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PRIESTHOOD, 1910.
1910: 1 Jan.: Reduction in clerical work effected.
“It will be seen that a material reduction in the amount of clerical work heretofore called for has been effected in the reports required for 1910. Without enumerating here in detail these reductions, it may be broadly stated that for the present year the work for wards is about one-third less, and for stakes about one-fourth less, than last year.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, p. 2)
1 Jan.: PBO a clearinghouse for membership records.
“Attention is also specially directed to the new instructions regarding recommends of members of the Church who move their residence from one ward or stake to another. Earnest efforts have been put forth in recent years to purge and correct ward records, and to trace transient members, perhaps long lost sight of. In the course of this work it was found that through neglect, or thoughtlessness, or carelessness, a surprisingly large number of members have failed to identify themselves with wards into which they have moved; and by the lapse of time, as well as from various other causes, they would seem to have lost all evidence of their membership in the Church. It is hoped this deplorable condition will be corrected in the future by the system referred to elsewhere in this circular. According to this plan the Presiding Bishop’s Office becomes, as it were, a clearing-house for recommends; and if authorities of wards from which members move, and authorities of wards to which they come, will comply promptly with the instructions now given, it is believed that much of the difficulty and embarrassment of the past will be avoided.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, pp. 2-3)
1 Jan.: Progress report on quorum activities.
“A single year’s experience with the weekly ward meetings of the Priesthood quorums has sufficed to confirm abundantly the high hopes entertained for this plan as an agency in increasing the efficiency of the Priesthood. Every excellent result which was looked forward to has been shown to be within reach–every doubt or objection has been swept away. Where regularity of attendance at meetings and intelligent study of the ‘Outlines’ have prevailed, the anticipated benefits have invariably been attained. The ward authorities have been brought into close and frequent touch with the male members of their wards, by means of which they have acquired accurate personal knowledge as to the status of those under their watch care. The social assect of the meetings is altogether valuable, while their educational and faith-promoting character can be exactly what the members and instructors choose to make it. We applaud the good work already done in this direction, and commend the matter further to you as worthy of your best attention.
The system of an annual house-to-house canvass of their wards by bishops and their counselors has again yielded splendid results. It is most heartily recommended as an ideal means of (1) affording encouragement to acting ward teachers; (2) establishing a bond of brotherhood and affection between shepherd and flock; and (3) detecting lukewarmness, indifference, or even iniquity–should such exist–while there is yet time to apply a remedy. In this connection, previous counsel as to the importance and value of cottage meetings is renewed and emphasized. The Saints are stimulated to further good works by that interest in their welfare which is shown by a personal visit with them. Surely in no other surroundings can the true feelings and condition of a family be so well observed as when mingling with them at their own fireside.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, pp. 3-4)
1 Jan.: Annual home visits of bishopric.
“The bishopric will make a personal visit to every family in their ward during the months of November and December, and as far as practicable meetings should be held with each family. The bishopric should sing and pray with the family, teach them their duties, and try to get those who are dilatory to be more diligent and faithful, not only taking up a labor with the heads of families, but with the young people as well. Members of the stake presidency, high council and other leading brethren may be asked to assist in making these personal visits when the size of the ward is such that the bishopric cannot attend to it all in person. A surprising amount of good can be done by coming into personal contact with the members of the Church in their own homes.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, p. 21)
1 Jan.: Discontinuance of membership recommends.
“The First Presidency appointed a committee, consisting of President Francis M. Lyman, Elders John Henry Smith and Rudger Clawson of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, Bishop C. W. Nibley and John Wells, for the purpose of considering the subject of recommends. This committee suggested that, commencing January 1st, 1910, the present system of issuing recommends be discontinued; that when a member leaves a ward, a notice of such removal should be sent to the Presiding Bishop’s Office; and that when a new member arrives in a ward a request for recommend should be sent to the Presiding Bishop’s Office. These recommendations, being approved by the First Presidency and also by vote at the special priesthood meeting held in the Assembly Hall on Tuesday, October 5th, 1909, are now operative.
