Choosing a Prophet

In Mormonism, after a Mormon prophet's death the process of choosing who will be the next prophet is known as the Order of Succession. The Lord Himself chooses who will be the president of His church. He does so in a revealed, orderly fashion through the line of succession.

In the Lord's plan, the senior apostle, the one who has been in the quorum the longest, stands next in line to become president. In this way, the president will be a man who has served many years in the leading councils of the Church, knows the responsibilities associated with the office, and is thoroughly prepared to lead the Church when the Lord calls him. For example, current President Gordon B. Hinckley served in the First Presidency for 14 years and prior to that served as an apostle for 20 years. Another benefit of the Order of Succession is that when a prophet dies there is no confusion, waiting, or wondering concerning whom the mantle of authority will pass to.

When a prophet dies, the First Presidency is dissolved and the counselors take their places (according to seniority) in the Quorum, which becomes the leading council of the Church. All of the members of the Quorum will meet together in a solemn assembly to reorganize the First Presidency. As revelation dictates, the new president will be sustained and then ordained by the apostles and the new president will choose his counselors. Later, another apostle will be called to fill the vacancy in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Usually, this may be done at the first General Conference of the Church that the new prophet is sustained at. Customarily, and out of respect for the deceased, the Apostles wait until after the funeral is held before they meet to reorganize the First Presidency.

At that General Conference, a solemn assembly is held as one of the sessions and each priesthood quorum stands and sustains the new President of the Church, then the entire congregation stands and sustains him again. Prior to 1986, each quorum rose and sustained the Prophet, but beginning in 1986 the process was simplified by having only two groups other than the Genearal Authorities stand and sustain the Prophet, and that is the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthood, not in individual quorums or groups, but as a whole.

In the early days of the Mormon Church, when the system was new, there was some question of succession. After the Prophet Joseph Smith was martyred, a number of men, claimed the authority had passed to them. Ultimately, all but a few hundred of the 20,000 Mormons in Nauvoo followed Brigham Young and the Apostles to whom Joseph Smith had given all the keys of authority prior to his death. After Joseph had conferred all of the keys, powers, and authority upon the Twelve he said the following:

Now, if they kill me, you have all the keys and all the ordinances and you can confer them upon others, and the powers of Satan will not be able to tear down the kingdom as fast as you will be able to build it up, and upon your shoulders will the responsibility of leading this people rest (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56], 1:259).

Those who did not follow the Apostles formed such groups as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (RLDS now Community of Christ), most of whose members had not been Mormons under Joseph Smith.

For an in-depth look at the Order of Succession see Brent L. Top and Lawrence R. Flake's article “‘The Kingdom of God Will Roll On’: Succession in the Presidency,” from the Aug. 1996 Ensign.

The Lord's Hand in the Order of Succession

It is truly the Lord who calls a man to be prophet and President of the Mormon Church. The Lord controls who His president will be in the following ways:

• The Lord determines who is called to be an apostle and when they will be called. This includes who will be ordained first if two men are called at the same time (For instance, Harold B. Lee and Spencer W. Kimball were ordained apostles on the same day. Because Pres. Lee was ordained first, he became prophet after the death of Joseph Fielding Smith. If Pres. Kimball had been ordained first, Pres. Lee would never have become the prophet).

• The Lord can choose when an apostle will die, thus altering seniority.

• The Lord, through revelation, established the system.

• During general conferences, not all of the apostles are actually present where the actual conference sessions are held. If it just so happened that something were to happen to all of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles present, the priesthood line and authority would not be broken.