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Book Reviews
More Faith Than Fear: The Los Angeles Stake Story
CHAD M. ORTON. More Faith Than Fear: The Los Angeles Stake Story. Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987. xi; 372 pp. $12.95.
Reviewed by A. Gary Anderson, associate professor of Church history at Brigham Young University.
Few areas pulsate with more raw energy, excitement, and excess than Los Angeles, California. While early Church leaders possibly never envisioned God's kingdom flourishing amid miles of pavement and masses of people, the Los Angeles Stake has become an important and influential hub of Zion. In this regional study, Chad Orton has traced the history of the growth of the Church in the Los Angeles region.
This is far more than just the history of a single stake. The first three chapters detail the beginnings of the LDS church in California. Among other things, Orton recounts the arrival and subsequent shenanigans of Sam Brannan, the coming of the Mormon Battalion, and the planting of the colony at San Bernardino. He also notes less familiar episodes such as the contributions of Utah polygamists in nurturing the early California church and the diverse (and often inspired) events and happenings that undergirded the establishment of missions and branches. The emphasis is on people, and Orton obviously enjoys detailing the remarkable faith and notable achievements of such people as Henry and Eliza Woollacott and Joseph Robinson. In all of this Orton demonstrates a familiarity with the basic themes and settings of both Church and California history. The volume gives evidence of considerable research and while the writing is not always scintillating, it is solid enough.
The title of the book, More Faith Than Fear, is appropriate, referring to various Latter-day Saint leaders and members who, in the face of seemingly insurmountable odds and obstacles, refused to allow fear to override faith. The phrase is applicable both to early pioneers and to later visionary leaders such as John Carmack. In 1974, Elder Carmack, then a stake president, was inspired to preserve the Wilshire chapel. In later years the chapel served many Spanish-speaking wards and was a center of Hispanic activity.
In a very real sense the Los Angeles Stake, the first and oldest urban stake, has served as a prototype and even crucible for such stakes throughout the Church. As a small strand in a large inner-city web, stake leaders have had to meet varied challenges seemingly inherent in a complex urban setting. The Great Depression created especially acute welfare challenges with the influx of Church members seeking employment. World War II brought the challenge of meeting the needs of hundreds of servicemen. The 1950s were characterized by large numbers of members moving to suburbs as blacks moved into the inner-city areas. The so-called "white flight" presented logistical challenges for stake leaders. The 1965 Watts riot transpired in the stake boundaries. During this era the Los Angeles Temple and the LDS institute of religion received bomb threats. By the 1980s the diverse stake membership made it a microcosm of the worldwide Church. In the Hollywood Ward alone, twenty-seven different languages could be heard. At a typical sacrament meeting, one would see not just blacks, whites, or Hispanics, but Armenians, Filipinos, Chinese, Koreans, and many others. In dealing with the perplexities of urbanization and cosmopolitanism, stake leaders have established procedures and practices that have benefited other urban stakes.