The bishopric of each ward are requested to hold monthly acting teachers’ report meetings, at which every teachers’ district should be represented, so that a complete report can be rendered monthly to the Presiding Bishopric of those who have arrived in and departed from the ward. A request should there and then be made to the Presiding Bishop’s Office for recommends for those who have arrived in the ward and notice of removal sent for those who have departed from it. Upon receipt of the ‘Request for Recommends,’ the Presiding Bishopric will procure and send them. All notices of removal will be preserved in the Presiding Bishop’s Office until request for recommend is received from some bishop reporting the arrival in his ward of the person or persons mentioned.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, pp. 27-28)
1 Jan.: Members wishing to withdraw from the Church.
“If a recommend is received by a bishop for a person residing in his ward who expressly desires not to be a member thereof, or of the Church, and who requests that his name be stricken from the records, such person should be summoned before the bishopric, and if he still feels that he does not desire to have a membership in the Church he should be dealt with.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, p. 29)
1 Jan.: Basis for membership in quorums.
“When a person is ordained to an office in the priesthood he is entitled to a certificate of ordination which he should carefully preserve. Whenever necessary it should be presented to the proper authority as an evidence of his ordination and accepted by the quorum having jurisdiction in the ward or stake where he resides; and he should be permitted to join that quorum without any recommend from the quorum where he formerly resided, 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 was received in the ward gives his priesthood and last ordination, it should be accepted as evidence that he holds that office, and he should be admitted to fellowship in the quorum provided there is no evidence to the contrary.” (First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric, Annual Instructions, Circular No. 11, to Presidents of Stakes and Counselors, Presidents of Missions, Bishops and Counselors, Stake, Mission, and Ward Clerks and all Church Authorities, 1 Jan., 1910, pp. 29-30)
20 Jan.-8 Feb.: When should Priesthood meetings be held?
“I attended Temple meeting. After Council we met with the committee on priesthood and their report was read recommending that the time for meetings be in the evening, the priesthood in the morning and the Sunday school in the afternoon. This was considered by some as being a blessing all around, and by others a mistake. Bro. Winder moved that the report be sent to all stake presidents and questions asked them in regard to holding of meetings and the time that would be most profitable. A committee was appointed to draft these questions. The committee was Rudger Clawson, Geo. F. Richards, B. H. Roberts and myself.” (Anthon H. Lund diary, 20 Jan., 1910)
“I met with R Clawson at nine in the H. O. and we formulated some questions to ask the bishops concerning a change of time of meetings and Sunday schools. At ten Bro. David O. McKay came in and he had a series of questions written down which we thought we would send to the bishops then I and Clawson got up. They had our letter and questions typewritten and presented to the Presidency. Prest. Winder was opposed to send the arguments of the Committee to the Bishops. He thought we would reach their real opinions better when they were left to themselves to answer. The President co-incided in that view and it was concluded that the letter should be gotten up by the Presidency and not the committee so I wrote a letter which was accepted and signed.” (Anthon H. Lund diary, 21 Jan., 1910)
“At President’s office we received a great many answers to our questions about changing time of S. S. and meetings.” (Anthon H. Lund diary, 31 Jan., 1910)
21 Jan.: Change in priesthood meeting scheduling.
“To President _____ and Counselors,
Dear Brethren:–
A committee appointed to get up outlines for the different quorums of the priesthood have reported to us that they consider that a better time for the meetings of these quorums could be chosen than Monday evening, and have proposed to us some sweeping changes in the time for holding the priesthood meetings, Sacrament meetings and Sunday Schools.
Our desire is that the best time for holding all these meetings should be appointed, and in order to learn what time will suit the conditions in your Stake best, we enclose a few questions which we request that you will kindly answer and return without delay, and return to us by the 1st of February.
We have also sent a list of similar questions in duplicate to the Bishops of your Stake, one copy of which they will return to us, and the other copy they will send to you.
In addition to this there will be a meeting in the temple, Salt Lake City, Tuesday, February 8th, 1910, at 10:30 a.m., of the General Authorities of the Church, and as many of the Stake Presidents as can conveniently attend. You are kindly invited to be present if circumstances will permit.
