Senior Latter-day Saint leader to speak at National Press Club near White House
Senior Latter-day Saint leader to speak at National Press Club near White House
The late President Gordon B. Hinckley is the last senior church leader to speak at the National Press Club, in 2000
By Tad Walch May 17, 2022, 8:11am MST
For the first time in 22 years, a senior leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is scheduled to speak at the National Press Club, one block from the White House in Washington, D.C.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will speak May 26 at the club’s Headliners lunch meeting, which begins at 12:30 p.m. EDT, according to a National Press Club news release.
Elder Bednar is a senior member of the quorum, the second-highest governing body in the church, whose members at times are called Mormons. He also is the former president of Brigham Young University-Idaho.
The late President Gordon B. Hinckley, then 89, was the church’s president and prophet when he spoke at the National Press Club in March 2000. He received a standing ovation. The transcript of his remarks is available here. The transcript of the Q&A is here.RELATED
C-SPAN’s video of President Hinckley’s presentation, “Standing for Something,” can be seen here.
Among those on the dais with President Hinckley that day were legendary Washington Post owner, publisher and chairwoman Katherine Graham, Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch, Nevada Sen. Harry Reid, and Marriott International President and CEO J. Willard Marriott.
Elder Bednar is expected to speak about the church’s response to the war in Ukraine, its efforts to address food shortages in sub-Saharan Africa and how it educates nearly 1 million young people a year, the news release said.
It also would be natural for Elder Bednar to note that the church’s Washington D.C. Temple — 10 miles north of the National Press Club and a regional landmark — is open to public tours until June 11, the first time the public has been able to see inside in 48 years.
Elder Bednar recently led the first media tours of the Washington D.C. Temple in 48 years. CBS Sunday Morning aired a five-minute segment on the tour he led for a CBS News crew.RELATED
He also published an article on Medium answering questions about Latter-day Saint temples.
Headliner lunch speakers are selected based on newsworthiness related to issues of the day, national or international stature and influence, and exclusivity — how much a speaker is available to the press.
