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By Susan Escalante
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Utah seemed a fitting location for the World Congress of Families IX. More than 3,000 people from 46 states and 52 countries who are interested in strengthening the traditional family converged at the Grand America Hotel in Salt Lake City for the congress, which was held Oct. 27-30. For almost a quarter century, the WCF has been the premier international gathering of scholars, ecclesiastical leaders, parliamentarians and advocates of the family as defined in the United Nation’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The gathering in Utah is the first time this congress has met in the United States.
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The mission of the WCF is to affirm, defend and promote the natural family as the lifelong union of a man and a woman through marriage, bound by faith and tradition, for the purposes of sharing love and joy, having children, providing for their moral education, building a vital home economy, offering security in times of trouble, and binding the generations. The congress is the only group building an alliance of pro-family organizations across denominational boundaries. More information about the World Congress of Families can be found at worldcongress.org.
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Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gave the keynote address during the opening session of the WCF IX on Oct. 27. He shared an outline of the Plan of Salvation to illustrate how the family means everything to Latter-day Saints. “This is a very brief overview,” Ballard said. “I hope it will help you understand how completely linked our theology is to the traditional family.”
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Of the 185 presenters for the conference, several reside in Utah County. Perhaps the most well-known were Nathan Osmond (American Fork) and Stephanie A. Nielson (Provo). There were also more than 200 volunteers from all over Utah who donned orange shirts and warmly greeted guests from all over the world.
