Doctrine and Covenants 102

Revised Minutes, 18–19 February 1834

Source Note

Revised Minutes, Kirtland Township, OH, 18–19 Feb. 1834. Featured version copied [ca. 19 Feb. 1834] in Minute Book 1, pp. 31–35; handwriting of Orson Hyde; CHL. For more information, see the source note for Minute Book 1, on the Joseph Smith Papers website.

Historical Introduction

On 17 February 1834, at a meeting that included priesthood holders and other members of the church, JS oversaw the initial organization of a standing “Presidents Church Council” in Kirtland, Ohio. Orson Hyde, the clerk of the meeting, noted in the minutes of that meeting that “many questions have been asked during the time of the organization of this Council and doubtless some errors have been committed, it was, therefore, voted by all present that Bro Joseph should make all necessary corrections by the spirit of inspiration hereafter.”¹ JS worked on amending the minutes the following day “with all the strength and wisdom that he had” and presented the revised minutes—featured here—to a council of sixty-two priesthood holders and church members on 19 February. JS’s revisions were significant and both added and deleted material from the original minutes. After hearing the revised minutes read three times and making at least one correction, the council unanimously voted to accept the revised minutes as “a form, and constitution of the high Council of the Church of Christ hereafter,” with the proviso that “if the president should hereafter discover any lack in the same he should be privileged to fill it up.” At the 19 February meeting, after giving several blessings and items of instruction to members of the new council, JS reported that “the Council was organized according to the ancient order, and also according to the mind of the Lord.” Conducting itself according to procedures outlined in the minutes featured here, the council, later known as the Kirtland high council, then heard its first case.²

These minutes also authorized high priests at remote locations to, when necessary, organize similar, temporary disciplinary councils, the decisions of which could be appealed to the standing “high Council at the seat of the general government of the Church,” then in Kirtland.³ In addition, though these minutes contained no provision for doing so, JS organized another standing high council following the same pattern outlined in the minutes featured here in Clay County, Missouri, the following July.⁴ After the main body of church members in Missouri moved from Clay County to Caldwell County in 1836–1837, this second standing high council conducted its meetings at Far West, Caldwell County. Following JS’s move to Far West in March 1838, this Missouri council replaced the Kirtland high council as the “high Council at the seat of the general government of the Church” and, therefore, became the council to which appeals resulting from other church councils were made.⁵ Similar standing high councils were later organized in Illinois and Iowa Territory, with the Nauvoo high council assuming appellate authority after its organization in October 1839.⁶ In the meantime, the revised minutes of the 17 February 1834 meeting were included as section 5 in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants.

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The above items have been corrected according to the resolution passed <in the same>, and the following is the correction.⁷—— [p. 31]

Kirtland Feb 17. 1834.

^[1]This day a <general> council of <24> high Priests assembled at the house of Joseph Smith Jun^r. <by revelation> and proceeded to organize the high council of the Church of Christ, which is <was> to consist of twelve high priests, and one, or three presidents, as the case may <might> require. ^[2]This <high> council is <was> appointed by revelation, for the purpose of settleing important difficulties which may <might> arise in the church, which cannot <could not> be settled by the Church, or the bishop’s council to the satisfaction of the parties⁸

^[3]Joseph Smith Jun^r.

Sidney Rigdon and

Frederick G Williams were acknowledged presidents,⁹ by the voice of the council; and

Joseph Smith Seign John Smith Joseph Coe John Johnson Martin Harris John S Carter

Jared Carter Oliver Cowdery Saml. 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.

^[4]The above named counsellors were then asked whether they accepted their appointments, and whether they would act in that office according to the law of Heaven: to which they all answered, that they accepted their several appointments, and would fill their offices according to the grace of God bestowed upon them.

