Governing the Church,Part 2 of Chapter 7 of Holy Priesthood Volume 3

Governing the Church,Part 2 of Chapter 7 of Holy Priesthood Volume 3

Pages 98-103

Churches may grow, prosper, and do great missionary service in the name of Christ, but they may or may not be governed by Priesthood. They can lose it more easily than they gained it.

When church leaders call people to hold offices in its organization, they may or may not be inspired to make those choices. Those calls to offices and missions usually come from the organization; the power and authority of Priesthood comes from God. Hence, there is usually an eventual separation between church and priesthood. Men are called to offices, but the gifts, powers, and revelations to magnify those callings come through the power of God. When the division between church offices and priesthood callings becomes too great, it becomes obvious–as Margaret Toscano stated:

Some Mormon women want nothing to do with the hierarchal priesthood system that operates the [99] modern church. They see priesthood leadership as power-centered and corruptible. (“Put On Your Strength. . .” Women and Authority, p. 418)