He has spent the past 44 years wrestling with the LDS Church's ban on blacks in the priesthood and defending his membership in a church that once discriminated against blacks and still doesn't acknowledge its racist past. He has become a one-man hot line, helping black converts cope with the seeming incongruity between their new faith and the church's history.
    It all began for Gray in 1964, when two missionaries shocked him with the revelation that no one of African lineage could hold the priesthood.
    Gray had watched the budding struggle for equality blossom into a national movement. He, and every black child of God, was a part of that movement. He couldn't join a church that thought him unworthy of its priesthood because of his race.
    Yet no other religion seemed as right to him as Mormonism, so he prayed and felt a calm assurance that it was, indeed, the restored church of Jesus Christ and that he should be baptized. Gray understood that he would have to accept all else on faith.
    Since then, he's seen it all. He's been the only black face at church, at school, at work. In 1971, he helped organize Genesis for black Mormons.
    On June 9, 1978, Gray learned from a secretary at work that blacks would be allowed in the priesthood.
    "It was a marvelous day," Gray recalled with emotion.
    Even 30 years later, though, he sees challenges.
    At some point, every black who joins the LDS Church must face its racist history. For many, he says, this continues to be painful and divisive.
    "Before this church can move forward, we need to acknowledge the dead mule in the room, clean it out and air it out," Gray says. "For me, an apology isn't the issue teaching correct principles is."
    God continues to prepare his children of all races to be more loving and receptive of one another, Gray says. "The last five years we have continued our growth in that understanding. But it's coming slowly."
    - Peggy Fletcher Stack