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Circa March 8–24, 1832

In a revelation received by Joseph Smith on February 4, 1831, Edward Partridge was called to serve as the first bishop in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Doctrine and Covenants 41:9). The office of bishop was one of the first priesthood offices established in the Church, but its responsibilities were not immediately clear.[1] Soon after his call, a series of revelations received through the Prophet further clarified the duties of this office and what Bishop Partridge was called to do.

A few days after Bishop Partridge’s call, the Saints were commanded to “consecrate” their property and possessions in order to “remember the poor” and to build up a faithful community of believers (Doctrine and Covenants 42:31).[2] Bishops would be an essential component of this work and would serve as the stewards responsible for distributing the consecrated property. They would also assist in the gathering of surplus materials into a “storehouse” to assure that the “poor and needy” were taken care of (Doctrine and Covenants 42:32–34). These responsibilities became even more explicit for Partridge when the Prophet revealed in May and August of 1831 that as bishop, he personally would be responsible for dividing up the inheritances among the Saints (Doctrine and Covenants 51; 58).

As the Saints implemented what is often referred to as “the law of consecration,”[3] more revelation was needed to organize and direct the practice. This included a fuller understanding of the role of bishops in the kingdom. When Newell K. Whitney was also called as a bishop in late 1831, it appears that the Prophet thought it expedient to get greater clarification from the Lord on the duties of bishops. This may have also been spurred by confusion about bishops and their possible responsibilities with the establishment of a church firm to “oversee publishing and mercantile efforts” (compare Doctrine and Covenants 78).[4]

The present revelation was directed toward Sidney Rigdon and the Prophet and expounds at length on the responsibilities of bishops. In it, the Lord reveals that the property given to bishops to manage “is not their own, but belongeth to the Church.” Bishops are made to remember that the property not only belongs to the Church but is ultimately the Lord’s. Consequently, they are informed that they are accountable to God for their stewardship in these temporal affairs. Lest it seem that bishops had an oversized influence in this revealed system, the Lord explains that the “presidency of the high priesthood” has authority over “all the concerns of the Church.” More than specifically defining each of their duties, this revelation seeks to remind bishops of the importance of their call and their accountability before the Lord. This reminder applies to all Latter-day Saints in their respective callings.

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Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you my servants Sidney Rigdon and Joseph Smith Jr., I reveal unto you for your own profit and instruction concerning the bishops of my church what is their duty in the church. Behold, it is their duty to stand in the office of their bishopric and to fill the judgment seat which I have appointed unto them, to administer the benefits of the church or the overplus of all who are in their stewardships according to the commandments as they are severely appointed. And the property, or that which they receive of the church, is not their own but belongeth to the church; wherefore, it is the property of the Lord, and it is for the poor of the church to be administered according to the law.

For it is the will of the Lord that the church should be made equal in all things. Wherefore, the bishops are accountable before the Lord for their stewardships to administer of their stewardship, in the which they are appointed by commandment jointly with you my servants unto the Lord, as well as you my servants, or the rest of the church, that the benefits of all may be dedicated unto the Lord, that the Lord’s storehouse may be filled always; that ye may all grow in temporal as well as spiritual things.

And now, verily, I say unto you, the bishops must needs be separated unto their bishoprics and judgment seats, from care of business; but not from claim, neither from council. Wherefore, I have given unto you a commandment that you should be joined together by covenant and bond. Wherefore, see that ye do even as I have commanded. And unto the office of the presidency of the high priesthood I have given authority to preside with the assistance of his councilors over all the concerns of the church. Wherefore, stand ye fast; claim your priesthood in authority yet in meekness, and I am able to make you abound. And be fruitful, and you shall never fall. For unto you I have given the keys of the kingdom, and if you transgress not, they shall never be taken from you. Wherefore, feed my sheep. Even so. Amen.

Notes

[1] See Sherilyn Farnes, “A Bishop unto the Church,” in Revelations in Context: The Stories Behind the Sections in the Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Matthew McBride and James Goldberg (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2016), 78.

[2] See further Steven C. Harper, “The Law: D&C 42,” in Revelations in Context, 93–98; Blair G. Van Dyke, “Conquest of the Heart: Implementing the Law of Consecration in Missouri and Ohio,” Religious Educator 3, no. 2 (2002): 45–65; Craig James Ostler, “The Laws of Consecration, Stewardship and Tithing,” in Sperry Symposium Classics: The Doctrine and Covenants, ed. Craig K. Manscill (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 2004), 155–75.

[3] For a recent accessible treatment of the history and doctrinal significance of the law of consecration, see Steven C. Harper, Let’s Talk about the Law of Consecration (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2022). Compare Steven C. Harper, “‘All Things Are the Lord’s’: The Law of Consecration in the Doctrine and Covenants,” in The Doctrine and Covenants: Revelations in Context, ed. Andrew H. Hedges, J. Spencer Fluhman, and Alonzo L. Gaskill (Provo, UT Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2008), 212–28.

[4] JSP, D2:219–20.