31366

Letter to Church Officers in Missouri, 31 August 1835

 
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confine themselves to teaching the first  principles of the Gospel: not endeavoring  to institute regulations or laws for Zion,  without having been appointed of God.
Now we say there is no need of ordaining

The conferral of power and authority; to appoint, decree, or set apart. Church members, primarily adults, were ordained to ecclesiastical offices and other responsibilities by the laying on of hands by those with the proper authority. Ordinations to priesthood...

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  in Zion, or appointing any more officers:  but let all those that are ordained magnify  themselves before the Lord: by going into the  vineyard and cleansing their garments from  the blood of this generation. It is one  thing to be ordained to preach the gospel,  and to push the people together to Zion,  and it is another thing to be annointed

Following a biblical pattern, JS on 21 January 1836 instituted the ordinance of anointing with oil on the head or body as a sign of sanctification and consecration in preparation for the endowment of “power from on high.” This anointing was combined with ...

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 to  lay the foundation and build up the  City of Zion, and execute her laws. There fore it is certain that many of the Elders

An administrative and ecclesiastical office not associated with age. The Book of Mormon explained that elders ordained priests and teachers and administered “the flesh and blood of Christ unto the church.” The articles and covenants of the church directed...

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  have come under great condemnation,  in endeavoring to steady the ark of God,  in a place where th[e]y have not been  sent.
The high counsel

Although JS utilized councils of elders and high priests earlier in church government, the first standing high council of the church was organized in Kirtland, Ohio, on 17 February 1834. The second high council was organized a few months later in Clay County...

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 and bishops court

Official church proceedings convened to handle disputes or allegations of misconduct. The officers of the court were a bishop, his assistants or counselors, and additional high priests or elders assembled on an ad hoc basis. Until high councils were established...

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  have been established to do the business  of Zion, and her children are not bound,  to accknowledge any of those who feel dis posed to run to Zion and set themselves to  be their rulers. Let not her children be  duped in this way, but let them prove those  who say they are apostles

A title indicating one sent forth to preach; later designated as a specific ecclesiastical office. By 1830, JS and Oliver Cowdery were designated as apostles. The articles and covenants of the church explained that an “apostle is an elder” and, as such, had...

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, and are not.
The Elders have no right to regulate Zion,  but they have a right to preach the gos pel. They will all do well to repent and  humble themselves, and all the church

The Book of Mormon related that when Christ set up his church in the Americas, “they which were baptized in the name of Jesus, were called the church of Christ.” The first name used to denote the church JS organized on 6 April 1830 was “the Church of Christ...

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, and  also we, ourselves receive the admonition  and so now endeavor and pray to this end. [p. 78]

Facts

Editorial Title
Letter to Church Officers in Missouri, 31 August 1835
ID #
268