Council of Twelve Apostles (Community of Christ)

In the Community of Christ, the Council of Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. They are disciples who hold the priesthood office of apostle, and are responsible for the evangelistic witness of the church. Apostles are also high priests in the Melchizedek priesthood of the church.

Calling

As with all priesthood in the Community of Christ, members of the Council of Twelve are considered to be "called by God." The Prophet-President "receives" the call, and after consultation with the other two members of the First Presidency, "presents" the call to the candidate. If the candidate accepts, the candidates name is presented to the World Conference and the call is sustained by majority vote. New apostles are ordained in a special worship service held during the World Conference. Prior to the Presidency of W. Grant McMurray, the call of apostles and other members of presiding quorums of the church were named in an "inspired document" that was added to the scriptures of the church in the Doctrine and Covenants. McMurray and others believed that the lengthy passages related to priesthood calls reduced the readability of the Doctrine and Covenants. Since that time, these priesthood calls have been presented in a separate document that is not included in the Doctrine and Covenants. Most appointee ministers live in the Independence, Missouri, area, however, the current trend is to base apostles in the field. Each apostle has an office in the Independence Temple and they share administrative staff.

Responsibilities

Individual apostles may be assigned to various responsibilities of church leadership, including field administration. Together with the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric, this council is a part of the "World Church Leadership Council." Each of the apostles is called to serve as a "special witness of the gospel", and each is appointed by the First Presidency to oversee one or more of the church's mission fields. In recent years, some members of the Council are also given responsibility for certain areas of program ministry. If for any reason the First Presidency is dissolved or otherwise unable to preside over the World Conference, the Council of Twelve Apostles presides over the conference until such time as the First Presidency resumes functioning or is reorganized. Assigned by the First Presidency, they carry major responsibility for church expansion, and serve as administrative supervisors of field jurisdictions. The Council of Twelve Apostles elects one of its members to serve as President of the Council of Twelve and another member to serve as Secretary of the Council of Twelve. Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles are normally full-time paid ministers, called "Appointee Ministers" in the Community of Christ.

Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles directly supervise Mission Center Presidents and missionaries holding the priesthood office of Seventy. They have the authority to call Mission Center Conferences and frequently preside over certain portions of the various conferences. Apostles usually initiate calls to the offices of high priest and evangelist, often in consultation or at the behest of Mission Center Presidents. Apostles usually hold annual or semi-annual meetings of the appointee ministers and key staff members in their fields. Apostles have the authority to organize or dissolve congregations and ministry groups. If a Mission Center President takes over operation of a congregation (usually only in situations of extreme dissent), an appeal of this decision may be made to the apostle that supervises that field. Apostles typically travel to missionary fields around the world, even when they have fields entirely within the United States. This international missionary experience is believed to enrich both the recipients of the ministry as well as the experience of the apostles' themselves. Most jurisdictions of the Community of Christ hold summertime family camps called "reunions." Apostles usually spend much of their summer attending various reunions.

Progressive influence

The Council of Twelve Apostles has long been regarded as the primary advocates for the growing international presence of the church and its international witness of Jesus Christ. In addition, the Council has frequently strived to lead the church towards progressive stances on issues such as homosexuality, women in the priesthood, open communion, ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, environmentalism, peace and justice ministries. Former apostle Charles D. Neff (1958–1984) led the Council of Twelve in developing relativistic viewpoints towards both ritual and doctrine in order to make the gospel relevant across cultures. Presently, the Council contains five female apostles, an African, a Polynesian and a Honduran.

Current members

The current members of the Council, their specific assignments, and year they joined the Council are as follows: ^[1]

• David H. M. Nii – South Central USA Mission Field (2019)
• Bunda C. Chibwe – Central and West Africa Mission Field; South-Central Asia Mission Field (2000)
• Catherine C. Mambwe – West, South, and East Africa Mission Field (2019)
• Carlos Enrique Mejia – Central and South America Mission Field (2007)
• Mareva M. Arnaud Tchong – President, Pacifikasia Mission Field (2013) ^[2]
• Richard C. N. James – Eurasia Mission Field (2013)
• Arthur E. Smith – Canada Mission Field; Caribbean and Mexico-Texas Field (2013) ^[2]
• Janné C. Grover – Central USA Mission Field (2016)
• Robin K. Linkhart – North Central USA Mission Field (2016)
• Lachlan E. Mackay – Northeast USA Mission Field (2016)
• Shandra Karine Newcom - (2023)
• Angela Alt. Ramirez de Hernandez - (2023)

1844 to present

This is a list of the members of the Council in the Community of Christ, (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) ordained after 1844. The dates are the years they served as a member of the Council of Twelve.

