Strang allowed women to hold the Priesthood offices of Priest and Teacher, unique among all Latter Day Saint factions during his lifetime.[56] He welcomed African Americans into his church, and ordained at least two to the eldership.[57] Strang also mandated conservation of land and resources, requiring the building of parks and retention of large forests in his kingdom.[58] He wrote an eloquent refutation of the "Solomon Spalding theory" of the Book of Mormon's authorship,[59] and defended the ministry and teachings of Joseph Smith–as he understood them.