Mormon priesthood mini lesson
It's a lot.
Sometimes I need to refer to the priesthood in a premium newsletter and it's a difficult thing to nutshell. So I'm writing up a mini lesson I can point y'all to it whenever it is relevant.
Note: I made an attempt to write this from a place of observational neutrality, but I failed in some places. I fully admit and cop to my post-Mormon bias wherever it surfaces.
Wikipedia explains Mormon priesthood pretty well:
In the Latter Day Saint movement, priesthood is the power and authority of God given to man, including the authority to perform ordinances and to act as a leader in the church. A group of priesthood holders is referred to as a quorum.
We have two levels of the priesthood:
- The order of the Aaronic priesthood, with four inner offices: deacon, teacher, priest, & bishop.
- The order of the Melchizedek priesthood with two inner offices: elder & high priest.
The Aaronic Priesthood
The Aaronic priesthood is modeled after the priesthood of Aaron (brother of Moses) in the Bible, though in Mormonism, we trace our Aaronic priesthood authority to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, believing they received this priesthood power on May 15, 1829, from an angel who identified himself as John the Baptist.
→ Here's what the Oxford Bibliography says about Aaron.
The Aaronic priesthood is the lesser of the priesthood levels. Young men considered "worthy" can receive it by a 'laying on of hands' ordination in January of the year they turn twelve. Once they receive this level of priesthood, they are called deacons and enter the Deacon's Quorum. They can pass the sacrament (bread and water) during Sunday church services, collect fast offerings (extra tithes on top of the 10% already required, meant to help feed the poor), participate in baptisms for the dead at the temple, and are supposed to help the Bishop watch over the church.
The year they are turning 14, "worthy" young men are ordained as teachers and enter the Teacher's Quorum where they continue to fulfill their Aaronic priesthood duties. The church website lists some additional duties that might have changed since we were active; I don't remember teachers being able to prepare the sacrament, for example.
The year they are turning 16, "worthy" young men are ordained as priests, and enter the Priest's Quorum. They are given extra duties to preach and teach the gospel, have the authority to baptize (Mormons baptize by immersion), and can prepare and bless the sacrament and ordain deacons, teachers, and priests as well as confer the Aaronic priesthood to others. They can begin "ministering" visits, (formerly called Home Teaching), usually with their fathers or an older man in the ward congregation.
The bishop position (leader of an entire ward congregation) is considered the fourth office of the Aaronic priesthood, though bishops are ordained as High Priests in the Melchizedek priesthood (see below).
(Excuse my sarcastic air quotes around "worthy." Like everyone else in the church, young men have to submit to often invasive worthiness interviews before receiving the various priesthood ordinations. They are supposed to be paying a full tithe, not touching their weiners, not having any sexy thoughts, not being gay, only using couth language, etc.)
The Melchizedek Priesthood
The Melchizedek priesthood is modeled after Jesus and his Twelve Apostles. Again, Wikipedia does a pretty good job of summarizing:
[It is officially] referred to as the high priesthood of the holy order of God or the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the Son of God, [and] is the greater of the two orders of priesthood."
That's a huge mouthful, so Joseph Smith gave nicknamed it after Melchizedek in the Bible, "because Melchizedek was such a great high priest," and he wanted to avoid overusing the names of deity.
→ Here's what Encyclopedia Britannica says about Melchizedek.
Mormons believe Jesus's OG apostles, Peter, James, and John appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to grant them the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood by a laying on of hands. This also gave them the priesthood keys of presidency, which Mormons believe had been lost through the Great Apostasy after Jesus was crucified. This is largely why they preach that they are the only true church of Christ on the earth, believing they alone hold the keys to restoring the church Jesus himself founded.
Young men are usually ordained with the Melchizedek priesthood prior to serving their mandatory proselytizing missions for the church at age 18. Once ordained, they enter the first office of the higher priesthood and are called elders. (This is why those missionaries that show up on your front step have name tags that read Elder LastName and not the more commonly used Brother LastName, though upon return from their missions, they go back to being Brother LastName, even though they remain an elder in the priesthood. Since women have no priesthood authority, we are called Sister LastName in the church and if serving a mission.)
