Presiding Patriarch

In the Latter Day Saint movement, 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 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 and most important offices of the church's priesthood. The role was equated by Joseph Smith, Jr. 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, Joseph Smith's brother, 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.

The Community of Christ

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, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, ordains a Presiding Evangelist who plays an important role as a world church leader, 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, a grandson of Joseph Smith, Jr., presented Roy Cheville as a successor to Elbert A. Smith. Unlike Elbert A. Smith, Cheville was not a descendant of Joseph Smith, Sr.. Prior to 1984 Presiding Patriarch and Presiding Evangelist were used interchangeably for the one presiding over the Order of Evangelists. In 1984, the Community of Christ dropped the use the name Presiding Evangelist for this role, along with the change of name of the local office of Evangelist-Patriarch to simply Evangelist. The current Presiding Evangelist of the Community of Christ is David R. Brock.

Role within the Community of Christ

Within the international leadership Councils, Quorums, and Orders of the Community of Christ, the Presiding Evangelist serves as a spiritual companion, counselor and guide to the church and its leaders, and to the Order of Evangelists in fulfilling the significant ministry they provide, especially what the church considers "a time of transformation and change".

According to the church, Evangelists are ordained to be ministers of blessing, witnessing of Jesus Christ and responsive to the reconciling and redeeming influence of the Holy Spirit in the lives of persons, serving in multiple ministries according to the unique gifts and callings of each evangelist.

Chronology of the Presiding Patriarchs/Evangelist of The Community of Christ

Duties within The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) effectively discontinued the office of Presiding Patriarch in 1979, without publishing any known revelation to that effect. Until that time, the role and duties of the office had varied. The Presiding Patriarch sometime 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 was also empowered to give patriarchal blessings.

History of the Presiding Patriarch within the LDS Church

In the history of the LDS Church, there have been eight Presiding Patriarchs, three Acting Presiding Patriarchs, and one Patriarch Emeritus. When a Presiding Patriarch has existed, the church has sustained the person as a prophet, seer, and revelator.

• 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 to 1934 and from 1934 to 1937, respectively.^[8] 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 set apart 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^[9] 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 having a gay relationship with another Latter-day Saint man.^[10]

• 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.^[11] 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, which is considered unlikely^[12] Gary Smith has co-authored a book expressing his agreement with the necessity and inevitability of the elimination of the office, and he believes the church has discontinued the office.^[13] The church has not stated whether or not it will appoint a new Presiding Patriarch upon Smith's death.

Chronology of the Presiding Patriarchs of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

See also

• Lineal Succession (Mormonism)
• Patriarch (Mormonism)
• Patriarchal Priesthood
• Patriarchal blessing

Notes

References

• Smith, E. Gary (1988). "The Office of Presiding Patriarch: The Primacy Problem". Journal of Mormon History 14. http://content.lib.utah.edu/u?/jmh,16338 .
• Bates, Irene M.; Smith, E. Gary (2003) [1996]. Lost Legacy: The Mormon Office of Presiding Patriarch. Urbana, Illinois: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 9780252071157. OCLC 53077386. http://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/73frh7te9780252071157.html. .
• Peggy Fletcher Stack, "Century Mark: Church leader with historic position nears 100th birthday", Salt Lake Tribune, December 29, 2006.[1] - now archived (fee-based); also aggregated by ProQuest Newspapers (subscription).