The decisions of these quorums [and societies] . . . are to be made in all righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long-suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience, godliness, brotherly kindness and charity Doctrine and Covenants 107:30
President Oaks wrote, “The Relief Society was organized upon the initiative of the women of Nauvoo. Desiring to organize a society to promote sisterhood and to accomplish benevolent works, a group of women asked Eliza R. Snow to draft a constitution and bylaws. When Joseph Smith learned of this, he asked that the sisters be called together so that he could provide “something better for them than a written Constitution.” One sister recalled his saying, “I will organize the women under the priesthood after the pattern of the priesthood.” (Sarah M. Kimball, “Auto-Biography,” Woman’s Exponent, 1 Sept. 1883, 51.) (“The Relief Society and the Church,” Ensign, May 1992).
“Priesthood quorums—units of men assembled according to priesthood office and usually headed by a president and two counselors—had been organized previously” (Joseph Smith Papers, Nauvoo Relief Society Minute Book, introduction). On March 15, 1842, the Relief Society was organized under the same pattern.
These quorums and societies “work together to help accomplish God’s work of salvation and exaltation. They serve others, [quorums fulfill priesthood duties and the Relief Society fulfills covenantal responsibilities], build unity, and learn and live doctrine” (General Handbook of Instructions, 8.1.1 and 9.1.1).
Both organizations work together to assist bishops in wisely managing the Lord’s storehouse—which includes the time, talents, and compassion of members—to care for the poor and needy. Both are intended to function as organized discipleship and provide a defense and a refuge for members and their families in the latter days.
President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “the Relief Society is the Lord’s organization for women. It complements the priesthood training given to the brethren.” The word society has a meaning nearly identical to that of quorum. It connotes “an enduring and cooperating . . . group” distinguished by its common aims and beliefs. . . Being part of a Relief Society or quorum is a designation for a way of life” (Julie B. Beck, “Why We Organized into Quorums and Relief Societies,” Religious Educator 14:1).
Sister Beck noted, “it may be helpful to review the definition of a priesthood quorum and a Relief Society. Many people have the mistaken idea that a quorum or a Relief Society is merely a class or a place to sit during the third hour of church on Sunday. Perhaps some of this misunderstanding started to develop when the Church combined its major meetings into a three-hour block [now a two-hour block] on Sunday. Before that time, quorum and Relief Society meetings were not connected with sacrament meeting or Sunday School” (“Why We Organized into Quorums and Relief Societies,” Religious Educator 14:1).
Word Origin: Quorum
Hebrew: The Hebrew equivalent of “quorum” is minyan (מניין) and refers to the minimum of ten Jewish adults (aged 13 or older – above the age of Bar Mitzvah) required for certain public prayers and religious obligations. The word minyanitself comes from the Hebrew root meaning “to count” or “to number”.
Greek: “Quorum” is apartía (απαρτία). It relates to the fewest members required for a formal meeting, used in systems like ancient Athenian democracy.
Latin: “Quorum” is Latin and literally means “of whom”. President Boyd K. Packer said that “in ancient days when a man was appointed to a select body, his commission, always written in Latin, outlined the responsibility of the organization, defined who should be members, and then invariably contained the words: quorum vos unum meaning, ‘of whom we will that you be one’” (“A Royal Priesthood”, Melchizedek Priesthood study guide, 1975–76, 131).
Also, the term itself originates from the Latin phrase quorum vos unum esse volumus, meaning “of whom we wish you to be one,” which was historically used in commissions in England to specify the particular individuals whose presence was required for the commissions to act.
English: The Oxford English Dictionary has two interesting definitions which may help us understand the word “quorum” 1) a fixed number of members of anybody whose presence is necessary for the proper or valid transaction of business 2) necessary materials. It appears that a quorum is whatever is necessary to carry out the work.
