SOLEMN ASSEMBLIES, SUSTAINING OUR LEADERS, and COMMON CONSENT
“I [will] now handle the business of the solemn assembly for which we are met. This is an occasion of great significance for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world.Dating from October 10, 1880, when John Taylor was sustained to succeed Brigham Young as prophet, seer, and revelator and President of the Church, each of these occasions has been designated a formal solemn assembly of the body of the Church to express the voice of the Church.We shall vote by quorums and groups. Wherever you are, you are invited to stand when requested and express by your uplifted hand whether you choose to sustain those whose names will be presented. You should vote only when asked to stand. The General Authorities assigned to the Tabernacle and to the Assembly Hall on Temple Square will observe the voting in those gatherings. In stake centers, a member of the stake presidency will observe the voting. Should there be any contrary votes, we ask that we be so advised. We shall now proceed with the business of this solemn assembly”(This was done by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf at the request of President Thomas S. Monson).
(“The Sustaining of Church Officers,” Saturday A.M. Session of the April 2008 General Conference).
“I [will] now handle the business of the solemn assembly for which we are met. This is an occasion of great significance for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the world. We shall vote by quorums and groups. Wherever you are, you are invited to stand when requested and express by your uplifted hand whether you choose to sustain those whose names will be presented. Those who are standing when appropriately called upon would be the ones who would be given the privilege to vote”(This was done by President Thomas S. Monson at the request of President Gordon B. Hinckley).
(“The Solemn Assembly: Sustaining of Church Officers,” Saturday A.M. Session of the April 1995 General Conference)
NOTE: Please read either one of these accounts in full so you can understand the order of this procedure and be prepared to participate!
At the Solemn Assembly and Sustaining of Church Officers in the October 1994 General Conference wherein President Howard W. Hunter was sustained as prophet, seer, and revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the following statement was made by President Gordon B. Hinckley at the conclusion of the sustaining vote: “Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your sustaining vote and your faith and prayers. We feel that you have sustained us not only with your hands but also with your hearts. We urgently need your prayers and pray that you will continue to offer them in our behalf as your servants”
(“The Solemn Assembly: Sustaining of Church Officers,” Oct. 1994 Gen. Conf.).
“For members of the church, sustaining church officers is not a passive act of casting a vote. Sustaining in a solemn assembly indicates a willingness to offer continued faith, prayers and support for the new church president. The solemn assembly will not be the only time church members will be asked to sustain the authorities of the church. A sustaining vote is taken at every general conference, as a part of stake conferences, and as a part of every ward or branch conference held in the church. As members regularly sustain the leadership of the church, they will have an opportunity to renew the commitments they will make in this weekend's solemn assembly”(Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy, Deseret News article in Mormon Times, 3 April 2008).
Historical Information about SOLEMN ASSEMBLIES
Ancient Israel met in solemn assembly every year at the Feast of the Passover (Exodus 23:14-17; Deuteronomy 16:8, 16) and at the Feast of Tabernacles, also called the Feast of Booths, the Feast of Ingathering or Sukkot (Leviticus 23:33-36; Nehemiah 8:18). The dedication of Solomon's Temple took place during the solemn assembly at the Feast of Tabernacles (2 Chronicles 5:2-3, 7:9-11; 1 Kings 8). *STUDY NEHEMIAH 8 noting any connections you see between this gathering and the setting of our modern-day General Conference.
Joseph Smith and his presidency were sustained in a solemn assembly in the Kirtland Temple on March 27, 1836(seeHistory of the Church,1:74–77; 2:416-418),and Brigham Young and his presidency were first sustained Dec. 27, 1847, in the Kanesville Tabernacle at Council Bluffs, Iowa. The solemn assembly to sustain President Heber J. Grant was postponed from April to June 1919 because of the worldwide flu epidemic. Solemn assemblies may be called for other reasons. On 2 July 1889, a special solemn assembly was held in the Salt Lake Temple in which President Lorenzo Snow presented the law of tithing as the word and will of God for members of the Church to accept. (See Francis M. Gibbons, Lorenzo Snow: Spiritual Giant, Prophet of God, [1982], pp. 222–23.)Other solemn assemblies have been called by the First Presidency to instruct priesthood leaders and returned missionaries. Some solemn assemblies are held in temples, some in the Tabernacle, and others in stake centers. President Gordon B. Hinckley was the 13th and final Church President to be sustained in the Tabernacle (April 1995)and President Thomas S. Monson was the first Church President to be sustained in the Conference Center (April 2008). *STUDY D&C 88:70, 117; 95:7; 108:4; 109:6-10; 124:39; 133:6 for more about Solemn Assemblies.
Members of the church look forward to a historic solemn assembly this weekend, when President Nelson will be the second president of the church to be sustained in a solemn assembly held in the Conference Center. While this weekend's solemn assembly likely will follow the general pattern of solemn assemblies held in the past (see proceedings from April 2008 Gen. Conf.; April 1995 Gen. Conf.; Oct. 1994 Gen. Conf.), there have been slight variations in procedure over the years. Until 1986, when Ezra Taft Benson was sustained as president of the church, the priesthood was seated by quorums and groups in various areas of the Tabernacle. The first solemn assembly in which the Relief Society and Young Women of the church voted as separate groups was in 1995.