In answering the questions use your own best judgment.
Your Brethren,
Joseph F. Smith
John R. Winder
Anthon H. Lund
First Presidency”
(21 Jan., 1910, First Presidency Circular Letters, LDS Archives, CR 1/1)
Feb.: On filling the Quorums of 70.
“The First Council of Seventy are anxious to make all the quorums conform to the word of the Lord regarding the number required to make a full quorum. Wherever suitable men can be found, proper steps should be taken to fill up all vacancies existing in the quorums of the seventy. The welfare of other quorums from which men are drawn to fill up the ranks of the seventies must be considered, and such requisitions be made as the quorums can meet, without doing them serious injury. . . .
The presidents of the various quorums are instructed to increase the membership of the quorums by making requisitions, as heretofore, and also in the following manner: Whenever selections of young men for missionary work are made by the bishoprics in a quorum district, presidents should consult together over their qualifications and their worthiness for advancement. Whenever their character, and ability, are such as is set forth in the quotation from the remarks made by President Smith, let the necessary steps be taken to have them come to Sale Lake recommended for ordination to the office of seventy. This can be accomplished by respectfully calling the attention of bishops to the natural qualifications of those who fill the requirements. Then ask that they be recommended to stake presidents, in time to have their names come before the High Council, and stake priesthood meeting, for endorsement, before they leave home enroute to the mission field. All elders who have been thus approved according to the rules obtaining in the Church, and who bring a written recommend certifying to the fact that they have been properly endorsed, can be ordained under the hands of members of the First Council when they arrive in Salt Lake City.” (“Priesthood Quorums’ Table,” IE 13(4):376-377, Feb., 1910)
Mar.: Transfer certificates.
“An elder from Burtner, Utah, enquires relative to elders’ transfers from one quorum to another: ‘Some quorums receive an elder after he has been duly received as a member of the ward, the elder presenting his certificate of ordination to the president of the quorum he wishes to join; while other quorums require a certificate of membership issued by the president or clerk of the quorum from which the elder came. Elders have been deprived of membership in quorums of which they should have been members, for years, by reason of not being able to obtain a recommend from the quorum of which they have been members. Please give definite instruction in regard to this matter.’
We think that paragraph 89 of the ANNUAL INSTRUCTIONS, 1910, by the Presiding Bishopric is full and to the point:
When a person is ordained to an office in the priesthood he is entitled to a certificate of ordination which he should carefully preserve. Whenever necessary it should be presented to the proper authority as an evidence of his ordination and accepted by the quorum having jurisdiction in the ward or stake where he resides; and he should be permitted to join that quorum without any recommendation from the quorum where he formerly resided, 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 was received in the ward gives his priesthood and last ordination, it should be accepted as evidence that he holds that office, and he should be admitted to fellowship in the quorum, provided there is no evidence to the contrary.”
(“Priesthood Quorums’ Table,” IE 13(5):465-466, Mar., 1910)
1 May: The Home Evening.
“There has for some years prevailed the belief that the father, from one circumstance or another, has been too often absent from evenings from the home. The various organizations of the Church have required duties which he felt incumbent upon him to perform; and then there has not been such regularity in the program of his evening work that he could say with any certainty that any special evening of the week was his own, free from some unexpected appointment or emergency call.
In view of these facts, the Presidency and the High Council of the Granite Stake of Zion planned their evening meetings and all ward entertainments and duties in such a manner as to leave one evening in the week free to devote to the instruction, encouragement, entertainment and sociability of family life. This was to be an evening when, for a short period, the family could meet in the home circle and entertain themselves by a program, from which they could enjoy reading, speaking, singing and prayer. Suggestive programs were devised more in the spirit of helpfulness than with a desire to obtain uniformity and discipline. It is, perhaps, too early to say just what has been accomplished by this improvement upon past conditions. That special and lasting good, however, could be attained by the careful and conscientious observance of one evening in the week devoted exclusively to family interests, all were agreed. The results, however, depend upon the manner in which these new ideas are carried out.
