The Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a priesthood calling with church-wide authority. The Presiding Bishop is the highest leadership position within the church's Aaronic priesthood.

Presiding Bishopric

Upon the Presiding Bishop's recommendation, the First Presidency calls two other men to assist the Presiding Bishop as his counselors; together these three compose the church's Presiding Bishopric. As well as being ordained to the Aaronic priesthood office of bishop, the members of the Presiding Bishopric are general authorities of the church. Like all other functioning bishops in the church they are ordained high priests in the Melchizedek priesthood. The Presiding Bishopric forms the governing body of the Corporation of the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is the legal entity owning many of the church's assets and holdings in some countries around the world.

Duties

The primary duties of the Presiding Bishopric are to oversee the temporal affairs (buildings, properties, commercial corporations, etc.) of the church and to oversee the bishoprics of congregations throughout the world. Along with the First Presidency and

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles A quorum is the minimum number of members of a deliberative assembly (a body that uses parliamentary procedure, such as a legislature) necessary to conduct the business of that group. According to ''Robert's Rules of Order Newly Revised'', the ...

, the Presiding Bishopric is a part of the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes, a group that oversees and authorizes the expenditure of all tithing funds. The Presiding Bishopric is also responsible for overseeing the church's Aaronic priesthood, although most of the work in this area is delegated to the Young Men general presidency. The Presiding Bishopric holds the power to join with twelve high priests of the church in convening the Common Council of the Church, the only body of the church which may discipline or remove the President of the Church or one of his counselors in the First Presidency. However, the Common Council has only been convened twice in the history of the LDS Church, and only once has it disciplined a First Presidency member, when Sidney Rigdon was excommunicated in absentia, in 1844.

History

The role of Presiding Bishop shares its origin with that of bishop.

Edward Partridge Edward Partridge Sr. (August 27, 1793 – May 27, 1840) was one of the earliest converts to the Latter Day Saint movement and served as the first Bishop of the Church. Early life Edward Partridge was born on August 27, 1793 to William and Jem ...

was the first man ordained to the office of bishop in the early

Church of Christ Church of Christ may refer to: Church groups * When used in the plural, a New Testament designation for local groups of people following the teachings of Jesus Christ: "...all the churches of Christ greet you", Romans 16:16. * The entire body of Ch ...

on February 4, 1831. Partridge became known as the First Bishop and later the "Presiding Bishop" to distinguish the calling from subordinate bishops who began to be called in the Nauvoo period (1839–44). The first person to be referred to as the "Presiding Bishop" of the church was Newel K. Whitney, who was given the title in 1847 when the First Presidency was reorganized. Since beginning his term of service in 2015, the church's current Presiding Bishop is

Gérald Caussé Gérald Jean Caussé (born 20 May 1963) has been the Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) since 9 October 2015. He is the fifteenth man to serve in this position. He has been a general authority of th ...

Possible other Presiding Bishop

According to

Orson Pratt Orson Pratt Sr. (September 19, 1811 – October 3, 1881) was an American mathematician and religious leader who was an original member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints). He became a member of the ...

and

John Taylor John Taylor, Johnny Taylor or similar may refer to: Academics *John Taylor (Oxford), Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, 1486–1487 *John Taylor (classical scholar) (1704–1766), English classical scholar *John Taylor (English publisher) (178 ...

, Vinson Knight was made the Presiding Bishop, with Samuel H. Smith and

Shadrach Roundy Shadrach Roundy (January 1, 1789 – July 4, 1872 Jenson, Andrew. ''Latter-day Saint Biographical Encyclopedia'' (Salt Lake City, utah: Deseret news Press, 1936) vol. 4, p. 717. ) was an early Latter Day Saint leader born in Rockingham, Vermont. Ro ...

as assistants, on January 19, 1841.LDS Church, ,

Doctrine and Covenants The Doctrine and Covenants (sometimes abbreviated and cited as D&C or D. and C.) is a part of the open scriptural canon of several denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement. Originally published in 1835 as Doctrine and Covenants of the Chur ...

. However, the LDS Church does not include Vinson Knight in its list of presiding bishops but considers Knight the "third general bishop of the Church."

Chronology of the Presiding Bishopric

Notes

{{Latter-day Saints, hide, hide, hide, hide, show Leadership positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Latter Day Saint hierarchy 1831 establishments in the United States 1831 in Christianity