THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
Headquarters: Monongahela, PA
March 19, 2005
Apostle Dominic Thomas
Apostle Brother Dominic Thomas, General Church President, Passes on to
His Reward
Brother
Dominic Thomas passed away on March 19, 2005 having served the Lord
faithfully since his youth. He was born on September 11, 1924,
baptized on February 28, 1943, ordained an Elder in 1950, an
Evangelist in 1957, and an Apostle in 1964. His life had challenging
beginnings as he lost his mother while still an infant. He was
fortunate to be nurtured by family and the Church and grew to become a
well-rounded young man who never lost his love for and connections to
those who had been instrumental in caring for him. After serving in
the US Army during WWII, Brother Dominic returned home in 1946 and
married Sister Dolores (Romano) Thomas who survives him along with
their three children, Jared, Jeffrey, and Rebecca, and their nine
grandchildren. Love and support for and by his family characterized
Brother Dominic’s personal life. Brother Dominic put substantial
energy into personal relationships and reached out with compassion to
those suffering loss or affliction.
During his Army service,
Brother Dominic began attending university and, after the service,
continued a higher education culminating in 1952 with a Doctorate in
Educational Administration. He filled significant positions from
classroom-level through system-wide responsibilities in the Detroit
(Michigan) Public Schools system during its finest years. The
education, skills, and experience associated with his profession
proved very valuable to the Church as Brother Dominic’s humility and
simple love for the Saints enabled him to be of great service
throughout his life.
Brother Dominic served
as part of the Great Lakes Region, Branch #2 Priesthood. He was always
active in that role as he accepted additional Church assignments.
Early in his ministry he was co-charged with the Muncey, Ontario,
Canada Mission. He was also distinguished by his service in many other
offices. The most notable of them are mentioned briefly here.
Brother Dominic was the
President of the General Missionary Benevolent Association from 1948
until 1966. That period of the GMBA’s history was remarkable as one of
innovation and growth. An Organizer’s Guide was introduced in
1951 which supported establishment of many new local MBA’s,
particularly including the spread to the West. In 1953, the concept of
a Special Projects Fund was implemented and, to this day, continues to
fund many “stretch” needs of the Church domestically and
internationally, including items for the mission fields, and
publications, including the Book of Mormon in various
languages. In 1957, the GMBA initiated establishment of Area MBA’s to
stimulate regional activities and growth. In 1959, a very significant
Special Project initiated funding and planning which eventually led to
the construction of the General Church World Conference Center.
Brother Dominic was
elected to be the First Counselor (in 1971) and the seventh President
of The Church of Jesus Christ in 1974 – continuing in that office
until his passing. His tenure saw successful progression of the
institutions and traditions established under prior leadership and was
marked by expanded internationalization of the Church which was only
organized in North America, Nigeria, and Italy at the time. Less
obvious to the general membership of the Church but equally important
has been the continuous adaptation of administrative and financial
systems to accommodate the Church’s broader, more complex engagements.
When speaking of Church
matters, Brother Dominic did not differentiate between natural and
spiritual work; rather his reference point was a wonderful experience
he had in 1983 wherein he became convicted with an unswerving passion
to lead the Church in pursuit of “The Great Work of the Lord”
regardless of any setbacks or obstacles we encounter. World Missionary
Conferences held in 1983 and in 1999 brought more membership of the
Church into close contact with domestic, Native American, and foreign
members and missionaries than ever before. The result has been a
continuing trend of increasingly greater support and membership
involvement in missionary work with missions in almost 30 nations
today. Confronted with inadequacies in the management systems to
support the Church’s outreach, Brother Dominic chaired a Planning Task
Force which led to the 1992 passage of the Church’s present Finance
and Management System including flexibility needed for continuing
address of the Church’s changing needs. During subsequent years, all
of the Church’s outstanding debt to third parties was absorbed
internally while many new branch and mission buildings have been built
- financed by Branch, Region, and General Church savings programs
without borrowing from outside the Church.
It is not possible to
adequately express the important role played by Brother Dominic in
helping people, both young and mature, to find their respective places
in life and in The Church of Jesus Christ. Respecting the Church
alone, if a survey was taken asking each member to list those who have
had great influence upon their lives, Brother Dominic would be on the
list of a great host of them. Whether dealing one-on-one, speaking to
Conference, or addressing a large congregation, Brother Dominic was
gifted with a combination of vocabulary, wisdom, and inspiration that
resulted in wonderful conversations, messages, and sermons and made
him unique in his life and in our memories. As he passes on, let us
pray that the Lord will see fit to again bless the Church with the
gifts that were embodied in our dear Brother Dominic Thomas.
(Additional
biographical information may be found in A History of The Church of
Jesus Christ: Volume 2, p. 542 )
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