This is an age of specialization in which too often our various needs are provided by specialists who look after all our individual and family wants. Almost the entire religious education of our children is being left to the Sunday School, the improvement Association, and other organizations throughout the Church. Parents have come to feel in too many instances that these organizations constituted relief from, and that they were a substitute for religious training in the home.
There is perhaps no subject taught to our young people in which authority is so important a factor as is the subject of religion, wherein men and women should speak as those having authority; and there is no authority more vital to the well-being of our children than the authority of the home–that parental authority which has the most powerful influence in giving force and direction to the lives of our children. The voice of the father and the mother should therefore be heard in testimony, and in the declaration of that eternal good which comes from the best and highest home influence. We should never reach the conclusion that the school room or the religious organizations of the Church can ever be equivalent substitutes for home teaching and home influence. The present danger with many parents arises from the fact that they are surrendering too fully the place they occupy in our religious life to the care and direction of professional training.
Unity in the home, if it is to be strong and lasting, must be the outgrowth of mutual understanding, mutual good will, and mutual helpfulness. The existence of family feuds, family antagonisms, and sometimes hatreds is the strongest of evidence that such a home is not doing its proper work. Brothers and sisters should be made to feel from the earliest period of their childhood a mutual good will and a fraternal love. Brothers and sisters should feel that they are under moral obligations to one another, that they should be mutually helpful, and patient, and long-suffering. They should be taught to build up a united family life in which the principles of loyalty, brotherhood, and devotion are predominant.
When in the family circle the children are encouraged to express themselves in fullness and freedom to one another, they learn to understand and appreciate one another’s motives. In the home that implicit confidence that makes friendship binding and lasting should be cultivated and encouraged. There is no more beautiful practice among brothers and sisters than the cultivation of mutual confidence in each other. Wherever you see two brothers who have enjoyed and respected each other’s confidence from boyhood up, you find in them a spirit of loyalty and friendship in all their subsequent relations in life.
Some men and women are altogether too much given to secrecy and restraint. It is better that men and women should be well and reasonably known than that their lives should be hidden from the knowledge of their fellow-men. Many are today by their exclusiveness in a social way drying up the fountains of their sympathies, humanity and love. They are living too much for themselves, and too exclusively within themselves. These social or un-social tendencies may find their way into our homes, until brothers and sisters and fathers and mothers will know to little of one another’s lives, and therefore have less and less sympathy and love for one another. There is no sadder picture in life than the exhibition of estrangement among parents and children in the home. If they do not open their hearts to one another, give voice to their convictions, friendships, love, and attachments in the home by closer relations than exist in many family circles, they will cease to enjoy that brotherhood and family loyalty which belong to every hearthstone.
These evenings at home are not intended more for intellectual pastime than for the development of a spirit of kindness, good will, good cheer, devotion, and union. It is to be feared that parents and children are not sufficiently acquainted with one another, that they do not sufficiently sympathize with one another, and are not as mutually helpful as they should be. There is no better place than the home for the confession of our weaknesses, thoughtlessness, and our indifference to the duties of life; and there is no better place than the fireside to form resolutions to reform and to improve, and there is no one who will lend more cheerfully a helping hand and cheering encouragement in the hour of distress than those who constitute such a home circle. The songs of the home should be the songs of the heart, the prayers of the home should be the sincerest that ascend to our Maker.
There is no institution in all our land that is more endangered than the home. Its very existence is threatened. Conditions that make for the best and highest home life are wanting. Parental influence is losing its hold in too many homes; and if our homes succumb to the insinuating influences of a pleasure loving life, and a sinister world, there is nothing left upon which the institutions of our country can rest in safety.
If the idea and spirit of this ‘home evening’ are properly comprehended, and faithfully carried out, the whole home atmosphere may be cleared up and beautified. Every evening at home will be an improvement upon the desultory ones and far better than it has been in the past. A higher standard of love and confidence will be created and parental influence and authority and brotherly and sisterly love will escape those nullifying influences that are threatening the continuance and mission of the home. If the present movement in the Granite Stake of Zion accomplishes the good ends in view, it will be an example worthy of imitation for all Israel.” (Joseph F. Smith, JI 45(5):224-226, 1 May, 1910)
Jun.: Beginning of the Aaronic Priesthood.
