General authority

A general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership within the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints^[1] 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".^[1] As of April 2023, The LDS listed 95 general authorities.^[2]

Etymology

The first scriptural use of the term general authority was in minutes of a meeting for the organization of the Presiding High Council in 1834. Though the original minutes did not refer to the term general authorities, the revised minutes, which were included in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, stated that decisions of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "can only be called into question by the general authorities of the church in case of transgression."^[3] The use of the term general authorities at this time and in this context is generally interpreted to include the First Presidency and the Presiding High Council.^{[citation needed]}

Composition and distinction from general officers

By definition, general authorities are members of the church's priesthood.^[1] In order of precedence,^[1] the general authorities include the members of the following leadership organizations:

Organization	Membership	Title given to members (e.g., Title Smith or Title John J. Smith)	Tenure
First Presidency	President of the Church and his chosen counselors	President[1]	President of the Church: Life Counselors: Until own death, death of the President of the Church, or release at the discretion of the president
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles	12 apostles	Elder;[1] president or acting president of the Quorum: President[1]	Typically life; may be removed from Quorum to join First Presidency
Presidency of the Seventy	7 seventies, typically drawn from the First or Second Quorum of the Seventy	Elder[1]	Variable (usually 5–8 years); until release at the discretion of the church president; may remain a member of the First or Second Quorum of the Seventy when released
First Quorum of the Seventy	Up to 70 seventies	Elder[1]	Life; will typically be relieved of active duties and granted emeritus status around age 70
Second Quorum of the Seventy	Up to 70 seventies	Elder[1]	Variable (usually 5–7 years); until release at the discretion of the church president
Presiding Bishopric	3 bishops: one presiding bishop and two counselors	Bishop[1]	Variable (usually 9–12 years); until release at the discretion of the church president; will typically become a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy upon their release[4]
Presiding Patriarch	Defunct (was 1 patriarch)	Elder	Defunct; Life; In 1979, Eldred G. Smith was released from active duties and given general authority emeritus status. A new presiding patriarch has not been called since his death in 2013.
Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles	Defunct (was variable)	Elder	Defunct; All Assistants to the Twelve were added to the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976 and the position was eliminated.

General officers

Not all church leaders with church-wide responsibility are considered general authorities. The general presidencies of the church's organizations, which are sustained as general officers of the church, but are not general authorities,^[1] include the general presidencies of the following organizations:

• Young Men
• Sunday School
• Relief Society
• Young Women
• Primary

The latter three groups are composed of women and represent the only three organizations in which women are given church-wide authority.

Also excluded from the definition of general authorities are members of the Third through the Twelfth Quorums of the Seventy, who are called area seventies and have responsibilities relating to a limited geographical area, not church-wide authority.^[5]

Until 2004, general leadership for the Sunday School and Young Men organizations had historically been filled by general authorities. However, in the church's April 2004 general conference, Thomas S. Monson, of the First Presidency, announced that "a recent decision [has been made] that members of the Quorums of the Seventy [will] not serve in the general presidencies of the Sunday School and Young Men."^[6]

Due to this change, no general organization presidencies are composed of general authority seventies. Rather, the general authorities remain active in general church committees and have less jurisdiction over local stakes. Generally, stake presidents now report to area seventies, who in turn report to area presidencies, which are usually composed of general authority seventies.

Typically, general authorities are given the sealing power, while general officers and area seventies are not.

Tenure

A person is typically called to be a general authority or general officer by a member of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve. The president of the church and members of the Quorum of the Twelve are typically called for life, although there have been more than a dozen instances when an apostle has been released from his service in the Quorum of the Twelve due to disfellowshipment, excommunication, or resignation.^[7]

As with any calling in the church, general authorities and general officers serve "until they are released". In current church practice, men called to the First Quorum of the Seventy typically remain general authorities for life, but are granted emeritus status in the October following their 70th birthday.^[8] Members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy are typically called for a period of five to seven years. When members of the Second Quorum are released, they are no longer general authorities of the church. When members of the presiding bishopric are released, they typically become members of the First Quorum of the Seventy and are therefore retained as lifetime general authorities, including later being granted emeritus status.^[9]

Common consent

In the church's biannual general conferences, held in April and October, all the general authorities and general officers of the church are presented to the Latter-day Saints for a sustaining vote, in accordance with the church's interpretation of the principle of "common consent".^[1] This is a voluntary indication made by each member (usually by raising the right hand) that the member assents to be led by the individuals presented as general authorities and general officers. Members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles are always named by name, as are any persons being added or released from a position or any general authority or general officer moving from one organization to another (e.g., a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy being called to the Presidency of the Seventy). Otherwise, the general authorities and general officers of the church are simply sustained "as presently constituted".

This biannual procedure is dictated by church theology, which states that the church shall be governed by the common consent of its membership.^[10] Dissenting votes are rare and have even more rarely prevented a person from holding the proposed position. General authorities and general officers are also assigned to deliver sermons during the two-day conferences.

