Thanks Hemi for that abundance of information about the historical Council of Fifty. I extracted a few paragraphs that may be of immediate significance for those interested in this thread:
"The first evident characteristic of the council of fifty's membership is the extent to which church office was important. From 1844 to 1884 the council of fifty included every contemporary member of the first presidency except the disaffected william law, every member of the quorum of the twelve apostles, every presiding patriarch except john smith (b. 1832, son of hyrum smith), every member of the presiding bishopric except jesse c.
Little, and more than forty-four percent of the first council of the seventy. 60 of local officers during the period, forty-eight percent of the stake presidents and a much smaller percentage of the ward bishops were members of the council of fifty during their ecclesiastical service in these positions. This church identity of members of the council of fifty was mentioned in an 1882 revelation:
Behold you are my kingdom and rulers in my kingdom and then you are also, many of you, rulers in my church according to your ordinations therein. For are you not of the first presidency, and of the twelve apostles and some presidents of stakes, and some bishops, and some high priests and some seventies and elders therein? And are ye not all of my church and belong to my holy priesthood?"
My guess is that the founders of Deseret Nation are going to have some difficulty recruiting members until they can show some valid evidence that General Authorities are involved in some way, and that their organization, commendable as the effort may be, is not among those that are of concern during temple recommend interviews.
Just my thoughts, it is my hope that the founders will participate here to respond to such concerns.
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