George W. Pace

George Wendell Pace (October 10, 1929 – November 7, 2020) was an American professor of religion at Brigham Young University (BYU) in Provo, Utah. He was a popular writer and speaker on religion in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and was presumably connected to public criticism voiced by apostle Bruce R. McConkie in 1982.

Biography Pace was one of twelve children born to Agnes Judd and Presley D. Pace in Burley, Idaho. He was raised in the town, where his father served as Sheriff for sixteen years. As a young man and a member of the LDS Church, Pace served a proselyting mission in western Canada.

In the late 1940s, Pace studied at Utah State Agricultural College in Logan, where he also ran cross-country. While later attending BYU, Pace met and married Diane Carman of Portland, Oregon, with whom he would have twelve children. high councilor, branch president at the Missionary Training Center, stake presidency counselor, and stake president. Career

Pace had decided to teach LDS religion after several spiritual experiences.

In 1961, Pace was appointed as the first director of the Institute of Religion adjacent to Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, Pace was accepted into the religion faculty at BYU in 1967. and his doctorate in religious education in 1976. In 1978, BYU students named him professor of the year Pace was also a popular speaker in BYU's Education Week and Know Your Religion programs, and had several motivational talks recorded and sold on cassette tapes. It was decided that the volume would not be advertised by the church-owned publisher, Deseret Book, and all future manuscripts of the department must be read by an apostle before publication. Howard W. Hunter was in charge of the History Department at the time, resented being circumvented, and privately told Arrington he felt that Benson and Petersen's suggestion of concealing historical fact and adopting a uniformly providentialist point-of-view would have been "unethical and immoral" in a court of law. On November 24, Arrington learned that church president Spencer W. Kimball had read the entire book himself, found nothing objectionable, and quietly removed all restrictions on marketing or endorsing the book. In his sermon, McConkie did not mention Pace or his book by name, though he excerpted a quote which he called "plain sectarian nonsense," and warned against developing a special spiritual relationship with Jesus Christ, apart from the Holy Ghost and God the Father. McConkie felt this was a "gospel hobby" that could lead to "an unwholesome holier-than-thou attitude" or "despondence." McConkie said he didn't intend to "downgrade" Jesus, but to teach true doctrine and warn his audience. McConkie later stated he wasn't singling out or specifically thinking of Pace, but was warning against a general trend of "extreme behavior" of born-again type experiences.

According to his son, Pace was personally devastated and saw this as a public condemnation and rebuke. He removed his book from the market, was released from his church position as stake president, and had a dramatic drop in class enrollment. Pace issued a formal apology in which he stated that his opinions may be misinterpreted, and he was glad that McConkie had clarified the issues. Pace wanted "to stay in the mainstream of the church" and remain loyal to its leadership. Remembered as an effective teacher, in 2000 BYU Magazine printed his nomination for professor of the century.

Pace also continued publishing and public speaking in the LDS community. The work remains in print under the name Knowing Christ, published by Cedar Fort, Inc. As a public speaker, Pace addressed addiction recovery programs and other groups into the late 1990s.

Published works In 1975, Pace compiled a book of faith-promoting experiences entitled The Faith of Young Mormons.

In 1981, Pace published What it Means to Know Christ, which sold very well. Pace was a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Mormonism in 1992.

The following is a list of Pace's works:

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