Council of Twelve Apostles in the Community of Christ

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In the Community of Christ, "The Council of Twelve Apostles" are disciples who hold the priesthood office of Apostle, and are responsible for the evangelistic witness of the church. Apostles are also High Priests in the Melchizedek priesthood of the Church. Individual apostles may be assigned to various responsibilities of church leadership, including field administration. Together with the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric, this council is a part of the "World Church Leadership Council." Each of the apostles is called to serve as a "special witness of the gospel", and each is appointed by the First Presidency to oversee one or more of the church's mission fields. In recent years, some members of the Council are also given responsibility for certain areas of program ministry. If for any reason the First Presidency is dissolved or otherwise unable to preside over the World Conferenece, the Council of Twelve Apostles presides over the conference until such time as the First Presidency resumes functioning or is reorganized. Assigned by the First Presidency, they carry major responsibility for church expansion, and serve as administrative supervisors of field jurisdictions. The Council of Twelve Apostles elects one of its members to serve as President of the Council of Twelve and another member to serve as Secretary of the Council of Twelve. Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles are normally full-time paid ministers, called "Apointee Ministers" in the Community of Christ.

As with all priesthood in the Community of Christ, members of the Council of Twelve are considered to be "called by God." The President of the Church "receives" the call, and after consultation with the other two members of the First Presidency, "presents" the call to the candidate. If the candidate accepts, the candidates name is presented to the World Conference and the call is sustained by majority vote. New apostles are ordained in a special worship service held during the World Conference. Prior to the Presidency of W. Grant McMurray, the call of Apostles and other members of presiding quorums of the church were named in an "inspired document" that was added to the Scriptures of the Church in the Doctrine and Covenants. McMurray and others believed that the lengthy passages related to priesthood calls reduced the readability of the Doctrine and Covenants. Since that time, these piesthood calls have been presented in a separate document that is not included in the Doctrine and Covenants. Most apointee ministers live in the Independence, Missouri area, however, the current trend is to base Apostles in the field. Each apostle has an office in The Temple at Independence and they share administrative staff.

Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles directly supervise Mission Center Presidents and missionaries holding the priesthood office of Seventy. They have the authority to call Mission Cener Conferences and frequently preside over certain portions of the various conferences. Apostles usually initiate calls to the Office of High Priest, Evangelist and Seventy, often in consultation or at the behest of Mission Center Presidents. Apostles usually hold annual or semi-annual meetings of the apointee ministers and key staff members in their fields. Apostles have the authority to organize or dissolve congregations and ministry groups. If a Mission Center President takes over operation of a congregation (usually only in situations of extreme dissent), an appeal of this decision may be made to the Apostle that supervises that field. Apostles typically travel to missionary fields around the world, even when they have fields entireley within the United States. This international missionary experience is believed to enrich both the recipients of the ministry as well as the experience of the Apostles' themselves. Most jurisdictions of the Community of Christ hold summertime family camps called "reunions." Apostles usually spend much of their summer attending various reunions.

[edit] Progressive Influence

The Council of Twelve Apostles has long been regarded as the primary advocates for the growing international presence of the church and its international witness of Jesus Christ. In addition, the Council has frequently strived to lead the church towards progressive stances on issues such as homosexuality, women in the priesthood, open communion, ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, environmentalism, peace and justice ministries. Former Apostle Charles Neff (1958-1984), led the Council of Twelve in developing relativistic viewpoints towards both ritual and doctrine in order to make the gospel relevant across cultures. The Community of Christ has ordained women to the priesthood since 1985, and the church has always ordained persons of African heritage. Presently, the Council contains four female apostles and one native African.

[edit] Current members

The current members of the Council and the Mission Fields and other assignments they oversee, are as follows:

  • James E. Slauter — President, Council of Twelve (2005-Present), Director of Field Ministries, Young Adult and Campus Ministries (1996)
  • Linda L. Booth — Secretary, Council of Twelve, Southern USA Mission Field; Church Planting Ministries, Contemporary Christian Ministries (1998)
  • David R. Brock — Pacific Mission Field; Hispanic American Ministries; Native American Ministries (1992)
  • Bunda C. Chibwe — Africa Mission Field (2000)
  • Stassi D. Cramm — Michigan USA Mission Field, African-American Ministries, Director of Mission Support Ministries (2005)
  • Mary Jacks Dynes — Canada/North Central (USA) Mission Field; (2002)
  • Ronald D. Harmon Jr. — East Central USA Mission Field, Director of Leadership Development Ministries, Spectacular and IYF, Urban Ministries (2005)
  • John P. Kirkpatrick — Asia Mission Field, Director of WorldService Corps (1988)
  • Dale E. Luffman — Central USA Mission Field, Singles Ministries; Theological Education Ministries (1994)
  • Rick W. Maupin — Latin American/Caribbean Mission Field (2005)
  • Susan D. Skoor — Western USA Mission Field (2005)
  • Leonard M. Young — North Atlantic (Europe/USA) Mission Field (2000)

[edit] 1844 to present

This is a list of the members of the Council in the Community of Christ ordained after 1844. The dates are the years they served as a member of the Council of Twelve.

