganized church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with renewed vigor, spiritual and temporal, Zion was on the move again. Our camera will follow the saints progress to Lemonai to the founding of Graceland College and dwelling with a special fondness on the house where at one time or another the three inheritors of the legacy of Joseph the prophet all lived. But the early vision survived the hope for a kingdom, the establishment of Zion. And Zion, as had been revealed to the prophet, was independence. Those sequences dealing with the return to independence, fittingly enough, in the first year of a new century, will culminate in the construction of the auditorium. [Music] Using the auditorium as a symbol of the increasingly vital progress of the church, we will proceed with its program of outreach, a program of enlargement that has carried through two world wars and a depression. It is here that we will recapitulate the missionary program going back to its earliest manifestations in the first mission to England and continuing to present day activity not only abroad but in our country's own city slums and ghettos. We will emphasize that outreach has always been a major element of church concern and that today's programs are contemporary extensions of a principle that has imbued the progress of the saints since their beginnings. At the conclusion of this section, music and mood will quieten and we will present a camera progression of the five presidents of the church. Leaders and members of the reorganized church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have from its inception been inspired by a trinity of spiritual convictions. [Music] Faith in the continuing revelation of the word of God through his son Jesus Christ. charity not only toward their fellow communicants but toward men of good will everywhere and the perpetually renewed hope for a kingdom. God's kingdom here on earth that kingdom which is not yet but must someday come. [Music] And for the final moments of the film, we will deal without narration using only images and music with a film summation of the accomplishments of the church and its mission of restoration. The background for this will be the live filming of one of the church's celebrated performances of the Messiah. And against these images and this music, we will counterpoint a recapitulation of the history of the saints and their long progress as they have journeyed on in their hope for a kingdom. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. For the Lord God who made Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. for the Lord God and Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Lord our God. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Applause] [Music] The kingom of world is the kingom of our Lord and of his Christ. And of his Christ and he shall reign forever and ever. And we shall reign forever and ever. And we shall reign forever and ever. Forever and ever forever. Forever and ever. King of kings forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. And Lord of lord forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music] And we shall pall and king of kings forever and ever and lord of lord. Hallelujah. And he shall reign forever and ever. King of kings and lord of lords. King of kings and lord of lords shall reign forever and ever forever and ever. Forever and ever. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. Hallelujah. [Music]