Once young men are elders, they can give priesthood blessings (see below), ordain others to priesthood offices, dedicate graves, and participate in higher temple ordinances. They are taught that they hold and have access to the literal power of God and can move actual mountains if they only have the faith the size of a grain of mustard seed (and if their desires align with god's).
Process for converts
If an adult man joins the church later in life, he'll receive the Aaronic priesthood first, then about a year later, can receive the Melchizedek priesthood.
Priesthood ban
No mini lesson on Mormon priesthood would be complete without the acknowledgement that Black* men were not allowed to have the priesthood from 1852 to 1978. Often called "the priesthood ban," it was actually a salvation ban, because without the priesthood, Black males were unable to participate in higher temple ordinances, and without those, they would not be able to enter the highest level of Mormon heaven, the Celestial Kingdom.
The celestial kingdom will be the residence of those who have been righteous, accepted the teachings of Jesus Christ, and received and lived up to all of the required ordinances and covenants." - Quoted from Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
*The racial restrictions were applied to black Africans, persons of black African descent, and any one with mixed race that included any black African ancestry. The restrictions were not applied to Native Americans, Hispanics, Melanesians, or Polynesians.
My friend Nic has some really great pieces on the salvation ban on Instagram. I recommend starting with The African Salvation Ban, The African Salvation Ban Pt. 2, First Official Church Statement on Mormonism and "the Negro", The Second Official Church Statement, The 1978 Revelation and Race & the Priesthood.
Priesthood norms
Most Mormon men hang out as elders for most, if not all of their lives. Only men who are called to serve as bishops or a bishop's counselor are ordained as high priests, the second office of the Melchizedek priesthood. Only high priests are considered for callings considered 'higher rank' than bishops such as stake president, mission president, or general authority (official apostle), or prophet/president.
Wards are local congregations of 150-500 people and are presided over by a bishop and two bishopric counselors. Wards are called wards because Joseph Smith borrowed a political term.
Areas with fewer Mormons may not have enough people to organize into a ward and will be called a branch. Branches are presided over by a branch president and he also must hold the Melchizedek priesthood.
5-12 wards make up a stake, presided over by a stake president and two stake presidency counselors. Stakes are named after the "enlarge the place of thy tent; stretch forth the curtains of thine inhabitation; spare not, lengthen thy cords, and strengthen thy stakes" from Isaiah 54:2.
A stake president utilizes twelve high priests called from wards under his jurisdiction who participate in High Council duties such as speaking in various wards and sometimes participating in disciplinary councils (like when someone is about to be excommunicated or placed on probation for sin or transgression).
There are lots of other layers of priesthood leadership organization such as mission presidents and area authorities, but this 'mini' lesson is already quite mega. Here's a pretty cool interactive chart where you can see a lot more roles I didn't touch on much here.
For those of you wondering, the 'highest' level of authority a woman in the church can obtain is a General Officer of either Primary (children's group), Young Women's (girls 12-18 group), or Relief Society (women's group). (You can see them depicted in the above-linked interactive chart.)
Women
Women receive no priesthood power, but are taught they can 'access' its power through their own righteousness (it used to be taught that we only had access through our righteous husbands or fathers). Young women can also participate in baptisms for the dead in the temples starting the year they turn 12 and enter the Young Women organization (for girls ages 12-18). They can also participate in higher temple ordinances whenever they receive their endowment, usually if they opt to go on a proselytizing mission at age 19, or are getting married/sealed in a temple soon, or they are considered old enough and "ready" by their bishop.
Young girls in the Young Women organization are taught to prioritize priesthood worthiness and a status of returned missionary when dating and searching for an 'eternal companion' to marry in the temple. They are also taught to help support the worthiness and purity of male priesthood holders by dressing modestly.
Priesthood blessings
As briefly stated above, once a Mormon man is ordained to the office of elder in the Melchizedek priesthood, he can give 'laying on of hands' priesthood blessings. Wherever possible, the person's father is expected to give the blessing, but all of these blessings can be given by a brother (old enough and with the proper priesthood authority), a bishop, a grandfather, an uncle, or even a family friend.
A baby blessing is usually given within the first few months of a baby's life. Traditionally, babies are dressed in white (though its not required) and are officially given their name and blessing in sacrament meeting (chapel meeting) on Fast Sunday (first Sunday of the month). Permission can be granted to bless the baby at home in certain circumstances.
