Creation
In 1965 the Priesthood Correlation Committee sent representatives to local church units to implement the correlation program and consolidate church programs. However, resistance at the local level to correlation was slowing down the implementation. Harold B. Lee, as the leader of the correlation committee, proposed that the local correlation representatives instead be regional representatives of the Quorum of the Twelve, thus giving them more authority and a better chance of overcoming local resistance to correlation. [1]
At the church's October 1967 general conference, the First Presidency announced the creation of a new position called the regional representative of the Twelve:
As many of you will remember, in 1941, it became necessary for the First Presidency and the Twelve to provide for additional brethren to help with the work of overseeing and setting in order an ever-growing, world-wide Church. Thus in the General Conference of April 1941, Assistants to the Twelve were named and sustained, "to be increased or otherwise from time to time as the necessity of carrying on the Lord's work seems to dictate.
Since then the world-wide demands of the Church have increased in ever greater degree and it is felt by the First Presidency and the Twelve that a further provision for guidance and direction is now needed.
What, therefore, is now proposed is the calling of as many brethren as may be necessary, to be known as Regional Representatives of the Twelve, each, as assigned, to be responsible in some aspects of the work to carry counsel to and to conduct instructional meetings in groups of stakes or regions as may be designated from time to time.
These Regional Representatives of the Twelve will not be "General" Authorities, as such, but will serve somewhat as do stake presidents, giving full Church service time for greater or lesser periods of service as circumstances may suggest. [2]
At the same conference, the First Presidency announced the name of 69 men who would commence work as regional representatives on January 1, 1968. [3] Most of the individuals called as regional representatives had previously served in stake presidencies or as mission presidents. [4] Their names were:
- Arthur S. Anderson
- Howard B. Anderson
- Wendell J. Ashton
- William G. Bangerter
- Robert W. Barker
- R. Raymond Barnes
- William H. Bennett
- Clifton D. Boyack
- Harold R. Boyer
- Daken K. Broadhead
- Carl W. Buehner
- Berkeley L. Bunker
- Wilford M. Burton
- J. Elliot Cameron
- Alvin C. Chace
- Alten Christensen
- A. Ray Curtis
- John C. Dalton
- Junius E. Driggs
- Edward E. Drury, Jr.
- J. Howard Dunn
- John K. Edmunds
- A. Lewis Elggren
- Donald Ellsworth
- Percy K. Fetzer
- G. Roy Fugal
- J. Thomas Fyans
- L. Brent Goates
- David B. Haight
- Cecil E. Hart
- Heber J. Heiner, Jr.
- David E. Heywood
- Ralph J. Hill
- Phil D. Jensen
- Edwin B. Jones
- J. Talmage Jones
- Wilford W. Kirton, Jr.
- E. Coleman Madsen
- Howard J. Marsh
- Henry A. Matis
- Neal A. Maxwell
- Z. Reed Millar
- Max C. Mortensen
- George H. Mortimer
- Leslie T. Norton
- Raymond J. Pace
- Finn B. Paulsen
- Wilford H. Payne
- Vern R. Peel
- Henry E. Peterson
- George W. Poulsen, Jr.
- Rex C. Reeve
- G. Lamont Richards
- Stephen C. Richards
- Clarence F. Robison
- Myles W. Romney
- John M. Russon
- Robert N. Sears
- Stanford G. Smith
- C. Laird Snelgrove
- O. Leslie Stone
- Richard S. Summerhays
- Allen M. Swan
- Grant S. Thorn
- J. Clifford Wallace
- Wilburn C. West
- C. Bryant Whiting
- Harold M. Wright. [5]
Abolishment and replacement
At the April 1995 general conference, in one of his first major administrative acts as church president, Gordon B. Hinckley announced the discontinuance of the position of regional representative:
[T]wenty-eight years ago the First Presidency was inspired to call men to serve as regional representatives of the Twelve. ...
At that time there were 69 regional representatives. Today there are 284. The organization has become somewhat unwieldy. ...