  • Jason W. Briggs (1853–1886)
  • Zenas H. Gurley, Sr. (1853–1871)
  • Henry Harrison Deam (1853–1854)
  • Reuben Newkirk (1853–1873)
  • John Cunningham (1853–1855)
  • George White (1853–1859)
  • Daniel B. Rasey (1853–1873)
  • Samuel Powers (1855–1873)
  • David Newkirk (1855–1865)
  • William W. Blair (1858–1873)
  • John Shippy (1860–1868)
  • James Blakeslee (1860–1866)
  • Edmund C. Briggs (1860–1902)
  • Josiah Ells (1865–1885)
  • Charles Derry (1865–1870)
  • William H. Kelley (1873–1913)
  • Thomas Wood Smith (1873–1894)
  • James Caffall (1873–1902)
  • John H. Lake (1873–1902)
  • Alexander Hale Smith (1873–1897)
  • Zenas H. Gurley, Jr. (1874–1885)
  • Joseph R. Lambert (1873–1902)
  • James W. Gillen (1887–1899)
  • Heman C. Smith (1888–1909)
  • Joseph Luff (1887–1909)
  • Gomer T. Griffiths (1887–1922)
  • Isaac N. White (1897–1913)
  • John W. Wight (1897–1913)
  • Richard C. Evans (1897–1902)
  • Peter Andersen (1901–1920)
  • Frederick A. Smith (1902–1913)
  • Francis Sheehy (1902–1920)
  • Ulysses W. Greene (1902–1922)
  • Cornelius A. Butterworth (1901–1922)
  • John W. Rushton (1902–1947)
  • James F. Curtis (1909–1938)
  • Robert C. Russell (1909–1922)
  • James E. Kelley (1913–1917)
  • William Murray Aylor (1913–1922)
  • Paul M. Hanson (1913–1958)
  • James A. Gillen (1913–1934)
  • Thomas W. Williams (1920–1925)
  • Myron A. McConley (1920–1948)
  • Clyde F. Ellis (1923–1945)
  • John F. Garver (1922–1946)
  • Daniel T. Williams (1922–1958)
  • F. Henry Edwards (1922–1946)
  • Edmund J. Gleazer (1922–1958)
  • Roy S. Budd (1922–1936)
  • George G. Lewis (1932–1948)
  • George C. Mesley (1938–1954)
  • Arthur Alma Oakman (1938–1964)
  • Charles R. Hield (1938–1964)
  • Blair D. Jensen (1946–1966)
  • Roscoe E. Davey (1947–1964)
  • Maurice L. Draper (1947–1958)
  • W. Wallace Smith (1947–1950)
  • Percy E. Farrow (1948–1966)
  • Reed M. Holmes (1948–1974)
  • Donald O. Chesworth (1950–1972)
  • Donald Victor Lents (1954–1980)
  • Charles D. Neff (1958–1984)
  • Clifford A. Cole (1958–1980)
  • Cecil R. Ettinger (1960–1974)
  • Duane E. Couey (1960–1966)
  • Russell F. Ralston (1964–1976)
  • William E. Timms (1964–1978)
  • Earl T. Higdon (1966–1974)
  • Alan D. Tyree (1966–1982)
  • Aleah G. Koury (1966–1980)
  • Howard S. Sheehy. Jr. (1968–1980)
  • John C. Stuart (1972–1982)
  • William T. Higdon (1974–1992)
  • Lloyd B. Hurshman (1974–1988)
  • Paul W. Booth (1974–1992)
  • Eugene C. Austin (1976–1994)
  • Roy H. Schaefer (1978–1988)
  • Phillip M. Caswell (1978–1998)
  • Kisuke Sekine (1980–1992)
  • Everett S. Graffeo (1980–1994)
  • Kenneth N. Robinson (1980–1996)
  • Joe A. Serig (1982–1998)
  • James C. Cable (1982–1996)
  • Geoffrey F. Spencer (1984–1994)
  • A. Alex Kahtava (1988–2002)
  • John P. Kirkpatrick (1988–present)
  • David R. Brock (1992–present)
  • Stephen M. Veazey (1992–2005)
  • Lawrence W. Tyree (1992–2002)
  • Danny E. Belrose (1994–2000)
  • Dale E. Luffman (1994–present)
  • Kenneth L. McLaughlin (1994–2005)
  • Peter A. Judd (1996–2000)
  • James E. Slauter (1996–present)
  • Gail E. Mengel (1998–2005)
  • Linda L. Booth (1998–present)
  • Leonard M. Young (2000–present)
  • Bunda C. Chibwe (2000–present)
  • Mary Jacks Dynes (2002–present)
  • David D. Schaal (2002–2005)
  • Ronald D. Harmon, Jr. (2005–present)
  • Rick W. Maupin (2005–present)
  • Susan D. Skoor (2005–present)
  • Stassi D. Cramm (2005-present)
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