In Mormonism, a high council is one of several different governing bodies that have existed in the church hierarchy on many Latter Day Saint movement denominations. Most often, the term refers to a stake high council in a local stake, but other high councils include the standing Presiding High Council in Zion, and the "travelling high council", better-known today as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
When the church split into different sects after the death of its founder, Joseph Smith (1805-1844), the term came to be defined differently by each sect.
1834 1st High Council[]
Kirtland Ohio Stake (LDS) High Council was organized pursuant to revelation recorded in
This day a general council of twenty-four high priests assembled at the house of Joseph Smith, Jun., by revelation, and proceeded to organize the high council of the church of Christ, which was to consist of twelve high priests, and one or three presidents as the case might require. The high council was appointed by revelation for the purpose of settling important difficulties which might arise in the church, which could not be settled by the church or the bishop’s council to the satisfaction of the parties. Joseph Smith, Jun., Sidney Rigdon and Frederick G. Williams were acknowledged presidents by the voice of the council; and Joseph Smith, Sen., John Smith, Joseph Coe, John Johnson, Martin Harris, John S. Carter, Jared Carter, Oliver Cowdery, Samuel H. Smith, Orson Hyde, Sylvester Smith, and Luke Johnson, high priests, were chosen to be a standing council for the church, by the unanimous voice of the council. D&C 102:1-3
The First High Council, (AKA: High Council of Zion) was created February 17, 1834 at church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio, by Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement. This body consisted of twelve men and was headed by the First Presidency. The original members of the high council in Kirtland were:
- Joseph Smith (1771-1840) - father of the Prophet Joseph and first patriarch of the church.
- John Smith (1781-1854) - uncle to the Prophet Joseph.
- Joseph Coe
- John Johnson (1779-1843) - "father Johnson" who shared his home with the Prophet Joseph nearby in Hiram, Ohio.
- Martin Harris (1783-1875) - one of the Three Witnesses
- John Sims Carter (1797-1834) - former Baptist preacher and early convert who died of cholera on Zion's Camp (1834).
- Jared Carter
- Oliver Cowdery (1806-1850) - one of the Three Witnesses and 2nd Elder of the Church
- Samuel Harrison Smith (1808-1844) - bother of the prophet Joseph
- Orson Hyde (1805-1878) - soon to be one of the original apostles and famous for his mission to Palestine
- Sylvester Smith
- Luke S. Johnson
This high council took on the role of chief judicial and legislative body of the local church and handled such things as excommunication trials and approval of all church spending. This high council became subordinate to the high council of Zion, which was organized in Jackson County, Missouri. Later, when other high councils were established in newly formed stakes of the church, the high council of Zion (first Kirtland, then Far West, Missouri and finally Nauvoo, Illinois) took on a role of "presiding" over the lesser high councils. (Cases tried in the high councils of outlying stakes were regularly appealed to the high council of Zion.)
In 1835, Smith created an additional "traveling high council" of twelve men to oversee the missionary work of the church. Like many early church leaders including the Three and Eight Witnesses of the Book of Mormon and, initially all church elders, the members of this traveling high council were known as "apostles." Later, as this council grew in importance, it became known as the Council or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other church leaders ceased to be called apostles.
Later, as the traveling high council evolved and began to be known as the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, it acquired equal status with the presiding high council and both were subordinated to the First Presidency. When the high council of Zion was dissolved after the church members were expelled from Missouri, the high council organized at the new church headquarters in Nauvoo, Illinois, where it functioned as the presiding high council of the church, overseeing appeals from high councils in outlying stakes.
High councils today[]
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints[]
Each stake in The Church, the largest Latter Day Saint denomination, has a high council consisting of twelve high priests. The stake high council assists the presidency of the stake in approving bishops and other ward leaders, conducting disciplinary councils, and in communicating to and instructing the leaders of the wards and branches within the stake.