Name	Began Service	Ended Service	Cause of Departure	Other Positions	Nationality & Notes
Briggs Jason W. Briggs	1853	1885	Not sustained as Apostle at the 1885 conference.	President of the Council of Twelve Apostles	American. Withdrew from the church sometime after 1885 conference
Gurley Zenas H. Gurley, Sr.	1853	1871			Ordained Joseph Smith III as president in 1860.
DeamHenry Harrison Deam	1853	1854
NewkirkReuben Newkirk	1853	1873
CunninghamJohn Cunningham	1853	1855
WhiteGeorge White	1853	1859
RaseyDaniel B. Rasey	1853	1873
PowersSamuel Powers	1855	1873
NewkirkDavid Newkirk	1855	1865
Blair William W. Blair	1858	10 April 1873	Called to First Presidency	First counselor in the First Presidency	American. Served as first counselor until his death on 18 April 1896
ShippyJohn Shippy	1860	1868
BlakesleeJames Blakeslee	1860	1866
Briggs Edmund C. Briggs	October 1860	18 April 1902	Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch.	President of the Seventy	American
EllsJosiah Ells	1865	1885
DerryCharles Derry	1865	1870
KelleyWilliam H. Kelley	1873	1913		President of the Council of Twelve Apostles (1897– )
SmithThomas Wood Smith	1873	1894
CaffallJames Caffall	1873	1902
LakeJohn H. Lake	1873	1902
Smith Alexander Hale Smith	10 April 1873	12 April 1897	Ordained a Presiding Patriarchs/Evangelist.	Counselor to Joseph Smith III President of the Council of Twelve Apostles (1890–97)	American. Third surviving son of Joseph and Emma Smith.
GurleyZenas H. Gurley, Jr.	1874	1885
LambertJoseph R. Lambert	1873	1902
GillenJames W. Gillen	11 April 1887 [3]	1899
Smith Heman C. Smith	11 April 1887 [3]	1909		Church Historian
LuffJoseph Luff	11 April 1887 [3]	1909			Canadian
GriffithsGomer T. Griffiths	11 April 1887 [3]	1922
WhiteIsaac N. White	12 April 1897 [4]	1913
WightJohn W. Wight	12 April 1897 [4]	1913
Evans R. C. Evans	12 April 1897 [4]	1902	Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency	Counselor in the First Presidency Bishop (With specific jurisdiction over the church in Canada)	Canadian. Broke with the church in 1918 and formed the Church of the Christian Brotherhood
AndersenPeter Andersen	1901	1920
Smith Frederick A. Smith	1902	1913
SheehyFrancis M. Sheehy	1902	1920
GreeneUlysses W. Greene	1902	1922
ButterworthCornelius A. Butterworth	1901	1922
RushtonJohn W. Rushton	1902	1947
CurtisJames F. Curtis	1909	7 April 1938	Honorably released
RussellRobert C. Russell	1909	1922
KelleyJames E. Kelley	1913	1917
AylorWilliam Murray Aylor	1913	1922
HansonPaul M. Hanson	1913	8 October 1958 [5]
GillenJames A. Gillen	1913	1934		President of the Council of Twelve Apostles (1922– )
WilliamsThomas W. Williams	1920	1925
McConleyMyron A. McConley	1920	1948
EllisClyde F. Ellis	1923	1945
Garver John F. Garver	13 October 1922	9 April 1946	Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency	Counselor in the First Presidency	American. Was president of the Board of Trustees for Graceland College
WilliamsDaniel T. Williams	1922	8 October 1958 [5]	Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
Edwards F. Henry Edwards	13 October 1922	9 April 1946	Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency	Secretary of the Council of Twelve Apostles	English. Honorably released from First Presidency on 18 April 1966,
GleazerEdmund J. Gleazer	1922	8 October 1958 [5]	Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
BuddRoy S. Budd	1922	1936
LewisGeorge G. Lewis	1932	1948
MesleyGeorge C. Mesley	7 April 1938	1954
Oakman Arthur Alma Oakman	7 April 1938	1964	Ordained an Evangelist	Evangelist	English
HieldCharles R. Hield	7 April 1938	6 April 1964 [6]	Honorably released
JensenD. Blair Jensen	1946	18 April 1966 [7]	Honorably released
DaveyRoscoe E. Davey	1947	6 April 1964 [6]	Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
DraperMaurice L. Draper	1947	8 October 1958 [5]	Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency
Smith W. Wallace Smith	1947	1950	Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency	Prophet-President
FarrowPercy E. Farrow	1948	18 April 1966 [7]	Honorably released
HolmesReed M. Holmes	1948	1 April 1974. [8]	Ordained as Presiding Patriarch/Evangelist
ChesworthDonald O. Chesworth	1950	14 April 1972. [9]	Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
LentsDonald Victor Lents	1954	8 April 1980 [10]	Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
Neff Charles D. Neff	8 October 1958 [5]	5 April 1984 [11]	Honorably released		American
ColeClifford A. Cole	8 October 1958 [5]	8 April 1980 [10]	Called to ministries of teaching and writing
EttingerCecil R. Ettinger	2 April 1960 [12]	1 April 1974 [8]	Honorably released
Couey Duane E. Couey	2 April 1960 [12]	18 April 1966 [7]	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	Presiding Patriarch/Evangelist	American
RalstonRussell F. Ralston	6 April 1964 [6]	29 March 1976 [13]
TimmsWilliam E. Timms	6 April 1964 [6]	3 April 1978 [14]	Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
HigdonEarl T. Higdon	18 April 1966 [7]	1 April 1974 [8]	Honorably released	President of Graceland College
