Members of the LDS Church believe that because Jesus Christ stands at the head of the church, guiding it through his ordained servants on Earth, the 9-million member denomination is never without leadership even when the presiding First Presidency is dissolved upon the death of the prophet.
Such is the case this weekend following the death Friday of President Howard W. Hunter, 87, who had been president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly nine months. With that event, the mantle of leadership for the church shifted to the Council of the Twelve Apostles.The three-member First Presidency is automatically dissolved after the death of a church president, and the remaining members of the presidency take their places in the Council of the Twelve. That group will meet within days to ordain a new president to assume leadership of the church.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, 84, a member of the First Presidency for the past 14 years and a general authority for nearly 37 years, is now the president and senior member of the Council of the Twelve.
If the church does not depart from past practice, President Hinckley will be ordained and set apart as the 15th president of the church soon after funeral services are held for President Hunter.
The services for President Hunter, who had been ill with cancer and died at 8:35 a.m. Friday, March 3, in his downtown Salt Lake residence, will be held at noon Wednesday in the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Funeral details have not been announced by church officials, but a public viewing will be held Tuesday, March 7, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. in the Church Administration Building, 47 E. South Temple. No viewing will be held Wednesday morning. Burial will be in the Salt Lake City Cemetery.
The selection of a new president and prophet to lead the church will take place without fanfare in an orderly way that is rooted in church teachings, administration and in scripture.
In an April 1970 general conference address, the late President Spencer W. Kimball, then acting president of the Council of the Twelve, gave specific information on the actual process of succession.
Even when a president dies, President Kimball said, the church is not without leadership.
"The moment life passes from a president of the church, a body of men become the composite leader - these men already seasoned with experience and training. The appointments have long been made, the authority given, the keys delivered," President Kimball said.
The church teaches that one must not assume or aspire to such a calling. The fifth LDS Article of Faith states, "We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances there-of."
The late President Joseph Fielding Smith, who was the 10th president of the church, stated that there is no mystery about the choosing of the successor to the president of the church.
"The Lord settled this a long time ago, and the senior apostle automatically becomes the presiding officer of the church, and he is so sustained by the Council of the Twelve, which becomes the presiding body of the church when there is no First Presidency. The president is not elected, but he has to be sustained both by his brethren of the council (of the Twelve) and by the members of the church," President Smith said.
The process of selection of a new church president is firmly rooted in early church history. The Prophet Joseph Smith, in anticipation of his death, conferred upon the Council of the Twelve all the keys and authority which he held.
"He did not bestow the keys on any one member, but upon them all, so that each held the keys and authority. All members of the Council of the Twelve since that day have also been given all of these keys and powers. But these powers cannot be exercised by any one of them until, if the occasion arises, he is called to be the presiding officer of the church.
"The Twelve, therefore, in setting apart of the president do not give him any additional priesthood but confer upon him that which he has already received; they set him apart to the office, which is their right to do," President Smith said.
On the same topic, Elder David B. Haight of the Council of the Twelve, said a revelation (Doctrine & Covenants 107:24) from the Lord in 1935 provides the pattern for orderly succession. The revelation states that the Council of the Twelve Apostles is a body equal in authority to the First Presidency, Elder Haight said in an April 1986 general conference address.
President Hinckley, who has spent his entire adult life in service to the church, also has discussed succession and related matters in general conference addresses through the years. In a priesthood session talk delivered during the April 1994 general conference, President Hinckley referred to scriptures from the Doctrine & Covenants and other writings.
He reminded priesthood holders that Christ stands at the head of the church, "which bears his sacred name. He is watching over it. He is guiding it. Standing at the right hand of his father, he directs this work. His is the prerogative, the power, the option to call men in his way to high and sacred offices and to release them according to his will by calling them home. He is the master of life and death," President Hinckley said.
President Hinckley referred to the sustaining of church officers, which had taken place earlier during the day he spoke. He said the procedure of sustaining church officers is an "act of grave and serious importance, an act required under the revelation of the Lord."
He quoted Doctrine & Covenants 42:11: "Again I say unto you, that it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church."
President Hinckley said the procedure for calling people to positions in the church is "peculiar to the Lord's church." He said there is "no jockeying for position, no campaigning to promote one's virtues," which may be contrasted with the world.
"The Lord's way is quiet, it is a way of peace, it is without egotism or vanity or ambition. Under the Lord's plan, those who have responsibility to select officers are governed by one overriding question. Whom would the Lord have? There is quiet and thoughtful deliberation. And there is much of prayer to receive the confirmation of the Holy Spirit that the choice is correct," President Hinckley said.
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CHART
Order of seniority
Members of the Council of the Twelve, listed in order of seniority, with the year each was ordained an apostle:
* Gordon B. Hinckley, 1961
* Thomas S. Monson, 1963
Boyd K. Packer, 1970
L. Tom Perry, 1974
David B. Haight, 1976
James E. Faust, 1978
Neal A. Maxwell, 1981
Russell M. Nelson, 1984
Dallin H. Oaks, 1984
M. Russell Ballard, 1985
Joseph B. Wirthlin, 1986
Richard G. Scott, 1988
Robert D. Hales, 1994
Jeffrey R. Holland, 1994
* Were members of First Presidency, which was dissolved and they took their places back in the council upon the death of President Howard W. Hunter. Once a new First Presidency is sustained, new members can be added to the council to fill any vacancies.