Council of Twelve Apostles (Community of Christ)


In the Community of Christ, the Council of Twelve Apostles is one of the governing bodies in the church hierarchy. They are disciples who hold the priesthood office of apostle, and are responsible for the evangelistic witness of the church. Apostles are also high priests in the Melchisedec priesthood of the church.

Calling

As with all priesthood in the Community of Christ, members of the Council of Twelve are considered to be "called by God." The Prophet-President "receives" the call, and after consultation with the other two members of the First Presidency, "presents" the call to the candidate. If the candidate accepts, the candidates name is presented to the World Conference and the call is sustained by majority vote. New apostles are ordained in a special worship service held during the World Conference. Prior to the Presidency of W. Grant McMurray, the call of apostles and other members of presiding quorums of the church were named in an "inspired document" that was added to the scriptures of the church in the Doctrine and Covenants. McMurray and others believed that the lengthy passages related to priesthood calls reduced the readability of the Doctrine and Covenants. Since that time, these priesthood calls have been presented in a separate document that is not included in the Doctrine and Covenants. Most appointee ministers live in the Independence, Missouri, area, however, the current trend is to base apostles in the field. Each apostle has an office in the Independence Temple and they share administrative staff.

Responsibilities

Individual apostles may be assigned to various responsibilities of church leadership, including field administration. Together with the First Presidency and the Presiding Bishopric, this council is a part of the "World Church Leadership Council." Each of the apostles is called to serve as a "special witness of the gospel", and each is appointed by the First Presidency to oversee one or more of the church's mission fields. In recent years, some members of the Council are also given responsibility for certain areas of program ministry. If for any reason the First Presidency is dissolved or otherwise unable to preside over the World Conference, the Council of Twelve Apostles presides over the conference until such time as the First Presidency resumes functioning or is reorganized. Assigned by the First Presidency, they carry major responsibility for church expansion, and serve as administrative supervisors of field jurisdictions. The Council of Twelve Apostles elects one of its members to serve as President of the Council of Twelve and another member to serve as Secretary of the Council of Twelve. Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles are normally full-time paid ministers, called "Appointee Ministers" in the Community of Christ.
Members of the Council of Twelve Apostles directly supervise Mission Center Presidents and missionaries holding the priesthood office of Seventy. They have the authority to call Mission Center Conferences and frequently preside over certain portions of the various conferences. Apostles usually initiate calls to the offices of high priest and evangelist, often in consultation or at the behest of Mission Center Presidents. Apostles usually hold annual or semi-annual meetings of the appointee ministers and key staff members in their fields. Apostles have the authority to organize or dissolve congregations and ministry groups. If a Mission Center President takes over operation of a congregation, an appeal of this decision may be made to the apostle that supervises that field. Apostles typically travel to missionary fields around the world, even when they have fields entirely within the United States. This international missionary experience is believed to enrich both the recipients of the ministry as well as the experience of the apostles' themselves. Most jurisdictions of the Community of Christ hold summertime family camps called "reunions." Apostles usually spend much of their summer attending various reunions.

Progressive influence

The Council of Twelve Apostles has long been regarded as the primary advocates for the growing international presence of the church and its international witness of Jesus Christ. In addition, the Council has frequently strived to lead the church towards progressive stances on issues such as homosexuality, women in the priesthood, open communion, ecumenism, interfaith dialogue, environmentalism, peace and justice ministries. Former apostle Charles D. Neff led the Council of Twelve in developing relativistic viewpoints towards both ritual and doctrine in order to make the gospel relevant across cultures. Presently, the Council contains five female apostles, an African, a Polynesian and a Honduran.

