The Church held a special news release today, announcing the change in the First Presidency. With the passing of our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, many non-members have wondered how a new leader of our church is selected. Someone even compared our church to the Catholic church and asked me if white smoke comes out of the temple once the new president is chosen. I thought that was pretty cute.
With Mitt Romney running for president of the United States, many eyes have turned to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and wondered how things work. The process of succession is a terrific excuse to talk to our non-member friends and neighbors about our beliefs and practices.
We often feel uncomfortable or unsure of our answers when discussing doctrine or church policy with non-members. The beauty of missionary work is that we don’t have to know the answers to every single question…we simply need to know where to find the answers. There are so many resources available to us and they’re usually as close as a Google search! The following are a couple of helpful links to articles about the succession in the presidency:
www.ldsces.org/magazine/church_magazine_DC_West.htm#Succession
www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/dc-ssg/dc-ssg-6.htm#succession
