1976
The Sustaining of Church Officers
May 1976


“The Sustaining of Church Officers,” Ensign, May 1976, 18

The Sustaining of Church Officers

We shall now present the General Authorities, General Officers, and General Auxiliary Officers of the Church for your sustaining vote.

It is proposed that we sustain President Spencer W. Kimball as prophet, seer, and revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All in favor please manifest it by raising the right hand; those opposed by the same sign. Nathan Eldon Tanner as first counselor in the First Presidency and Marion G. Romney as second counselor in the First Presidency. All in favor please signify it. Those opposed by the same sign.

It is proposed that we sustain as President of the Council of the Twelve, Elder Ezra Taft Benson. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

As the Quorum of the Twelve: Ezra Taft Benson, Mark E. Petersen, Delbert L. Stapley, LeGrand Richards, Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer, Marvin J. Ashton, Bruce R. McConkie, L. Tom Perry, and David B. Haight. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

And as Patriarch to the Church, Eldred G. Smith. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

And the counselors in the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles, and the Patriarch to the Church as prophets, seers, and revelators. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

And as Assistants to the Twelve: Alma Sonne, Sterling W. Sill, Henry D. Taylor, Alvin R. Dyer, Franklin D. Richards, Theodore M. Burton, Bernard P. Brockbank, James A. Cullimore, Marion D. Hanks, Joseph Anderson, William H. Bennett, John H. Vandenberg, Robert L. Simpson, O. Leslie Stone, James E. Faust, J. Thomas Fyans, Neal A. Maxwell, William Grant Bangerter, Robert D. Hales, Adney Y. Komatsu, and Joseph B. Wirthlin. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

Spencer W. Kimball as Trustee-in-trust for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

As presidents of the Seventy and as members of the First Quorum of the Seventy: Seymour Dilworth Young, Albert Theodore Tuttle, Paul H. Dunn, Hartman Rector, Jr., Loren C. Dunn, Rex D. Pinegar, and Gene Raymond Cook. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

As additional members of the First Quorum of the Seventy: Charles A. Didier, William R. Bradford, George P. Lee, Carlos E. Asay, M. Russell Ballard, Jr., John Holbrook Groberg, Jacob de Jager. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

As the Presiding Bishopric: Victor L. Brown, Presiding Bishop; H. Burke Peterson, first counselor; Vaughn J. Featherstone, second counselor. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

As Regional Representatives of the Twelve: all Regional Representatives of the Quorum of the Twelve as they are at present constituted.

As Melchizedek Priesthood Department: Franklin D. Richards, managing director, with James A. Cullimore and Marion D. Hanks as associate managing directors. The Melchizedek Priesthood MIA: Marion D. Hanks, managing director, with all members of the committee as now constituted.

The Aaronic Priesthood under the direction of the Presiding Bishopric—Victor L. Brown, H. Burke Peterson, and Vaughn J. Featherstone—with Rulon Gerald Craven as director and with all members of the committee as at present constituted. The Young Women: Ruth Hardy Funk, president; Hortense H. Child, first counselor; Ardeth G. Kapp, second counselor; and all members of the committee as at present constituted.

The Relief Society: Barbara Bradshaw Smith, president; Janath Russell Cannon, first counselor; Marian Richards Boyer, second counselor; with all members of the board as at present constituted.

The Sunday School: Russell M. Nelson, president; B. Lloyd Poelman, first counselor; Joe J. Christensen, second counselor; with all members of the board as at present constituted.

The Primary Association: Naomi Maxfield Shumway, president; Sarah Melissa Broadbent Paulsen, first counselor; Colleen Bushman Lemmon, second counselor; with all members of the board as at present constituted.

The Church Board of Education: Spencer W. Kimball, Nathan Eldon Tanner, Marion G. Romney, Ezra Taft Benson, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, Boyd K. Packer, Marvin J. Ashton, Bruce R. McConkie, Marion D. Hanks, Paul H. Dunn, Victor L. Brown, and Barbara B. Smith. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

The Church Finance Committee: Wilford J. Edling, Harold H. Bennett, Weston E. Hamilton, David M. Kennedy, and Warren E. Pugh.

Tabernacle Choir: Oakley S. Evans as president, Jerold D. Ottley as conductor, Donald H. Ripplinger as associate conductor, Alexander Schreiner as chief organist, and Robert Cundick and Roy M. Darley as organists. All in favor please manifest it. Those opposed by the same sign.

These brethren whom you have just sustained as members of the First Quorum of the Seventy will hold the same authority as Assistants to the Twelve.

President Kimball has asked me to read a very important resolution for your sustaining vote. At a meeting of the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve held in the Salt Lake Temple on March 25, 1976, approval was given to add to the Pearl of Great Price the two following revelations:

First, a vision of the celestial kingdom given to Joseph Smith, the Prophet, in the Kirtland Temple, on January 21, 1836, which deals with the salvation of those who die without a knowledge of the gospel.

And second, a vision given to President Joseph F. Smith in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 3, 1918, showing the visit of the Lord Jesus Christ in the spirit world and setting forth the doctrine of the redemption of the dead.

It is proposed that we sustain and approve this action and adopt these revelations as part of the standard works of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. All in favor please manifest it. Contrary, if there be any, by the same sign. Thank you. President Kimball, the voting seems to be unanimous in the affirmative.