Word Origin: Society
Hebrew: The Hebrew word for “society” is chevra (חברה). This word can also mean “company” and comes from a root that means “connection”. It is related to chevar (חבר) which means “friend” or “companion”. It is used in verses like Psalm 119:63 (“I am a friend to all who fear You”) and is the root of the modern Hebrew word for friend.
Greek: The Greek word for “society” is koinonia (κοινωνία). The word koinonia originates from the Greek root word koinos (κοινός), which means “common” or “shared”. The first instance of koinōnia in the New Testament describes the early Christian community in Jerusalem. “And they continued stedfastly in the apostles’ doctrine and fellowship [koinonia], and in breaking of bread, and in prayers” (Acts 2:42).
English: Our English word “society” comes from the Latin societatem which means “fellowship, association, alliance, union, community,” from socius “companion, ally”.
“The quorum and the Relief Society should help us become who our Heavenly Father needs us to become”
President Julie B. Beck
Functions of Priesthood Quorums and Relief Societies
President Spencer W. Kimball taught, “Remember, in the world before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. You are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of you just as are those we sustain as prophets and apostles!” (“Righteous Women,” Ensign, Nov. 1979,102).
Quorums and societies are meant to emulate the eternal organization of heaven. The goal is to be “one” in purpose, heart, and mind, preparing for the establishment of Zion. They work hand in hand in the work of salvation. They assist God’s children in: 1. Living the gospel of Jesus Christ. 2. Caring for those in need. 3. Inviting all to receive the gospel. 4. Uniting families for eternity.
Quorums: The purpose of a priesthood quorum is associated with the divine power and authority delegated by God to accomplish His work to bring to pass the eternal life of man. Every act or ordinance performed in the Church is done under the direct or indirect authorization of one holding the keys for that priesthood function.
President Oaks taught, “The Melchizedek Priesthood is the divine authority God has delegated to accomplish His work ‘to bring to pass the … eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39). In 1829, it was conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery by the Savior’s Apostles Peter, James, and John (see D&C 27:12). It is sacred and powerful beyond our powers to describe.
“The keys of the priesthood are the powers to direct the exercise of priesthood authority. Thus, when the Apostles conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph and Oliver, they also gave them the keys to direct its exercise (see D&C 27:12–13). But not all priesthood keys were conferred at that time. The entire keys and knowledge necessary for this ‘dispensation of the fulness of times’ (D&C 128:18) are given ‘line upon line’ (verse 21). Additional keys were given in the Kirtland Temple seven years later (see D&C 110:11–16). These keys were given to direct priesthood authority in the additional assignments being given at that time, such as baptism for the dead.
“The Melchizedek Priesthood is not a status or a label. It is a divine power held in trust to use for the benefit of God’s work for His children. We should always remember that men who hold the priesthood are not ‘the priesthood.’ It is not appropriate to refer to ‘the priesthood and the women.’ We should refer to ‘the holders of the priesthood and the women’” (“The Powers of the Priesthood,” Ensign, May 2018, 65).
Relief Society: President Eyring noted: “Sisters, you were given the blessing of being daughters of God with special gifts. You brought with you into mortal life a spiritual capacity to nurture others and to lift them higher toward the love and purity that will qualify them to live together in a Zion society. It is not by accident that the Relief Society, the first Church organization specifically for Heavenly Father’s daughters, has as its motto ‘Charity Never Faileth.’
“Charity is the pure love of Christ. And it is faith in Him and the full effects of His infinite Atonement that will qualify you, and those you love and serve, for the supernal gift to live in that sociality of a long-looked-for and promised Zion” (“Sisters in Zion,” Ensign, November 2020, 68).
Joseph Smith remarked, “This is a charitable Society, and according to your natures; it is natural for females to have feelings of charity and benevolence. You are now placed in a situation in which you can act according to those sympathies which God has planted in your bosoms” (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith).
The Relief Society is fundamentally tied to the principles necessary for women to achieve their divine, eternal potential, with charity serving as the culminating attribute required for entrance into the highest degree of glory. It is in Relief Society that we learned the essence of the law of consecration.
