Priesthood
The Priesthood Should Know Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants Â
 I now say to the brethren holding the Priesthood -the high priests, the seventies, the elders-and the lesser priesthood-magnify your callings; study the scriptures; read the 107th section of the Doctrine and Covenants on Priesthood; learn that revelation, which was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, and live by its precepts and doctrine, and you will gain power and intelligence to straighten out many kinks that have heretofore existed in your minds, and to clear up many doubts and uncertainties in relation to the rights of the Priesthood. God gave that word to us. It is in force today in the Church and in the world, and it contains instruction to the priesthood and the people in relation to their duties, which every elder should know.-Oct. C. R., 1902, p. 88.   Â
Who Is Fit to Preside?   Â
Every man should be willing to be presided over; and be is not fit to preside over others until he can submit sufficiently to the presidency of his brethren.-Improvement Era, Vol. 21, p. 105.   Â
Obligations of the Priesthood
Think what it means to hold keys of authority which-if exercised in wisdom and in righteousness-are bound to be respected by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost! Do you honor this Priesthood? Do you respect the office and honor the key of authority that you possess in the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is after the order of the Son of God? Will you, who hold this Priesthood, profane the name of Deity? Would you be riotous, and eat and drink with the drunken, with the unbelieving and with the profane? Would you, holding that Priesthood, forget your prayers, and fail to remember the Giver of all good? Would you, holding that Priesthood, and possessing the right and authority from God to administer in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, violate the confidence and the love of God, the hope and desire of the Father of all of us? For, in bestowing that key and blessing upon you, he desires and expects you to magnify your calling. Would you, as an elder in the Church of Jesus Christ, dishonor your wife or your children? Would you desert the mother of your children, the wife of your bosom, the gift of God to you, which is more precious than life itself? For without the woman the man is not perfect in the Lord, no more than the woman is perfect without the man. Will you honor the Sabbath day and keep it holy? Will you observe the law of tithing and all the other requirements of the gospel? Will you carry with you at all times the spirit of prayer and the desire to do good? Will you teach your children the principles of life and salvation so that when they are eight years old they will desire baptism, of their own accord?-Improvement Era, Vol. 21, December, 1917, pp. 105-6.   Â
How Honor for Those Who Bear the Priesthood Is Begotten   Â
If you will honor the holy Priesthood in yourself first, you will honor it in those who preside over you, and those who administer in the various callings, throughout the Church.-Improvement Era, Vol. 21 December, 1917, p. 106.   Â
Order of the Priesthood   Â
 An officer in the Church in one of the stakes of Zion asks whether a man’s Priesthood may be taken from him in any other way than by excommunication. In other words, can a man’s ordination to the Priesthood be made null and void, and he still be permitted to retain his membership in the Church; or must he be excommunicated before the Priesthood can be taken from him? The reply must be that only by excommunication in the appointed way can the Priesthood be taken from a person. We know of no other means provided by which a man who has had the Priesthood conferred upon him can be deprived of it. The constituted authorities of the Church may, however, after proper authorized hearing, decide that a man has forfeited his right to act in the Priesthood, and for this cause he may be silenced, and his certificate of ordination be taken from him, and thus have his right suspended to officiate in the ordinances of the gospel, or to exercise the Priesthood which has been conferred upon him. Then, if he persists in exercising his Priesthood and former calling, he may be taken to account for the insubordination and excommunicated.   Â
Several examples have occurred in the history of the Church where men through transgression, duly proved and decided upon by the constituted authorities have been stopped from acting in the Priesthood, which is just as effectual as taking away their Priesthood would be, if it were possible; but this has taken no ordination from them, and if in such cases the transgressors should repent and make complete and satisfactory restitution, they would still hold the same Priesthood which they held before they were silenced, or stopped from acting. A person once ordained a bishop, an elder, or high priest, continues to hold the office. A bishop is still a bishop though he may remove to another ward, or for other reasons temporarily lose his calling. But in case he is wanted to act in a new office, or place, and the proper authorities call him to act, it is not necessary to reordain him a bishop; he would only need to be set apart for his new calling. So with other officers in the Priesthood, once having received the Priesthood, it cannot be taken from them, except by transgression so serious that they must forfeit their standing in the Church. But, as stated, their right to officiate, may be suspended or stopped. The Lord can take away the power and efficacy of their ordinations, and will do so if they transgress. No endowments or blessings in the house of the Lord, no patriarchal blessings, no ordination to the Priesthood, can be taken away, once given. To prevent a person for cause from exercising the rights and privileges of acting in the offices of the Priesthood, may be and has been done, and the person so silenced still remains a member of the Church, but this does not take away from him any Priesthood that he held.-Improvement Era, Vol. 11, 465-6.   Â
Priesthood Membership Rolls
First.-Each quorum should have one roll only and every person holding the Priesthood should be enrolled in the quorum having jurisdiction in the ward where his Church membership is recorded. The practice of keeping a supplemental or inactive roll is not approved.   Â