^[5]The numbers composeing the council, who voted in the name, and for the church in appointing the above named counsellors, were forty three; As follows: Nine high priests,¹⁰ Seventeen elders, four priests, and thirteen members.¹¹

^[6]Voted, that this <the high> council cannot have power to act without seven of the above named counsellors, or their regularly appointed successors, are present; ^[7]these seven shall have power to appoint other high priests whom they may consider worthy and capable to act in the place of absent counsellors. [p. 32]

^[8]Voted, that whenever any vacancy shall occur by the death, removeal from office, for transgression, or removal from the bounds of this church goverment of any one of the above named counsellors, it shall be filled by the nomination of the president, or presidents and sanctioned by the voice of a general Conference <Council of high priests> convened for that purpose to act in the name of the Church.

^[9]The president of the church, who is also the president of the council, is appointed by the voice of the Saviour, and acknowledged in his administration, by the voice of the Church; ^[10]and it is according to the dignity of his office that he should preside over the high Council of the Church; and it is his privilege to be assisted by two other presidents, appointed after the same manner that he himself was appointed; ^[11]and in case of the abscence of one or both of those who are appointed to assist him, he has power to preside over the council without an assistant: and in case that he himself is abscent, the other presidents have power to preside in his stead, both or either of them.

^[12]Whenever a high council of the Church of Christ, is regularly organized according to the foregoing pattern, it shall be the duty of the twelve counsellors to cast lots by numbers and thereby ascertain who of the twelve shall speak first, commenceing with Number One, and so in succession to number twelve

^[13]Whenever this council convenes to act upon any case; in the Church, the twelve counsellors shall consider whether it is a difficult one or not; If it is not, two <only> of the Counsellors shall speak upon it according to the form above written; ^[14]but if it is thought to be more <a> difficult, <one> four shall be appointed, and if still more difficult, six: but in no case not over that number shall <shall be more than six be> be appointed to speak. ^[15]The accused in all cases has a right to one half of the council to prevent insult or injustice; ^[16]and the counsellors appointed to speak before the council, are to present the case after the evidence is examined, in its true light before the Council, and every man is to speak according to equity [p. 33] and justice.

^[17]Those counsellors who draw even numbers, that is, 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12, are the individuals who are to stand up <in> the behalf of the accused and prevent insult or injustice.

^[18]In all cases the accuser and the accused shall have a privilege of speaking for themselves before the council, after the evidences are heared, and the Counsellors who are appointed to speak on the case, have finished their remarks.

^[19]After the evidences are heared; the counsellors, accuser and <the> accused, have spoken, the president shall give a decision according to the understanding which he shall have of the case, and call upon the twelve Counsellors to sanction the same by their voices.

^[20]But should the remaining Counsellors who have not spoken*, or any one of them, after hearing the evidences and pleadings impartially, discover an error in the descision of the president, they can manifest it, and the case shall have a re-hearing; ^[21]and if after a careful rehearing, any additional light is thrown upon the case, the descision shall be altered accordingly; ^[22]but in case no additional light is given, the first decision shall stand; the majority of the Council haveing power to determine the same.

^[23]In cases of difficulty respecting doctrine, or principle; if there is not a sufficiency written to make the case clear to the mind of the Council, the president may inquire and obtain the mind of the Lord by revelation.

^[24]The high priests, when abroad, have power to call and organize a Council after the manner of the foregoing, to settle difficulties when the parties, or either of them shall request it, ^[25]<and the said council of high priests shall have power to appoint one of their own number to preside over such council> by appointing or chooseing one of their number to preside over the council for the time being.

^[26]It shall be the duty of said Council to transmit, immediately, a copy of their proceedings, with a full statement of the testimony with <accompanying> their decision, to the high council [p. 34] at the seat of the government of the Church.¹²

^[27]Should the parties, or either of them, be dissatisfied with the decision of said Council, they may appeal to the high Council at the seat of the general government of the Church, and have a re-hearing, which case shall there be conducted according to the former pattern written, as though no such descision had been passed <made>.

^[28]This Council of high priests abroad, is only to be called on the most difficult cases of Church matters; and no common or ordinary case is to be sufficient to call such Councils. ^[29]The travelling or located high priests abroad, have the power to say whether it is necessary to call such a Council or not.

