The Covenantal Significance of Sustaining Church Leaders

Keywords

general conference, sustaining church leaders, covenant significance

Abstract

General Conference swiftly approaches. This is a cherished time of year. Whether Conference occurs in the fire of fall colors or in the sweetness of life-giving spring returning to earth, hearing the word of God through His chosen leaders is always the right time of year.

One of the events of General Conference that we probably don’t think much about, though we should, is the sustaining of church leaders. I rarely hear anyone speaking in breathless anticipation of this portion of General Conference.

Each year we are presented with the privileged to sustain church leaders. Typically sustaining of church leaders happens in the Saturday afternoon session of General Conference. The introductory words for the sustaining may be similar to what we heard from President Eyring during the October 2018 General Conference.

“Brothers and sisters, I will now present to you the General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Auxiliary Presidencies of the Church for your sustaining vote.”

These words may not feel particularly revelatory or stunning. For many of us in the Church, so often have we participated in formal acts of sustaining that we seldom consider the significance or meaning of the words or actions we employ. Let’s pause for a few minutes to more seriously consider what we are doing.

Here are some reasons why I think the sustaining of church leaders is such a covenantally significant event in General Conference.

Original Publication Citation

The Covenantal Significance of Sustaining Church Leaders, September 30, 2019. (Republished on LDS Living on September 30, 2019.)

Document Type

Other

Publication Date

2019

Language

English

College

Marriott School of Business

Department

Marketing

University Standing at Time of Publication

Associate Professor

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