Standing for Truth

Not only are Terry and Susanne Rooney faithful members of the Bradford Second Ward, Leeds England Stake, they are also strong members of their community. While serving as first counselor in the bishopric, Brother Terry Rooney also serves as the first and only LDS member of the United Kingdom’s Parliament. Now in his third term in the House of Commons, Brother Rooney is highly respected by his colleagues and constituents for his integrity and unwavering sense of ethics.

“That’s Terry’s big plus,” says his wife, Susanne. “People respect him because they know he is not going to be corruptible or bendable; he is always going to stand up for what he believes in. I think that’s Terry’s big strength, and I think that’s the gospel in action.”

“You do things because they’re right,” Terry says in response. “It’s not necessarily a conscious action, it’s just a natural consequence. It’s really an extension of the idea that what you are dictates what you do, not the other way around.”

Since 1996, Sister Rooney, who teaches the Gospel Doctrine class in her ward, has served on the Bradford and District Metropolitan Council, the fourth largest municipal council in the U.K., and currently functions as vice chair of education. In two recent school-review votes, she championed the idea of keeping Christian values in the school curriculum, an idea that seemed contrary to popular trends. “But in the end,” she says, “when the votes were in, we won handsomely both times because people understood that we stood for something that was right.”

With all these responsibilities, both Terry and Susanne agree that the most important things in their lives are the gospel of Jesus Christ and their family. They have three children, Adele, Elisabeth, and Peter, and five grandchildren. “For us, that’s what it’s all about,” says Susanne, “to rejoice in the gospel here and to return with our family to our Heavenly Father and feel that joy of reunion.”