Presiding Patriarch (Latter Day Saints)
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In Mormonism, the Presiding Patriarch (also called Presiding Evangelist, Patriarch over the Church, Patriarch of the Church, or Patriarch to the Church) is a Church-wide leadership office within the Latter Day Saint Priesthood. Among the duties of the Presiding Patriarch are to preside in council meetings, ordain other patriarchs, and administer Patriarchal Blessings.
Originally, the office of Presiding Patriarch was one of the highest positions in the Church. The role was equated with Biblical Patriarchs from Adam to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and it was expected that the office would descend through lineal succession from father to son. This precedent was set when Hyrum Smith, the brother of Church founder Joseph Smith, Jr., became the second Presiding Patriarch because he was the eldest surviving son of the first Presiding Patriarch, Joseph Smith, Sr. When the office was given to Hyrum, he was given "keys of the patriarchal priesthood over the kingdom of God on earth, even the Church of the Latter Day Saints". Thus, some have argued that Presiding Patriarch is an office of the Patriarchal Priesthood. However, the existence and meaning of the Patriarchal Priesthood is controversial and uncertain.
In the major denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement, the role of the Presiding Patriarch diminished substantially after the death of Hyrum Smith. Today, the Community of Christ ordains a Presiding Evangelist who plays an important role in the Church, but it is not required that the person be a descendant of Joseph Smith's family. That tradition was discontinued in 1958 when RLDS Church President W. Wallace Smith presented Roy Cheville as a successor to Elbert A. Smith. Unlike Elbert A. Smith, Cheville was not a descendant of Joseph Smith, Sr. In 1984, the Community of Christ changed the name of the office from Presiding Patriarch to Presiding Evangelist, along with the change of name of the local office of Evangelist-Patriarch to simply Evangelist. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has effectively discontinued the office of Presiding Patriarch as of 1979.
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[edit] Duties
The role and duties of the office have varied. The Presiding Patriarch sometimes appointed local patriarchs in the stakes of the Church and presided over them as a loose "Quorum of Patriarchs." Like the local Patriarchs, the Presiding Patriarch is also empowered to give Patriarchal Blessings.
[edit] History of the Presiding Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
In the history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, there have been eight Presiding Patriarchs, three Acting Presiding Patriarchs, and one Patriarch Emeritus.
- The first Presiding Patriarch was Joseph Smith, Sr., father of the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, Jr. The elder Smith was ordained to the office by his son on December 18, 1833 in Kirtland, Ohio.
- When the senior Smith was on his deathbed, he ordained his eldest son, Hyrum Smith, to succeed him in the office by right of lineal succession.
- When Hyrum was assassinated with his brother Joseph, their only surviving brother, William Smith asserted his lineal right to the Patriarchate. William was duly ordained to the office by senior Apostle Brigham Young in 1845. Later that same year, William was excommunicated from the Church by Young for apostasy. After joining himself with a rival faction of the Church led by James J. Strang, William was sustained as Presiding Patriarch for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Strangite). He later left Strang's organization and asserted his own claim to be successor by right of lineal succession to the Presidency of the Church (after joining himself with other factions for short periods of times).
- In the meantime, Young called John Smith, a brother of Joseph Smith Sr. known as "Uncle John", to be Presiding Patriarch of the largest Latter Day Saint Church faction, which is known today as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. John Smith served from 1847 until his death in 1854
- John Smith was succeeded by Hyrum's son, John Smith, who was ordained in 1855 and served until his death in 1911.
- This John Smith was followed by his grandson, Hyrum G. Smith, who was ordained in 1912 and served until his death in 1932.
- Officially, the office was left vacant from 1932 until 1937. However, some Church sources state that Nicholas G. Smith and Frank B. Woodbury served as Acting Presiding Patriarch from 1932 tp 1934 and from 1934 to 1937, respectively.[1] These two patriarchs were not direct descendants of Joseph Smith, Sr., were not sustained to their positions in General Conference, and it is unknown whether they were ordained or set apart as Acting Presiding Patriarchs. It is clear, however, that they fulfilled the duties normally performed by the Presiding Patriarch between 1932 and 1937.
- In 1937 George F. Richards, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, was officially called, sustained, and ordained to the office of Acting Presiding Patriarch. Like Nicholas Smith and Woodbury, Richards was not a descendant of Joseph Smith, Sr., and therefore had no right to the Patriarchate based on descent. It is for this reason that he was considered to be merely "acting" in the capacity of Presiding Patriarch.
