Origin and Duties
The council was first spoken of in a revelation by Joseph Smith, Jr. on March 28, 1835:
And inasmuch as a President of the High Priesthood shall transgress, he shall be had in remembrance before the common council of the church, who shall be assisted by twelve counselors of the High Priesthood; And their decision upon his head shall be an end of controversy concerning him. Thus, none shall be exempted from the justice and the laws of God".
Church commentators have interpreted this to mean that the council that would have the power to discipline or remove the President of the Church or a member of the First Presidency would be composed of the Presiding Bishopric of the church and twelve other high priests asked by the Presiding Bishop to assist in the disciplinary procedures. For example, Apostle John A. Widtsoe stated:
"Should occasion ever arise that one of the First Presidency must be tried for crime or neglect of duty, his case would come before the Presiding Bishop with his counselors, and twelve High Priests especially chosen for the purpose. This would be a tribunal extraordinary from which there is no appeal."
The twelve counselors could be composed of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; however, there is no formal requirement that these individuals be chosen.
Read more about this topic: Common Council Of The Church
Famous quotes containing the words origin and/or duties:
“All good poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.”
—William Wordsworth (1770–1850)
“It is fair to assume that when women in the past have achieved even a second or third place in the ranks of genius they have shown far more native ability than men have needed to reach the same eminence. Not excused from the more general duties that constitute the cement of society, most women of talent have had but one hand free with which to work out their ideal conceptions.”
—Anna Garlin Spencer (1851–1931)