Sheldon F. Child

Sheldon Fay Child (born 8 May 1938) Was a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) from 1996 to Oct 4th2008 when he was placed on Emeritus status. Child was also the mission president who presided over splitting New York City into two LDS Church missions in 1993.

Child was born in Ogden but raised on a farm in Syracuse, Utah. He married Joan Haacke in 1957. Shortly after that, he began working at RC Willey Home Furnishings, which then had under five employees. His brother, William Child, was the owner being the son-in-law of the original owner. The company had grown to seven stores by the time Child retired. For a time, Child was president of R. C. Willey.

Child and his wife are the parents of six children. He has been bishop of the Syracuse Second Ward and president of the Syracuse Utah Stake. From 1991 to 1994, Child served as president of the New York New York Mission of the LDS Church. The mission was split in 1993, with Child remaining as president of the New York New York South Mission which encompassed Staten Island, Queens, Brooklyn, and Long Island. Manhattan, The Bronx, Westchester County, New York, southwest Connecticut and a few other counties in southern New York were made into the new New York New York North Mission, with Parley L. Howell as president. While Child was mission president, Brooklyn and Queens were in districts, so unlike many mission presidents in the United States, he had responsibility over all church members in those areas.

From 1995 to 1996 Child served as an area authority in the Utah North Area.

In 1996, Child was became a member of the LDS Church's Second Quorum of the Seventy. Two years later, he became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. At that point he was serving as president of the Philippines/Micronesia Area of the church.

In 2002, Child served on the inter-faith roundtable of the Salt Lake Organizing Committee for the 2002 Winter Olympics. [ [http://www.signaturebooks.com/excerpts/world.htm Excerpts - A World of Faith ] ]

In 2004, Child was among those who accompanied Gordon B. Hinckley on his visit with Ghana's president John Kufuor. From 2001 to 2006, Child was the president of the Africa West Area of the LDS Church. Beginning in November Child will preside over the Salt Lake Temple after being made Emeritus General Authority.

Notes

References

*"Church News", April 11, 1998; January 17, 2004; August 16, 2001; May 4, 1996; August 5, 1995
*"2005 Deseret Morning News Church Almanac" (Salt Lake City, Utah: Deseret Morning News, 2004) pp. 31, 222, 485
*Scot and Maurine Proctor, [http://www.meridianmagazine.com/churchupdate/040115cornerstone1.html "Laying the Cornerstone of the Temple in West Africa"] , "Meridian Magazine", 2004
* [http://www.lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=2354fccf2b7db010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD&locale=0&sourceId=3c267cf34f40c010VgnVCM1000004d82620a____&hideNav=1 “Elder Sheldon F. Child Of the Seventy,”] "Ensign", May 1996, p. 102

External links

* [http://gapages.com/childsf1.htm Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages: Sheldon F. Child]