TyreeAlan D. Tyree	18 April 1966 [7]	29 March 1982 [15]	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency
KouryAleah G. Koury	18 April 1966 [7]	8 April 1980 [10]	Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch		Canadian
SheehyHoward S. Sheehy, Jr.	1 April 1968 [16]	1980	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	Counselor in the First Presidency	American. Ordained counselor on 3 April 1978, but remained as a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles until 1980.
StuartJohn C. Stuart	14 April 1972 [9]	29 March 1982 [15]	Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
HigdonWilliam T. Higdon	1 April 1974 [8]	5 April 1992 [17]		President of Graceland College
HurshmanLloyd B. Hurshman	1 April 1974 [8]	14 April 1988 [18]	Honorably released
BoothPaul W. Booth	1 April 1974 [8]	5 April 1992 [17]	Ordained as the Presiding Evangelist
AustinEugene C. Austin, Sr.	29 March 1976 [13]	10 April 1994 [19]	Honorably released
SchaeferRoy H. Schaefer	3 April 1978 [14]	14 April 1988 [18]	Honorably released
CaswellPhillip M. Caswell	3 April 1978 [14]	1998
SekineKisuke Sekine	8 April 1980 [10]	5 April 1992 [17]	Honorably released		Japanese
GraffeoEverett S. Graffeo	8 April 1980 [10]	1994 [19]	Ordained as the Presiding Evangelist
Robinson Kenneth N. Robinson	8 April 1980 [10]	1996	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	Counselor in the First Presidency	Australian
SerigJoe A. Serig	29 March 1982 [15]	1998
CableJames C. Cable	29 March 1982 [15]	1996
SpencerGeoffrey F. Spencer	5 April 1984 [11]	10 April 1994 [19]	Honorably released		Australian
KahtavaA. Alex Kahtava	14 April 1988 [18]	2002			Canadian
KirkpatrickJohn P. Kirkpatrick	14 April 1988 [18]	2007
BrockDavid R. Brock	5 April 1992 [17]	27 March 2007	Ordained as the Presiding Evangelist	President of Seventy Presiding Evangelist	American
TyreeLawrence W. Tyree	5 April 1992 [17]	2002
Veazey Stephen M. Veazey	5 April 1992 [17]	2005	Ordained as the Prophet-President	President of the Council of Twelve Prophet-President	American
BelroseDanny A. Belrose	10 April 1994 [19]	2000	Ordained as Presiding Evangelist		Canadian
LuffmanDale E. Luffman	10 April 1994 [19]	January 3, 2013 [2]			American
McLaughlinKenneth L. McLaughlin	10 April 1994 [19]	2005
Judd Peter A. Judd	1996	2000	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	Counselor in the First Presidency	English
SlauterJames E. Slauter	1996	May 3, 2011 [20]	Early retirement, family health [20]	President of the Council of Twelve Apostles Secretary of the Council of Twelve Apostles	American
MengelGail E. Mengel	31 March 1998	2005	Called as Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer	President of Church Women United Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer	American, along with Linda L. Booth, the first women to be ordained apostles.
Booth Linda L. Booth	1998	2019		President of the Council of Twelve Apostles, Director of Communications	American, along with Gail E. Mengel, the first woman to be ordained apostles. Also first female president of the Council of Twelve.
YoungLeonard M. Young	April 2000	2010	Ordained an Evangelist in 2010	President of the Quorum of High Priests, President of Michigan Region, Director of Field Resources	American - Served as World Church Parliamentarian from 1988 to 2020
ChibweBunda C. Chibwe	April 2000	present		President of the Sixth Quorum of Seventy	Zambian
DynesMary Jacks Dynes	2002	2010	Retired	President of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy.	American
SchaalDavid D. Schaal	2002	2005	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	President of the Tri Stake Mission Center Counselor in the First Presidency	American
CrammStassi D. Cramm	2005 [21]	2016 [22]	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency [22] and Presiding Bishop [22]	Counselor to the Presiding Bishop Presiding Bishop Counselor in the First Presidency	American
HarmonRonald D. Harmon Jr.	2005 [21]	2023	Ordained to Office of Presiding Bishop	President of the Council of Twelve Apostles	American
MaupinRick W. Maupin	2005 [21]	2019			American
OxleySusan D. Oxley	2005 [21]	2015			American
Andrew BoltonAndrew Bolton	2007	2016 [22]			English
MejiaCarlos Enrique Mejia	2007	present			Honduran
JamesRichard C.N. James	2010	present		Secretary of the Council of Twelve Apostles (incumbent)	Welsh
MurphyK. Scott Murphy	2010	2013 [2]	Ordained counselor in the First Presidency	Director of Field Ministries (incumbent) President of the Council of Twelve	American
CarterBarbara L. Carter	2013 [2]	2023			American
TchongMareva Arnaud Tchong	2013 [2]	present		President of the Council of Twelve Apostles	French Polynesian (Tahitian)
SmithArthur E. Smith	2013 [2]	present			Canadian
GroverJanné C. Grover	2016 [22]	present			American
LinkhartRobin K. Linkhart	2016 [22]	present			American
MackayLachlan E. Mackay	2016 [22]	present			American
Catherine Mambwe	2019	present			Zambian
David Nii	2019	present			American
Sharon Karine Newcom	2023	present			American
Angela Alt. Ramirez de Hernandez	2023	present			Dominican

