HOW OFFICERS IN THE CHURCH ARE CHOSEN: A WORD TO BISHOPS. They are faithful men chosen by inspiration. The Lord has given us the way to do these things. He has revealed to us that it is the duty of the presiding authorities to appoint and call; and then those whom they choose for any official position in the Church shall be presented to the body. If the body reject them, they are responsible for that rejection. They have the right to reject, if they will, or to receive them and sustain them by their faith and prayers. That is strictly in accordance with the rule laid down of the Lord. If any officer in the Church has my sympathy, it is the bishop. If any officer in the Church deserves credit for patience, for long-suffering, kindness, charity, and for love unfeigned, it is the bishop who does his duty. And we feel to sustain in our faith and love, the bishops and counselors in Zion. We say to the bishoprics of the various wards: Be united; see eye to eye, even if you have to go down on your knees before the Lord and humble yourselves until your spirits will mingle and your hearts will be united one with the other. When you see the truth, you will see eye to eye, and you will be united.—Apr. C. R., 1907, p. 4.
JURISDICTION OF QUORUMS OF PRIESTHOOD. Now then, we have our high priests' quorums or councils, and we have our seventies' councils, and our elders, and then we have the councils of the priests, teachers and deacons of the lesser Priesthood. These councils each and all in their organized capacity, have jurisdiction over the fellowship of the members of these councils—if the member is an elder, or if a man has a standing in the seventies' quorum, or in the high priests' quorum, and he is misbehaving himself, shows a lack of faith, a lack of reverence for the position he holds in his council, or quorum, his fellowship in that quorum to which he belongs, or his standing should be looked after or inquired into, for he is amenable to his quorum for his good standing and fellowship in it. So that we have the check that the Lord has placed upon members of the Church, and when I say members of the Church, I mean me, I mean the apostles, I mean the high priests and the seventies and elders. I mean everybody who is a member of the Church.—Apr. C. R., 1913, p. 6.
JURISDICTION IN STAKES AND WARDS. Now again, the bishoprics, and the presidents of stakes, have exclusive jurisdiction over the membership or the standing of men and women in their wards and in their stakes. I want to state that pretty plain—that is to say, it is not my duty, it is not the duty of the seven presidents of seventies, nor of the council of the twelve apostles, to go into a stake of Zion and try for membership, or for standing in the Church, any member of a stake or ward. We have no business to do it; it belongs to the local authorities, and they have ample authority to deal with the membership in their wards and in their stakes. The bishops may try an elder for misconduct, for un-Christian-like conduct, for apostasy, or for wickedness of any kind that would disqualify him for membership in the Church, and they may pass upon him their judgment that he is unworthy of fellowship in the Church, and they may withdraw from him their fellowship. Then they may refer his case to the presidency and high council, and it will be the duty of the presidency and high council of the stake to deal with him, even to the extent of excommunication from the Church; and there is no remedy for this, only the right of appeal to the Presidency of the Church. If there may be, perchance, any injustice and partiality, lack of information or understanding on the part of the bishopric, which may not be corrected and therefore might be perpetuated by the decision of the high council, and the party aggrieved does not feel that he has had justice dealt out to him, he then has a right, under the laws of the Church, to appeal to the Presidency of the Church, but not otherwise.—Apr. C. R., 1913, p. 5.
DUTIES OF THOSE ENGAGED IN THE MINISTRY. I need not say to my brethren engaged in the ministry that it is expected of them that one and all will attend to the labors and be true to the responsibilities that rest upon them in the discharge of their duties as officers in the Church. We expect that the presidents of the stakes of Zion will be exemplars to the people. We expect them of a truth to be fathers unto those over whom they preside; men of wisdom, of sound judgment, impartial and just, men who will indeed qualify themselves, or who are indeed qualified by their natural endowments and by the inspiration from God which it is their privilege to enjoy, to preside in righteousness and to sit in righteous judgment over all matters brought to their attention, or that may legitimately belong to their office and calling. We anticipate the same fidelity, the same faithfulness, the same intelligent administration of their duties from the bishops and their counselors, and indeed upon these rests perhaps the greatest possible responsibility, for the reason that they are expected by their presidencies to attend to the various interests and needs of their people. It is expected of a bishop to know all the people in his ward, not only those who are faithful members of the Church, diligent in the performance of their duties and prominent by their good acts, but to know those who are cold and indifferent, those who are lukewarm, those who are inclined to err and to make mistakes; and not only these, but it is expected that the bishops, through their aides in their wards, will become acquainted, not only with their members, male and female, but that they will know also the stranger that is within their gates and be prepared to minister solace, comfort, good counsel, wisdom and every other aid possible to be rendered to those who are in need, whether they are of the household of faith or are strangers to the truth. So that there is a great deal expected of the bishops and their counselors and the elders and lesser priesthood in their wards whom they call to their aid in administering to the people both spiritually and temporally, and I want to remark in this connection that it is the duty of these bishops and of the presidencies of the stakes of Zion, together with their high councils, to administer justice and right judgment to every member of their wards and of their stakes. Included in this are the high priests and the seventies and the elders and the apostles and the patriarchs and the presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. No man who is a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, or who has a standing in the Church as a member, is exempt from his responsibilities as a member and his allegiance to the bishop of the ward in which he dwells. I am as much bound to acknowledge my bishop as a member of the ward in which I dwell, as the humblest and latest member of the Church. No man, who claims to be a member of the Church in good standing, can rise above or become independent of the authority that the Lord Almighty has established in his Church. This watch-care of the people, of their right living, of their fidelity to their covenants and to the gospel of Jesus Christ, belongs to the presidents of stakes and their counselors and the high councils, or members of the high councils, to the bishop and his counselors and the teachers of his ward.—Apr. C. R., 1913, p. 4.
