Presiding Bishop (LDS Church)
{{Short description|LDS Church leader}}
{{See also|Presiding bishop|Bishop (Latter Day Saints)}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2010}}
The Presiding Bishop of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) is a priesthood calling with church-wide authority. The Presiding Bishop is the highest leadership position within the church's Aaronic priesthood, although most of the work in this area is delegated to the church's Young Men general presidency.
==Duties==
The primary duties{{cite web|last=McMullin|first=Keith B.|title=The Presiding Bishopric|url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/07/the-presiding-bishopric?lang=eng|publisher=The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Ensign, July 2005|access-date=27 March 2013}} of the Presiding Bishopric are to oversee the temporal affairs (buildings, properties, commercial corporations, etc.) of the church and to oversee the bishoprics of congregations throughout the world. Along with the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the Presiding Bishopric is a part of the Council on the Disposition of the Tithes, a group that oversees and authorizes the expenditure of all tithing funds. The Presiding Bishopric is also responsible for overseeing the church's Aaronic priesthood, although most of the work in this area is delegated to the Young Men general presidency.
The Presiding Bishopric holds the power to join with twelve high priests of the church in convening the Common Council of the Church, the only body of the church which may discipline or remove the President of the Church or one of his counselors in the First Presidency. However, the Common Council has only been convened twice in the history of the LDS Church, and only once has it disciplined a First Presidency member, when Sidney Rigdon was excommunicated in absentia, in 1844.
History
=Possible other Presiding Bishop=
According to Orson Pratt and John Taylor, Vinson Knight was made the Presiding Bishop, with Samuel H. Smith and Shadrach Roundy as assistants,{{citation |last=Quinn |first=D. Michael |author-link=D. Michael Quinn |department=I Have a Question |title=After Edward Partridge was called to be a bishop there were others who were called to be bishops. Did the Lord call Bishop Partridge to be a presiding bishop? |magazine=Ensign |date=December 1973 |page=32 |url=https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/1973/12/i-have-a-question/did-the-lord-call-bishop-partridge-to-be-a-presiding-bishop.html?lang=eng}} on January 19, 1841.LDS Church, {{LDS|Doctrine and Covenants|dc|124|141}}, Doctrine and Covenants. However, the LDS Church does not include Vinson Knight in its list of presiding bishops but considers Knight the "third general bishop of the Church."
=Chronology of the Presiding Bishopric=
| class=wikitable |
| No.
! Dates ! colspan="2" | Presiding Bishop ! colspan="2" | First Counselor ! colspan="2" | Second Counselor |
|---|
| 1
| width="230" | February 4, 1831 – May 27, 1840 | width="230" | Edward Partridge | width="72" | 70px | width="240" | Isaac Morley | width="160" | 70px | width="240" | John Corrill | width="230" | File:Titus Billings Large.jpg|{{center|Billings}} |
| | May 27, 1840 – October 7, 1844
| colspan="6" | None sustained |
| | October 7, 1844 – April 6, 1847
| Newel K. Whitney | rowspan="2" | 70px | Reynolds Cahoon | File:Reynolds Cahoon.jpg|{{center|Cahoon}} |
| 2
| April 6, 1847 – September 23, 1850 | Newel K. Whitney | colspan="8" | None |
| 3
| April 7, 1851 – October 16, 1883 | 70px | Leonard W. Hardy | 70px | Jesse C. Little | File:Jesse C. Little.jpg|{{center|Little}} File:Robert Taylor Burton.jpg|{{center|Burton}} |
| 4
| April 6, 1884 – December 4, 1907 | 70px | Leonard W. Hardy | File:Leonard W. Hardy.jpg|{{center|Hardy}} File:Robert Taylor Burton.jpg|{{center|Burton}} | Robert T. Burton | File:John Q. Cannon.jpg|{{center|Cannon}} File:John R. Winder.jpg|{{center|Winder}} File:Orrin P. Miller.jpg|{{center|Miller}} |
| 5
| December 4, 1907 – May 28, 1925 | 70px | Orrin P. Miller | File:Orrin P. Miller.jpg|{{center|Miller}} File:David A. Smith (Mormon).jpg|{{center|Smith}} | David A. Smith | File:David A. Smith (Mormon).jpg|{{center|Smith}} File:John Wells (Mormon).jpg|{{center|Wells}} |
| 6
| June 4, 1925 – April 6, 1938 | 70px | 70px | 70px |
| 7
| April 6, 1938 – April 6, 1952 | 70px | Marvin O. Ashton | File:Marvin O. Ashton.jpg|{{center|Ashton}} File:Joseph L. Wirthlin.jpg|{{center|Wirthlin}} | Joseph L. Wirthlin | File:Joseph L. Wirthlin.jpg|{{center|Wirthlin}} File:Thorpe B. Isaacson2.jpg|{{center|Isaacson}} |
| 8
| April 6, 1952 – September 30, 1961 | 70px | 70px | 70px |
| 9
| September 30, 1961 – April 6, 1972 | John H. Vandenberg | 70px | 70px | 70px |
| 10
| April 6, 1972 – April 6, 1985 | 70px | | Vaughn J Featherstone | |
| 11
| April 6, 1985 – April 2, 1994 | | Henry B. Eyring | File:Henry B. Eyring.jpg|{{center|Eyring}} | Glenn L. Pace | |
| 12
| April 2, 1994 – December 27, 1995 | | | |
| 13
| December 27, 1995 – March 31, 2012 | | | |
| 14
| March 31, 2012 – October 9, 2015 | 70px | | Dean M. Davies | |
| 15
| October 9, 2015 – present | Gérald CausséThough the new Presiding Bishopric was announced after the October 2015 General Conference (see Mormon Newsroom article "[https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/new-presiding-bishopric-causse-davies-waddell|New Presiding Bishopric Announced]," 9 Oct 2015), it was not specifically ratified by a sustaining vote of the church in the April 2016 conference. The general sustaining of the "other General Authorities, Area Seventies, and general auxiliary presidencies as presently constituted" would have included the Presiding Bishopric (see Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "[https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/04/the-sustaining-of-church-officers?lang=eng|The Sustaining of Church Officers]," April 2016 General Conference). | | Dean M. Davies (October 9, 2015 – October 3, 2020) W. Christopher Waddell (October 3, 2020 – present) | | W. Christopher Waddell (October 9, 2015 – October 3, 2020) L. Todd Budge (October 3, 2020 – present) | |
Notes
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Category:Leadership positions in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Category:Latter Day Saint hierarchy