Church President sustained -- comparing eight solemn assemblies that I remember

Half of the Church's Presidents have been sustained in solemn assembly while I was old enough to remember the event:

- President David O. McKay (Era, May 1951, p.324; see below),

- President Joseph Fielding Smith (Era, June 1970, p.20; see below),

- President Harold B. Lee (Ensign, Jan 1973, p.1),

- President Spencer W. Kimball (Ensign, May 1974, p.38),

- President Ezra Taft Benson (Ensign, May 1986, p.73),

- President Howard W. Hunter (Ensign, Nov 1994, p.4),

- President Gordon B. Hinckley (Ensign, May 1995, p.4), and

- President Thomas S. Monson (account not yet published)

According to all accounts I've seen, the procedure was basically the same from John Taylor until Spencer W. Kimball.  It was noted during the solemn assemblies for Presidents Lee and Kimball, for example, that voting would be done in accordance with the practice of the Church from the first sustaining vote cast by a general conference for John Taylor, until the present time.  A good review of this procedure is found in the article (linked above) which describes the solemn assembly for President Harold B. Lee.

However, as some bloggers have today observed, the procedure has changed in recent years.  For the first time, with Ezra Taft Benson, quorums and groups stood only once each while all the proposals were voted upon.  Also beginning with Ezra Taft Benson, the various proposals were described in detail only when the First Presidency vote was taken and all subsequent votes merely made reference to the First Presidency voting.  These changes are easily seen by comparing the solemn assembly account for President Kimball with that of President Benson.

One final note, the solemn assembly procedure for President Monson was very similar to the one used for President Hinckley.

.

---

DAVID O. MCKAY Becomes Ninth President of the Church

The Improvement Era, May 1951, p.324.

MEETING in solemn assembly on the morning of April 9, 1951, the membership of the Church, voting first by priesthood quorum and then as a whole, sustained President David O. McKay as the ninth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Stephen L Richards of the Council of the Twelve and J. Reuben Clark, Jr., also of the Council of the Twelve and for eighteen years a counselor in the First Presidency, were sustained in the same manner as first and second counselors in the First Presidency.

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith was then sustained president of the Council of the Twelve by the same inspiring vote, as were the members of the Twelve. There is a vacancy in the Council of the Twelve, due to President Richards' call to the First Presidency, which will be filled sometime later.

Elder Eldred G. Smith was then sustained as Patriarch to the Church in this solemn assembly and the members of the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch to the Church were sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators to the Church.

---

The Solemn Assembly
By Jay M. Todd
Assistant Managing Editor
The Improvement Era, June 1970, p.20.

On April 6, 1970—the 140th anniversary since the organization of the Church in 1830—President Joseph Fielding Smith was sustained in solemn assembly as the tenth Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Assembled in the Tabernacle on Temple Square in the 10 A.M. session of the 140th Annual General Conference were representatives from nearly every stake, ward, and mission in the Church.  They had gathered to participate in one of the most thrilling, inspiring, and humbling experiences in Church government, the sustaining in solemn assembly of a new President of the Church, and members of the First Presidency, Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch to the Church as prophets, seers, and revelators.

In several revelations to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord instructed him to "call your solemn assembly" (D&C 95:7; see also Sections 88 and 109).  This voting pattern has been used since the sustaining of President John Taylor in the 1880 general conference.  Such assemblies are times of commitment and dedication, times identified with an outpouring of the Spirit upon those who participate, whether in person or through radio and television.

In the sustaining of the General Authorities of the Church, the solemn assembly has become identified with a pattern of voting in which the major councils of priesthood government and the various quorums of the priesthood (assigned to different areas in the Tabernacle) stand and vote independently with uplifted hands for each proposition, after which the congregation stands and votes.

Pictures of segments of the voting pattern are shown on these pages.  The actual voting procedure took about 35 minutes.

Voting on the First Presidency:

1.  The First Presidency arose and voted to sustain President Joseph Fielding Smith as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator, and President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; voted to sustain President Harold Bingham Lee as first counselor in the First Presidency; and voted to sustain President Nathan Eldon Tanner as second counselor in the First Presidency.  They were then seated.

2.  The Council of the Twelve rose, voted on the above three proposals, and then was seated.

3.  The patriarchs of the Church, including the Patriarch to the Church, rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

4.  The high priests of the Church, including the Assistants to the Council of the Twelve, Regional Representatives of the Council of the Twelve, presidents of stakes and their counselors, high councilors, Presiding Bishopric, and ward bishoprics rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

5.  The seventies of the Church, including the Presidents of the First Council of the Seventy, rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

6.  The elders of the Church rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

7.  The Lesser Priesthood of the Church rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

8.  The entire congregation, including all those who had previously voted, rose, voted on the three proposals, and then were seated.

Voting on the President of the Council of the Twelve, the Acting President of the Council of the Twelve, and members of the Council of the Twelve:

1.  The First Presidency rose, voted to sustain President Harold Bingham Lee as President of the Council of the Twelve and President Spencer Woolley Kimball as acting President of the Council of the Twelve; voted to sustain as members of the Council of the Twelve Spencer W. Kimball, Ezra Taft Benson, Mark E. Petersen, Delbert L. Stapley, Marion G. Romney, LeGrand Richards, Richard L. Evans, Hugh B. Brown, Howard W. Hunter, Gordon B. Hinckley, Thomas S. Monson, and Boyd K. Packer.

Members of the First Presidency were then seated.

2.  The Council of the Twelve rose, voted on the above two proposals, and then was seated.  In the manner similar to that followed for the voting of the First Presidency, the Patriarchs, high priests, seventies, elders, Lesser Priesthood, and entire congregation then voted, in turn, on these proposals.

Voting on the Patriarch to the Church:

1.  The First Presidency rose, voted to sustain Eldred G. Smith as Patriarch to the Church, and was seated.

2.  In a manner similar to that followed for the voting of the First Presidency and the Council of the twelve, the Council of the Twelve, patriarchs, high priests, seventies, elders, Lesser Priesthood, and entire congregation then voted, in turn on this proposal.

Voting on Prophets, Seers, and Revelators:

1.  The First Presidency rose and voted to sustain the counselors in the First Presidency, the Twelve Apostles, and the Patriarch to the Church as prophets, seers, and revelators.  They were then seated.

2.  As they were called, following the order above, the Council of the Twelve, patriarchs, high priests, seventies, elders, Lesser Priesthood, and entire congregation then voted, in turn, on the proposition.

Following this voting procedure, all other voting proceeded in the usual pattern, with all members remaining seated and all voting on each proposition at the same time with uplifted hands.  This procedure, similar to that used in other general conferences of the Church, was followed for voting on the Assistants to the Council of the Twelve; Joseph Fielding Smith as trustee-in-trust for the Church; the First Council of the Seventy; the Presiding Bishopric; the Regional Representatives of the Council of the Twelve; the Church Historian and Assistant Church Historians; membership of the four general priesthood committees—welvare, home teaching, missionary, and genealogy work; Church Board of Education; Church Finance Committee; officers of the Tabernacle Choir; general auxiliary officers and board members as presently constituted of the Relief Society, Deseret Sunday School Union, Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association, Young Women's Mutual Improvement Association, and Primary Association.

The annual statistical report and the Church Finance Committee's report were then read.