Everything about First Presidency Lds Church totally explained
The
First Presidency (also called the
Quorum of the Presidency of the Church or simply
the Presidency) is the presiding or governing authority of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). It is composed of the
President of the Church and his counselors. Called
February 3,
2008, new First Presidency members were announced on
February 4,
2008: President
Thomas S. Monson and his two counselors,
Henry B. Eyring and
Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
Membership
The First Presidency is composed of the
President of the Church and his counselors. Most First Presidencies have been composed of the president and two counselors, but circumstances have occasionally required additional ones (for example,
David O. McKay had five during the final years of his presidency and at one point
Brigham Young had eight).
Counselors are usually chosen from the among the members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, although there have been a number of exceptions where members of the church's
Presiding Bishopric or the church at large were called to be counselors. Any
high priest of the church is eligible to be called as a counselor in the First Presidency. There have also been a few cases where counselors have been ordained to the priesthood office of
apostle and became members of the Quorum of the Twelve after already being
set apart as counselors in the First Presidency (for example,
J. Reuben Clark). There have been other cases where counselors have been ordained to the office of apostle but
not set apart as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve (for example,
Alvin R. Dyer). Other counselors in the First Presidency were never ordained to the office of apostle (for example,
Charles W. Nibley;
John R. Winder). Whether or not a counselor is an apostle, all members of the First Presidency are
sustained by the church as
prophets, seers, and revelators.
Counselors are formally designated as "First Counselor in the First Presidency" and "Second Counselor in the First Presidency" based on the order they were selected by the president. Additional counselors have been designated in different ways, including "Third Counselor in the First Presidency" (for example,
Hugh B. Brown), "Assistant Counselor to the President" (for example,
John Willard Young), and simply "Counselor in the First Presidency" (for example,
Thorpe B. Isaacson).
Counselors serve in the First Presidency until their own deaths, until the death of the church president who called them, or until they're released by the church president. The death of a church president dissolves the First Presidency, and leaves the
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as the senior leader of the church. The death or release of a counselor doesn't dissolve the First Presidency.
Often, the surviving counselors of the late president will be called as counselors in the new First Presidency, and a notably infirm counselor may revert to his place among the Twelve Apostles with a healthier man called as counselor in his place. On the death or release of a first counselor, the second counselor usually succeeds and a new second counselor is named. Although these are fairly common occurrences, there are no hard and fast rules about such practices and each president is free to choose the counselors he prefers.
Title of members
Like the church president and
President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, counselors in the First Presidency are appropriately referred to by the title "President".
Removal
Though there hasn't been a popular movement in the church to have a member of the First Presidency removed or punished for many years, a member could theoretically be removed from his position or otherwise
disciplined by the
Common Council of the Church.
Duties
The First Presidency is the highest ranking
priesthood quorum of the church. The counselors assist the church president and work closely with him in guiding the entire church and carrying out the duties of the president of the church. The First Presidency has the theoretical authority to make the final decision on nearly all issues which might affect the church or its operations, though in practice the First Presidency has delegated much of its decision-making power to members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the
Seventy, the
Presiding Bishopric, and local leaders of the church. Nevertheless, the First Presidency has retained its overarching decision-making power in a number of significant areas and may at any time choose to overrule the decisions of a lesser church quorum or authority.
In the case of an infirm president, his counselors may be called upon to perform more of the duties of the First Presidency that would normally be performed by the president. If needed, any number of additional counselors may be called to assist them, though the president of the church remains the only person on the earth authorized to use
all priesthood keys. All members of the First Presidency are
sustained by the membership of the church as
prophets, seers, and revelators.
All members of the First Presidency are also members of the church's
Council on the Disposition of the Tithes, a body which determines how the
tithing funds of the church are spent.
Current First Presidency
The current First Presidency was announced on
February 4,
2008. The president,
Thomas S. Monson, and his counselors,
Henry B. Eyring and
Dieter F. Uchtdorf, were sustained by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on
February 3.
The previous First Presidency was dissolved on
January 27,
2008 upon the death of church president
Gordon B. Hinckley.
Chronology of the First Presidency
Members of the First Presidency who were not Apostles
There is no requirement that counselors in the First Presidency be
apostles of the church. The following men served as a counselor in the First Presidency during the years indicated and were never ordained to the priesthood office of
Apostle:
Secretary to the First Presidency
The church employs a secretary to assist the First Presidency in its administrative duties. The position is paid employment and its holder isn't formally considered to be a member of the First Presidency or a
general authority of the church. However, it's common for letters from the office of the First Presidency to private individuals to bear the signature of the Presidency's secretary as opposed to any of the members of the Presidency.
The First Presidency also employs assistant secretaries and press secretaries.
Chronology of secretaries
George W. Robinson (1838–1840)
George Reynolds (1865–1909)
George F. Gibbs (1909–1922)
Joseph Anderson (1922–1970)
Francis M. Gibbons (1970–1986)
F. Michael Watson (1986– )Further Information
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