There is order in the exercise of authority in Church government, President Gordon B. Hinckley affirmed at the priesthood session Saturday evening.
"It is specifically set forth in the revelations of the Lord," said President Hinckley, first counselor in the First Presidency. "It is known to all of the Brethren and is observed by them all."He referred to the sustaining of Church officers at the Saturday afternoon session and said it is part of a procedure "peculiar to the Lord's Church" in which the right of nomination rests with the superior officer but is accepted and confirmed by the membership.
"Contrast the Lord's way with the way of the world," he said. "The Lord's way is quiet, it is a way of peace, it is without fanfare or monetary costs. It is without egotism or vanity or ambition. Under the Lord's plan, those who have responsibility to select officers are governed by one overriding question, `Whom would the Lord have?' "
Members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve each have all the priesthood keys available to men on earth, but the President of the Church holds the authority to exercise all of the keys at any given time, President Hinckley explained.
"He may delegate, and in the present instance, has delegated to his counselors and to those of the Twelve the exercise of various of those keys," he said.
President Benson suffers the effects of age and illness and is not able to fulfill important duties of his office, President Hinckley acknowledged. But he cited D&C 102:10-11, which provides that the counselors in the First Presidency may act in the absence of the President.
When he called his two counselors Nov. 10, 1985, President Benson set them apart himself and then "signed with his own hand powers of agency giving each of his counselors the authority to direct the business of the Church," President Hinckley said.
"Under these specific and plenary delegations of authority, the counselors in the First Presidency carry on with the regular work of the office. But any major questions of policy, procedures, programs or doctrine are considered deliberately and prayerfully by the First Presidency and the Twelve together."
He said the Savior watches over the Church and stands at its head, despite opposition and criticism.
