Thomas S. Monson is the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whose members are sometimes casually referred to as Mormons. While Jesus Christ is at the head of the Church, President Monson leads the church as Christ’s earthly representative. In this role, he also serves as prophet, seer, and revelator. Assisting him in his work are two counselors. His first counselor is President Henry B. Eyring and his second counselor is President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Together, they carry out the administration of the church, relying on revelation and inspiration to guide them.
“The supreme governing power of the Church is vested in the President with his counselors. The First Presidency preside over all councils, all quorums, and all organizations of the Church, with supreme appointing power and power of nomination. [See D&C 107:9] These powers of appointment, nomination, and presiding may be delegated by the First Presidency to others whom they may choose and whom the people sustain to represent the presidency in the government of the Church.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, “The First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve,” Improvement Era, Nov. 1966, pp. 977-78.)
The president of the church is not elected. Succession is done in an orderly fashion, with the most senior apostle becoming the new president and prophet. He then selects his own counselors, usually two, although some presidents have had more than two. They are collectively known as the First Presidency. The new president and his counselors are sustained in a special General Conference (held for the entire church twice a year and broadcast on television and the Internet). Although members of the church are asked to raise their hands, they are not voting. They are simply affirming their willingness to support the new leaders. Because Mormons understand the new leader is chosen by God, a member with a testimony will always choose to accept the new leader.
The church is a large and complex world-wide organization. The president of the church oversees all parts of the church, but specific aspects of the church are overseen by others under his direction. For instance, there is a women’s auxiliary called the Relief Society. The Relief Society has a large portion of the responsibility for the charitable needs of members, as well as the spiritual and temporal well-being of the women. They operate a literacy program, a week-night program of educational, service, and spiritual training, and religious education on Sundays. The world-wide Relief Society is overseen by a presidency consisting only of women. Local branches of this auxiliary are overseen by presidencies of their own.
The President of the Church has oversight for an extensive number of programs and concerns, as does any leader of a large organization. He delegates authority, but is ultimately responsible for the complete program. While it’s somewhat similar to running a large corporation, the job comes with far greater responsibility than that of running a for-profit corporation. He is using the Lord’s money and running the Lord’s church, and this comes with eternal consequences. In both his role as president, and his role as prophet, he is always aware of the need to follow God’s teachings and honor the name of the Savior.
The authority to operate as a presidency is given through priesthood keys. These are not physical keys, but represent authority. The president of the church holds all the keys and can delegate them out as needed. This authority has been handed down from the church that existed when the Savior was on the earth, as well as when the apostles ran the church after his death. After Jesus Christ was crucified, Peter became the president of the church, and James and John were his counselors. After their deaths, priesthood authority and prophecy were taken from the earth because so few honored it. This time of apostasy continued until Joseph Smith was called by God to become the first president and prophet of the restored church. During the restoration process, Peter, James, and John returned to earth as angels to bestow on Joseph the priesthood and the keys necessary to administer God’s church. When Joseph was murdered, the keys transferred to Brigham Young and have continued to be handed down from president to president. They are currently held by Thomas S. Monson.
The role of the president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints operates hand-in-hand with that of the prophet. One man holds both positions and functions in both under the direct guidance of Jesus Christ.
Twitter •
I don’t think your explanation “Although members of the church are asked to raise their hands, they are not voting.” is accurate. The Doctrine and Covenants stipulates that no person is to be ordained to any office in the Church without the “vote” of the Church. Very often at the conclusion of sustaining the officers the member of the First Presidency will say, “the voting was unanimous.” The brethren have consistently referred to it as vote.
Alma, thank you for your comment. We’re not voting to choose who will serve in the office. We’re simply voting to sustain–which means to support–the person God has chosen. When the brethern say the voting has been unanimous, they mean we have all agreed to support this person. Were we all to refuse, it would not change the fact that God has chosen this person. Only God is allowed to choose our leaders.
Loren C. Dunn, when he was in the first quorum of the seventy said, “Sustaining, however, should not be confused with voting into office.”
He added, “When we sustain officers, we are given the opportunity of sustaining those whom the Lord has already called by revelation. The dictionary tells us that the word sustain means “to bear up, to support, to furnish sustenance for, to aid effectually, to hold valid, to confirm or corroborate.”
The Lord, then, gives us the opportunity to sustain the action of a divine calling and in effect express ourselves if for any reason we may feel otherwise.
To sustain is to make the action binding on ourselves and to commit ourselves to support those people whom we have sustained. When a person goes through the sacred act of raising his arm to the square, he should remember, with soberness, that which he has done and commence to act in harmony with his sustaining vote both in public and in private.
If for any reason we have a difficult time sustaining those in office, then we are to go to our local priesthood leaders and discuss the issue with them and seek their help. (Loren C. Dunn, “We Are Called of God,” Ensign, Jul 1972, 43)
I have a question, my mother-in-law feels that she was 100% right when she did not raise her hand to sustain her stake presidency. They have given her and her husband counsel, and she refuses to follow it. So was her opposing in church the right thing to do, if she feels she does not agree with the counsel they gave? Should she have done that?
Heather, thank you for your question. I’m going to answer it as best I can, also hoping to enlighten readers who might not be members of the Church, so bear with me….
The Mormon Church has a lay clergy. That is, the members of the Church are called to fill the various positions of leadership and service that enable the Church to function for the benefit of its members. Most callings to positions are temporary. There is no system of progress from position to position, and members are not supposed to covet or vie for positions. Members do not vote for people who are called to various positions, but they are asked to “sustain” other members in their callings, and to manifest that sustaining with a raise of their right hands in the appropriate church meeting. This fulfills the law of common consent, wherein the entire kingdom of God functions as all its members uphold it. To sustain someone in a calling means to support, help, pray for, and strengthen the person as he or she serves. Members have the right to refuse to sustain a person they think should not be called. The member is asked in private to explain the reasons for abstaining. And leaders take to heart this information, and act upon it, if necessary.
No one in a position in the LDS Church has been professionally trained, or has gone to divinity school to prepare him or her for a calling. The Holy Spirit prompts the person as he or she is prayerful as to how to best serve, although there are guidelines, other leaders, and manuals to help. Bishops and bishoprics who lead local wards, and stake presidents with their counselors who lead stakes (groups of wards), try to counsel members according to the revelation they receive in their stewardships. Members then go to the Lord in personal prayer to receive validation of that counsel from the Holy Spirit. They then act on the counsel. This system requires humility both on the part of the leaders and the members. It also requires “charity,” including the quality of charity listed in the scriptures…longsuffering, not easily offended. Sometimes members are offended when they receive good counsel, because they are not truly humble and ready to accept that counsel. Other times, leaders are a little clumsy because they are simply human; perhaps they don’t express themselves perfectly; or their own experiences somehow are allowed to color their opinions. The member with charity can still accept counsel according to the validation from the Lord, even if the member doesn’t care for the manner in which it was given or feel personal chemistry for the person giving the counsel. The key here is humility. If a person feels beligerent towards his or her leaders, offended, or rebellious, then humility is usually wanting, and the person needs to work on becoming more Christlike and more centered on the Savior. This is impossible for an outsider to judge, especially as we are counseled to “judge not.”