The April 2026 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began with a solemn assembly.
Members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles were sustained through votes by quorums and groups in this special, sacred meeting.
In his opening remarks at the start of the Saturday morning session, President Dallin H. Oaks said this solemn assembly is done only in the first conference where a new president and prophet of the Church has been called.
“I am grateful to be among those whose leadership callings are formally recognized in this way and to express appreciation for your participation in this significant occasion,” President Oaks said.
He also expressed gratitude on behalf of the leaders of the Church “for our members’ sustaining vote, prayers and support.”
“We also pray for you to be guided and prospered as you continue the great service you give to the children of God throughout the world,” he said. “At this Easter season, I reaffirm our testimony of the resurrected Lord and recognize that He is the head of this Church.”
Sustaining by vote in quorums and groups
President D. Todd Christofferson, second counselor in the First Presidency, followed President Oaks’ remarks and conducted the solemn assembly.
“We ... pray that you will be uplifted as you join us this Easter weekend and in this unique opportunity to sustain the leaders of the Church,” said President Christofferson at the start of the Saturday morning session.
President Christofferson invited quorums and groups to stand and vote by raising the right arms, one group at a time as requested.
The entire Church membership was also invited to stand and vote wherever they were around the world.
The voting included:
- Sustaining President Oaks as prophet, seer and revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Sustaining President Henry B. Eyring as first counselor and President D. Todd Christofferson as second counselor in the First Presidency of the Church.
- Sustaining President Eyring as president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and President Dieter F. Uchtdorf as acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
- Sustaining as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: President Uchtdorf and Elders David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, Dale G. Renlund, Gerrit W. Gong, Ulisses Soares, Patrick Kearon, Gérald Caussé and Clark G. Gilbert.
- Sustaining the counselors in the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers and revelators.
The quorums and groups invited to stand and vote were:
- The First Presidency
- Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
- General Authority Seventies, Area Seventies and members of the Presiding Bishopric
- Ordained patriarchs, high priests and elders
- Members of the Relief Society — all women 18 years of age and older
- All those holding only the Aaronic Priesthood — all ordained priests, teachers and deacons
- Young women girls, including those who are turning 12 this year to those 18 years old
- The entire Church membership, wherever located, including children and all of those who previously stood
After these sustainings, President Christofferson said: “Thank you, brothers and sisters, for your sustaining vote on behalf of these leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We are grateful for your faith and prayers in our behalf.”
Read the full text of the solemn assembly
Common consent
Following the solemn assembly, Elder Kearon spoke about what it means to raise the right hand, participate in common consent and sustain those called to serve.
He taught that common consent is a voluntary, personal commitment to support, uphold and help the Lord’s servants in their callings and responsibilities.
“While today is certainly solemn in purpose, it is also a day full of gratitude and rejoicing at the opportunity for the whole Church to come together and exercise common consent,” he said. “Common consent is not merely a formality but a beautiful mix of agency, unity and faith.”
What is a solemn assembly?
In a revelation given through the Prophet Joseph Smith in December 1832 and January 1833, the Lord commanded Latter-day Saints to “sanctify yourselves … and call a solemn assembly” (Doctrine and Covenants 88:68-70).
“Solemn assemblies are special, sacred meetings held for a variety of holy purposes,” according to an article on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. “They require Latter-day Saints to bring an elevated sense of spirituality with them into the meeting.”
These “holy purposes” have included the sustaining of a new Church president, the dedication of a temple or other significant building (such as the Conference Center in 2000), the introduction of new scripture and the instruction of priesthood leaders. Some solemn assemblies include the Hosanna Shout, a symbolic act with New Testament roots honoring God and Jesus Christ.
Elder David B. Haight, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who died in 2004, taught during the October 1994 general conference: “A solemn assembly, as the name implies, denotes a sacred, sober and reverent occasion when the Saints assemble under the direction of the First Presidency.”
During that general conference in 1994, a solemn assembly was held to sustain President Howard W. Hunter for the first time as “prophet, seer and revelator and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” President Hunter had become the 14th President of the Church following the death of President Ezra Taft Benson.
Said Elder Haight in his conference address: “Today we are witnesses to and participants in a most sacred occasion — a solemn assembly to act upon heavenly things. As in olden times, there has been much fasting and prayer offered by the Saints throughout the world that they may receive an outpouring of the Spirit of the Lord, which is so much in evidence here on this occasion this morning.”
Solemn assemblies in biblical times
Solemn assemblies “have their origins in the antiquity of God’s dealings with His covenant people,” explains a Church News article published prior to President Thomas S. Monson being sustained as 16th President of the Church in a solemn assembly during April 2008 general conference.
In the Old Testament, solemn assemblies were held on the seventh day of the Feast of the Passover (see Deuteronomy 16:8) and the eighth day of the Feast of Tabernacles (see Leviticus 23:33-36; Nehemiah 8:18).
The late President M. Russell Ballard, then acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, taught that a solemn assembly was a practice when “ancient Israel gathered to feel the Lord’s presence and celebrate His blessings.”
