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In Mormonism, the First Presidency (or the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy of several Latter Day Saint denominations. A First Presidency was organized by Joseph Smith, Jr., who was its presiding member until his death in 1844. Some time later, First Presidencies were organized by Brigham Young and Joseph Smith III.
The First Presidency in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the First Presidency is generally the supreme governing authority of the Church. It usually consists of the President of the Church and two Counselors, although up to six counselors and numerous "assistants" and secretaries have historically been included in the presidency.
The Counselors are customarily chosen from among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and work closely with the Church President in guiding the entire Church. In the case of an infirm president they may be called upon to perform his duties in his absence, and if need be additional Counselors, who are not numbered, are called to assist them. Like the Church President and President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Counselors in the First Presidency are known as "President" (thus the current First Presidency are referred to as President Gordon B. Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson, and President James E. Faust).
Counselors serve until either their own deaths, the death of the Church President who appointed them, or until they are released. 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, until he names new Counselors to reconstitute the First Presidency with himself as Church President at a time of his choosing.
Customarily the counselors of the late president are retained, but 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.
The present membership of the First Presidency is as follows:
The First Presidency in the Community of Christ
The First Presidency is the highest leadership or priesthood quorum of the Community of Christ church. Normally the First Presidency consists of the Prophet/President of the church and a First and Second Counselor.
When a group of Midwestern Latter Day Saints "reorganized" in 1860, Joseph Smith III became Prophet/President of their church and also President of a new First Presidency. William Marks became Smith's First Counselor.
The First Presidency of the Community of Christ differs from the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints where the church president is always the senior-most of 15 apostles and his counselors are chosen from among the other 14 apostles. In the Community of Christ, by contrast, each new church president has generally been "designated" as the successor by the preceding church president. The Counselors in the First Presidency were then chosen by the church president and are not extensions of the Council of Twelve Apostles. In addition, the death of the Prophet/President does not dissolve the First Presidency, which continues on as the church's executive council in the persons of the remaining presidents until a Prophet/President is called.
Prior to 1996, church presidents designated their successors according to "lineal succession," and so all were descendents of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr.. This pattern was broken by Wallace B. Smith, who designated W. Grant McMurray church president. McMurray, in turn, resigned the church presidency in 2004 without designating a successor. A new church president will be called at a special World Conference to be held in June 2005.
Presently, the office of church president is vacant. The First Presidency of the Community of Christ currently consists of two members:
- President Kenneth N. Robinson First Counselor
- President Peter A. Judd Second Counselor
Related articles
Presidents of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints - Priesthood (Latter-day Saint)
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