The Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a priesthood calling with church-wide authority. The Presiding Bishop is the highest leadership position within the church's Aaronic priesthood, although most of the work in this area is delegated to the church's Young Men general presidency.

Presiding Bishopric

Upon the Presiding Bishop's recommendation, the First Presidency calls two other men to assist the Presiding Bishop as his counselors; together these three compose the church's Presiding Bishopric. As well as being ordained to the Aaronic priesthood office of bishop, the members of the Presiding Bishopric are general authorities of the church. Like all other functioning bishops in the church they are ordained high priests in the Melchizedek priesthood.

Duties

The primary duties[1] of the Presiding Bishopric are to oversee the temporal affairs (buildings, properties, commercial corporations, etc.) of the church and to oversee the bishoprics of congregations throughout the world. Along with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Presiding Bishopric is a part of the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes, a group that oversees and authorizes the expenditure of all tithing funds. The Presiding Bishopric is also responsible for overseeing the church's Aaronic priesthood, although most of the work in this area is delegated to the Young Men general presidency.

The Presiding Bishopric holds the power to join with twelve high priests of the church in convening the Common Council of the Church, the only body of the church which may discipline or remove the President of the Church or one of his counselors in the First Presidency. However, the Common Council has only been convened twice in the history of the LDS Church, and only once has it disciplined a First Presidency member, when Sidney Rigdon was excommunicated in absentia, in 1844.

History

The role of Presiding Bishop shares its origin with that of bishop. Edward Partridge was the first man ordained to the office of bishop in the early Church of Christ on February 4, 1831. Partridge became known as the First Bishop and later the "Presiding Bishop" to distinguish the calling from subordinate bishops who began to be called in the Nauvoo period (1839–44). The first person to be referred to as the "Presiding Bishop" of the church was Newel K. Whitney, who was given the title in 1847 when the First Presidency was reorganized.

Since beginning his term of service in 2015, the church's current Presiding Bishop is Gérald Caussé.

Possible other Presiding Bishop

According to Orson Pratt and John Taylor, Vinson Knight was made the Presiding Bishop, with Samuel H. Smith and Shadrach Roundy as assistants,[2] on January 19, 1841.[3] However, the LDS Church does not include Vinson Knight in its list of presiding bishops but considers Knight the "third general bishop of the Church."[2]

Chronology of the Presiding Bishopric

No. Dates Presiding Bishop First Counselor Second Counselor
1 February 4, 1831 – May 27, 1840 Edward Partridge
("Bishop")		 Isaac Morley
  (June 6, 1831 – May 27, 1840)		 John Corrill
  (June 6, 1831 – August 1, 1837)
Titus Billings
  (August 1, 1837 – May 27, 1840)
May 27, 1840 – October 7, 1844 None sustained
October 7, 1844 – April 6, 1847 Newel K. Whitney
("First Bishop of the Church")		 Reynolds Cahoon
  (1832–?)[4]: 35 
George Miller
  ("Second Bishop of the Church")
  (October 7, 1844 – latter end of 1846)[5]
2 April 6, 1847 – September 23, 1850 Newel K. Whitney
("Presiding Bishop")		 None
3 April 7, 1851 – October 16, 1883 Edward Hunter Leonard W. Hardy
  (October 6, 1856 – October 16, 1883)		 Jesse Carter Little
  (October 6, 1856 – Summer 1874)
Robert T. Burton
  (October 9, 1874 – October 16, 1883)
4 April 6, 1884 – December 4, 1907 William B. Preston Leonard W. Hardy
  (April 6, 1884 – July 31, 1884)
Robert T. Burton
  (October 5, 1884 – November 11, 1907)		 Robert T. Burton
  (April 6, 1884 – October 5, 1884)
John Q. Cannon
  (October 5, 1884 – September 5, 1886)
John R. Winder
  (April 8, 1887 – October 17, 1901)
Orrin P. Miller
  (October 24, 1901 – December 4, 1907)
5 December 4, 1907 – May 28, 1925 Charles W. Nibley Orrin P. Miller
  (December 4, 1907 – July 7, 1918)
David A. Smith
  (July 18, 1918 – May 28, 1925)		 David A. Smith
  (December 4, 1907 – July 7, 1918)
John Wells
  (July 18, 1918 – May 28, 1925)
6 June 4, 1925 – April 6, 1938 Sylvester Q. Cannon David A. Smith John Wells
7 April 6, 1938 – April 6, 1952 LeGrand Richards Marvin O. Ashton
  (April 6, 1938 – October 7, 1946)
Joseph L. Wirthlin
  (December 12, 1946 – April 6, 1952)		 Joseph L. Wirthlin
  (April 6, 1938 – October 7, 1946)
Thorpe B. Isaacson
  (December 12, 1946 – April 6, 1952)
8 April 6, 1952 – September 30, 1961 Joseph L. Wirthlin Thorpe B. Isaacson Carl W. Buehner
9 September 30, 1961 – April 6, 1972 John H. Vandenberg Robert L. Simpson Victor L. Brown
10 April 6, 1972 – April 6, 1985 Victor L. Brown H. Burke Peterson Vaughn J Featherstone
  (April 6, 1972 – October 1, 1976)
J. Richard Clarke
  (October 1, 1976 – April 6, 1985)
11 April 6, 1985 – April 2, 1994 Robert D. Hales Henry B. Eyring
  (April 6, 1985 – October 3, 1992)
H. David Burton
  (October 3, 1992 – April 2, 1994)		 Glenn L. Pace
  (April 6, 1985 – October 3, 1992)
Richard C. Edgley
  (October 3, 1992 – April 2, 1994)
12 April 2, 1994 – December 27, 1995 Merrill J. Bateman H. David Burton Richard C. Edgley
13 December 27, 1995 – March 31, 2012 H. David Burton Richard C. Edgley Keith B. McMullin
14 March 31, 2012 – October 9, 2015 Gary E. Stevenson Gérald Caussé Dean M. Davies
15 October 9, 2015 – present Gérald Caussé[6] Dean M. Davies (October 9, 2015 – October 3, 2020)

W. Christopher Waddell (October 3, 2020 – present)

 W. Christopher Waddell (October 9, 2015 – October 3, 2020)

L. Todd Budge (October 3, 2020 – present)

Notes

  1. ↑ McMullin, Keith B. "The Presiding Bishopric". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ensign, July 2005. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
  2. 1 2 Quinn, D. Michael (December 1973), "After Edward Partridge was called to be a bishop there were others who were called to be bishops. Did the Lord call Bishop Partridge to be a presiding bishop?", I Have a Question, Ensign, p. 32
  3. ↑ LDS Church, Doctrine and Covenants 124:141, Doctrine and Covenants.
  4. ↑ Van Orden, Bruce A. (2003). "Newel K. Whitney". In Winder, Michael K. (ed.). Presiding bishops. Salt Lake City, Utah: Eborn Books. ISBN 1890718106.
  5. ↑ George Miller was dropped as "Second Bishop of the Church" prior to 1847 due to apostasy .
  6. ↑ Though the new Presiding Bishopric was announced after the October 2015 General Conference (see Mormon Newsroom article "Presiding Bishopric Announced," 9 Oct 2015), it was not specifically ratified by a sustaining vote of the church in the April 2016 conference. The general sustaining of the "other General Authorities, Area Seventies, and general auxiliary presidencies as presently constituted" would have included the Presiding Bishopric (see Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "Sustaining of Church Officers," April 2016 General Conference).
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