Bruce C. Hafen
| Bruce C. Hafen | |
|---|---|
| First Quorum of the Seventy | |
| April 6, 1996 – October 2, 2010 | |
| Called by | Gordon B. Hinckley |
| End reason | Granted general authority emeritus status |
| Emeritus General Authority | |
| October 2, 2010 | |
| Called by | Thomas S. Monson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Bruce Clark Hafen October 30, 1940 St. George, Utah, United States |
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Bruce Clark Hafen (born October 30, 1940, St. George, Utah) is an American attorney, academic and religious leader. He has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 1996.
Biography
Hafen was raised in southern Utah. He served a mission for the LDS Church in the West German Mission. He was a mission companion with Marlin K. Jensen, who he later served with as a general authority.[1] In 1964, he married Marie Kartchner and they are the parents of seven children.
Hafen received a bachelor's degree in political science and humanities from Brigham Young University (BYU) and a juris doctorate from the University of Utah.[2]
Hafen then began his career at the law firm of Strong, Poelman and Fox. From 1971 to 1976, Hafen worked as an assistant to the president of BYU. While in this role, he started as a professor at BYU's J. Reuben Clark Law School in 1973. A sample of his scholarly articles includes publications in the Harvard Law Review, Harvard International Law Journal, Michigan Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Ohio State Law Journal, and the American Bar Association Journal. Two of his articles were cited in opinions of the U.S. Supreme Court.[3] From 1976 to 1978, he worked for the LDS Church's correlation department.
Hafen served as president of Ricks College in Rexburg, Idaho from 1978 to 1985 and from 1985 to 1989 he was the dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU.[4] From 1989 to 1996, he was the Provost of BYU.[4] While in this position he was noted as an advocate of religion in higher education, and specifically for his strong belief that it was the duty of BYU to have faculty who strongly supported its religious principles.
After his appointment as an LDS general authority to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1996, he served in a variety of assignments. This included serving as president of both the church's Australia/New Zealand and Europe Central areas.
On June 4, 2006, Hafen organized an LDS Stake in Hungary, the first in that nation. It was the second stake organized in the former Eastern Bloc, although there had also been two stakes organized in East Germany when it was a communist country.[5]
In 2009 Hafen spoke at an Evergreen International conference. He acknowledged that Church leaders and members should reach out in love to those with unwanted same-gender attractions. In the context of describing the universal fatherhood of God, Hafen stated, "Having same-gender attraction is not in your DNA, but being a child of God clearly is in your spiritual DNA."[6] Hafen also remarked, "You are not simply a child of God. You are a son or a daughter of God, with all the masculine or feminine connotations of those words."[7]
Hafen said the decision of the American Psychological Association to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders was “politically motivated.”[8] He further stated “society and laws have long endorsed marriage between a man and a woman with an honored priority as a significant institution. The result is children...thriving best in a formal family with their own father and mother in a setting befitting society's long-term interests and well-being.”[7]
On October 2, 2010, Hafen was released from the First Quorum of the Seventy and designated an emeritus general authority at the LDS Church's semi-annual general conference.[9] He became president of the St. George Utah Temple in November 2010.
Hafen has written a biography of Neal A. Maxwell, a former member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the LDS Church. Hafen has also written pieces on Latter-day Saint doctrine.[citation needed]
Published works
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Notes
- ↑ Deseret News Oct. 2, 2012
- ↑ LDS Church Almanac, 2008 Edition, p. 45
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- ↑ 4.0 4.1 "Elder Bruce C. Hafen of the Seventy", Ensign, May 1996.
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External links
- The Presidents and First Ladies of Ricks College
- Bruce C. Hafen on Neal A Maxwell Institute.
- Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Bruce C. Hafen
| Academic offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | President of Ricks College 1978—1985 |
Succeeded by Joe J. Christensen |
- Latter Day Saint biography Infobox with missing parameters
- Articles with unsourced statements from June 2007
- 1940 births
- 20th-century Mormon missionaries
- American general authorities (LDS Church)
- American biographers
- Male biographers
- American Mormon missionaries in Germany
- Brigham Young University alumni
- Brigham Young University faculty
- Law school deans
- Living people
- Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy (LDS Church)
- People from St. George, Utah
- Presidents of Brigham Young University–Idaho
- Temple presidents and matrons (LDS Church)
- S.J. Quinney College of Law alumni
