Role of Church patriarchs and patriarchal blessings-- Salt Lake City, Utah.
Two letters of instruction defining the role of Church patriarchs and the giving of patriarchal blessings.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Office of the First Presidency Salt Lake City, Utah May 25, 1943
SUGGESTIONS FOR STAKE PATRIARCHS
To the end that there may be a clearer and more uniform understanding of the duties and prerogatives of stake patriarchs, we bring to your attention the following considerations:
1. Nature of the Patriarchal Office and Blessings:â€"
The patriarchal office is one of blessing, not of administration. Patriarchal blessings are the only blessings that patriarchs are specifically ordained and sustained to give. Patriarchal blessings contemplate inspired declaration of the lineage of the recipient, and also, where so moved upon by the Spirit, an inspired and prophetic statement of the life mission of the recipient, together with such blessings, cautions, and admonitions as the patriarch may be prompted to give for the accomplishment of such life's mission, it always being made clear that the realization of all promised blessings is conditioned upon faithfulness to the Gospel of our Lord, whose servant the patriarch is.
All such blessings are recorded and generally only one such blessing should be adequate for each person's life. The sacred nature of the patriarchal blessing must of necessity urge all patriarchs to most earnest solicitation of divine guidance for their prophetic utterances and superior wisdom for cautions and admonitions.
2. Relation to Administrative Officers:â€"
While under the revelations patriarchs are selected and ordained by members of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, they act in the stakes of Zion under the direct supervision of the presidency of the stake whose privilege and duty it is to supervise their work and to make adequate provision for it to be carried forward in an orderly way. The patriarch is not a counselor to the people of the stake and the ward as are the presidency of the stake and the bishoprics. It is the duty of the patriarchs ever to sustain these administrative officers in the policies adopted and the counsels given to the people; and if patriarchs are solicited for counsel and advice relating to the conduct of members of the Church and decisions to be made in both temporal and spiritual matters, they should refer such persons to the administrative officers whose right it is to give attention to such matters. Patriarchs, as well as all others who hold the proper priesthood, may, when requested so to do, give blessings for the healing of the sick, but such blessings for the sick or for the comfort of individuals are of no higher order than, nor are they to be distinguished from, similar blessings given by others who hold the proper priesthood.
3. Recording Blessings:â€"
All patriarchal blessings, as hereinbefore defined, should be recorded and one copy of the recorded blessing should be given to the recipient, and one copy should be preserved for the record book. No charge is to be made nor gratuity accepted for the giving or recording of such a patriarchal blessing.
The stake patriarch should arrange for adequate stenographic service to record blessings. If stenographers are available who will furnish the service gratuitously, their services should be accepted as a worthy Church contribution. If, however, such gratuitous service is not available the patriarch may arrange for a stenographer to record blessings and for this service a stenographer so employed may submit to the First Presidency of the Church statements of charges, not to exceed $1.00 for each blessing recorded. If and when such service is continuous, monthly bills should be presented.
4. Record Books and Materials:â€"
The office of the Church Historian is the depository for the records of patriarchal blessings and stake patriarchs will receive from the Historian's Office such record books and other materials as may be essential for their use. When record books are ready for filing, they should be safely forwarded to the Historian's Office.
5. Relationship of Patriarch to the Church:â€"
Patriarchs in the stakes of Zion may solicit counsel as to their duties from the Patriarch to the Church whose office is at the Church headquarters in Salt Lake City and from him they may receive counsel from time to time as conditions may require.
6. Removal of Stake Patriarch to Another Stake:â€"
In the event a duly ordained stake patriarch moves out of the stake in which he has been sustained into another stake, the president of the stake into which he moves, when advised of the establishment of the patriarch's membership in one of the wards of his stake, should immediately notify the First Presidency of the Church so that consideration may be given by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve to the installation of the patriarch in the stake to which he has moved. No stake patriarch may give blessings in any stake in which he has not been sustained by the people under the direction of the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve.
7. Eligibility for Patriarchal Blessings:â€"
Stake patriarchs may give patriarchal blessings to those only who reside within their respective stakes, and only upon the presentation by the applicant of a recommend duly signed and approved by the bishop of the ward, except under the following conditions:
A. Stake patriarchs may give patriarchal blessings to members of organized missions upon the presentation by the applicant of a recommend duly signed and approved by the branch president and mission president. In such cases the applicant is to come into the stake for the blessing; the patriarch is not to go into the mission for that purpose.
B. Stake patriarchs are permitted to bless their blood relations wherever they may reside, provided, however, that such relations shall be duly recommended by the bishops of wards and presidents of stakes in which such relations reside.
C. In stakes where patriarchs have died or have become incapacitated or are absent from the stake so that patriarchal blessings from the stake patriarch are not available to members of the stake, in such circumstances and until such time as the services of a patriarch in such stakes may be made available to the members by a new appointment or the return of a patriarch on leave, members of such stakes may, upon proper recommendation of their bishop and the president of their stake, receive patriarchal blessings from a stake patriarch in an adjacent stake to whom they shall have been recommended. In such cases the applicant is to go into the patriarch's stake for the blessing; the patriarch is not to leave his own stake and go into another stake for such purpose. HEBER J. GRANT, J. REUBEN CLARK, JR., DAVID O. MCKAY, First Presidency.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Office of the First Presidency Salt Lake City, Utah May 25, 1943.
SPECIAL INSTRUCTIONS
During the existence of the war, men in the Service who have received recommendations for patriarchal blessings, signed by their bishops and presidents of stakes, and who are unable to secure the opportunity to return to the stakes in which they live to receive such blessings from the stake patriarch, should present their recommends to the president of the stake in which they are spending their furlough, who, having satisfied himself of their present worthiness, should endorse the recommends: whereupon, the bearer thereof may receive his blessing from the patriarch in the stake in which he happens to spend his brief furlough. Patriarchs giving blessings under these conditions should do so in the spirit of utmost humility and after a diligent prayer to the Lord that He will guide and direct them in what they shall say. HEBER J. GRANT, J. REUBEN CLARK, JR., DAVID O. MCKAY, First Presidency. {1943-May 25-Original circular letters, L.D.S. Church Archives,}
[Source: Clark, James R., Messages of the First Presidency (6 volumes)]
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