High Council

The High Council are twelve high priests who sit as a council under the direction of a stake presidency and minister in teaching, training, and supervising stake members or programs.

“Now, I don’t know that it is possible for any organization to succeed in the Church under the Priesthood without adopting the genius of our Church government. What is that? As I conceive it, the genius of our Church government is government through Councils. The Council of the Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, the Council of the Stake Presidency, or quorum if you choose to use that word, the Council of the Bishopric, and the quorum o[r] Council of the Quorum Presidency. I have had enough experience to know the value of councils. Hardly a day passes but that I see the wisdom, God’s wisdom, in creating councils: to govern his Kingdom. In the spirit under which we labor, men can get together with seemingly divergent views and far different backgrounds, and under the operation of that spirit, by counseling together, they can arrive at an accord, … and therefore I say that accord is always right. That accord represents the wisdom of the council, acting under the Spirit.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1953, p. 86, as quoted by Roy W. Doxey, “Questions and Answers,” Tambuli, Mar. 1983, 16–17.)

As each stake is organized, a high council is also organized to assist the stake presidency in governing the stake. None of these stake high councils has jurisdiction over decisions of the First Presidency or the Quorum of the Twelve. A stake high council’s jurisdiction is confined to the stake in which it is organized (Doxey, Q&A).