It is now felt desirable to tighten up the organization administered by the area presidencies. Accordingly, we announce the release—the honorable release—of all regional representatives effective August 15 of this year. To these devoted and able brethren we express our deep appreciation for the tremendous work you have accomplished, for your loyalty, faithfulness, and devotion in advancing the cause of our Father in Heaven. I cannot say enough of good concerning these men. They have sacrificed their time and their resources. They have gone wherever they have been asked to go, whenever they have been asked to go. They have greatly assisted stake presidents and bishops with wise counsel and direction, with skillful training and instruction. We thank them one and all and pray that through the years to come the Lord will bless them with the satisfying assurance that each of them made a significant contribution to the work and that their labors have been accepted by Him.
Now we announce the call of a new local officer to be known as an area authority. These will be high priests chosen from among past and present experienced Church leaders. They will continue with their current employment, reside in their own homes, and serve on a Church-service basis. The term of their call will be flexible, generally, for a period of approximately six years. They will be closely tied to the area presidencies. They will be fewer in number than have been the regional representatives. [7]
In April 1997, the church ordained all area authorities to the priesthood office of seventy and renamed the position "Area Authority Seventy". [8] Later, the title "Area Authority Seventy" was shortened to "Area Seventy".
In the LDS Church today, the duties that were formerly carried out by regional representatives are now largely carried out by these area seventies.
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.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are apostles, with the calling to be prophets, seers, and revelators, evangelical ambassadors, and special witnesses of Jesus Christ.
Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of several denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement, including the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Traditionally, a Latter Day Saint holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Jesus Christ, charged with the mission of preaching the gospel to the entire world under the direction of the Twelve Apostles. Latter Day Saints teach that the office of seventy was anciently conferred upon the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2. Multiple individuals holding the office of seventy are referred to collectively as "seventies".
A general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 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 April 2023, The LDS listed 95 general authorities.
Marion George Romney was an apostle and a member of the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a quorum is a group of people ordained or endowed with priesthood authority, and organized to act together as a body. The idea of a quorum was established by Joseph Smith early in the history of the movement, and during his lifetime it has included several church-wide quorums, including the First Presidency, the Presiding High Council, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Anointed Quorum, and the Quorum of the Seventy, as well as numerous local quorums for each congregation. The Council of Fifty, or General Council, was not part of the church, but a quorum-like body designed as a forerunner to establishing a theocratic government.
This is a timeline of major events in Mormonism in the 20th century.
Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, commonly shortened to Assistant to the Twelve or Assistant to the Twelve Apostles, was a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints between 1941 and 1976. As the title of the calling suggests, men who held this position assisted the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in fulfilling their priesthood responsibilities. Assistants to the Twelve were general authorities, and were generally assigned by the Twelve Apostles to preside over and speak at stake conferences; re-organize stakes; tour missions; and assist in the direction of worldwide missionary work. Like counselors in the First Presidency, Assistant to the Twelve was not a distinct priesthood office—rather, it was a calling that any worthy high priest could be asked to fill.
An organization is a secondary body of church government within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that is "established for moral, educational, and benevolent purposes." Prior to October 2019, the church's organizations were called auxiliary organizations. As the term suggested, the LDS Church's organizations are ancillary to the governing power of the priesthood in the church. The LDS Church's five organizations are Primary, Relief Society, Sunday School, Young Men, and Young Women.
George Homer Durham was an American academic administrator and was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1977 until his death.
John Thomas Fyans was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1974 until his death.
Quentin LaMar Cook is an American religious leader and former lawyer and business executive who is currently a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Currently, he is the seventh most senior apostle in the church.
William Grant Bangerter was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1975 until his death.
Derek Alfred Cuthbert was a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1978 until his death. He was the first resident of the United Kingdom to be called as an LDS Church general authority.
John Max Madsen is a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has been a general authority since 1992.
Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Traditionally, a church member holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister" and an "especial witness" of Jesus Christ, charged with the mission of preaching the gospel to the entire world under the direction of the Twelve Apostles. The church teaches that the office of seventy was anciently conferred upon the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2. Multiple individuals holding the office of seventy are referred to collectively as seventies.
The President of the Church is the highest office of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was the office held by Joseph Smith, the church's founder. The church's president is its leader and the head of the First Presidency, its highest governing body. Latter-day Saints consider the president of the church to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" and refer to him as "the Prophet", a title that was originally given to Smith. When the name of the president is used by adherents, it is usually prefaced by the title "President". Russell M. Nelson has been the president since January 14, 2018.
