The Family: A Proclamation to the World

Close your eyes and bring your attention to your body. Whether you are sitting, standing, or laying down, make sure your body feels relaxed and supported. Relax the muscles in your face, jaw, neck, and shoulders. Now your abdomen, legs, and feet. 

Take a few deep breaths. As you breathe in, imagine drawing peace, calm, humility, and openness into your body and mind. As you breathe out, imagine expelling tension, negativity, pride, and stress from your body and mind.

In this state of calm and receptiveness, take a moment to say a brief prayer that your mind will be guided to any revelation the Lord has for you today as you ponder. 

As your breathing returns to normal, turn your thoughts and attention to the Family Proclamation As I share context and quotes about this document, and eventually read the text of it, allow your thoughts and the Spirit to guide you. Don’t worry about focusing on every thing I say.

In 1995 the President of the Church and fourteen other Apostles of the Lord issued a document entitled “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” In 2017, Dallin H. Oaks, one of the apostles who issued the proclamation, shared what led to the creation of the document. He explained: 

The inspiration identifying the need for a proclamation on the family came to the leadership of the Church over 23 years ago. It was a surprise to some who thought the doctrinal truths about marriage and the family were well understood without restatement. Nevertheless, we felt the confirmation and we went to work. Subjects were identified and discussed by members of the Quorum of the Twelve for nearly a year. Language was proposed, reviewed, and revised. Prayerfully we continually pleaded with the Lord for His inspiration on what we should say and how we should say it. We all learned “line upon line, precept upon precept,” as the Lord has promised.

During this revelatory process, a proposed text was presented to the First Presidency, who oversee and promulgate Church teachings and doctrine. After the Presidency made further changes, the proclamation on the family was announced by the President of the Church, Gordon B. Hinckley. In the women’s meeting of September 23, 1995, he introduced the proclamation with these words: “With so much of sophistry that is passed off as truth, with so much of deception concerning standards and values, with so much of allurement and enticement to take on the slow stain of the world, we have felt to warn and forewarn.”

(Dallin H. Oaks, “The Plan and the Proclamation,” General Conference, October 2017 (quoting (D&C 98:12).) 

President Oaks has also expressed his opinion that “our attitude toward and use of the family proclamation” is a test particular to our generation and gives us an opportunity to stand firm and prove ourselves. (Dallin H. Oaks, “The Plan and the Proclamation,” General Conference, October 2017 (quoting Ezra Taft Benson, “Our Obligation and Challenge” (address given at the regional representatives’ seminar, Sept. 30, 1977), 2; in David A. Bednar, “On the Lord’s Side: Lessons from Zion’s Camp,” Ensign, July 2017, 31; Liahona, July 2017, 19).)

President Oaks is not naïve about the potential repercussions of supporting the family proclamation and the doctrines it proclaims. He acknowledges that

[The Family Proclamation’s] declarations are, of course, visibly different from some current laws, practices, and advocacy of the world in which we live. . . . Those who do not believe in or aspire to exaltation and are most persuaded by the ways of the world consider this family proclamation as just a statement of policy that should be changed. In contrast, Latter-day Saints affirm that the family proclamation defines the kind of family relationships where the most important part of our eternal development can occur.

Inevitably, the actions of those who try to follow God’s plan of salvation can cause misunderstanding or even conflict with family members or friends who do not believe its principles. Such conflict is always so. Every generation that has sought to follow God’s plan has had challenges. Anciently, the prophet Isaiah gave strength to the Israelites,  . . . he said, “Fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.” But whatever the cause of conflict with those who do not understand or believe God’s plan, those who do understand are always commanded to choose the Lord’s way instead of the world’s way. 

We must try to balance the competing demands of following the gospel law in our personal lives and teachings, even as we seek to show love for all. In doing so we sometimes face, but need not fear, what Isaiah called “the reproach of men.”

(Dallin H. Oaks, “The Plan and the Proclamation,” General Conference, October 2017 (quoting Isaiah 51:7 and citing 2 Nephi 8:7).)

As I read this apostolic proclamation on the family, use the periods of silence between the paragraphs to ponder any lines or words or concepts that stand out to you. Feel free to ignore me if I move on too quickly and you want to ponder something a little longer. You can always listen again later and ponder anything you missed. 

We, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.

All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny. Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.

In the premortal realm, spirit sons and daughters knew and worshipped God as their Eternal Father and accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize their divine destiny as heirs of eternal life. 

The divine plan of happiness enables family relationships to be perpetuated beyond the grave. Sacred ordinances and covenants available in holy temples make it possible for individuals to return to the presence of God and for families to be united eternally.

The first commandment that God gave to Adam and Eve pertained to their potential for parenthood as husband and wife. We declare that God’s commandment for His children to multiply and replenish the earth remains in force. We further declare that God has commanded that the sacred powers of procreation are to be employed only between man and woman, lawfully wedded as husband and wife. 

We declare the means by which mortal life is created to be divinely appointed. We affirm the sanctity of life and of its importance in God’s eternal plan.

Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children. “Children are an heritage of the Lord” (Psalm 127:3). Parents have a sacred duty to rear their children in love and righteousness, to provide for their physical and spiritual needs, and to teach them to love and serve one another, observe the commandments of God, and be law-abiding citizens wherever they live. Husbands and wives—mothers and fathers—will be held accountable before God for the discharge of these obligations.

The family is ordained of God. Marriage between man and woman is essential to His eternal plan. Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity. 

Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. Successful marriages and families are established and maintained on principles of faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, love, compassion, work, and wholesome recreational activities. 

By divine design, fathers are to preside over their families in love and righteousness and are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children. In these sacred responsibilities, fathers and mothers are obligated to help one another as equal partners. Disability, death, or other circumstances may necessitate individual adaptation. Extended families should lend support when needed.

We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets. 

We call upon responsible citizens and officers of government everywhere to promote those measures designed to maintain and strengthen the family as the fundamental unit of society.

To wrap up, consider this quote from President Gordon B. Hinkley, given two years after the Proclamation. He said, “I see a wonderful future in a very uncertain world. If we will cling to our values, if we will build on our inheritance, if we will walk in obedience before the Lord, if we will simply live the gospel, we will be blessed in a magnificent and wonderful way. We will be looked upon as a peculiar people who have found the key to a peculiar happiness.” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “Look to the Future,” Ensign, Nov. 1997, 69.)

When you are ready, take a final deep breath and slowly turn your awareness back to your body. As you open your eyes and return to your surroundings, take a moment to jot down any thoughts, promptings, or questions that came to mind while you were pondering. And, if necessary, make a plan to act on those things.