- In 1942, Richards was released from his duties as Acting Patriarch and Church President Heber J. Grant called Joseph Fielding Smith to be the Presiding Patriarch. Smith was the son of Apostle Hyrum M. Smith and a grandson of his namesake, former Church President Joseph F. Smith, who himself was the son of Hyrum. Therefore, the new Presiding Patriarch qualified as a direct descendant of Joseph Smith, Sr. However, this was nevertheless the first time since the call of "Uncle John" that the Church had departed from the practice of father-to-son or father-to-grandson lineal succession, for Joseph Fielding Smith was not a descendant of Hyrum G. Smith, who was in 1942 the most recent Presiding Patriarch that was not considered to be merely acting in the calling. Joseph Fielding Smith was released from the position of Presiding Patriarch in 1946 by Church President George Albert Smith when it was discovered that he was carrying on a homosexual affair with a 21-year-old Latter-day Saint.[2]
- In 1947, the Church returned to the practice of father-to-son lineal succession by calling Hyrum G. Smith's son Eldred G. Smith to the office of Presiding Patriarch. In 1979, the First Presidency announced that Eldred G. Smith had been honorably released and designated Patriarch Emeritus.[3] This administrative action has effectively discontinued the office within the LDS Church. Upon Smith's death, if the Church were to fill the position by continuing the practice of father-to-son lineal succession, Eldred's son E. Gary Smith would become Patriarch to the Church. The Church has not stated whether or not it will appoint a new Presiding Patriarch upon Smith's death.
[edit] Chronology of the Presiding Patriarch of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
| Dates | Presiding Patriarch | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| 18 December 1833—14 September 1840 | Joseph Smith, Sr. | Father of Joseph Smith, Jr. |
| 14 September 1840—27 June 1844 | Hyrum Smith | Oldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Sr. |
| 24 May 1845—19 October 1845 | William Smith | Oldest surviving son of Joseph Smith, Sr. |
| 24 December 1847—23 May 1854 | John Smith | "Uncle John"; brother of Joseph Smith, Sr. |
| 18 February 1855—6 November 1911 | John Smith | Son of Hyrum Smith |
| 9 May 1912—4 February 1932 | Hyrum G. Smith | Grandson of John Smith, previous Presiding Patriarch; great-grandson of Hyrum Smith |
| 4 February 1932—1934 | Nicholas G. Smith (de facto Acting Presiding Patriarch) |
Son of Apostle John Henry Smith; grandson of Apostle George A. Smith; great-grandson of former Presiding Patriarch "Uncle" John Smith; was never officially called, set apart, or sustained as the Acting Presiding Patriarch, but carried out the functions of the office |
| 1934—1937 | Frank B. Woodbury (de facto Acting Presiding Patriarch) |
Unrelated to Smith family; was never officially called, set apart, or sustained as the Acting Presiding Patriarch, but carried out the functions of the office |
| 1937—8 October 1942 | George F. Richards (Acting Presiding Patriarch) |
Unrelated to Smith family; unlike Nicholas G. Smith and Frank B. Woodbury, was officially called, set apart, and sustained as the Acting Presiding Patriarch |
| 8 October 1942—6 October 1946 | Joseph Fielding Smith | Great-grandson of Hyrum Smith; not a descendant of previous Presiding Patriarch Hyrum G. Smith; resigned position |
| 10 April 1947—4 October 1979 | Eldred G. Smith | Son of former Presiding Patriarch Hyrum G. Smith; great-great-grandson of Hyrum Smith |
| 4 October 1979— | Eldred G. Smith (Patriarch Emeritus) |
Honorably released from duties and granted emeritus status |
[edit] Notes
- ^ Ludlow, Daniel H., ed. (1992). Encyclopedia of Mormonism. New York: Macmillan Publishing, "Presiding Patriarch". ISBN 0-02-879602-0.
- ^ Quinn, D. Michael (2001). Same-Sex Dynamics among Nineteenth-Century Americans: A Mormon Example. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, p. 370. ISBN 0252069587.
- ^ Ensign, Nov. 1979, 18.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Irene M. Bates and E. Gary Smith, Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch, Urbana, Illinois, 1996.
- Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Century Mark: Church leader with historic position nears 100th birthday," Salt Lake Tribune, 2006.[1]
