General authority

Short description: Role and rank in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

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]

## Contents

* 1 Etymology
* 2 Composition and distinction from general officers
* 2.1 General officers
* 3 Tenure
* 4 Common consent
* 5 General authority firsts
* 6 See also
* 7 References
* 8 External links

## 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.

## 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  | Born in Hawaii, of Japanese descent; joined the First Quorum of the Seventy in 1976; 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 Dutch general authority  | Jacob de Jager  | April 1976  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Born in The Hague, Netherlands
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 German general authority  | F. Enzio Busche  | October 1977  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Native of Dortmund, Germany.
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 Spain general authority  | Francisco J. Viñas  | April 1996  | Second Quorum of the Seventy  | Released in 2016
First resident of Africa general authority  | Christoffel Golden Jr.  | April 2001  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Resident of South Africa
First French general authority  | Gérald Caussé  | April 2008  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Born in Bordeaux, France; called as counselor in the Presiding Bishopric in 2012, and called as Presiding Bishop in 2015
First Portuguese general authority  | José A. Teixeira  | April 2008  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Born in Vila Real, Portugal
Joseph W. Sitati  | April 2009  | First Quorum of the Seventy  | Native of Nairobi, Kenya
First Puerto Rican and Caribbean general authority[11] | Hugo E. Martinez  | April 2014  | Second Quorum of the Seventy  | Native of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico
First Italian general authority[12] | Massimo De Feo  | April 2016  | General Authority Seventy  | Native of Taranto, Italy; resident of Rome
First Fijian general authority.[13] | Taniela B. Wakolo  | April 2017  | General Authority Seventy  | Native of Lomaloma, Lau, Fiji; resident of Suva
First African-American general authority[14] | Peter M. Johnson  | April 2019  | General Authority Seventy  | Native of New York.
First Jamaican general authority  | Kevin G. Brown  | April 2025  | General Authority Seventy  | Native of Manchester, Jamaica.
First Botswanan general authority  | Clement M. Matswagothata  | April 2025  | General Authority Seventy  | Native of Middlepits, Botswana.

## 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. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 1.11 1.12 Gardner, Marvin K. (1992). "General Authorities". in Ludlow, Daniel H.. Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan. pp. 538–540. ISBN 0028796055. http://contentdm.lib.byu.edu/cdm/ref/collection/EoM/id/3724.
2. ↑ "Church Leadership, section General Authorities and General Officers". 2023-04-01. https://assets.churchofjesuschrist.org/57/d1/57d1fe6bd97e11edbd10eeeeac1e94f1ca0c6854/liahona_magazine_2023_05_may.pdf.
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, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/leaders/quorums-of-the-seventy?lang=eng, retrieved 2013-03-14
6. ↑ Monson, Thomas S. (May 2004), "The Sustaining of Church Officers", Ensign: 24, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2004/05/the-sustaining-of-church-officers .
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, http://rsc.byu.edu/archived/prophets-and-apostles-last-dispensation/members-quorum-twelve-called-each-president-church .
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. ↑ Jason Swenson, "Elder Hugo E. Martinez: 'The Lord is in charge'", Church News, 2014-04-14.
12. ↑ Jason Swensen, "Elder Massimo De Feo: 'We know we are not alone'", Church News, 26 May 2016.
13. ↑ Kathrin Krishna, Elder Wakolo First Fijian General Authority Seventy, Fiji Sun, 05 April 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2019.
14. ↑ 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[Usurped!] : brief biographies of every LDS Church general authority in history

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