President Gordon B. Hinckley met and spoke to a group of corporate executives, representatives of the national media and heads of charitable organizations at a reception and luncheon in New York City following his visit in Washington with President Clinton Nov. 13. The luncheon, held at the Harvard Club and hosted by Richard Edelman of Edelman Public Relations World Wide, provided a unique opportunity for some of the country's high-level executives to become acquainted with President Hinckley and the Church.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell accompanied President Hinckley and introduced him to those assembled. Among those in attendance were Richard Smith, editor-in-chief of Newsweek; John Mack Carter, president of Hearst Magazine Enterprises; Andrew Heyward, vice president and executive producer of CBS Evening News; David Briggs, religion editor of Associated Press; Joyce Tudryn, executive director of the International Radio and Television Society; and Mike Wallace of CBS television's "60 Minutes."Opening his remarks, President Hinckley made reference to serving in England as a young missionary and speaking on a soap box in Hyde Park, where he regularly had to endure hecklers. Looking toward the veteran "60 Minutes" reporter, President Hinckley said, "After an experience like that, Mike Wallace doesn't look too formidable." Mr. Wallace had a nice laugh, as did the rest of the group, and the tone was set for a friendly and warm exchange.

President Hinckley highlighted the growth of the Church - pointing out that by February 1996 the Church will have more members outside the United States than inside the United States.

He called attention to the missionary effort of the Church, saying, "There is a tremendous vigor and vitality about this work." There are more than 49,000 missionaries serving in 307 missions around the world.

He also highlighted the welfare and disaster relief efforts of the Church. "The welfare program puts tremendous emphasis on self-reliance," he said. "We try to teach our people to be self-reliant; and when they can't take care of their own needs to enlist the help of their families; and when those needs can't be met by the families then the Church moves in to help them.

"We have a great program that involves farm properties, ranching properties and field properties where people can work and grow that which they eat. We have flour mills, grain storage, meat-processing plants. We operate 99 storehouses, more than 100 employment centers, 46 thrift stores. In 1994, members donated the equivalent of 150,000 days of labor in such facilities to help those who are in distress and in need. During the past 10 years, the Church has provided disaster relief and self-reliance development in 109 countries. The value has exceeded $30 million per year in humanitarian gifts to those not of our faith in many parts of the world."

He spoke of the 400 or so humanitarian projects the Church is involved in throughout the world. Among those he mentioned were the Church's role in substantially assisting an orphanage in India, supplying needed items for a boarding school for blind children in Kenya, providing full-time volunteers at a pediatrics hospital and medical school department in Albania, and assisting victims of natural disasters.

President Hinckley said the Church has "added to the health of the nation." He spoke of "a code of health which we feel is divinely inspired.'

He also made clear the fact that the Church emphasizes education. It is part of the Church's doctrine that "the Glory of God is intelligence," he said. As examples of this he cited the high school graduation rate in mostly LDS-Utah, which is 85.1 percent compared to the national average of 75.2 percent. He also made reference to a study which shows that as the level of a person's education increases, so does his or her activity in the Church.

He also stressed the Church's interest in strong family relationships. "We have problems; of course, we do," he said. "But with all of these in Utah, where 70 percent of the population is LDS, we have the fewest births to unmarried women per capita in the United States - 135 per 1,000 live births whereas the national average is 300 per 1,000 live births."

He spoke of the Church's seminary and institute programs, which reach hundreds of thousands of young people throughout the world.

President Hinckley told of the Church's extensive building program in which about 375 buildings are under construction at all times. "I do not know of any other organization that is building 375 new houses of worship a year across the world," he said. "People are coming into the Church - solid, wonderful people. About 22,000 congregations will meet each Sunday wherever we are established."

As responses and observations were invited, a business executive observed that he had once been invited to speak at BYU and was very impressed with the students, who he said were concerned about things of significance. He said he was impressed with their industriousness - especially when such an outlook is lacking at so many college campuses today.

Another executive asked whether women were active in missionary service. President Hinckley replied that they are and remarked what a wonderful thing it is. Young men and women serve all over the world trying to lift people up, helpinng people understand the purpose of life, he explained. "It is a great sobering thing that builds a consciousness of the world and its problems and its people," he said.

When asked by the president of a large magazine group whether he could use the Church's family history library, President Hinckley replied that 70 percent of the people who do family history research at Church facilities are not members of the Church. He pointed out that there are family history centers all over the world that can be used free of charge.

Another executive observed that missionary work in Latin America could be difficult. President Hinckley agreed and said that the Church works to bring peace. "Our objective is to make bad men good, and good men better," he said.

After the luncheon meeting, President Hinckley said, "It was a satisfying experience, and those who were there were respectful, gracious and interested. I enjoyed meeting these people who have so much influence in the world."