Cover image via Gospel Media Library.
The following is excerpted from the Church News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
In October 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley introduced the concept of smaller temples to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and spoke of a vision to expand temples globally.
It was exciting news, but it signaled the need for significant changes in how the Church’s Family History Department processed names for temple work, said Richard E. Turley Jr. who began serving as the managing director of the department in 1996.
“When I came aboard there were 47 operating temples, and President Hinckley wanted 100 by the turn of the millennium. That required doubling the number of names being provided for temple work, and using the systems we had at the time — that would not work,” Turley said. “We had to re-engineer how we did family history.”
The problem led to the development of a new website known today as FamilySearch.org, which today provides billions of genealogical records and resources free of charge to help millions of people worldwide to discover their heritage and make family connections.
Launched in 1999, FamilySearch.org commemorated its 25th anniversary in May of this year.
The milestone comes the same year as FamilySearch International celebrated its 130th anniversary.
In a Church News interview, Turley reflected on some of the events surrounding the historic launch of FamilySearch.org, a story also told in Chapter 30 of “Saints,” Volume 4.
“Clearly, it was prophetically directed,” Turley said of the Church’s family history website. “FamilySearch is a divinely inspired program that makes it possible for the temples to function.”
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
