Types of High Councils
In the revelations of Joseph Smith, at least three types of high councils are mentioned:
- Stake High Councils, with standing or authority in only one particular stake,
- a Standing Presiding High Council, (also called the High Council in Zion or the High Council of Zion), with jurisdiction over all the stakes of Zion, and
- a Traveling Presiding High Council (aka the Quorum of the Twelve), who oversaw the mission field outside of the established stakes.
The Standing Presiding High Council is historically located at the Center Place of Zion, or church headquarters. The Center Place itself is not considered a stake, but is the center of the church. Building upon Isaiah’s imagery of Zion as a tent (Isaiah 54:2), the church leadership is found at the center pole of the tent, with the stakes of Zion providing support and balance to the Center Place or church headquarters.
The Standing Presiding High Council in Zion acts a second presidency to the church, with similar authority to the Traveling High Council or Apostles. Both Presiding High Councils, standing and traveling, however, have different jurisdictions. A revelation of Joseph Smith Jr. states that “the high council in Zion form a quorum equal in authority in the affairs of the church, in all their decisions, to the councils of the Twelve at the stakes of Zion.”
According to Smith's revelations on priesthood, each presiding high council, standing or traveling, when combined, are equal in authority to the First Presidency. But both are subject to the First Presidency, which has undivided authority over all the church.
In addition to these two presiding councils, each of the several standing high councils in the stakes of Zion, when combined, are deemed to be equal in authority to Standing High Council in Zion. As such, the combined stake high councils potentially form a third-tier presidency. The same is true of the Seventy, as a third presidency of the church, being equal in authority to the Twelve.
Read more about this topic: Presiding High Council
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