First Presidency

In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency (or the Quorum of the Presidency of the Church) was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations. Smith established the inaugural First Presidency in 1832, and the body continued to exist until Smith's death in 1844. Some time later, First Presidencies were reorganized by Brigham Young for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, by Sidney Rigdon for the Rigdonites (now defunct), by Joseph Smith III for the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now the Community of Christ), by James J. Strang for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite), and by William Bickerton for The Church of Jesus Christ, although the latter two organizations have not had a First Presidency for much of their history.

The First Presidency in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

[
George W. Bush (right) meets with the First Presidency in August 2006. Seated clockwise are: Gordon B. Hinckley, President; Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor (obscured); and James E. Faust, Second Counselor. Since this picture was taken, Hinckley and Faust have died and the First Presidency has been reorganized.]

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the First Presidency is the presiding or governing authority of the church. It usually consists of the President of the Church and two counselors, although up to eight counselors have on occasion been included in the presidency at the same time. The counselors assist the church president and work closely with him in guiding the entire church.

Like the church president and President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, counselors in the First Presidency are referred to by the title "President"; he and his counselors are referred to as President Thomas S. Monson, President Henry B. Eyring, and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf. All members of the First Presidency are sustained by the membership of the church as prophets, seers, and revelators.

Any worthy high priest within the church may serve as a counselor in the First Presidency, though most of its members have been chosen from among the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Charles W. Nibley, for example, was a counselor to Heber J. Grant without ever being ordained to the priesthood office of apostle.

In the case of an infirm president, his counselors may be called upon to perform more of his duties. If needed, any number of additional counselors may be called to assist them, though the president of the church still remains the only person on the earth authorized to use "all" priesthood keys.

Counselors serve in the First Presidency until their own deaths, until the death of the church president who called them, or until they are 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 does not dissolve the First Presidency.

Often, the surviving counselors of the late president will be called as counselors in the new First Presidency, 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. Although this is a fairly common occurrence, there are no hard and fast rules about such practices and each president is free to choose the counselors he prefers.

The First Presidency in the Community of Christ

The First Presidency is the highest leadership or priesthood quorum of the Community of Christ church (which shares a common historical foundation with The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Normally the First Presidency consists of the Prophet-President of the church and two counselors.

In 1860 with the reorganization of the First Presidency, Joseph Smith III became the second Prophet-President of this 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 member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (of which there are usually 14 following the death of the Prophet). 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 are then chosen by the church president and are occasionally, but not required, to be former or current members 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 two presidents until a Prophet-President is called. The two members who were counselors to the prophet-president, cease to be counselors during this time. Upon ordination of the Prophet-President, the former first presidency is dissolved, and upon ordination of the two he/she calls to be his/her councilors and presidents of the church it is reorganized. Members of the First Presidency are not generally considered to be members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or holding the priesthood office of apostle, regardless of previous calling.

Prior to 1996, all prophet-presidents were descendants 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 joint council of church leaders led by the Council of Twelve Apostles announced in March 2005 the name of Stephen M. Veazey as Prophet-President designate. Veazey had been serving as president of the Council of Twelve. Delegates elected to a special World Conference of the church approved Veazey and he was ordained as the 8th president of the High Priesthood, Prophet, and President of the Church on June 3, 2005.

One June 4, 2005 with the ordinations of Ken Robinson and David Schaal as presidents of the church and counselors to the president, the First Presidency was reorganized.

On March 27, 2007 President Robinson retired from his position in the First Presidency and Becky Savage was ordained into the First Presidency. She is the first female to sit on the First Presidency.

Current members of the First Presidency:

*President Stephen M. Veazey
*President Becky L. Savage (Counselor to the president)
*President David D. Schaal (Counselor to the president)

The First Presidency in the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

A First Presidency also leads the Remnant Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, which was formed primarily out of discontent with changes in the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. The Church President is Frederick Niels Larsen, a direct descendant of Joseph Smith Jr., as the church feels strongly about the lineal succession. The First and Second Counselors to the president are Robert Ostrander and Lane Harold respectively.

ee also

*General authority