Speeding
Up Ministry
BY JOHN S. WIGHT,
senior president of seventy
The ministry of the seventy has been part of the church almost from its beginning. It has roots in the Hebrew Scriptures. The books of Exodus and Numbers both refer to “seventy of the elders of Israel,” who Moses was to choose. “I will take some of the spirit that is on you and put it on them; and they shall bear the burden of the people along with you so that you will not bear it all by yourself” (Numbers 11:17 NRSV).
The New Testament also refers to the seventy. “The Lord appointed seventy others and sent them on ahead of him in pairs to every town and place where he himself intended to go” (Luke 10:1 NRSV).
The first reference of how the church should organize the seventy came in a revelation in February 1835.
And it is according to the vision, showing the order of the Seventy, that they should have Seven Presidents to preside over them, chosen out of the number of the Seventy, and seventh president of these presidents is to preside over the six; and these Seven Presidents are to choose other Seventy besides the first Seventy, to whom they belong, and are to preside over them; and also other Seventy until seven times seventy, if the labor in the vineyard of necessity requires it.—Doctrine and Covenants 104:43a–b
This revelation did not specify there must be seven quorums, but the implication seemed clear. If there were to be seven presidents, there logically should be seven quorums. This understanding gained credence in a revelation presented 27 years after the church’s Reorganization.
The presidents of Seventy are instructed to select from the several quorums of elders such as are qualified and in a condition to take upon them the office of Seventy, that they may be ordained unto the filling of the first quorum of Seventy.—Doctrine and Covenants 120:10a
For nearly the next century, leaders assigned seventies to quorums in numeric order, filling the first quorum first, then the second, and so on. There were seven presidents of seventy, but leaders organized only three quorums with seventies assigned to them.
Eventually, it became clear that organizing quorums based on the seventies’ geographic location would be more efficient. This would allow better education, fellowship, and functional opportunities. So by the early 1980s seventies were assigned to each of the seven quorums based on location. For the first time, all seven quorums had seventies.
In following years leaders sought to align quorum boundaries closely with apostolic fields because “the Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve” (Doctrine and Covenants 104:13a).
However, this nearly was impossible. There then were 11 apostolic fields and only seven quorums. Leaders informally discussed expanding the number of quorums. But the guidance in Doctrine and Covenants specifically called for seven presidents and, by logical extension, seven quorums.
Then in 2007, President Stephen M. Veazey presented a new revelation.
Procedures regarding the calling and assignments of the Presidents of Seventy and members of the Quorums of Seventy shall be developed to facilitate the maximum level of collaboration with the Council of Twelve.—Doctrine and Covenants 163:5c
In response, the Council of Twelve Apostles and the Council of Presidents of Seventy formed a joint committee. The committee met prayerfully several times over many months to consider changes to bolster collaboration between the councils. David Schaal represented the First Presidency on the committee.
“The idea of increasing the number of quorums has been in the church for several years,” Schaal said. “As the special committee gave thought to expansion, it realized such a decision could come about only if the prophet felt led by the Holy Spirit in that direction. So in the spirit of our heritage, the committee asked the president to give this careful consideration.”
Presenting what became Section 164 opened the way to expand the number of quorums and presidents from seven to 10.
For this purpose, the number of quorums of seventy and presidents of seventy may be adjusted at times to respond to evangelistic strategies in apostolic fields. The First Presidency, in concert with the Council of Twelve and the Council of Presidents of Seventy, will provide procedures for determining the number, makeup, and roles of quorums of seventy and presidents of seventy.—Doctrine and Covenants 164:8b
Approval of Section 164 by the World Conference allowed the proposed expansion to become a reality. Thus, seventies were organized into 10 quorums, each aligned with one of the 10 apostolic fields.
This also meant the number of presidents needed to increase to 10. Seven new presidents were set apart at the 2010 World Conference to complete the new Council of Presidents of Seventy.
Those serving as presidents of seventy are Luis Dias, Kris Judd, Ruben Landeros, Robin Linkhart, Amson Mallick, Larry McGuire, Keith McMillan, Karin Peter, Mbenga Urbain, and John Wight. Each quorum also has a secretary and one or more quorum education officers. There are 324 seventies from 24 countries.
This new structure provides the means to fulfill the following recent direction to the church about missionary outreach efforts:
To accelerate the work of sharing the gospel, the Twelve and the Seventy should be closely associated in implementing wholistic evangelistic ministries. The seventy are to be the forerunners of Christ’s peace, preparing the way for apostolic witness to be more readily received…The Twelve, the Presidents of Seventy, and the Quorums of Seventy should spend sufficient time together to ensure a mutual understanding of evangelistic priorities and approaches.—Doctrine and Covenants 163:5b–c
As the senior president of seventy, I am excited about the future. Having the quorums aligned with mission fields allows greater coordination of effort. A new spirit of teamwork is emerging among the seventies because we now are better able to mobilize and coordinate our ministries.
President Schaal expresses similar enthusiasm.
“One characteristic of inspired counsel is that counsel always outruns our capacity to understand it,” he said. “While it is apparent that increasing the number of quorums to align with the number of fields makes strategic sense, we are eager to discover what other blessings may come from this.”