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Minutes, 30 March 1836

Source Note

Solemn Assembly, Minutes, , Geauga Co., OH, 30 Mar. 1836. Featured version copied [ca. 30 Mar. 1836] in JS, Journal, 1835–1836, pp. 187–190; unidentified handwriting; JS Collection, CHL. For more complete source information, see the source note for JS, Journal, 1835–1836.

Historical Introduction

On 30 March 1836, men in the attended the long-anticipated in the in , Ohio. At the dedication of the House of the Lord three days earlier, church members had experienced spiritual outpourings, which continued in the hours and days leading up to the solemn assembly. For the men in attendance, the 30 March meeting was the pinnacle of a progression of , , and blessings in preparation for the promised of “power from on high.” At the solemn assembly, JS and the church’s participated in a ritual , prophesied, and received blessings that empowered them to go forth and preach the gospel.
In the unfinished on 12 November 1835, JS informed the that he wanted to make “the foundation of this church complete and permanent,” a process that included administering the of “washing of feet.” JS desired that “all the ” of the church, or men who held office, participate in this ordinance. Furthermore, he told the Twelve on that November day that the washing of feet was “necessary now as much as it was in the days of the Saviour.” JS instructed them, however, that “the house of the Lord must be prepared, and the solem assembly called” so that the ordinance could be administered there, “aside from the world.” He admonished that the ordained men needed a heavenly enrichment, an instruction or endowment of power at the solemn assembly to help them preach the gospel and “overcome all things” while on their future missions.
On Tuesday, 29 March 1836, two days after the dedication of the , JS and a select group of church leaders met in the House of the Lord to finalize preparations for the solemn assembly. Participants included the church —JS, , , , , and —the presidency of (), and the two of the church. At this, the first of two days and nights of meetings, the church leaders received instruction about their going to Zion, and they also ceremoniously washed one another’s feet in what described as “a solemn scene.” They then partook of the of bread and wine and spent the night in the House of the Lord “prophesying and giving glory to God.”
Early the following morning, the Twelve, the , and other priesthood gathered for the solemn assembly. They joined JS and the other church leaders in the and participated in the washing of feet, which one participant referred to as “the last ordinance of the endowment.” In the afternoon, the church leaders “commenced prophesying” and “the Spirit of prophecy was poured out upon the congregation,” including “shouts of hosanna, to God and the Lamb with amen and amen.”
During the meeting, JS stated that he “had now completed the organization of the church” and that the church leaders and official members “had passed through all the necessary ceremonies.” Soon after this 30 March session, JS declared that those ordained men, armed with new knowledge and divinely empowered, “now were at liberty . . . to go forth and build up the kingdom of God.” In the weeks following the meeting featured here, most of the ordained men left to proselytize and to “raise Money to purchase land” for the church in .
The proceedings of the solemn assembly as featured here were recorded in JS’s journal. The scribe is not known, and no other version of the minutes is known to exist.

Footnotes

  1. [1]

    Historical Introduction to Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109].

  2. [2]

    Revelation, 2 Jan. 1831 [D&C 38:32]; Revelation, Feb. 1831–A [D&C 43:16]; Luke 24:49; Revelation, 1 June 1833 [D&C 95:8–9]; see also Revelation, 2 Aug. 1833–A [D&C 97:12–16]; Minutes, 3 Mar. 1836; Minutes and Prayer of Dedication, 27 Mar. 1836 [D&C 109]; and Corrill, Brief History, 23.

  3. [3]

    JS, Journal, 12 Nov. 1835; Discourse, 12 Nov. 1835.

  4. [4]

    JS, Journal, 29 Mar. 1836; Partridge, Journal, 29 Mar. 1836; William W. Phelps, Kirtland, OH, to Sally Waterman Phelps, Liberty, MO, Apr. 1836, William W. Phelps, Papers, BYU.

    Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.

    Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

  5. [5]

    JS, Journal, 29 Mar. 1836; Post, Journal, 29 Mar. 1836.

    Post, Stephen. Journals, 1835–1879. Stephen Post, Papers, 1835–1921. CHL. MS 1304, box 6.

  6. [6]

    Post, Journal, 30 Mar. 1836; Partridge, Journal, 30 Mar. 1836.

    Post, Stephen. Journals, 1835–1879. Stephen Post, Papers, 1835–1921. CHL. MS 1304, box 6.

    Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.

  7. [7]

    This declaration on 30 March fulfilled the instruction JS gave on 12 November 1835 that after ordained men were endowed with power they would be prepared to go forth to “preach the gospel to all nations kindred and toungs in there own languages.” (Discourse, 12 Nov. 1835.)