Current members

The current members of the Council, their specific assignments, and year they joined the Council are as follows:
This is a list of the members of the Council in the Community of Christ, ordained after 1844. The dates are the years they served as a member of the Council of Twelve.
NameBegan ServiceEnded ServiceCause of DepartureOther PositionsNationality & Notes
BriggsJason W. Briggs18531885Not sustained as Apostle at the 1885 conference.President of the Council of Twelve ApostlesAmerican. Withdrew from the church sometime after 1885 conference
GurleyZenas H. Gurley, Sr.18531871Ordained Joseph Smith III as president in 1860.
DeamHenry Harrison Deam18531854
NewkirkReuben Newkirk18531873
CunninghamJohn Cunningham18531855
WhiteGeorge White18531859
RaseyDaniel B. Rasey18531873
PowersSamuel Powers18551873
NewkirkDavid Newkirk18551865
BlairWilliam W. Blair185810 April 1873Called to First PresidencyFirst counselor in the First PresidencyAmerican. Served as first counselor until his death on 18 April 1896
ShippyJohn Shippy18601868
BlakesleeJames Blakeslee18601866
BriggsEdmund C. BriggsOctober 186018 April 1902Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch.President of the SeventyAmerican
EllsJosiah Ells18651885
DerryCharles Derry18651870
KelleyWilliam H. Kelley18731913President of the Council of Twelve Apostles
SmithThomas Wood Smith18731894
CaffallJames Caffall18731902
LakeJohn H. Lake18731902
SmithAlexander Hale Smith10 April 187312 April 1897Ordained a Presiding Patriarchs/Evangelist.Counselor to Joseph Smith III
President of the Council of Twelve Apostles 		American. Third surviving son of Joseph and Emma Smith.
GurleyZenas H. Gurley, Jr.18741885
LambertJoseph R. Lambert18731902
GillenJames W. Gillen11 April 18871899
SmithHeman C. Smith11 April 18871909Church Historian
LuffJoseph Luff11 April 18871909Canadian
GriffithsGomer T. Griffiths11 April 18871922
WhiteIsaac N. White12 April 18971913
WightJohn W. Wight12 April 18971913
EvansR. C. Evans12 April 18971902Ordained as counselor in the First PresidencyCounselor in the First Presidency
Bishop 		Canadian. Broke with the church in 1918 and formed the Church of the Christian Brotherhood
AndersenPeter Andersen19011920
SmithFrederick A. Smith19021913
SheehyFrancis M. Sheehy19021920
GreeneUlysses W. Greene19021922
ButterworthCornelius A. Butterworth19011922
RushtonJohn W. Rushton19021947
CurtisJames F. Curtis19097 April 1938Honorably released
RussellRobert C. Russell19091922
KelleyJames E. Kelley19131917
AylorWilliam Murray Aylor19131922
HansonPaul M. Hanson19138 October 1958
GillenJames A. Gillen19131934President of the Council of Twelve Apostles
WilliamsThomas W. Williams19201925
McConleyMyron A. McConley19201948
EllisClyde F. Ellis19231945
GarverJohn F. Garver13 October 19229 April 1946Ordained as counselor in the First PresidencyCounselor in the First PresidencyAmerican. Was president of the Board of Trustees for Graceland College
WilliamsDaniel T. Williams19228 October 1958Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
EdwardsF. Henry Edwards13 October 19229 April 1946Ordained as counselor in the First PresidencySecretary of the Council of Twelve ApostlesEnglish. Honorably released from First Presidency on 18 April 1966,
GleazerEdmund J. Gleazer19228 October 1958Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
BuddRoy S. Budd19221936
LewisGeorge G. Lewis19321948
MesleyGeorge C. Mesley7 April 19381954
OakmanArthur Alma Oakman7 April 19381964Ordained an EvangelistEvangelistEnglish
HieldCharles R. Hield7 April 19386 April 1964Honorably released
JensenD. Blair Jensen194618 April 1966Honorably released
DaveyRoscoe E. Davey19476 April 1964Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
DraperMaurice L. Draper19478 October 1958Ordained as counselor in the First Presidency
SmithW. Wallace Smith19471950Ordained as counselor in the First PresidencyProphet-President
FarrowPercy E. Farrow194818 April 1966Honorably released
HolmesReed M. Holmes19481 April 1974.Ordained as Presiding Patriarch/Evangelist
ChesworthDonald O. Chesworth195014 April 1972.Ordained as Patriarch/Evangelist
LentsDonald Victor Lents19548 April 1980Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
NeffCharles D. Neff8 October 19585 April 1984Honorably releasedAmerican
ColeClifford A. Cole8 October 19588 April 1980Called to ministries of teaching and writing
EttingerCecil R. Ettinger2 April 19601 April 1974Honorably released
