Priesthood Organization

Today, in lieu of normal church meetings, those in the Utah South Area participated in a regional conference.  One of the speakers talked about following the prophet and the blessings that come from doing so.  This inspired me to give somewhat of a detailed description of the organization of the priesthood.  I believe that one way to gain a testimony of the truthfulness of the restored gospel is by examining the way said church is organized.  I have personally benefited from this study, and so I thought to share it with others.

At one point in my mission, I found a book that contained an interesting flowchart showing how the keys of the priesthood are distributed in the church.  I have recreated that chart below, and this will be the focus of my thoughts today.

Priesthood.pdf

All power and priesthood comes from Jesus Christ.  "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matt. 28:18).  "And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth" (D&C 93:16-17).

In every dispensation God has called a prophet to hold the keys of the priesthood for the people of that day.  We do not know many details of the church organization in previous dispensations besides that in the meridian of time, but suffice it to say, that there will always be order to the church, for God is a god of order.  (see also Elder Christofferson's talk from Oct 2015, 2nd and 3rd paragraphs).

In our day, the Lord has called 12 Apostles to assist in the spreading of the gospel, to be "special witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world".  These 12 men hold all of the keys of the priesthood, the same as given to the president of the church, but he is the only one authorized to exercise all of them.  This quorum forms a group equal in authority to the First Presidency.  (see D&C 107).

The Apostles delegate certain keys to other presiding officers throughout the church.  The temple presidents hold the keys to seal on earth and in heaven by performing temple work, and all the ordinances performed in temples is done under their authority.  Mission presidents possess the keys of the gathering of Israel.  They delegate some of this authority to the missionaries in their mission.  Stake presidents hold the keys of the Melchizedek priesthood for blessing those in their assigned area.  Patriarchs do not hold any keys, but are given the authority to pronounce special blessings on people, as well as declare their lineage.  The Apostles can do all of these things.

What exactly are priesthood keys?  The best way I have heard it said comes from Joseph F. Smith, the 6th president of the church: "The Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man ordained to any degree of the Priesthood has this authority delegated to him.  But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. In their fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed in that particular body or locality.... the president of an elders’ quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that quorum." (Teachings, ch 16).

Thus, as can be seen in the chart, even the president of the deacon's quorum can be said to have keys, although his keys are limited to responsibilities of the office of a deacon.  It is so beautiful for me to see how well this organization scales.  It goes from one person at the head of a church of over 15 million members, down to more than 30,000 wards/branches.  And in all places, we teach the same doctrine.  It is remarkable.

A few more notes on keys: the bishop is the president of the Aaronic priesthood in his ward, and as such is the head of the priest's quorum.  A bishop is under the stewardship of a stake president and is set apart and answers to him, but the delegation of authority comes from the presiding bishopric, who are the head of the Aaronic priesthood in all the church.  Those called to the office of Seventy have no keys, but can be given special authority by an Apostle to act in his place.  For example, in the earlier days of the church, an Apostle would have to be present any time a new stake president was called.  These days, now that there are more than 3200 stakes worldwide, that is not possible.  So a Seventy is given a letter authorizing him to act on behalf of the Apostles in setting apart the new stake president and giving him the keys to act in that office.  Thus why I have an arrow connecting the Seventy to the stake presidents; even though the Seventy do not hold any keys, they are usually the ones who set apart the stake presidents.

I know that the priesthood is truly the power of God, and was given to man so that he could act for the benefit of his family and neighbors.  It is a great and sacred trust.  I know that those who are called to positions in the priesthood were foreordained to that calling.

For more information on keys among the Twelve, see Succession in the Presidency (https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/bruce-r-mcconkie_succession-presidency/)

For more on foreordination, see Alma 13:1-12

If I failed to explain something clearly (which I probably did), please leave a comment or send me a message with your question.  Please also send me questions about other things as well.  I know that topics about that gospel are inexhaustible (https://www.lds.org/ensign/1993/04/the-inexhaustible-gospel?lang=eng), but sometimes I do not know what people would like to learn more about.