July 2004 Ensign - The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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The U.S. Air Force Academy’s LDS Cadet Choir performs at
the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City, Utah.
patriotism, and build strong
friendships. The choir, which
was organized in 1995, performs
at a variety of Academy
events and tours throughout
the western United States.
“We are not a professional
choir, and in fact, the rigorous
Academy schedule leaves
cadets very little time to
rehearse,” says Major Dan
Gillespie, an instructor of military
strategic studies at the
Academy and the officer-incharge
of the choir. “Many of
them have to bring their
dinner to rehearsal and eat
between numbers. And yet as
I listen to the cadets there is a
power there. The Spirit is
with the choir and takes their
message to the listeners.”
Colonel Parris C. Neal, senior
military professor in the
department of electrical engineering
and bishop of the
Colorado Springs 14th (YSA)
Ward, Colorado Springs
Colorado North Stake, notes
that the influence of the
Latter-day Saint cadets is a
powerful one. “The small
group [is] well known and respected
across the institution.
. . . They are known as hardworking
[and] honest and [as
having] a level of maturity
that is above the norm.”
For the cadets, the choir
is more than just singing.
“Sharing the message of the
gospel through song is a
powerful experience,” freshman
Andrew Groberg says.
“The cadets are proud to be
serving our Heavenly Father
and serving the nation.” ■
In the News
Interfaith Relations
Strengthened by BYU
Records Preservation
After he heard about
Brigham Young University’s
Dead Sea Scrolls database
project, Bishop Mar Bawai
Soro of the Assyrian Church
of the East approached the
school’s Institute for the
Study and Preservation of
Ancient Religious Texts about
digitizing 33 ancient Christian
texts housed at the Vatican
Library. In May, that proposal
came to fruition as BYU and
the Vatican Library released
a DVD with some 14,000
pages of Syriac (a dialect of
Aramaic) texts dating back to
the fifth and sixth centuries.
The texts include the writings—many
of them previously
unpublished—of early
Christian writers. The texts
contain the theologies of the
Syriac Christian churches and
chronicles their emerging culture.
“These manuscripts really
tell our ‘lost’ story,” says
Bishop Soro.
But wide-scale records
preservation isn’t the only
thing the seven-year project
has created. The effort has
also established relationships
among the Church, the
Assyrian Church of the East,
and the Vatican, introducing
the possibility of similar collaborations
in the future.
“This was somewhat of a
pilot project to demonstrate
how the different parties
could work together,” says
Kristian Heal, a research associate
for the institute and a
specialist in Syriac studies.
“When the Assyrian Church
put us forth as the party to
collaborate with, the Vatican
was initially reticent because
they had no prior relationship
with us. However, as they
asked around, they received
very positive comments
about us as a people and
about the credibility of our
work.”
This particular project
focused on the writings of
a branch of Christians who
lived in what is modern-day
Iraq. Although they faced
heavy taxation and pressure
to assimilate with their
Muslim neighbors, they struggled
to retain their identity as
followers of Christ.
Brother Heal explains,
“This project [has given]
us an opportunity to get to
better know some of the
Christian groups, and in particular,
. . . a group of people
who have been resolutely
Christian under difficult circumstances.
. . . There has
to be something good and
useful and true and inspiring
in their story.”
The project has generated
significant scholarly enthusiasm.
Lucas Van Rompay, a
noted Syriac Christian scholar
and professor at Duke
University, says he was impressed
by the quality of the
digital images. “I haven’t seen
anything of the same level, of
the same expertise, and of
the same breadth,” Professor
Van Rompay says.
Church Recognized for
Humanitarian Contributions
For the first time, the
Church was invited to participate
in the International
Aid & Trade Europe 2004
Conference & Exhibition,
held in Geneva, Switzerland,
on 28–29 January.
While Church representatives
had attended the annual
exhibition before, this was
the first time the Church was
asked to formally present information
about its programs,
said Garry R. Flake, director
of the Church’s humanitarian
emergency response.
During the conference,
Brother Flake made several
presentations outlining the
Church’s focus on emergency
response and its other major
humanitarian initiatives. In
addition, the show provided
an opportunity to learn about
other agencies’ causes and to
form potential alliances. One
particular benefit from the
conference was interacting
with the World Health
Organization, headquartered
in Geneva. The Church and
the WHO had previously
formed a partnership to help
eliminate measles through inoculation,
Brother Flake said.