While priesthood authority presides in both the family and the Church, the priesthood functions in a different way in each of them, Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained Saturday afternoon.
"In our theology and in our practice, the family and the Church have a mutually reinforcing relationship," Elder Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve said. "The family is dependent upon the Church for doctrine, ordinances and priesthood keys. The Church provides the teachings, authority and ordinances necessary to perpetuate family relationships to the eternities."
Speaking of the interrelationship of the Church and the family, the apostle explained: "When families are strong, the Church is strong. The two run in parallel. Each is important and necessary, and each must be conducted with careful concern for the other."
Priesthood authority functions in both the Church and the family, he continued. "The priesthood is the power of God used to bless all of His children, male and female. Some of our abbreviated expressions, like 'the women and the priesthood,' convey an erroneous idea. Men are not 'the priesthood. . . .' The blessings of the priesthood, such as baptism, receiving the Holy Ghost, the temple endowment and eternal marriage, are available to men and women alike. The authority of the priesthood functions in the family and in the Church, according to the principles the Lord has established.
"When my father died, my mother presided over our family. She had no priesthood office, but as the surviving parent in her marriage she had become the governing officer in her family. At the same time, she was always totally respectful of the priesthood authority of our bishop and other Church leaders. She presided over her family, but they presided over the Church."
There are similarities and differences in the way priesthood authority functions in the family and in the Church, Elder Oaks explained. One important difference is that priesthood authority in the Church is under the direction of one who holds the appropriate priesthood keys. "In contrast, the authority that presides in the family — whether father or single-parent mother — functions in family matters without the need to get authorization from anyone holding priesthood keys."
Elder Oaks emphasized that while Church organizations have geographic boundaries and Church callings are temporary, "family relationships are permanent." While a Church leader can call or release persons serving under his direction, "family relationships are so important that the head of the family lacks the authority to make changes in family membership. This can only be done by someone authorized to adjust family relationships under the laws of man or the laws of God."
Continuing, Elder Oaks said: "A most important difference in the functioning of priesthood authority in the family and in the Church results from the fact that the government of the family is patriarchal, whereas the government of the Church is hierarchical. The concept of partnership functions differently in the family than in the Church."
After reading a portion of the Proclamation on the Family concerning fathers and mothers being "obligated to help one another as equal partners," Elder Oaks emphasized that men "must exercise their priesthood authority according to the Lord's principles for its use: 'No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by . . . long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned."
In addition, Elder Oaks added, because single women do "not now experience priesthood authority in the partnership relationships of marriage," it is imperative to have an effective ward council.
As the world is losing its understanding of marriage and family, he emphasized, "it is vital that Latter-day Saints have no confusion about these matters."