Church Policies and Announcements

The following items appeared in a recent Messages, sent to stake/mission/district presidents and to bishops and branch presidents:

1. “Proper Terminology When Introducing General Authorities. When introducing or referring to the General Authorities, the following proper terminology should be used:

“President of the Church: President Spencer W. Kimball, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Counselors in the First Presidency: President ______, first (or second) counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles: President Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles: Elder ______, a member of the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Members of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy: Elder ______, a member of the Presidency of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Members of the First Quorum of the Seventy: Elder ______, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Presiding Bishop: Bishop Victor L. Brown, Presiding Bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“Counselors in the Presiding Bishopric: Bishop ______, first (or second) counselor in the Presiding Bishopric of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

2. “Venturing and Exploring: The Church policy on the organization of posts for Venturing and Exploring is as follows: ‘Wards and branches are expected to sponsor Venturer and Explorer posts unless they have a fully-developed program that better meets the needs of their young men and is approved by their stake presidency’ (from the foreword of Relationships between the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America [PBAP0185]).

“Where programs other than Venturing and Exploring are approved by the stake presidency, activities should be carefully planned as outlined in the Aaronic Priesthood Quorum Guidebook (PBAP020A) and The Activity Book (PEJM0136). Sports alone should not be sponsored, nor should any activity that does not broaden the experience of young men and give them opportunities to serve others.

“Those units that use the Exploring program should charter their posts in the usual way.”