^[34]*¹³The twelve counsellors then proceeded to cast lots or ballot, to ascertain who should speak first, and the following was the result, viz:

Oliver Cowdery	drew No. 1	John Johnson	drew No 7
Joseph Coe——	〃 〃 2	Orson Hyde	〃 〃 8
Saml. H Smith——	〃 〃 3	Jared Carter	〃 〃 9
Luke Johnson——	〃 〃 4	Joseph Smith sen	〃 10
John S Carter——	〃 〃 5	John Smith	〃 〃 11
Sylvester Smith——	〃 〃 6	Martin Harris	〃 〃 12

Council then adjourned to meet on wednesday the 19^th. Inst. at 10 Oclk A.M.

Orson Hyde Clk——

^[33]*Resolved, that the presidents or presidents at the seat of general church government, shall have power to determine whether any such case as may be appealed, is justly entitled to a re-hearing after examineing the appeal and the evidences and statements accompanying it. [p. 35]

Notes

1. Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:438.

2. Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:445–446.

3. That the high council with appellate authority was identified as the “high Council at the seat of the general government of the Church” (rather than this newly organized Kirtland high council) suggests that JS anticipated a time when the seat of church government would not be at Kirtland.

4. Minute Book 2, 3 and 7 July 1834.

5. For examples of the Kirtland and Far West high councils serving in appellate capacities, see Minute Book 1, 18 Nov. 1835; and Minute Book 2, 14 Apr. 1838.

6. For examples of the Nauvoo high council serving in an appellate capacity, see Nauvoo High Council Minutes, 15 Jan. and 18 Feb. 1843.

7. The resolution referred to here was passed in the 17 February 1834 meeting. (Minutes, 17 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:438.)

8. This wording suggests that the duties of the high council would be limited to hearing appeals of decisions made by other councils on disciplinary matters. However, on several occasions—including the first case it heard—the high council appears to have functioned as the court of original jurisdiction.^a In practice, the council’s duties extended well beyond “settleing important difficulties” between different parties and included determining church policy, assigning missionaries to their fields of labor, and making plans to help church members in Missouri who had been driven from their homes in Jackson County.^b At the 19 February meeting in which these revised minutes were accepted, JS blessed the members of the high council with “wisdom and power to counsel in righteousness upon all subjects that might be laid before them,” suggesting that JS understood that the council’s responsibilities would include more than overseeing church discipline.^c (a. See, for example, Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:446; and Minute Book 1, 28–29 Aug. 1834; 10, 18, and 19 Aug. 1835. b. See, for example, Minutes, 20 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:448; Minutes, 24 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:453; and Minute Book 1, 18 Jan. and 24 Aug. 1835. c. Minutes, 19 Feb. 1834, in JSP, D3:445–446.)

9. The appointment of JS, Rigdon, and Williams as presidents of the council was separate from the three men’s earlier appointment to the presidency of the high priesthood.

10. These nine individuals were the high priests at the meeting who had not been selected to serve as a president or counselor in the newly formed high council.

11. These elders, priests, and other church members composed the larger council who voted “in the name, and for the church” in favor of organizing the standing council of twelve high priests and were separate from the council of twenty-four high priests from which the fifteen-man high council and its presidency were drawn.

12. In preparing these minutes for publication in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, Oliver Cowdery, who was present at this meeting, changed both instances of “at the seat of the government of the Church” to “of the seat of the first Presidency of the church.” (Revelation Book 2, pp. 114–115, in JSP, MRB:645–647 [D&C 102:27, 33].)

13. Although it is not clear why the first asterisk in this document (located on manuscript page 34) was inserted, the asterisk here apparently indicated a desire to move the final paragraph, also marked by an asterisk, to this point. When this document was published in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, the final paragraph was moved to the location of this asterisk. (Revised Minutes, 18–19 Feb. 1834, in Doctrine and Covenants 5:14, 1835 ed. [D&C 102:33].)