Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

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moonman239
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Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#1

Post by moonman239 »

I apologize if the title of this thread is poorly written. I can't think of any good titles.

I borrowed the phrase "line of succession" from the US presidential line of succession, which dictates who serves as President until either the elected President's term expires or the elected President returns to office.

My question is, who presides over a sacrament meeting if neither the bishop nor a higher authority is present and serving in his official capacity?

The "line of succession" used in determining who presides in a ward meeting might look like this:

General authority->Area authority->Stake president->1st counselor in stake presidency->2nd counselor in stake presidency->Bishop->1st counselor in bishopric->2nd counselor in bishopric->High Priest group leader*->Most senior High Priest present->Elders quorum president->Most senior elder->Priests quorum first assistant*->Priest quorum second assistant->Priest quorum third assistant (if the position exists)->Most senior priest->Teachers quorum president**->1st counselor in TQ presidency->2nd counselor in TQ presidency->Most senior teacher->Deacons quorum president->1st counselor in DQ presidency->2nd counselor in presidency->Most senior deacon

* indicates positions whose holders are not given keys to preside over their respective quorums.
** Absent any priests, a sacrament meeting cannot be held. Therefore, the TQ president will never preside over a sacrament meeting.
jdlessley
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#2

Post by jdlessley »

moonman239 wrote:My question is, who presides over a sacrament meeting if neither the bishop nor a higher authority is present and serving in his official capacity?
This information is found in Handbook 1. I cannot site the section because I do not have access to the handbook.
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eblood66
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#3

Post by eblood66 »

jdlessley wrote:
moonman239 wrote:My question is, who presides over a sacrament meeting if neither the bishop nor a higher authority is present and serving in his official capacity?
This information is found in Handbook 1. I cannot site the section because I do not have access to the handbook.
The only information I could find is in section 2.1.5 but that only mentions down to bishopric counselors. I know that in our stake there would never be a case where someone else has to preside. If the bishop and both counselors could not attend then one of the stake presidency would always come. The high priests group leader might conduct but a member of the stake presidency would preside.
lajackson
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#4

Post by lajackson »

moonman239 wrote:My question is, who presides over a sacrament meeting if neither the bishop nor a higher authority is present and serving in his official capacity?
If the bishop is absent, his 1st counselor presides. If they are both absent, his 2nd counselor presides.

If the bishop and his counselors are all absent, the stake president designates who presides at sacrament meeting. Normally he designates the high priests group leader, but he could authorize another priesthood holder instead. If the stake president were to designate a priesthood holder other than the high priests group leader, the designated priesthood holder would preside at that sacrament meeting.

Your reference for all the world to see is in Handbook 2:18.2.

By the way, a member of the stake presidency is always "serving in his official capacity" within the boundaries of his stake, and presides when he attends any sacrament meeting in the stake, unless a more senior member of the stake presidency, an Area Seventy, or a General Authority is present.
nielsaxelnohr
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#5

Post by nielsaxelnohr »

Would you be able to clarify most senior High priest to mean chronological age , or length they have been a High Priest? Thanks , Niels Nohr
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aebrown
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#6

Post by aebrown »

nielsaxelnohr wrote:Would you be able to clarify most senior High priest to mean chronological age , or length they have been a High Priest? Thanks , Niels Nohr
There's no need to clarify the term "most senior high priest", since that is not a term that appears in the handbooks. It was mentioned in the very speculative original post, but as lajackson clarified, the actual line of succession is much simpler. Handbook 2, the beginning of section 18.2 has all the details.
sasguy
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#7

Post by sasguy »

"If the bishop and his counselors are all absent, the stake president designates who presides at sacrament meeting. Normally he designates the high priests group leader, but he could authorize another priesthood holder instead."

Interesting side note. Google "LDS offering sacrament bishopric absent preside" turns up both this article, and the relevant section of handbook 2
bccoop2
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#8

Post by bccoop2 »

Related, but slightly different circumstances: Stake Girls Camp.

Who is the presiding authority when no member of the stake presidency is present? A Bishop? If so, which one? If no Bishop is present? High priest? if so, which one? If not high priest, an Elder? If so, which one?

We recently had this very circumstance, where we needed an authority to make a decision for the camp; there were no members of the stake presidency in attendance; we appealed to the longest serving bishop in the stake. Was this correct? and can you please point to instruction supporting this position?
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#9

Post by russellhltn »

bccoop2 wrote:Related, but slightly different circumstances: Stake Girls Camp.

Who is the presiding authority when no member of the stake presidency is present? A Bishop? If so, which one? If no Bishop is present? High priest? if so, which one? If not high priest, an Elder? If so, which one?
I don't see any automatic line of succession in that case. Handbook 2: 18.3 stops at "his counselors". (I assume that means stake presidency counselors, but I suppose one could make a case that it might include high counselors as well.)

You didn't say what kind of decision was involved. In most cases, I'd think it would fall to the line of authority for organizing the activity: absent any specific assignment, that would most likely be the high counselor assigned to stake YM, the stake YW presidency.
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lajackson
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Re: Ward meeting presiding authority "line of succession"

#10

Post by lajackson »

bccoop2 wrote:we appealed to the longest serving bishop in the stake. Was this correct? and can you please point to instruction supporting this position?
I am not aware that there is any official instruction for this situation, but under the circumstances I think you were okay, although I would have discussed it with all of the bishops present. A high councilor never presides, but it was a stake activity, and if a high councilor was present, I would have included him in the discussion. And, of course, the stake Young Women presidency.

Nowadays, you might also have been able to call a member of the stake presidency for assistance.
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