Second.-Recommends from one quorum to another are not required. The present arrangement for admitting members in the quorum is already published as follows:Â Â Â Â
“The certificate of ordination should be carefully preserved by the person ordained; and, whenever necessary, it should be presented to the proper authority as an evidence of his ordination. Upon this evidence he should be admitted to membership in the usual manner by the quorum having jurisdiction in the ward or stake where he resides, provided he has been accepted as a member of the ward. If he does not possess a certificate of ordination, and the recommend upon which he is received in the ward names his Priesthood and ordination, it should be accepted as evidence that he holds that office, provided there is no evidence to the contrary and provided he has been admitted as a member of the ward in full fellowship.”   Â
Third.-When a person holding the Priesthood removes from one ward to another, and is accepted as a member of the ward into which he moves, it becomes the duty of the ward clerk to notify the president of the quorum of the arrival of this person. The new member should present his certificate of ordination as evidence that he holds the Priesthood, and upon that certificate he should be presented for admission to membership in the quorum to which members of that ward holding the same Priesthood belong. It is the duty of the ward clerk to report at the next ward weekly Priesthood meeting the arrival of any person holding the Priesthood, and every such newly arrived member should be enrolled in the proper class, whether he has attended a class meeting or not.   Â
Fourth.-When a member holding the Priesthood becomes a member of the ward, the proper quorum officer having jurisdiction should look after him and see that he becomes enrolled in the quorum.   Â
Fifth.-It is the duty of the secretary of a High Priests’ or Elders’ quorum to prepare certificates of ordination, and to have them signed by the proper officers, presented to the ward clerk to be entered upon the ward record, and then delivered to the persons in whose favor they are issued. Seventies’ certificates of ordination are issued by the First Council of Seventy. When a person is ordained a Seventy, by any other person than a member of the First Council, the proper quorum officers should immediately notify the First Council of Seventy, requesting a certificate of ordination to be mailed or delivered to the quorum officer, and after it has been entered on the quorum record and the ward record it should be delivered to the person in whose favor it is issued.   Â
Sixth.-When a quorum withdraws its fellowship from one of its members, a report of the action of the quorum should be sent to the bishop of the ward.-Improvement Era, Vol. 19, pp. 752-753.   Â
All Should Exercise Their Authority   Â
A deacon in the Church should exercise the authority of that calling in the Priesthood, and honor that position as sincerely and faithfully as a high priest or an apostle should his calling, feeling that he bears a portion of the responsibility of the kingdom of God in the world, in common with all his brethren. Every man should feel in his heart the necessity of doing his part in the great latter-day work. All should seek to be instrumental in rolling it forth. More especially is it the duty of every one who possesses any portion of the authority of the holy Priesthood to magnify and honor that calling, and nowhere can we begin to do so to better advantage than right here, within ourselves and when we have cleaned the inside of the platter, cleansed our own hearts, corrected our own lives, fixed our minds upon doing our whole duty toward God and man, we will be prepared to wield an influence for good in the family circle, in society, and in all the walks of life.-Deseret Weekly News, Vol. 24, p. 708.   Â
The Leaders of Israel   Â
These mighty men who sit before this stand clothed with power from Almighty God, are not self-called. They have not been chosen by man. They have not chosen themselves, but they have been called by the power of the Almighty to stand in high places in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as presidents, as fathers to the people, as counselors, as judges, and as leaders, walking in the way that the people of God should follow them into all truth and into the possession of greater light, greater power and wisdom and understanding. God bless you, my brethren. And while you stand united, as you have stood in the past, and as you have manifested your union here during this conference, so God will magnify you before your flocks and in the midst of your people, and will increase your power and your strength to do good and to accomplish his purposes, until you shall be satisfied with your labors and have exceeding great joy therein; and your people will rise up and call you blessed, they will pray for you and sustain you by their faith and good works.-Oct. C. R., 1905, p. 94.   Â
A Testimony of Joseph Smith and His Successors   Â
I bear my testimony to you and to the world, that Joseph Smith was raised up by the power of God to lay the foundations of this great latter-day work, to reveal the fulness of the gospel to the world in this dispensation, to restore the Priesthood of God to the world, by which men may act in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, and it will be accepted of God; it will be by his authority. I bear my testimony to it; I know that it is true.   Â
I bear my testimony to the divine authority of those who have succeeded the Prophet Joseph Smith in the presidency of this Church. They were men of God. I knew them; I was intimately associated with them, and as one man may know another, through the intimate knowledge that he possesses of him, so I can bear testimony to the integrity, to the honor, to the purity of life, to the intelligence, and to the divinity of the mission and calling of Brigham, of John, of Wilford, and of Lorenzo. They were inspired of God to fill the mission to which they were called, and I know it. I thank God for that testimony and for the Spirit that prompts me and impels me towards these men, toward their mission, toward this people, toward my God and my Redeemer. I thank the Lord for it, and I pray earnestly that it may never depart from me-worlds without end.-Oct. C. R., 1910, pp. 4, 5.   Â