Seventy (Latter Day Saints)
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Seventy is a priesthood office in the Melchizedek priesthood of several denominations within the Latter Day Saint movement, including The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Traditionally, a Latter Day Saint holding this priesthood office is a "traveling minister"[1] and an "especial witness"[2] of Jesus Christ, charged with the mission of preaching the gospel to the entire world under the direction of the Twelve Apostles.[3] The office of seventy is based on the seventy disciples mentioned in the Gospel of Luke 10:1-2. Multiple individuals holding the office of seventy are referred to collectively as seventies. Place in Latter Day Saint hierarchyIn practical terms, the priesthood office of seventy is one which has varied widely over the course of history. As originally envisioned by Latter Day Saint movement founder Joseph Smith, Jr. in the 1830s, the seventy were to be a body composed of several separate quorums of up to 70 seventies each, all of which would be led by seven presidents. These presidents, chosen from the first quorum, would appoint and direct the other quorums of seventy.[4] In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the largest of the Latter Day Saint denominations, the quorums of the seventy are directed and supervised hierarchically by the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who are in turn directed by the First Presidency. As introduced by Joseph Smith, the apostles and the seventy had authority only outside the main body of Latter Day Saints in Zion and in the outlying stakes. Members in Zion and the stakes were led by the High Council of Zion (under the direction of the First Presidency) and stake high councils. As a body, the seventy in the LDS Church are considered to be equal in priesthood authority with the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. This presumably means that if the apostles were killed or incapacitated, the seventy could take over the function of the apostles. However, in such circumstances, the seventy would be required to act unanimously.[5] Early Latter Day Saint quorums of seventyHistorically, the First Quorum of the Seventy came into being in 1835 when seven men were set apart as the First Seven Presidents of the Seventy. In 1837, six of the seven presidents were released because it was discovered that they had previously been ordained high priests. Five of these men were ultimately replaced by others. The other two—Levi W. Hancock and Joseph Young—remained members of the First Seven Presidents for the rest of their lives.[6] The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsIn The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the members of the First and the Second Quorums of the Seventy are general authorities of the church with responsibilities covering the church as a whole, including areas of the church where stakes are established. A member of the additional Quorums of the Seventy (currently numbered Third through Eighth) is called an area seventy. Members of these quorums are ordained to the priesthood office of seventy, but they are not general authorities of the church. Area seventies have authority only within a geographical unit of the church called an area. History of the seventy in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsExpanding membershipBy the time Joseph Smith was killed, he had already organized four incomplete quorums of seventy. By 1845, there were ten quorums of seventy. The seventies in the first quorum became the seven presidents for each of the other quorums; that is, there were 63 presidents, 7 for each of the 9 other quorums, and the seven remaining members were the presidency of the first quorum. The members of the first quorum were thus spread out across the church, making meetings of the first quorum rare. Elders were often ordained to the office of seventy immediately before they left on a mission. Quorums were not restricted to geography, so individual quorums were scattered all over the world. In 1883, church president John Taylor localized the quorums of seventy. Each stake was given a quorum of seventy, and seventies in that stake would belong to that quorum. Taylor also prescribed that the senior president of the first 63 quorums could meet with the seven presidents of the first quorum and that would constitute a meeting of the first quorum.[citation needed] This never happened, however. This organization continued until church president Spencer W. Kimball's reorganization of the seventies in 1976. Though the number of seventies in the church grew, the number of presidents remained at seven. In the 1930s, the First Seven Presidents were renamed the First Council of the Seventy. Eventually, the stake quorums of seventy were no longer numbered and in 1936 they were put under the local responsibility of stake presidents. Subsequently, in 1961, church president David O. McKay ordained those of the First Council of the Seventy who wished it to be high priests.[7] First Quorum of the Seventy formedIn 1975, under the direction of church president Spencer W. Kimball, the First Quorum of the Seventy was reconstituted. The First Quorum was composed of the former members of the First Council of the Seventy as well as new individuals selected by Kimball. The reason for the change was that the growth of the church necessitated the call of more general authorities. In 1976, the First Council of the Seventy, the First Quorum of the Seventy, and the Assistants to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were all merged into a new First Quorum of the Seventy under a seven-member Presidency of the Seventy.