First Solemn Assembly of the Church Held on This Day in 1844

Hello again, everyone! In their "History Revisited" series, the Church News shared this article about how the Church's very first Solemn Assembly (a setting which, as we know, features voting by quorums and groups) on this day in 1844. I want to talk about the significance of that first event, but perhaps some historical background would be helpful.

In the early 1840s, with Church members having relocated from Missouri to Illinois, they were enjoying a period of prosperity in the city of Nauvoo. The foundations for a temple had been laid, and all seemed to be going well. In 1844, the Prophet Joseph Smith had even launched a campaign for the presidency of the United States, in which he had promised that his administration would be fair to all, but particularly towards those who had been oppressed and persecuted, as the Saints in Nauvoo had.

There were a few problems which led to the martyrdom of Joseph Smith on June 27, 1844. First, members disaffected by a misunderstanding of the doctrine of plural marriage had again tried to overthrow the Prophet and to take over the leadership of the Church. When those efforts proved to be unsupported by the bulk of Church membership, those responsible were disfellowshipped and/or excommunicated. Among those of that description was William Law, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.

Additionally, with the members of the Quorum of the Twelve having been sent out on missions for the primary purpose of garnering interest for the Prophet's run for the presidency, and with even some of the Prophet's friends turning against him, Sidney Rigdon abruptly left the body of the Church, and relocated with his family to Philadelphia.

This was in direct disobedience relating to guidance from the Lord, which is confirmed by recorded revelation in Doctrine & Covenants 124:108, in which we read: "If my servant Sidney will do my will, let him not remove his family unto the eastern lands, but let him change their habitation, even as I have said."

Some have put forth the theory that Brother Rigdon relocated so he could be Joseph Smith's presidential running mate, since a president and vice president cannot be drawn from the same state, but this revelation proves otherwise. And, in point of fact, in a gathering of Church members and leaders in 1843, the Prophet recommended to the Church that Sidney Rigdon should not be upheld or sustained as his First Counselor. The Saints were willing to give Brother Rigdon the benefit of the doubt, however, to which Joseph responded, "I have thrown him off my shoulders, and you have again put him on me. "You may carry him, but I will not." This was an indication that the Prophet had lost all confidence in his counselor.

Additionally, at some point, the Prophet had met with the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and had stated: "Where I am not, there is no First Presidency over the Twelve."

With the Twelve out campaigning for the Prophet's US presidential bid, that left the Saints largely without any other major leadership in Nauvoo when he was arrested and taken to Carthage. As soon as word spread of the Prophet's martyrdom, both Sidney Rigdon and the ten members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles headed back home.

Brother Rigdon was the first to arrive, and made the determination to set a conference for August 8, for the purpose of advancing himself as the one who should succeed the deceased Prophet and his brother Hyrum as the guardian of the Church, with his argument being that his status as the Prophet's First Counselor should trump any other consideration. But historical records also show that he may have intended to try and get the Church to decide the question before the Twelve arrived and could do anything about it.

The gathering was set for August 8, and Rigdon stated his case to the membership of the Church. Unexpectedly, during his remarks, Brigham Young, who was President of the Quorum of the Twelve and who had staunchly stood by Joseph through the persecutions, trials, and apostasy in Missouri, and who had continued to defend him against claims that he was a fallen prophet, even when William Law, his brother, and others had tried to wrest control of the Church from the Prophet.

Brigham Young spoke for just a few minutes, then announced that the discussion on this matter would continue after a recess of about an hour or two, and he indicated that all Church members would then be seated by quorums and groups, which meant he would be calling for a sustaining vote.

When the deliberations resumed, Brigham Young made the argument that Brother Rigdon was a counselor to the Prophet for only as long as the Prophet was alive, and that if he wanted to continue to be a spokesman for the Prophet, he would need to go through the veil as the Prophet had. He also made a compelling argument which included the fact that the Quorum of the Twelve were under the direction of the First Presidency for only as long as the President of the Church was alive.

He also noted that, if Hyrum Smith had not been with Joseph at the time he was martyred, he would have rightly been appointed as Joseph's successor, since he was the Assistant President of the Church. With both having been martyred, he went on to say, Brother Rigdon had no claim whatsoever to the Presidency of the Church.

In the course of those remarks, as he continued to speak, many in attendance recorded that he had both the voice and appearance of the Prophet Joseph Smith. This was a clear enough indicator to all in attendance of what needed to happen, and a vote was unanimously cast that the members of the Quorum of the Twelve should assume the leadership of the Church. On that same day, Brother Rigdon, who did not accept the Church's decision, was excommunicated.

And although it would be around 3.25 years before the next Church president (Brigham Young) was formally sustained along with two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles to serve as the new First Presidency, this first Solemn Assembly set the tone for how Church leadership would transition after the passing of each Church president.

As we also were reminded earlier this year, for the first three transitions from one prophet to another which occurred, there was traditionally a space between several months to a few years before the new Church president was sustained. But that process changed when, prior to his death, 4th Church president Wilford Woodruff took President Lorenzo Snow aside and advised him to not wait, as had been done previously, but to immediately reorganize the First Presidency. President Woodruff told President Snow to regard this as a revelation.

Since then, the longest period in which the apostles led the Church following the death of a Church president has always been less than two weeks. Until President Monson passed away earlier this year, the longest apostolic interregnum had been the 11-day span between when Wilford Woodruff passed away and when President Snow was ordained. After President Monson's January 2 death, it was 12 days before President Nelson's ordination.

My point in mentioning all of this is to demonstrate that none of the successions to the presidency of the Church would have been possible had it not been for that first historical precedent established 174 years ago today, when the Church unanimously voted to sustain the idea that the Quorum of the Twelve takes charge when a prophet passes, and that the President of that Quorum is the rightful successor to the deceased Church president.

I hope the analysis I have done here has been helpful to at least some of you. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to do so, please feel free to subscribe to stay informed of new content. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.