CoueyDuane E. Couey2 April 196018 April 1966Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyPresiding Patriarch/EvangelistAmerican
RalstonRussell F. Ralston6 April 196429 March 1976
TimmsWilliam E. Timms6 April 19643 April 1978Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
HigdonEarl T. Higdon18 April 19661 April 1974Honorably releasedPresident of Graceland College
TyreeAlan D. Tyree18 April 196629 March 1982Ordained counselor in the First Presidency
KouryAleah G. Koury18 April 19668 April 1980Ordained as Evangelist/PatriarchCanadian
SheehyHoward S. Sheehy, Jr.1 April 19681980Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyCounselor in the First PresidencyAmerican. Ordained counselor on 3 April 1978, but remained as a member of the Council of Twelve Apostles until 1980.
StuartJohn C. Stuart14 April 197229 March 1982Ordained as Evangelist/Patriarch
HigdonWilliam T. Higdon1 April 19745 April 1992President of Graceland College
HurshmanLloyd B. Hurshman1 April 197414 April 1988Honorably released
BoothPaul W. Booth1 April 19745 April 1992Ordained as the Presiding Evangelist
AustinEugene C. Austin, Sr.29 March 197610 April 1994Honorably released
SchaeferRoy H. Schaefer3 April 197814 April 1988Honorably released
CaswellPhillip M. Caswell3 April 19781998
SekineKisuke Sekine8 April 19805 April 1992Honorably releasedJapanese
GraffeoEverett S. Graffeo8 April 19801994Ordained as the Presiding Evangelist
RobinsonKenneth N. Robinson8 April 19801996Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyCounselor in the First PresidencyAustralian
SerigJoe A. Serig29 March 19821998
CableJames C. Cable29 March 19821996
SpencerGeoffrey F. Spencer5 April 198410 April 1994Honorably releasedAustralian
KahtavaA. Alex Kahtava14 April 19882002Canadian
KirkpatrickJohn P. Kirkpatrick14 April 19882007
BrockDavid R. Brock5 April 199227 March 2007Ordained as the Presiding EvangelistPresident of Seventy
Presiding Evangelist		American
TyreeLawrence W. Tyree5 April 19922002
VeazeyStephen M. Veazey5 April 19922005Ordained as the Prophet-PresidentPresident of the Council of Twelve
Prophet-President		American
BelroseDanny A. Belrose10 April 19942000Ordained as Presiding EvangelistCanadian
LuffmanDale E. Luffman10 April 1994January 3, 2013American
McLaughlinKenneth L. McLaughlin10 April 19942005
JuddPeter A. Judd19962000Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyCounselor in the First PresidencyEnglish
SlauterJames E. Slauter1996May 3, 2011Early retirement, family healthPresident of the Council of Twelve Apostles
Secretary of the Council of Twelve Apostles		American
MengelGail E. Mengel31 March 19982005Called as Ecumenical and Interfaith OfficerPresident of Church Women United
Ecumenical and Interfaith Officer		American, along with Linda L. Booth, the first women to be ordained apostles.
BoothLinda L. Booth19982019President of the Council of Twelve Apostles, Director of CommunicationsAmerican, along with Gail E. Mengel, the first women to be ordained apostles. Also first female president of the Council of Twelve.
YoungLeonard M. Young20002010
ChibweBunda C. ChibweApril 2000presentPresident of the Sixth Quorum of SeventyZambian
DynesMary Jacks Dynes20022010RetiredPresident of the Fifth Quorum of Seventy.American
SchaalDavid D. Schaal20022005Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyPresident of the Tri Stake Mission Center
Counselor in the First Presidency		American
CrammStassi D. Cramm20052016Ordained counselor in the First Presidency and Presiding BishopCounselor to the Presiding Bishop
Presiding Bishop
Counselor in the First Presidency		American
HarmonRonald D. Harmon Jr.2005presentPresident of the Council of Twelve Apostles American
MaupinRick W. Maupin20052019American
OxleySusan D. Oxley20052015American
Andrew BoltonAndrew Bolton20072016English
MejiaCarlos Enrique Mejia2007presentHonduran
JamesRichard C.N. James2010presentSecretary of the Council of Twelve Apostles Welsh
MurphyK. Scott Murphy20102013Ordained counselor in the First PresidencyDirector of Field Ministries
President of the Council of Twelve		American
CarterBarbara L. Carter2013presentAmerican
TchongMareva Arnaud Tchong2013presentPolynesian
SmithArthur E. Smith2013presentCanadian
GroverJanné C. Grover2016presentAmerican
LinkhartRobin K. Linkhart2016presentAmerican
MackayLachlan E. Mackay2016presentAmerican
Catherine Mambwe2019presentZambian
David Nii2019presentAmerican