THE PURPOSE AND THE DUTY OF THE CHURCH: QUALITIES OF LEADERS. The Lord bless you. I see before me the leaders of the Church, the presiding spirits in the capacity of presidents of stakes, counselors to presidents of stakes, high councilors, bishops and their counselors, and those who are engaged in our educational institutions and in other responsible positions in the Church. I honor you all. I love you and your integrity to the cause of Zion. It is the kingdom of God or nothing, so far as I am concerned. I cut no figure personally in this work, and I am nothing except in the humble effort to do my duty as the Lord gives me the ability to do it. But it is the kingdom of God. What I mean by the kingdom of God is the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, of which Jesus Christ is the king and the head; not as an organization in any wise menacing or jeopardizing the liberties or rights of the people throughout the world, but as an organization calculated to lift up and ameliorate the condition of mankind; to make bad men good, if it is possible for them to repent of their sins, and to make good men better. That is the object and purpose of the Church, that is what it is accomplishing in the world. And it is very strict in regard to these matters. Drunkards, whoremongers, liars, thieves, those who betray the confidence of their fellowmen, those who are unworthy of credence—such, when their character becomes known, are disfellowshiped from the Church, and are not permitted to have a standing in it, if we know it. It is true that there are none of us but have our imperfections and shortcomings. Perfection dwells not with mortal man. We all have our weaknesses. But when a man abandons the truth, virtue, his love for the gospel and for the people of God, and becomes an open, avowed enemy, it becomes the duty of the Church to sever him from the Church, and the Church would be recreant to its duty if it did not sever him from communion, cut him off, and let him go where he pleases. We would do wrong if we hung on to and tried to nurture such evil creatures in our midst, no matter what the relationship may be that exists between us and them. Therefore, I say again, the Church of Jesus Christ stands for virtue, honor, truth, purity of life, and good will to all mankind. It stands for God the eternal Father, and for Jesus Christ, whom the Father sent into the world, and whom to know is life eternal. This is what the Church stands for, and it cannot tolerate abomination, crime and wickedness, on the part of those who may claim to have some connection with it. We must sever ourselves from them, and let them go. Not that we want to hurt them. We do not want to hurt anybody. We never have, and we do not intend to, hurt anybody. But we do not intend to be hurt by those who are seeking our destruction, if we can help it. It is our right to protect ourselves.—Apr. C. R., 1906, pp. 7, 8.
LEADERS MUST BE COURAGEOUS. One of the highest qualities of all true leadership is a high standard of courage. When we speak of courage and leadership we are using terms that stand for the quality of life by which men determine consciously the proper course to pursue and stand with fidelity to their convictions. There has never been a time in the Church when its leaders were not required to be courageous men; not alone courageous in the sense that they were able to meet physical dangers, but also in the sense that they were steadfast and true to a clear and upright conviction.
Leaders of the Church, then, should be men not easily discouraged, not without hope, and not given to forebodings of all sorts of evils to come. Above all things the leaders of the people should never disseminate a spirit of gloom in the hearts of the people. If men standing in high places sometimes feel the weight and anxiety of momentous times, they should be all the firmer and all the more resolute in those convictions which come from a God-fearing conscience and pure lives. Men in their private lives should feel the necessity of extending encouragement to the people by their own hopeful and cheerful intercourse with them, as they do by their utterances in public places. It is a matter of the greatest importance that the people be educated to appreciate and cultivate the bright side of life rather than to permit its darkness and shadows to hover over them.
In order to successfully overcome anxieties in reference to questions that require time for their solution, an absolute faith and confidence in God and in the triumph of his work are essential.
The most momentous questions and the greatest dangers to personal happiness are not always met and solved within oneself, and if men cannot courageously meet the difficulties, and obstacles of their own individual lives and natures, how are they to meet successfully those public questions in which the welfare and happiness of the public are concerned? Men, then, who are called to leadership should be alarmed at the possession of a disposition filled with forebodings and misgivings and doubts and constant wonderments. Clouds, threatening storms, frequently rise in the horizon of life and pass by as speedily as they came, so the problems and difficulties and dangers that beset us are not always met and solved, nor overcome by our individual effort nor by our efforts collectively.
It is not discreditable to a man to say, "I don't know," to questions whose solution lies wholly within some divine purpose whose end it is not given man clearly to foresee. It is, however, unfortunate when men and women allow such questions, questions which time and patience alone can solve, to discourage them and to defeat their own efforts in the accomplishment of their chosen lives and professions. In leaders undue impatience and a gloomy mind are almost unpardonable, and it sometimes takes almost as much courage to wait as to act. It is to be hoped, then, that the leaders of God's people, and the people themselves, will not feel that they must have at once a solution of every question that arises to disturb the even tenor of their way.—Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 38, p. 339, 1903.