First Presidency
Summary
The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two counselors to himself; by March 1833, JS and his counselors were functioning as the presidency of the high priesthood. The term “first presidency” was occasionally used to describe the presidency of the high priesthood by 1835. In spring 1835, the “Instruction on Priesthood” indicated that the Melchizedek priesthood held the right to preside over all church offices. The instruction also stated that three presidents of the high priesthood constituted a “quorum of the presidency of the church,” though the First Presidency sometimes consisted of more than three presidents. A president was appointed over the quorum of high priests in 1836, but the office remained distinct from JS’s role as president of the high priesthood. The First Presidency appointed church leaders, organized stakes, and provided spiritual leadership for the church. It also served as the ultimate authority in matters of church discipline, finances, and administration. Revelations in 1831 and 1838 established disciplinary procedures for trying members of the First Presidency.
Links
- History, 1838–1856, volume A-1 [23 December 1805–30 August 1834]
- Letter from Oliver Cowdery, 8 April 1831
- Letter from Thomas Burdick, 28 August 1840
- Account of Meetings, Revelation, and Blessing, 5–6 December 1834
- Appendix 5, Document 8. Blessing to Sidney Rigdon, 2 October 1835
- Blessing to Alvin Winegar, 7 February 1836
- Blessing to Lorenzo Barnes, 3 January 1836
- Celebration of the 4th of July, August 1838
- Charges against William Smith Preferred to the Church Presidency, 29 December 1835
- Discourse, 1 March 1835
- Discourse, 2 July 1839, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff
- Discourse, 2 May 1835, as Reported by William E. McLellin–B
- Discourse, 27 June 1839, as Reported by Wilford Woodruff
- Discourse, 6 April 1837
- Discourse, 6 May 1838
- Instruction on Priesthood, between circa 1 March and circa 4 May 1835 [D&C 107]
- Journal, 1832–1834
- Journal, 1835–1836
- Journal, 1839
- Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 2, 10 March 1843–14 July 1843
- Journal, March–September 1838
- Letter from Abel Lamb and Others, circa 28 May 1837
- Letter from Brigham Young and Willard Richards, 5 September 1840
- Letter from Heber C. Kimball, Joseph Fielding, and William Clayton, 25 May 1840
- Letter from Hyrum Smith, 2 January 1840
- Letter from John E. Page, 23 September 1840
- Letter from John P. Greene, 30 June 1839
- Letter from Orson Hyde, 15 December 1835
- Letter from Parley P. Pratt, 22 November 1839
- Letter from Parley P. Pratt, circa Early September 1842
- Letter from Reynolds Cahoon, 2 October 1835
- Letter from Robert B. Thompson, 13 May 1839
- Letter from Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, 23 September 1840
- Letter from Thomas B. Marsh, 15 February 1838
- Letter from Wilford Woodruff and Others, 9 March 1838
- Letter to Crooked Creek, Illinois, Branch, circa 7 or 8 July 1840
- Letter to John Corrill and the Church in Missouri, 4 September 1837
- Letter to Oliver Granger, between circa 22 and circa 28 July 1840
- Letter to Quorum of the Twelve, 4 August 1835
- Letter to Saints Scattered Abroad, 8 December 1839
- Letter to Saints Scattered Abroad, September 1840
- Letter to Stephen Post, 17 September 1838
- Letter to William Marks and Newel K. Whitney, 8 July 1838
- Letter to the Church in Caldwell County, Missouri, 16 December 1838
- Letterbook 1
- Letterbook 2
- License for Willard Richards, 2 June 1837
- Minutes and Blessings, 28 February–1 March 1835
- Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835, as Reported by William E. McLellin–A
- Minutes and Discourse, 2 May 1835, as Reported by William E. McLellin–B
- Minutes and Discourses, 27 February 1835, as Reported by Oliver Cowdery
- Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 April 1840
- Minutes and Discourses, 6–8 April 1843
- Minutes and Discourses, 7–8 March 1835
- Minutes, 14 February 1835
- Minutes, 16 January 1836
- Minutes, 16 March 1835
- Minutes, 16 September 1835
- Minutes, 17 August 1835
- Minutes, 17 February 1834
- Minutes, 17 March 1842
- Minutes, 18 March 1833
- Minutes, 19 September 1835
- Minutes, 22 December 1836
- Minutes, 24 April 1839
- Minutes, 28 December 1835
- Minutes, 28–29 August 1834
- Minutes, 3 September 1837
- Minutes, 30 March 1836
- Minutes, 6 June 1833
- Minutes, 7 November 1837
- Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 1 March 1835
- Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 February 1835
- Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book
- Note, 16 September 1835
- Note, circa 24 May 1839
- Ordination and Blessing of Cyrus Smalling, 30 June 1835
- Prayer of Dedication, 27 March 1836 [D&C 109]
- Recommendation for Heber C. Kimball, between 2 and 13 June 1837
- Recommendation for Samuel Bent and George W. Harris, [circa July 1840]
- Record of the Twelve, 14 February–28 August 1835
- Report of the First Presidency to the Church, 4 October 1840
- Resolution, circa 8 April 1838
- Revelation Book 1
- Revelation Book 2
- Revelation, 12 January 1838–A
- Revelation, 12 January 1838–B
- Revelation, 12 January 1838–C
- Revelation, 23 July 1837 [D&C 112]
- Revelation, 8 July 1838–D [D&C 120]
- Revelation, 8 July 1838–E [D&C 117]
- Revelation, circa June 1835 [D&C 68]
- Revelations printed in Evening and Morning Star, January 1835–June 1836
- Revised Minutes, 18–19 February 1834 [D&C 102]
- Rules and Regulations, 14 January 1836