Notes

1. "Church Leadership", cofchrist.org, accessed 3 May 2023.
2. Stephen M. Veazey (3 January 2013). "Letter of Counsel Regarding the Presiding Quorums". Coastal Bend Mission Center. Archived from the original on 28 August 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
3. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 119
4. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 124:4A
5. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 145:3, 5b, 6b, 6c, & 7
6. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 147:1, 2 & 4
7. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 148:1 - 4
8. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 151:2 - 7
9. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 150:1A & 2A
10. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 154:1 - 3
11. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 156:1 & 2
12. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 146:1
13. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 152:2a & 3
14. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 153:5 - 6
15. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 155:3 - 5
16. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 149:1
17. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 158:3-6
18. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 157:1-3
19. Community of Christ (RLDS): Doctrine and Covenants: Section 159:2 - 5
20. Veazey, Stephen M. (May 3, 2011). "Letter of Counsel Regarding the Presiding Quorums". Cumminty of Christ. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 17 July 2013.
21. "Official Minutes of Business Session" Archived 2005-06-22 at archive.today , Community of Christ World Conference 2005, 4 June 2005.
22. Stephen M. Veazey, "Letter of Counsel about World Church Leadership", cofchrist.org, March 31, 2016.

References

• The Doctrine and Covenants of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Containing Revelations Given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, with Some Additions by his Successors in the Presidency of the Church, Intellectual Reserve: Salt Lake City, UT, 1981.
• Book of Doctrine and Covenants: Carefully Selected from the Revelations of God and Given in the Order of their Dates, Herald Publishing House: Independence, MO, 2000.
• Scherer, Mark A. (2016). The Journey of a People: The Era of Worldwide Community, 1945 to 2015. Independence, Missouri: Community of Christ Seminary Press. ISBN   978-0-830-91656-6.