In April 1944, while serving as general manager of the
Deseret News, Petersen was called to be a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In his calling as an
apostle, he directed the church’s public information programs and served on the Military Relations Committee. He was an adviser to the church's
Relief Society, Indian Affairs Committee, and Music Committee. He served as
president of the
West European Mission for more than six years. Petersen was also involved in many community affairs. He was closely associated with the
Boy Scouts of America and was a recipient of the
Silver Antelope Award. In 1959, in response to a rash of arrests of
gay men in
Utah and
Idaho,
church president David O. McKay assigned apostles
Spencer W. Kimball and Petersen to work on
curing gays within the church.
Controversial teachings At
Brigham Young University on 27 August 1954, at the Convention of Teachers of Religion on the College Level, Petersen delivered the speech, "Race Problems—As They Affect the Church." The speech outlined the religious underpinnings of
racial segregation and supported its continued practice as it related to
intermarriage between blacks and whites. Particularly, he reaffirmed the LDS Church's teaching at that time that those with
dark skin had been less valiant in their lives before coming to earth. He also reiterated the idea that blacks were to be servants to righteous white people after the resurrection. Petersen said: In spite of all he did in the
pre-existent life, the Lord is willing, if the Negro accepts the gospel with real, sincere faith, and is really converted, to give him the blessings of baptism and the
gift of the Holy Ghost. If that Negro is faithful all his days, he can and will enter the
celestial kingdom. He will go there as a servant, but he will get a celestial resurrection. He will get a place in the celestial glory. In the 1940s, Petersen coined the term "
Mormon fundamentalist" to describe people who had left the LDS Church to practice
plural marriage. ==Death==