宾塞·甘

宾塞·伍利·甘（英语：Spencer Woolley Kimball，1895年3月28日—1985年11月5日)，旧译甘宾塞，为耶稣基督后期圣徒教会第12任总会会长。

宾塞·甘从小在亚利桑那州撒切尔长大，并在当地的多家银行担任职员，而后与朋友创立公司经营寿险与不动产，在经济大萧条过后，他在事业上获得了巨大的成功。在其担任使徒之时，他受到教会总会会长约瑟·斐亭·斯密指示，特别针对美洲原住民进行宗教和人道主义工作，包括推广印地安人安置计划，帮助1960至1970年代的许多美国原住民学生在耶稣基督后期圣徒教会成员的寄养家庭获得教育。宾塞·甘为了执行教会的使徒工作而在全球四处旅行，历经85个国家，比前任的所有教会使徒都多。

在其担任教会总会会长期间，他在全球兴建多座圣殿，并且是最早公开宣布所有男性教会成员都应在成年后担任全部时间传教士的总会会长 。1978年，宾塞·甘发表了一篇关于圣职的特别启示，终结任何给予黑人教会成员圣职或进入圣殿的限制，该公告被教会官方称为“正式宣言二”。宾塞·甘晚年的健康状况不佳，他曾因喉部肿瘤而接受喉部切除术手术，也在1972年77岁时进行由后来的教会总会会长罗素·纳尔逊主持的心脏外科手术。

Spencer Woolley Kimball (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was an American religious leader who was the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

The grandson of early Latter-day Saint apostle Heber C. Kimball, Kimball was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory. He spent most of his early life in Thatcher, Arizona, where his father, Andrew Kimball, farmed and served as the area's stake president. He served an LDS mission in Independence, Missouri, from 1914 to 1916, then worked for various banks in Arizona's Gila Valley as a clerk and bank teller. Kimball later co-founded a business selling bonds and insurance that, after weathering the Great Depression, became highly successful. Kimball served as a stake president in his hometown from 1938 until 1943, when he was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Like most other LDS Church apostles, Kimball traveled extensively to fulfill a wide variety of administrative and ecclesiastical duties. Early in his time as an apostle, Kimball was directed by church president George Albert Smith to spend extra time in religious and humanitarian work with Native Americans, which Kimball did throughout his life. He initiated the Indian Placement Program, which helped many Native American students gain education in the 1960s and 1970s while they stayed with LDS foster families.

In late 1973, following the sudden death of Harold B. Lee, Kimball became the LDS Church's twelfth president, a position he held until his death in 1985. Kimball's presidency was noted for the 1978 announcement ending the restriction on church members of black African descent being ordained to the priesthood or receiving temple ordinances. Kimball's presidency saw large growth in the LDS Church, both in terms of membership and the number of temples. Kimball was the first church president to state publicly that the church expects all able-bodied male members to serve missions in young adulthood, resulting in an increase in missionary service.

Ancestry

Kimball's paternal grandfather, Heber C. Kimball, was one of the original LDS apostles who were called when Joseph Smith first organized the Quorum of the Twelve in February 1835. Kimball later served as first counselor to Brigham Young in the church's First Presidency from 1847 until his death in 1868.

Kimball's maternal grandfather, Edwin D. Woolley, was a prominent LDS bishop in Salt Lake City for many years.

Early life (1895–1916)

Kimball was born on March 28, 1895, in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory, to Andrew Kimball and Olive Woolley. He had ten siblings. In 1898, when Kimball was three years old, his father was called as president of the St. Joseph Arizona Stake, and his family relocated to the town of Thatcher, in Southeastern Arizona's Graham County.

During his childhood, Kimball had a number of medical problems, including typhoid fever and facial paralysis (likely Bell's palsy), and he once nearly drowned. Four of his sisters died in childhood, and his mother died when he was eleven. Though only 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 metres) tall as an adult, Kimball was an avid basketball player, and he was the star and leading scorer on most of his school and recreational teams. In addition to being an athlete, Kimball was an honor student at the LDS Gila Academy (modern Eastern Arizona College). During summer holidays, he often worked at a dairy in Globe, Arizona, milking cows, cleaning stalls, and washing bottles for $50 to $60 per month as well as room and board.

Kimball graduated from high school in May 1914 and, one week later, was called to serve as a missionary in the Swiss–German Mission. Less than two months later, his European mission call was cut short by the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand and the subsequent outbreak of World War I. Kimball was reassigned to the Central States Mission and spent most of the rest of his mission in the towns and rural settlements of Missouri until 1916.