Church Talks
AUXILIARIES AND THE PRIESTHOOD
[Talk given by John E. Enslen at the Montgomery Alabama Stake annual auxiliary meeting in Montgomery, Alabama on August 26, 1992.]
In its divine organizational structure, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is characterized by two types of organizational entities. The first type of entity is the priesthood quorum, such as the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, the First Quorum of the Seventy, the Stake High Priest Quorum, the Ward Elders Quorum, the Priest’s Quorum and so forth. It is these priesthood organizations that have the direct ecclesiastical responsibility and authority to carry out the mission of the Church.
The second type of organizational entity in the Church is the auxiliary organization. The word “auxiliary” means extra or additional help or assistance. Auxiliary organizations exist for the purpose of assisting the priesthood in carrying out its ecclesiastical mission. The auxiliary organizations are complimentary to the priesthood organizations.
The priesthood organizations preceded and gave birth to the establishment of the auxiliary organizations. Auxiliary organizations are dependent upon the priesthood for their creation. The priesthood organizations approve, call and set apart the leaders that serve at the head of the auxiliary organizations. The auxiliary organizations are subject to the supervision of the priesthood.
Auxiliary organizations seek to provide gospel instruction, wholesome activities, sharing of resources, settings where supportive friendships can form, and formal and informal opportunities for the sharing of faith and values. Each organization tailors its program to a specific age group and gender, and provides its members with opportunities for Christian service. Each has a set of leaders functioning at the ward, stake, and general levels of the Church organization, and ward and stake auxiliary leaders receive training each year at an annual auxiliary training meeting.
Although the Relief Society had roots in the early years of the Church’s development (1842), the auxiliary organizations developed as a formal part of Church structure after the Church moved to Utah in 1847. The Relief Society and the Sunday School were established Churchwide in the early 1860’s by President Brigham Young, followed by the Cooperative Retrenchment Association (fore-runner of the Young Women organization) in 1869, and the Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Association (forerunner of the Young Men organization) in 1875. The Primary Association, emphasizing religious activities for children, began in 1878; weekday religion classes for children, emphasizing religious instruction, were instituted in 1890. These two entities were merged in 1929 to form the present day Primary.
As the auxiliary programs expanded in the first half of the twentieth century, one of the challenges became coordinating and maintaining the proper relationship between the priesthood line which has ultimate responsibility for the work of the Church, and the auxiliaries as agents of the priesthood in accomplishing the work of the Church. This challenge was recognized by President Joseph F. Smith as early as 1906. In the latter part of the twentieth century, the Church has made significant efforts to structure and define its work so that the principle of priesthood governance can be fully realized. The thrust has been to link the efforts of priesthood leaders and auxiliary leaders more closely and to align them with the priesthood channel of decision-making and action. Specifically, at each level of Church government, auxiliary leaders are accountable to priesthood leaders, rather than to the auxiliary organization.
Priesthood correlation with the auxiliaries provides more direct representation of the needs of all Church members in Church government, including women and children. Auxiliary leaders are members of Church correlation councils. When properly implemented, council’s become the vehicle through which women participate in the governing of the Church. Female leaders express their views, represent their concerns, and through their input, influence the priesthood’s decision-making process. Councils, however, are not democratic in nature, and do not have the final decision-making power. Such resides with the presiding priesthood leader of the unit.
It is essential to the administrative vitality of the Church for the priesthood and the auxiliaries to maintain a proper relationship, one to the other. The auxiliaries function properly and are “fitly framed together” with the priesthood when the auxiliaries operate in harmony and unity with priesthood leadership. In a proper perspective, auxiliaries subordinate their limited views to the good of the whole Church. This subordination is not the product of a quest for dominion, control, and censorship on the part of the priesthood, but rather it is the manner in which the Lord has chosen to ensure orderly and effective use of all the resources of the Church in accomplishing the single mission of the Church to bring all unto Christ.
Each of the auxiliary handbooks contains a statement or two clarifying this proper relationship between the priesthood and the auxiliary. For instance, on page 12 of the Young Women’s Handbook we read:
Difficulties and problems most commonly develop when priesthood leaders fail to fulfill their responsibility in giving appropriate direction to an auxiliary. For instance, ward priesthood leaders sometime become lax in holding stewardship interviews and in holding well-planned ward council meetings. When the main fuel tank of an airplane malfunctions, the auxiliary tank automatically becomes the main tank. But auxiliary tanks are designed for a short haul only. When the priesthood leader abandons or defaults in his responsibility to provide priesthood direction to the auxiliary, then the auxiliary has no choice but to turn to its own devices, ultimately resulting in a lack of unified direction in the building of the Kingdom.“Priesthood leaders bless the lives of Young Women by providing direction for and sheparding the work of Young Women. Young Women leaders need to counsel with priesthood leaders and report, discuss, and recommend ways to promote spiritual growth of each young woman.”