Bishopric

Initially referred to a bishop’s ecclesiastical jurisdiction, but eventually described the ecclesiastical body comprising the bishop and his assistants, or counselors. John Corrill and Isaac Morley were called as assistants to Bishop Edward Partridge in 1831. An 1835 revelation named the bishopric as the presidency of the lesser priesthood. That same year, JS taught that the bishop and his counselors were “set over her [Zion’s] temporal matters” and that the high council was “organized expressly to administer in all her spiritual matters.” The term bishopric was also used in the 1830s to describe priesthood positions generally, as in, for example, the idea that one could have his bishopric taken from him. See also “Bishop.”