“Beginning of the Aaronic Priesthood.–‘Did the Lesser Priesthood (or the priesthood known to us as the Aaronic or Levitical) have a beginning with Aaron? This idea seems to be carried otu in the two lessons, 8 and 9, of the high priests’ manual.’
The answer to the question must necessarily be ‘no.’ The Aaronic Priesthood is but an appendage to the Melchizedek Priesthood, or a part of it, a separate function, whose particular mission is to precede the Melchizedek, or to prepare the way for its dispensations upon the earth. Priesthood is the agency of God, and therefore is eternal, without beginning of days or end of years, and as the lesser, Aaronic, Levitical or preparatory priesthood, partakes of the nature of the higher priesthood, it must necessarilyu be eternal, though it may be called by different names under different dispensations. So that, while the Lesser Priesthood was first called the Aaronic Priesthood in the days of Aaron, for we have no knowledge of its having been known by that name before that time, undoubtedly the authority, and perhaps the exercise, of that priesthood had always existed and did not begin with Aaron.” (“Priesthood Quorums’ Table,” IE 13(8):760, Jun., 1910)
10 Jul.: Concerning the role of High Priests.
“It is a serious mistake for any high priest to look upon himself as out of the harness or laid upon the shelf. While younger and more active men may have been called to places which require a great deal of activity and the strenuous life–it does not imply that the Church no longer needs the services of the high priest, by any manner of means. He should keep his harness on in proportion to his ability to get about. Keep it on and die in it. Then he will find it strapped to him when he wakens on the other side, and himself ready for the activities which may await him there, and thus not unduly lengthen the period of negative existence due to the infirmities of age.
But the high priest not appointed to specific work should be actively interested in the work for the dead, and should visit and inspire the families of the Saints to follow up this great work. In this field he can be of incalculable service to the bishop and the ward. Where there are parents who have not been sealed or had their children sealed to them, where families do not sense the great importance of work for their dead and are neglecting it and dying and passing away without accomplishing it in some degree, it is peculiarly the privilege of the high priest to enlighten their minds and awaken their interest in the salvation of their dead. His field of activity in this direction is limitless, and the call for his services is loud indeed. If it be true that a man by striving all his life and bringing but one soul to Christ will have such great joy in the kingdom of heaven, how great may be the joy of those high priests, who, relieved of the more exacting labors of the priesthood, turn their attention to this great subject, and become the means of arousing family after family to look after the salvation of their dead. What could be a more fitting rounding out of an active life in the ministry? What could be a more fitting close of an eventful and useful career than attention to the great work for the dead? As a Church we are doing too little in this direction. Our temples are not all filled, and many families are wholly neglecting to attend to the duty they owe their progenitors. This work should be taken up more vigorously and more systematically than has been the case, and I do not know wherein the priesthood could do better than to lay this responsible charge upon the shoulders of the high priests. I hope to see the day when bishops will be called uopn to set their high priests at work systematically along this line. But whether this is done or not, it is now an open field for honors of the very highest kind, and which will reach into eternity with greater glory to the doer than any other labor that can be pursued here upon the earth–for the beneficiaries there awaiting the coming of the laborer in the kingdom will crown him with mighty praises and thanksgiving.” (Harry E. Baker, of the North Weber Stake High Council, delivered at the tri-stake Priesthood Convention, Ogden, 10 Jul., 1910; IE 13(11):1034-1035, Sep., 1910)
16 Jul.: Most full-time missionaries are elders.
“Numerically considered, our elders’ quorums constitute the largest body of the priesthood, and I am informed that the great majority of the missionaries abroad are now from the elders’ quorums.” (William D. VanDyke, North Weber Stake High Council, delivered at the tri-stake Priesthood Convention, Ogden, 16 Jul., 1910; IE 13(11):1042, Sep., 1910)