Other worthy priesthood holders (usually family members) are invited to stand in the circle (though I'm sure it's not required). They stand holding and supporting the baby with one hand while their left hand is placed on the shoulder of the man next to them. The father (or whoever is giving the blessing), will have both hands free to hold the baby. I don't think he places his hands on the baby's head, but I'm not sure.
Often, babies of inactive or less-active parents will still be blessed in church (with the parents' permission) because it means a lot to the actively believing grandparents. Though considered a fairly innocuous rite of passage, babies who are blessed in church are assigned a membership number and will stay on church records and counted as members of the church.
Blessing to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost. Whether someone is baptized at age 8 as is recommended, or joins the church later, they will be 'confirmed' with the gift of the Holy Ghost afterward.
As with a baby blessing, technically one person can issue this blessing, but it is often given inside another circle of men. Other priesthood holders are invited to join the circle; usually an assortment of grandfathers, uncles, and old-enough/ordained brothers.
Whoever is giving the blessing will place their hands on the person's head first, and then the others standing in the circle will place their hands on top of the blessing-giver's hands. The confirmation can occur directly after a baptism or can take place in church the next day (baptisms are usually performed on Saturdays).
Father's Blessings are considered a privilege for families with actively believing fathers who honor their priesthood by remaining worthy. Fathers often give blessings to their children at the start of a new school year, or whenever asked to provide a blessing of peace or comfort, or even in order to help the child make a big decision. Fathers also give blessings to their wives for similar reasons: at the start of a new job, during pregnancy, during times of stress, etc.
Fathers are instructed to keep their covenants and keep their minds pure and clean so that if a family or ward (church congregation) member asks for a blessing, they will be immediately ready without needing to repent of bad thoughts first.
The youth are actively taught to seek dating parters and potential mates who honor their priesthood so they too can have the privilege of personalized fathers blessings in their own homes some day.
While not technically a father's blessing, friends or neighbors without active or present fathers can ask for similar blessings (start of new school year, peace/comfort, etc.) from another priesthood holder in their ward.
Patriarchal Blessings: are different from a father's blessing (unless your dad happens to be the Stake Patriarch). It's given by a Melchezidek priesthood holder who is given a (rare) life-long stake calling. It's a much more 'official' blessing that gets recorded and attached to your membership number. The church keeps a copy of it in its archives, and you are given a copy to keep. You are meant to consider it as your own personal scripture and review it often. You are not supposed to share it openly or compare your blessing with others, though many are very similar to one another.
Healing Blessings usually call for more than one priesthood holder, but can also be given by just one. If there are two, one will first anoint the sick person with consecrated oil and perform a short blessing sealing the anointing. The oil must first be consecrated by performing a separate blessing on the oil itself. Many active Mormon men keep a vial of consecrated oil on their keychains as to be ready to give a healing blessing at any time.
After the anointing, the second priesthood holder will place his own hands on the sick person's head. The man who performed the anointing will add his hands on top. The second priesthood holder will then give the blessing of healing.
Anyone may call a Mormon priesthood holder for a healing blessing, whether they are active members or not. Most healing blessings contain some kind of disclaimer that the healing will occur based on the recipients faith and/or in accordance with god's will.
Mother's Blessings apparently used to be a thing in the 19th century, but currently Mormon women do not give any kind of authorized blessings outside of the temple. During the initiatory part of an endowment ceremony in the temple, women administer the blessings given to other women. A woman would also give her husband a blessing in the temple if the couple were put forth to receive their second anointing (a very hushed ordinance that is not discussed openly).
If there is anything in here you find offensive or incorrect, please feel free to send me a letter by post addressing your concerns. You can send it to:
Heathen
Cupboard Under the Stairs
Little Whinging, Surrey.
Just kidding. You can email me. I don't bite.
I (probably very clearly) am not a spokesperson for the Mormon church. I have tried to link accurate sources (mix of neutral + faithful) in my mini (cough, mega) lesson. Some of my sources are lived experiences having been born into the church and being a fully believing/participating, card carrying member for 42 years.
Artwork and photos are all © TCOJCOLDS.