  8. [8]

    W. Phelps to S. Phelps, Apr. 1836.

    Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

Asterisk (*) denotes a "featured" version, which includes an introduction and annotation. *Minutes, 30 March 1836 Journal, 1835–1836 History, 1838–1856, volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838] “History of Joseph Smith”

Page 189

and if one shall say, I wish to go to such a place let all the rest say Amen.
The are at liberty to go to if they please or go wheresoever they will and preach the gospel and let the redemtion of Zion be our object, and strive to affect it by sending up all the strength of the Lords house whereever we find them, and I want to enter into the following covenant, that if any more of our brethren are slain or driven from their lands in by the mob that we will give ourselves no rest until we are avenged of our enimies to the uttermost, this covenant was sealed unaminously by a and Amen.— I then observed to the quorums— that I had now completed their organization of the and we had passed through all the necessary ceremonies, that I had given them all the instruction they needed and that they now were at liberty after obtaining their to go forth and build up the kingdom of God, and that it was expedient for me and the to retire, having spent the night previous in waiting upon the Lord in his , and having to attend another dedication on the morrow, or conclude the one commenced on the last sabbath for the benifit of those of my brethren and sisters who could not get into the on the former occasion but that it was expedient for the brethren to tarry all night and worship before the Lord in his I left the meeting in the charge of the and retired at about 9 o clock in the evening; the brethren continued exhorting, prophesying and speaking in tongues until 5 o clock in the morning— the Saviour made his appearance to some, while angels minestered unto others, and it was a penticost and indeed, long to be remembered for the sound shall go forth from this place into all the [p. 189]
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Source Note

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Page 189

Document Information

Related Case Documents
Editorial Title
Minutes, 30 March 1836
ID #
5778
Total Pages
4
Print Volume Location
JSP, D5:216–221
Handwriting on This Page
  • Unidentified

Footnotes

  1. [12]

    This reflects the language in several JS revelations. (See Revelation, 16–17 Dec. 1833 [D&C 101:55–58]; Revelation, 24 Feb. 1834 [D&C 103:22]; and Revelation, 22 June 1834 [D&C 105:16].)

  2. [13]

    In the three years preceding this discourse, the church saw a proliferation of offices in its organizations, including the creation of a high council in Kirtland, a presidency and high council in Missouri, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Seventy, and presidencies for the various priesthood quorums. All these quorums were set in order in preparation for the solemn assembly. (Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834; Minutes, 3 July 1834; Minutes, Discourse, and Blessings, 14–15 Feb. 1835; JS, Journal, 15 Jan. 1836; Kirtland Elders Quorum, “Record,” 28 Jan. 1836.)

    Kirtland Elders Quorum. “A Record of the First Quorurum of Elders Belonging to the Church of Christ: In Kirtland Geauga Co. Ohio,” 1836–1838, 1840–1841. CCLA.

  3. [14]

    For more information on licensing, see License, 21 Mar. 1836.

  4. [15]

    The 31 March entry in JS’s journal records, “This day being set apart to perform again the ceremonies of the dedication for the benifit of those who could not get into the house on the preceeding sabbath I repaired to the temple at 8 o clock A.M. in company with the presidency.” William W. Phelps wrote that the second dedicatory service “was a sublime scene, surpassing the first in sublimity and solemnity as well as in order. The singing was grand. The Addresses were the best that could be and majesty exceeded any thing I have witnessed in the last days.” (JS, Journal, 31 Mar. 1836; W. Phelps to S. Phelps, Apr. 1836; see also Partridge, Journal, 31 Mar. 1836; and Post, Journal, 31 Mar. 1836.)

    Phelps, William W. Papers, 1835–1865. BYU.

    Partridge, Edward. Journal, Jan. 1835–July 1836. Edward Partridge, Papers, 1818–1839. CHL. MS 892, box 1, fd. 2.

    Post, Stephen. Journals, 1835–1879. Stephen Post, Papers, 1835–1921. CHL. MS 1304, box 6.

  5. [16]

    Benjamin Brown confirmed that after JS departed, “two [quorums] continued all night in the House the twelve guarded it.” (Benjamin Brown to Sarah Mumford Brown, Mar. 1836, Benjamin Brown Family Collection, CHL.)

    Benjamin Brown Family Collection, 1835–1983. CHL. MS 17646.

  6. [17]

    Four months earlier, JS taught the Quorum of the Twelve that “all who are prepared and are sufficiently pure to abide the presence of the Saviour will see him in the solem assembly.” (JS, Journal, 12 Nov. 1835.)

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