The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ===Leadership=== {{see also|Prophet#Latter Day Saint movement|President of the Church|Prophet, seer, and revelator|List of proclamations of the First Presidency}} The church is led by a [[President of the Church (LDS Church)|president]], who is considered a "prophet, seer, and revelator." Within the church, he is referred to as "the Prophet" or the "President of the Church." He is considered the only person who is authorized to receive revelation from God on behalf of the whole world or entire church. As such, the church teaches that he is essentially infallible when speaking on behalf of God—although the exact circumstances when his pronouncements should be considered authoritative are debated within the church.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51489143&itype=CMSID|title=Infallible? Mormons told to 'follow the prophet'|newspaper=[[The Salt Lake Tribune]]|access-date=June 4, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604063323/https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=51489143&itype=CMSID|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine|url=https://religiondispatches.org/the-mormon-version-of-infallibility/|title=The Mormon Version of Infallibility|first=Holly|last=Welker|date=March 24, 2014|magazine=[[Religion Dispatches]]|access-date=June 4, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604063332/https://religiondispatches.org/the-mormon-version-of-infallibility/|url-status=live}}</ref> In any case, modern declarations with broad doctrinal implications are often issued by joint statement of the [[First Presidency (LDS Church)|First Presidency]]; they may be joined by the [[Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (LDS Church)|Quorum of the Twelve Apostles]] as well.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lineuponlineessa0000unse/page/n8/mode/1up |title=Line Upon Line: Essays on Mormon Doctrine |date=1989 |publisher=[[Signature Books]] |isbn=978-0-941214-69-8 |editor-last=Bergera |editor-first=Gary James |pages=vii–ix |url-access=registration |via=[[Internet Archive]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite encyclopedia | contribution-url=https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Proclamations_of_the_First_Presidency_and_the_Quorum_of_the_Twelve_Apostles | contribution= Proclamations of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles |last=Matthews |first=Robert J. |editor1-last= Ludlow |editor1-first= Daniel H |editor1-link= Daniel H. Ludlow |encyclopedia= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |location= New York |publisher= [[Macmillan Publishers]] |year= 1992 |isbn= 0-02-879602-0 |oclc= 24502140 |title-link= Encyclopedia of Mormonism |access-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-date=June 4, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604061553/https://eom.byu.edu/index.php/Proclamations_of_the_First_Presidency_and_the_Quorum_of_the_Twelve_Apostles |url-status=live }}</ref> Church members believe Joseph Smith was the first modern-day prophet.<ref name=Lyon2013>{{cite journal|last1=Lyon|first1=Stephanie J.|title=Psychotherapy and the Mormon Faith|journal=[[Journal of Religion & Health]] |volume=52|issue=2|year=2013|pages=622–630|issn=0022-4197|doi=10.1007/s10943-013-9677-2|pmid=23337975|s2cid=29536957 |publisher=[[Springer Science+Business Media]] |location=Berlin|url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10943-013-9677-2|url-access=subscription}}</ref> Normally, the Prophet and two other ordained apostles he chooses as counselors form the First Presidency, the presiding body of the church; twelve other apostles form the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 10, 2009 |title=Mormon: Leadership |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/mormon/organisation/org.shtml |access-date=June 26, 2023 |website=[[BBC]]}}</ref> When a president dies, his successor is chosen from the remaining apostles, and is invariably the longest-tenured of the group.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/for-mormons-succession-monson.html|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|title=For Mormons, Succession Drama is Against their Religion|date=January 3, 2018|access-date=June 4, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604070833/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/for-mormons-succession-monson.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Apostles are chosen by the church president after the death of an existing apostle.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.sltrib.com/religion/local/2017/10/01/how-a-new-mormon-apostle-is-chosen/|title=How a new Mormon apostle is chosen|newspaper=The Salt Lake Tribune|date=October 1, 2017|access-date=December 27, 2023}}</ref> Following the death of church president [[Thomas S. Monson]] on January 2, 2018,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/obituaries/thomas-monson-dies.html|title=Thomas Monson, President of the Mormon Church, Dies at 90|first=Robert D.|last=McFadden|newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=January 3, 2018|access-date=June 4, 2021|archive-date=June 14, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614202751/https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/obituaries/thomas-monson-dies.html|url-status=live}}</ref> senior apostle Russell M. Nelson was announced as president on January 16.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/16/578311260/mormon-church-names-russell-m-nelson-as-new-leader|work=[[NPR]]|title=Mormon Church Names Russell M. Nelson As New Leader|date=January 16, 2018|access-date=June 4, 2021|archive-date=June 4, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210604070249/https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/01/16/578311260/mormon-church-names-russell-m-nelson-as-new-leader|url-status=live}}</ref> Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page