Disciplinary Love

A few months back, I happened across a video on YouTube, from the HBO show Big Love. The clip depicts one of the show’s characters, a fictional plural wife, appearing before an equally fictitious Church disciplinary council. Suffice to say: while people are people and even Church leaders are extremely human, the depiction is very unflattering and completely at odds with the way such disciplinary councils should be carried out (i.e. with Christian love for the accused). I commented on this, at the time, saying that if any real Priesthood leader were to act the way these fictional ones did, said Priesthood leader would probably also be called up for a disciplinary council. Since that time, I have not returned to the video nor its thread.

A few days ago, woman named Anne replied to my posted with an honest question:

out of curiosity, what is a priesthood leader and what is censure? Not a mormon just curious. Are any of these guys priesthood holders or can any mormon man be one?

As YouTube comments are limited to 500 characters, I responded:

Anne, the term "Priesthood holder" is generally used to mean a person who has been ordained to a Priesthood office. Most active Latter-day Saint men hold some Priesthood office, but it's definitely not an automatic thing.

She then asked:

Do they require theological training for this office? Like in other Christian Denominations? Or is this a personal position they hold within their church with their families? Do women receive any roles in the church that are similar? Can a woman hold any kind of office in the church? I am just curious because I hear this term alot in the show and on TV and I see men with this title but curious if women can hold some form of spiritual guidance or leadership as well.

As there are obviously a lot of questions in this post—and a lot of background required, to understand some of the answers, I have chosen to respond in this forum. So Anne, I hope you’re reading. Here we go! :-)


1.  Do Priesthood holders require theological training for this office?

I think the first thing one needs to understand, when discussing the Latter-day Saint concept of Priesthood, is what the word actually means. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ official Guide to the Scriptures defines “Priesthood” as follows:

The authority and power that God gives to man to act in all things for the salvation of man (D&C 50:26–27). Male members of the Church who hold the priesthood are organized into quorums and are authorized to perform ordinances and certain administrative functions in the Church.¹

So the first thing to note is that Priesthood is not an organization, a group of people, etc.; it is a power. The best comparison I could give is that Priesthood is like electricity or gravity: an invisible source of power that can nonetheless be used to accomplish great things. Ultimately, Priesthood is the power God Himself uses, when He does things like communicate through prayer, part the Red Sea, or organize matter into a universe such as our own. It’s all done through Priesthood, and the authority to use that Priesthood is delegated unto His children here on Earth.

So that being established, I return to your original question, to which the answer is, for the most part, no. All members receive basic instruction in the principles of the gospel, both before and after joining the Church. This instruction takes the form of personal study, periodic home visits, and Sunday instruction, but should ideally be grounded in the most important unit in the Church, the family. This brings us to your second question:


2. Is this a personal position they hold within their church with their families?

As mentioned, Latter-day Saints view the family as the most basic unit of the Church. Church services are designed to complement and enhance family instruction, but the most important teachings can and should occur within the four walls of one’s own home. Of course, like the more outward Church units, the home is to be “a house of order” (see, for example, Doctrine & Covenants 90:18; cf. D&C 132:8), guided by the Priesthood. The mother and father stand jointly at the head of their family, with father—who would ideally hold the Melchizedek Priesthood—gaining experience by presiding. This leads us to question 3:


3. Do women receive any roles in the church that are similar? Can a woman hold any kind of office in the church?

Absolutely! When we return to the earlier definition of “Priesthood,” we note that “Male members of the Church who hold the priesthood are organized into quorums and are authorized to perform ordinances and certain administrative functions in the Church.” However, this only tells half of the story. It is accepted within the Church that men and women are different, yet mutually necessary—not only for the physical continuation of the species, but for the benefit and teaching of humankind. While any discussion of how we differ would necessarily drift into broad generalities that may or may not apply to specific individuals, the fact remains that men and women do tend to operate differently, and Church callings are specifically tailored to these differences.

In addition to the obvious family units, Latter-day Saints are organized into geographically-based congregations known as “wards” (a fully organized congregation), “branches” (usually smaller congregations that lack adequate membership to fill all positions), and “groups” (tiny congregations that operate as satellites for distant or otherwise isolated members of wards or branches). These congregational units are then organized into “stakes” and “districts,” organized roughly as per this infographic. Since the Church of Jesus Christ has no paid ministry, virtually every adult member of the congregation receives a “calling,” a job to do in the Church. Some of these callings (e.g. bishop, Young Men’s leader, etc.) are exclusively given to men. Others (e.g. Relief Society President, Young Women’s leader, etc.) are exclusively given to women. Still others (e.g. chorister, ward missionary, etc.) are given to individuals of either sex. But regardless of the calling or the individual, all represent the use of the Priesthood—again, “the authority and power that God gives to man to act in all things for the salvation of man”—and are given by divine revelation to those whom God has previously called to preside in a given area. The fact that women are not organized into quorums, but instead function as a singular, unit-wide Relief Society, does not in any way diminish their importance nor Priesthood; it simply speaks to the differing needs of men and women and the Church’s best, though always imperfect, attempts to cater to said needs.

So, this brings us to the related, fourth and final question:


4. Can women can hold some form of spiritual guidance or leadership as well?

Again, they most assuredly can. As shown in the above infographic, women preside in the Church’s Relief Societies, Young Women’s programs, and Primary programs; and serve in many capacities beyond these areas. On a personal note, I currently serve as one of the instructors for our ward’s 10-12–year-olds. As part of that calling, I report directly to a Primary Presidency of four women, each of whom is currently called to preside over me (and all the other Primary instructors, natch). While I do hold the Priesthood office of elder (an office in the aforementioned Melchizedek Priesthood), these women, who do not hold any specific Priesthood office, are nonetheless called and authorized to preside over me.

Another point of interest is that in Latter-day Saint doctrine, salvation is sort of a family affair. While each of us is obviously responsible for his or her own, personal relationship with our Savior, receiving all that God Has to offer—what Latter-day Saints call “exaltation”—is a blessing that can only be received by a husband and wife, together. To bring this back to Big Love, some believe this is why, as in Biblical times, the Lord has occasionally allowed plural marriages: unless the number of men who accept God’s atoning grace be identical to the number of women who do, someone’s going to have to have a plural marriage. But thankfully, that’s not something we need to figure out, right now. God’s in control, and He knows a lot better than we do. :-)


So, Anne, hope that helps, and please feel free to post any more questions!