Solemn assemblies also have an ancient connection with temple dedications. Solomon’s temple, the first temple in Jerusalem, was dedicated in a solemn assembly during the Feast of Tabernacles (see 2 Chronicles 7:9).
Through the Prophet Joseph Smith, solemn assemblies were restored in this dispensation as a part of the “restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began” (Acts 3:21), according to a Church magazine article.
Solemn assembly at Kirtland Temple dedication
On March 27, 1836, the Prophet Joseph Smith heeded the Lord’s repeated command to “call a solemn assembly.” The occasion was the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, and the proceedings would set a precedent for later solemn assemblies.
A Church History Topic titled “Solemn Assemblies” explains that during this solemn assembly, priesthood quorums and the general Church membership in turn sustained the leadership of the Church. Joseph then offered the dedicatory prayer of the temple.
Joseph recorded that President Sidney Rigdon, first counselor in the First Presidency, “called upon the several quorums, commencing with the Presidency, to manifest, by rising, their willingness to acknowledge me as Prophet and Seer and uphold me as such, by their prayers of faith.
“All the quorums, in turn, cheerfully complied with this request. He then called upon all the congregation of the Saints also to give their assent by rising on their feet, which they did unanimously” (History of the Church, 2:416).
The Prophet also recorded: “I prophesied to all that inasmuch as they would uphold these men in their several stations, … the Lord would bless them; … in the name of [Jesus] Christ, the blessings of heaven should be theirs” (History of the Church, 2:418).
In the temple’s dedicatory prayer, Joseph acknowledged that the Saints had convened a solemn assembly and asked the Lord to let His glory rest down upon them as a blessing for their obedience (Doctrine and Covenants 109:6,10-12). The Saints who attended this solemn assembly experienced an outpouring of spiritual manifestations.
Solemn assemblies for sustaining Church leaders
Elder Haight explained more about the precedent set by the Prophet Joseph Smith during the solemn assembly at the Kirtland Temple dedication. “There is a pattern to solemn assemblies that distinguishes them from other general Church meetings where we sustain officers of the Church,” he said in his general conference talk on solemn assemblies.
“That pattern, which was established by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is that the priesthood quorums, commencing with the First Presidency, stand and manifest by the uplifted right hand their willingness to sustain the President of the Church as a prophet, seer and revelator and uphold him by their confidence, faith and prayers,” Elder Haight said.
“The priesthood quorums of the Church so manifest by their vote. Then the general body of all the Saints stand and signify their willingness to do the same. The other leaders of the Church are similarly sustained in their offices and callings.”
Joseph recorded that President Sidney Rigdon, first counselor in the First Presidency, “called upon the several quorums, commencing with the Presidency, to manifest, by rising, their willingness to acknowledge me as Prophet and Seer and uphold me as such, by their prayers of faith.
“All the quorums, in turn, cheerfully complied with this request. He then called upon all the congregation of the Saints also to give their assent by rising on their feet, which they did unanimously” (History of the Church, 2:416).
The Prophet also recorded: “I prophesied to all that inasmuch as they would uphold these men in their several stations, … the Lord would bless them; … in the name of [Jesus] Christ, the blessings of heaven should be theirs” (History of the Church, 2:418).
In the temple’s dedicatory prayer, Joseph acknowledged that the Saints had convened a solemn assembly and asked the Lord to let His glory rest down upon them as a blessing for their obedience (Doctrine and Covenants 109:6, 10-12). The Saints who attended this solemn assembly experienced an outpouring of spiritual manifestations.
Solemn assemblies for sustaining Church leaders
Elder Haight explained more about the precedent set by the Prophet Joseph Smith during the solemn assembly at the Kirtland Temple dedication. “There is a pattern to solemn assemblies that distinguishes them from other general Church meetings where we sustain officers of the Church,” he said in his general conference talk on solemn assemblies.
“That pattern, which was established by the Prophet Joseph Smith, is that the priesthood quorums, commencing with the First Presidency, stand and manifest by the uplifted right hand their willingness to sustain the President of the Church as a prophet, seer and revelator and uphold him by their confidence, faith and prayers,” Elder Haight said.
“The priesthood quorums of the Church so manifest by their vote. Then the general body of all the Saints stand and signify their willingness to do the same. The other leaders of the Church are similarly sustained in their offices and callings.”
What it means to ‘sustain’ in a solemn assembly
During April 1995 general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church, described a solemn assembly as “a gathering of the membership where every individual stands equal with every other in exercising with soberness and in solemnity his or her right to sustain or not to sustain those who, under the procedures that arise out of the revelations, have been chosen to lead.
“The procedure of sustaining is much more than a ritualistic raising of the hand,” said President Hinckley, who had been sustained as President of the Church in a solemn assembly earlier that conference. “It is a commitment to uphold, to support, to assist those who have been selected.”
In his 1994 talk, Elder Haight also taught what it means to sustain the President of the Church in a solemn assembly: “When we sustain the President of the Church by our uplifted hand, it not only signifies that we acknowledge before God that He is the rightful possessor of all the priesthood keys; it also means that we covenant with God that we will abide by the direction and the counsel that come through His prophet.
“It is a solemn covenant,” he said.
