| Allan F. Packer | |
|---|---|
| First Quorum of the Seventy | |
| April 5, 2008 – October 6, 2018 | |
| Called by | Thomas S. Monson |
| End reason | Designated emeritus General Authority |
| Emeritus General Authority | |
| October 6, 2018 | |
| Called by | Russell M. Nelson |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Allan Forrest Packer July 7, 1948 Brigham City, Utah, United States |
| Spouse(s) | Terri Bennett |
| Children | 8 |
| Parents | Boyd K. and Donna Packer |
Allan Forrest Packer (born July 7, 1948) has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 2008.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership in the church who has administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. As a group, the general authorities are often referred to as "the Brethren". As of October 2017, there are 109 general authorities.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, often informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a nontrinitarian, Christian restorationist church that is considered by its members to be the restoration of the original church founded by Jesus Christ. The church is headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah in the United States, and has established congregations and built temples worldwide. According to the church, it has over 16 million members and 67,000 full-time volunteer missionaries. In 2012, the National Council of Churches ranked the church as the fourth-largest Christian denomination in the United States, with over 6.5 million members reported by the church, as of January 2018. It is the largest denomination in the Latter Day Saint movement founded by Joseph Smith during the period of religious revival known as the Second Great Awakening.
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Packer is the oldest child of Boyd K. Packer, who served as an apostle in the LDS Church, and his wife, Donna. He was born and raised in Brigham City, Utah. He graduated from high school in Massachusetts while his father was serving as president of the LDS Church's New England Mission. As a young man, Packer served as a missionary, first in the Andes Mission and then after it was split, in the Colombia–Venezuela Mission from 1968 to 1970.[ citation needed ]
Boyd Kenneth Packer was an American religious leader and former educator, who served as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 2008 until his death. He also served as the quorum's acting president from 1994 to 2008, and was an apostle and member of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1970 until his death. He served as a general authority of the church from 1961 until his death.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, an apostle is a "special witness of the name of Jesus Christ who is sent to teach the principles of salvation to others." In many Latter Day Saint churches, an apostle is a priesthood office of high authority within the church hierarchy. In many churches, apostles may be members of the Quorum of the Twelve and First Presidency of the church. In most Latter Day Saint churches, modern-day apostles are considered to have the same status and authority as the Biblical apostles.
Brigham City is a city in Box Elder County, Utah, United States. The population was 17,899 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Box Elder County. It lies on the western slope of the Wellsville Mountains, a branch of the Wasatch Range at the western terminus of Box Elder Canyon. Brigham City saw most of its growth during the 1950s and 1960s, but has seen a struggling economy and stagnating growth since then. It is near the headquarters of ATK Thiokol, the company that created the solid rocket boosters for the Space Shuttle.
Packer met his wife, Terri Bennett, at a baptismal service in Boston while they were both still in high school. Bennett is also a native of Utah. They married on June 1, 1970, not long after Packer returned from his mission. By that time Packer had been made a high priest and was serving as a counselor to their ward's bishop. They are the parents of eight children.
Boston is the capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city proper covers 48 square miles (124 km2) with an estimated population of 685,094 in 2017, making it also the most populous city in New England. Boston is the seat of Suffolk County as well, although the county government was disbanded on July 1, 1999. The city is the economic and cultural anchor of a substantially larger metropolitan area known as Greater Boston, a metropolitan statistical area (MSA) home to a census-estimated 4.8 million people in 2016 and ranking as the tenth-largest such area in the country. As a combined statistical area (CSA), this wider commuting region is home to some 8.2 million people, making it the sixth-largest in the United States.
In most denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, a high priest is an office of the priesthood within the Melchizedek priesthood. High priests are typically more experienced leaders within the priesthood. The term derives in part from the Epistle to the Hebrews, which describes Jesus as "a high priest after the order of Melchizedek". Movement founder Joseph Smith ordained the first high priests on June 3, 1831.
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a ward is the larger of two types of local congregations, the smaller being a branch. A ward is presided over by a bishop, the equivalent of a pastor in many other Christian denominations. As with all local LDS Church leadership, the bishop is considered lay clergy and as such is not paid. Two counselors serve with the bishop to help with administrative and spiritual duties of the ward and to preside in the absence of the bishop. Together, these three men constitute the bishopric. A branch is presided over by a branch president who may or may not have one or two counselors, depending on the size of the branch. Groups of wards are organized into stakes, while groups of branches are organized into districts.
Packer received a bachelor's degree in electronics technology from Brigham Young University. He worked as a vice president for various companies and then became an employee of the LDS Church's missionary department. From 2001 to 2004, he served as president of the Spain Málaga Mission. As a mission president, Packer was involved in interfaith activities with Muslim and Jewish religious leaders. [1]
A bachelor's degree or baccalaureate is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to seven years. In some institutions and educational systems, some bachelor's degrees can only be taken as graduate or postgraduate degrees after a first degree has been completed. In countries with qualifications frameworks, bachelor's degrees are normally one of the major levels in the framework, although some qualifications titled bachelor's degrees may be at other levels and some qualifications with non-bachelor's titles may be classified as bachelor's degrees.
Brigham Young University is a private, non-profit research university in Provo, Utah, United States completely owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and run under the auspices of its Church Educational System. Approximately 99 percent of the students are members of the LDS Church and one-third of its U.S. students are from Utah. The university's primary focus is on undergraduate education, but it also has 68 master's and 25 doctoral degree programs.
Spain, officially the Kingdom of Spain, is a country mostly located on the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. Its territory also includes two archipelagoes: the Canary Islands off the coast of Africa, and the Balearic Islands in the Mediterranean Sea. The African enclaves of Ceuta and Melilla make Spain the only European country to have a physical border with an African country (Morocco). Several small islands in the Alboran Sea are also part of Spanish territory. The country's mainland is bordered to the south and east by the Mediterranean Sea except for a small land boundary with Gibraltar; to the north and northeast by France, Andorra, and the Bay of Biscay; and to the west and northwest by Portugal and the Atlantic Ocean.
Packer has also served in the LDS Church as a member of the Young Men General Board, bishop, Scoutmaster, a stake and ward Young Men president, and as a counselor to William R. Walker, an emeritus general authority and former member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, in the presidency of the Sandy Utah Cottonwood Creek Stake.
The Young Men is a youth organization and an official auxiliary of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The purpose of the organization is to assist the Aaronic priesthood organization in promoting the growth and development of male Latter-day Saints ages 12 to 18.
William Russell Walker has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 2002.
Emeritus, in its current usage, is an adjective used to designate a retired professor, pastor, bishop, pope, director, president, prime minister, rabbi, or other person.
At the April 2008 general conference of the church, Packer became a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. From 2009 to 2016, he served as both an Assistant Executive Director and the Executive Director of the church's Family History Department. From 2016 to 2018, he was the first counselor in the church's South America South Area. [2] On October 6, 2018, Packer was released and designated an emeritus general authority. [3]
General Conference is a gathering of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, held biannually every April and October at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah. During each conference, members of the church gather in a series of two-hour sessions to listen to sermons from church leaders. It consists of four general sessions. Since April 2018 the priesthood session is only held during the April conference, and a General Women's Session held during October's conference.
Family History Centers (FHCs) are branches of the Family History Library in Salt Lake City Utah operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The centers supply resources for research and study of genealogy and family history. As of 2018, there are more than 5,100 FHCs in 140 countries.
An area is an administrative unit of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which typically is composed of multiple stakes and missions. These areas are the primary church administrative unit between individual stakes and the church as a whole.