One scholar noted, “The supreme qualification signaling readiness for this crowning blessing [of exaltation] is charity, what Nibley calls the ‘essence of the law of consecration…, without which, as Paul and Moroni tell us, all the other laws and observances become null and void. Love is not selective, and charity knows no bounds.’ Thus ‘if I expect anything in return for charity except the happiness of the recipient, then it is not charity.’ For in charity, Nibley continues, ‘there is no bookkeeping, no quid pro quo, no deals, interests, bargaining, or ulterior motives; charity gives to those who do not deserve and expects nothing in return; it is the love God has for us, and the love we have for little children, of whom we expect nothing but for whom we would give everything’” (Bradshaw, Temple Themes in the Book of Moses, 215).
Therefore, the divinely appointed combination of quorums and societies combines authority and power with divine character.
Elder James E. Talmage wrote: “In the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the Holy Priesthood is conferred, as an individual bestowal, upon men only, and this in accordance with Divine requirement. It is not given to woman to exercise the authority of the Priesthood independently; nevertheless, in the sacred endowments associated with the ordinances pertaining to the House of the Lord, woman shares with man the blessings of the priesthood. When the frailties and imperfections of mortality are left behind, in the glorified state of the blessed hereafter, husband and wife will administer in their respective stations, seeing and understanding alike, and cooperating to the full in the government of their family kingdom. Then shall woman be recompensed in rich measure for all the injustice that womanhood has endured in mortality. Then shall woman reign by Divine right, a queen in the resplendent realm of her glorified state, even as exalted man shall stand, priest and king unto the Most High God. Mortal eye cannot see nor mind comprehend the beauty, glory, and majesty of a righteous woman made perfect in the celestial kingdom of God” (Eternity of Sex, The Young Woman’s Journal Vol. 25:602–03, 1914).
Illustration
In 1918 Brother George Goates was a farmer who raised sugar beets in Lehi, Utah. Winter came early that year and froze much of his beet crop in the ground. For George and his young son Francis, the harvest was slow and difficult. Meanwhile, an influenza epidemic was raging. The dreaded disease claimed the lives of George’s son Charles and three of Charles’s small children—two little girls and a boy. In the course of only six days, a grieving George Goates made three separate trips to Ogden, Utah, to bring the bodies home for burial. At the end of this terrible interlude, George and Francis hitched up their wagon and headed back to the beet field.
“[On the way] they passed wagon after wagon-load of beets being hauled to the factory and driven by neighborhood farmers. As they passed by, each driver would wave a greeting: ‘Hi ya, Uncle George,’ ‘Sure sorry, George,’ ‘Tough break, George,’ ‘You’ve got a lot of friends, George.’
“On the last wagon was … freckled-faced Jasper Rolfe. He waved a cheery greeting and called out: ‘That’s all of ’em, Uncle George.’
“[Brother Goates] turned to Francis and said: ‘I wish it was all of ours.’
“When they arrived at the farm gate, Francis jumped down off the big red beet wagon and opened the gate as [his father] drove onto the field. [George] pulled up, stopped the team, … and scanned the field. … There wasn’t a sugar beet on the whole field. Then it dawned upon him what Jasper Rolfe meant when he called out: ‘That’s all of ’em, Uncle George!’
“[George] got down off the wagon, picked up a handful of the rich, brown soil he loved so much, and then … a beet top, and he looked for a moment at these symbols of his labor, as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Then [he] sat down on a pile of beet tops—this man who brought four of his loved ones home for burial in the course of only six days; made caskets, dug graves, and even helped with the burial clothing—this amazing man who never faltered, nor flinched, nor wavered throughout this agonizing ordeal—sat down on a pile of beet tops and sobbed like a little child.
“Then he arose, wiped his eyes, … looked up at the sky, and said: ‘Thanks, Father, for the elders of our ward.’” (President Christofferson, “The Elders’ Quorum,” Ensign, May 2018).