[8] In 1978, some of the older members of the seventy were retired as the first general authorities to be given emeritus status. However, members appointed through 1981 were still granted life tenure. Discontinuance of local quorums of seventyIn 1986, all stake quorums of seventy were abolished. The church encouraged local leaders to have ordained seventies meet with the local elders quorum or to ordain them as high priests. Second Quorum of the Seventy formedIn 1984, some seventies were appointed to the First Quorum of the Seventy who were not to serve for life, but for terms of several years. In 1989, these limited-term members were separated into a new Second Quorum of the Seventy . At the same time, the practice was instituted of retiring all members of the First Quorum at the autumn general conference following their 70th birthdays, or earlier in the case of serious health problems. Since 1989, members of the First Quorum and the Second Quorum have continued as general authorities of the church. Sometimes members are called from the Second Quorum into the First Quorum, and seventies are the most usual candidates in the popular imagination to become members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.[citation needed] Some flexibility on the terms of service has emerged in recent years. Area seventies and additional quorums of seventyAt the April 1995 general conference of the church, church president Gordon B. Hinckley announced the creation of a new leadership position known as the area authority.[9] The area authorities were to replace the regional representatives of the Twelve who had served as bridge of leadership between the general authorities and the local stake and mission presidents. In 1997, it was decided that area authorities would be ordained to the office of seventy. As a result, these area authorities were renamed area authority seventies, and the church announced that these new seventies would become members of the newly-created Third, Fourth, and Fifth Quorums of the Seventy.[10] Later, the title "area authority seventy" was shortened to area seventy, which is the title currently in use. The area seventies serve in the various geographic regions of the world called areas in which the church is governed by area presidencies. An area presidency is typically composed of members of the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy.[11] In 2004, the Fifth Quorum of the Seventy was divided to create the Sixth Quorum of the Seventy.[12] In May 2005, the Seventh and Eighth Quorums of the Seventy were created. The Fourth Quorum, which had served Mexico, Central and South America had grown to 72 members, and was split into the Fourth and Seventh Quorums. The Eighth Quorum was created to allow better geographic organization of the Third Quorum (not because the number of members exceeded seventy). The Third Quorum previously covered all of Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe and the western islands of the Pacific. The new Eighth Quorum serves Southern Asia, Australia, and the western islands of the Pacific. The Third Quorum continued to serve Africa, northern Asia, and Europe.[13] Seventies who became apostles or members of the First Presidency
Other noteworthy seventies
Current organizationAs of 2007, the Quorums of the Seventy are organized into eight quorums with a presidency of seven. The seventy fill an important role as emissaries of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Presidency of the church in efficiently organizing, training, proselytizing, and administering to millions of people scattered all across the globe. The seventy are the layer between local church administration and general church administration. In general, seventies must first be at least elders in the Melchizedek priesthood, but in practice most have previously been ordained to the office of high priest. Seventies may act in the place of apostles, but a seventy does not hold apostolic authority.[citation needed] This means that they may have the power to do anything that is required to organize and administer the church, as long as they are under the direction of an apostle. Apart from the seven presidents of the seventy, seventies do not hold priesthood "keys". Presidency of the SeventyHistorically, seven members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were called to serve as the Presidency of the Seventy. This precedent was broken, however, when in 2004 Robert C. Oaks of the Second Quorum of the Seventy was sustained to the Presidency to fill the vacancy created by Dieter F. Uchtdorf's call to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The church now states that the seven presidents are drawn from the "members of the First or Second Quorum of the Seventy".[14] The members of the Presidency of the Seventy often serve as heads of important church departments. In 2004, all area presidencies in the United States and Canada were dissolved; these areas were put directly under the jurisdiction of the Presidency of the Seventy.[15] The management of these areas is currently the primary responsibility of the Presidency of the Seventy. The Presidency of the Seventy is unique in the church in that not only are there seven members but all seven hold the "keys" of presidency. The man with the longest tenure of uninterrupted service in the presidency is called to preside over the other six as the presiding president or senior president of the seventy. The current Presidency of the Seventy and their areas of responsibility (as of August 2007) are:
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