Presiding Bishop (LDS Church)

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^[1] of the Presiding Bishopric is 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, 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 office of Presiding Bishop shares its origin with that of bishop. Edward Partridge was the first man ordained to the office of bishop in the early Church of Christ on February 4, 1831. This office 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.

Possible other Presiding Bishop

According to Orson Pratt and John Taylor, Vinson Knight was made the Presiding Bishop, with Samuel H. Smith and Shadrach Roundy as assistants,^[2] in January 19, 1841.^[3] 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."^[2]

Chronology of the Presiding Bishopric

No.	Dates	Presiding Bishop		First Counselor		Second Counselor
1	February 4, 1831 – May 27, 1840	Edward Partridge ("Bishop")		Isaac Morley   (June 6, 1831 – May 27, 1840)		John Corrill   (June 6, 1831 – August 1, 1837) Titus Billings   (August 1, 1837 – May 27, 1840)	Billings
	May 27, 1840 – October 7, 1844	None sustained
	October 7, 1844 – April 6, 1847	Newel K. Whitney ("First Bishop of the Church")		George Miller   ("Second Bishop of the Church")   (October 7, 1844 – latter end of 1846)[4]
2	April 6, 1847 – September 23, 1850	Newel K. Whitney ("Presiding Bishop")		None
3	April 7, 1851 – October 16, 1883	Edward Hunter		Leonard W. Hardy   (October 6, 1856 – October 16, 1883)		Jesse Carter Little   (October 6, 1856 – Summer 1874) Robert T. Burton   (October 9, 1874 – October 16, 1883)	Little Burton
4	April 6, 1884 – December 4, 1907	William B. Preston		Leonard W. Hardy   (April 6, 1884 – July 31, 1884) Robert T. Burton   (October 5, 1884 – November 11, 1907)	Hardy Burton	John Q. Cannon   (October 5, 1884 – September 5, 1886) John R. Winder   (April 8, 1887 – October 17, 1901) Orrin P. Miller   (October 24, 1901 – December 4, 1907)	Cannon Winder Miller
5	December 4, 1907 – May 28, 1925	Charles W. Nibley		Orrin P. Miller   (December 4, 1907 – July 7, 1918) David A. Smith   (July 18, 1918 – May 28, 1925)	Miller Smith	David A. Smith   (December 4, 1907 – July 7, 1918) John Wells   (July 18, 1918 – May 28, 1925)	Smith Wells
6	June 4, 1925 – April 6, 1938	Sylvester Q. Cannon		David A. Smith		John Wells
7	April 6, 1938 – April 6, 1952	LeGrand Richards		Marvin O. Ashton   (April 6, 1938 – October 7, 1946) Joseph L. Wirthlin   (December 12, 1946 – April 6, 1952)	Ashton Wirthlin	Joseph L. Wirthlin   (April 6, 1938 – October 7, 1946) Thorpe B. Isaacson   (December 12, 1946 – April 6, 1952)	Wirthlin Isaacson
8	April 6, 1952 – September 30, 1961	Joseph L. Wirthlin		Thorpe B. Isaacson		Carl W. Buehner
9	September 30, 1961 – April 6, 1972	John H. Vandenberg		Robert L. Simpson		Victor L. Brown
10	April 6, 1972 – April 6, 1985	Victor L. Brown		H. Burke Peterson		Vaughn J Featherstone   (April 6, 1972 – October 1, 1976) J. Richard Clarke   (October 1, 1976 – April 6, 1985)
11	April 6, 1985 – April 2, 1994	Robert D. Hales		Henry B. Eyring   (April 6, 1985 – October 3, 1992) H. David Burton   (October 3, 1992) – April 2, 1994)	Eyring	Glenn L. Pace   (April 6, 1985 – October 3, 1992) Richard C. Edgley   (October 3, 1992) – April 2, 1994)
12	April 2, 1994 – December 27, 1995	Merrill J. Bateman		H. David Burton		Richard C. Edgley
13	December 27, 1995 – March 31, 2012	H. David Burton		Richard C. Edgley		Keith B. McMullin
14	March 31, 2012 – October 9, 2015	Gary E. Stevenson		Gérald Caussé		Dean M. Davies
15	October 9, 2015 –	Gérald Caussé[5]		Dean M. Davies		W. Christopher Waddell

Notes

1. McMullin, Keith B. "The Presiding Bishopric". The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ensign, July 2005. Retrieved 27 March 2013.
2. Quinn, D. Michael (December 1973), "I Have Question", Ensign: 32 |contribution= ignored (help)
3. LDS Church, Doctrine and Covenants 124:141, Doctrine and Covenants.
4. George Miller was dropped as "Second Bishop of the Church" prior to 1847 due to apostasy .
5. Though the change in the Presiding Bishopric was announced after the October 2015 General Conference, it was not ratified by the sustaining vote of the church in the next conference, which was held in April 2016.