Counsel from President Russell M. Nelson
“Imagine the privilege the Lord has given us of sustaining His prophet, whose counsel will be untainted, unvarnished, unmotivated by any personal aspiration, and utterly true!How do we really sustain a prophet?…You and I do not ‘vote’ on Church leaders at any level. We do, though, have the privilege of sustaining them. …Our sustaining of prophets is a personal commitment that we will do our utmost to uphold their prophetic priorities. Our sustaining is an oath-like indication that we recognize their calling as a prophet to be legitimate and binding upon us. …The Church today has been organized by the Lord Himself. …The living Lord leads His living Church!” (Russell M. Nelson, “Sustaining the Prophets,” Oct. 2014 Gen. Conf.; Ensign, Nov. 2014 – please read the entire talk!).
The Last Solemn Assembly – April 2008 General Conference
The first speaker, after the business of the solemn assembly, was then–Elder Russell M. Nelson who declared this truth:“Today, at this solemn assembly, we have complied with the will of the Lord (see Doctrine & Covenants 42:11). …This law of common consent (see D&C 26:2; 28:13) has been invoked, and the Church will move forward on its prescribed course.” He concluded his talk with these words: “In God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a family matter. As children of the covenant, we have met in this morning’s solemn assembly. Attention has been focused upon the sacred titles of prophets and apostles. But the final responsibility to prepare for salvation and exaltation rests upon each person, accountable for individual agency, acting in one’s own family, bearing another sacred title of mother, father, daughter, son, grandmother, or grandfather. In those responsible roles, may we go forward in faith, led by Jesus Christ, whose Church this is, and by His prophet, through whom He speaks”
(Elder Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation,” April 2008 General Conference; or Ensign, May 2008).
Later in that same conference, Elder Robert D. Hales (1932–2017) clarified: “Like you, I appreciated the participation in the solemn assembly. But I thought I might give one point of doctrine and help. When we raised our hands to the square in the solemn assembly, it was not just a vote [but] we gave of ourselves a private and personal commitment, even a covenant, to sustain and to uphold the laws, ordinances, commandments, and the prophet of God. I so appreciated participating with you and raising my right hand to the square” (April 2008 Gen. Conf.; or Ensign, May 2008).
Insights into Solemn Assemblies by Church Leaders
“This morning we all participated in a solemn assembly. That is just what the name indicates. It is a gathering of the membership where every individual stands equal with every other in exercising with soberness and in solemnity his or her right to sustain or not to sustain those who, under the procedures that arise out of the revelations, have been chosen to lead. The procedure of sustaining is much more than a ritualistic raising of the hand. It is a commitment to uphold, to support, to assist those who have been selected” (Pres. Gordon B. Hinckley [1910–2008], “This Work is Concerned with People,” April 1995 Gen. Conf.; or Ensign, May 1995).
“Today we are witnesses to and participants in a most sacred occasion—a solemn assembly to act upon heavenly things. As in olden times, there has been much fasting and prayer offered by the Saints throughout the world that they may receive an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord, which is so much in evidence here on this occasion this morning.A solemn assembly, as the name implies, denotes a sacred, sober, and reverent occasion when the Saints assemble under the direction of the First Presidency. Solemn assemblies are used for three purposes: the dedication of temples, special instruction to priesthood leaders, and sustaining a new President of the Church. This conference session today is a solemn assembly for the purpose of sustaining a newly called Church President and other officers of the Church.There is a pattern to solemn assemblies that distinguishes them from other general Church meetings where we sustain officers of the Church. That pattern, which was established by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is that the priesthood quorums, commencing with the First Presidency (followed by all other church members by groups), stand and manifest by the uplifted right hand their willingness to sustain the President of the Church as a prophet, seer, and revelator, and uphold him by their confidence, faith, and prayers. …When we sustain the President of the Church by our uplifted hand, it not only signifies that we acknowledge before God that he is the rightful possessor of all the priesthood keys; it also means that we covenant with God that we will abide by the direction and the counsel that come through His prophet. It is a solemn covenant”
(Elder David B. Haight [1906–2004], “Solemn Assemblies,” Oct. 1994 Gen. Conf.; Ensign, Nov. 1994).
“…As each quorum or group is called, they will be asked to vote to sustain the officer(s) proposed. Those voting will when called upon arise to their feet. When the affirmative vote is called for, those so voting will bring their right arms to the square to manifest to the Lord that they sustain the officer for whom they are voting. They will then drop their hands. Then those opposing will be asked to bring their right arms to the square to bear witness to the Lord that they are not willing to sustain the officer whom they are called upon to sustain. …Everyone is perfectly free to vote as he or she wishes. There is no compulsion whatsoever in this voting. When you vote affirmatively you make a solemn covenant with the Lord that you will sustain, that is, give your full loyalty and support, without equivocation or reservation, to the officer for whom you vote. …Only Church members are entitled to vote.…May the Lord guide us and may His Spirit attend us as we go forward in this solemn service, established by the Lord so that each member of his Church may have a voice in sustaining those whom He has called to preside over it and to direct its work, to the salvation and exaltation of mankind” (Pres. N. Eldon Tanner [1898–1982], “The Solemn Assembly,” April 1974 Gen. Conf.; or Ensign, May 1974).