General authority firsts

First	Individual	Date	Position	Notes
First second-generation general authority	Joseph Smith Sr.	December 18, 1833	Presiding Patriarch	Son Joseph Smith Jr. was President of the Church
First non-American general authority	John Taylor	December 19, 1838	Quorum of the Twelve Apostles	Born in England; joined church in Upper Canada
First third-generation general authority	John Smith	February 18, 1855	Presiding Patriarch	Father was Hyrum Smith, Assistant President of the Church and presiding patriarch; grandfather was Joseph Smith Sr., presiding patriarch
First fourth-generation general authority	Joseph Fielding Smith	April 7, 1910	Quorum of the Twelve Apostles	Father was Joseph F. Smith; President of the Church; grandfather was Hyrum Smith; great-grandfather was Joseph Smith Sr.
First general authority of Asian descent	Adney Y. Komatsu	4 April 1975	Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles	Joined the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976; was given emeritus status in 1993
First Native American general authority	George P. Lee	3 October 1975	First Quorum of the Seventy	Excommunicated in 1989
First resident of Europe general authority	Charles A. Didier	3 October 1975	First Quorum of the Seventy	Native of Belgium; was a member of the Presidency of the Seventy from 1992 to 1995 and from 2001 to 2007; was granted emeritus status 3 October 2009.
First resident of Asia general authority	Yoshihiko Kikuchi	October 1977	First Quorum of the Seventy	Native of Japan; was granted emeritus status 1 October 2011.
First resident of the United Kingdom general authority (i.e. resident when called)	Derek A. Cuthbert	March 1978	First Quorum of the Seventy	Died in 1991 during general conference.
First resident of Latin America general authority	Ángel Abrea	20 March 1981	First Quorum of the Seventy	Given emeritus status in 2003
First resident of Australia general authority	Robert E. Sackley	April 1988	First Quorum of the Seventy	Transferred to Second Quorum of the Seventy in 1989; died in 1993
First general authority of black African descent	Helvécio Martins	April 1990	Second Quorum of the Seventy	Released in 1995
First Korean general authority	Han In Sang	July 1991	Second Quorum of the Seventy	Released in 1996
First Filipino general authority	Augusto A. Lim	July 1992	Second Quorum of the Seventy	Released in 1997
First Chinese general authority	Tai Kwok Yuen	July 1992	Second Quorum of the Seventy	Released in 1997
First resident of Africa general authority	Christoffel Golden Jr.	April 2001	First Quorum of the Seventy	Resident of South Africa
First black African general authority[11]	Joseph W. Sitati	April 2009	First Quorum of the Seventy	Native of Nairobi, Kenya
First Puerto Rican and Caribbean general authority[12]	Hugo E. Martinez	April 2014	Second Quorum of the Seventy	Native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
First Italian general authority[13]	Massimo De Feo	April 2016	General Authority Seventy	Native of Taranto, Italy; resident of Rome
First Fijian general authority.[14]	Taniela B. Wakolo	April 2017	General Authority Seventy	Native of Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji; resident of Suva
First African-American general authority[15]	Peter M. Johnson	April 2019	General Authority Seventy	Native of New York.

See also

• Council on the Disposition of the Tithes
• List of general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

References

1. Gardner, Marvin K. (1992). "General Authorities". In Ludlow, Daniel H. (ed.). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan. pp. 538–540. ISBN 0028796055.
2. "Church Leadership, section General Authorities and General Officers" (PDF). Organization. LDS Church. 2023-04-01.
3. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 102:32
4. From 1961 to 2012, every member of the Presiding Bishopric had been called to be a general authority in another capacity upon being released from the Presiding Bishopric. Most have become Assistants to the Twelve or members of the First Quorum of Seventy; Robert D. Hales was called as member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In 2012, H. David Burton and his counselors were released and designated as emeritus general authorities.
5. "Quorums of the Seventy", Organization, LDS Church, retrieved 2013-03-14
6. Monson, Thomas S. (May 2004), "The Sustaining of Church Officers", Ensign: 24.
7. Flake, Lawrence R. (2001), "Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Called By Each President of the Church", Prophets and Apostles of the Last Dispensation, Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, pp. 321–322.
8. This practice had become more flexible for a period of time when Gordon B. Hinckley was church president. For example, as of the October 2004 General Conference, three of the seven members of the Presidency of the Seventy, two other members of the First Quorum, and four members of the Second Quorum were aged 70 or more and continued in office. During the administration of Thomas S. Monson, the typical pattern described has been used.
9. The April 2012 release of H. David Burton and his counselors was an exception to this, as they were simply designated as emeritus general authorities, rather than members of the First Quorum.
10. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 20:65
11. Stack, Peggy Fletcher (2009-04-20). "Africa's 'Mormon superstar' is first black African LDS general authority". The Salt Lake Tribune. Retrieved 2012-01-24.
12. Jason Swenson, "Elder Hugo E. Martinez: 'The Lord is in charge'", Church News, 2014-04-14.
13. Jason Swensen, "Elder Massimo De Feo: 'We know we are not alone'", Church News, 26 May 2016.
14. Kathrin Krishna, Elder Wakolo First Fijian General Authority Seventy, Fiji Sun, 05 April 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
15. Chris Kwiecinski, LDS church calls First African-American general authority, St. George Spectrum and Daily News, 6 April 2019. Retrieved 10 August 2019.

External links

• Grampa Bill's G.A. Pages : brief biographies of every LDS Church general authority in history