General authorities

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a general authority is a member of the highest levels of leadership in the church who has administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church. A general authority's jurisdiction is church-wide, in contrast to the responsibilities of a local authority or an area authority, which relate to a particular area, unit, or department of the church. As a group, the general authorities are often referred to as "the Brethren". As of March 2016, the number of general authorities is 103.

The first scriptural use of the term general authority was in minutes of a meeting for the organization of the Presiding High Council in 1834. Though the original minutes did not refer to the term general authorities, the revised minutes, which were included in the 1835 edition of the Doctrine and Covenants, stated that decisions of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles "can only be called into question by the general authorities of the church in case of transgression." The use of the term general authorities at this time and in this context is generally interpreted to include the First Presidency and the Presiding High Council.

By definition, general authorities are members of the church's priesthood. In order of precedence, the general authorities include the members of the following leadership organizations:

Not all church leaders with church-wide responsibility are considered general authorities. The general presidencies of the church's auxiliary organizations, which are sustained as general officers of the church, but are not general authorities, include the general presidencies of the following organizations:

The latter three groups are composed of women and represent the only three organizations in which women are given church-wide authority.

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