Are Church Leaders Accountable to the Membership?

[Connie]

Wow, great blog.

Are Church Leaders Accountable to the Membership? Temple Study – LDS Temples, Mormon Temples, Study Blog

[changed]

I agree with this:

You are correct in one thing – all is not well in Zion; but it is not with the leadership of the Church, it is with its membership. Nibley was perfectly clear about that fact (see “Criticizing the Brethren“). The thing that worries me the most about comments like yours is that you believe that you know better than the Lord’s Anointed. It is not “up to the inhabitants of Zion to make corrections” to their leaders. Since when did the foot tell the head what to do? This is criticism… which in other places is called evil speaking. I have made a covenant not to do that, and I’m not going to allow others to do it on my blog either. As soon as we believe that we know better than those who the Lord has called to lead and guide His Church, we are in very dangerous territory. Our leaders don’t answer to us, they answer to the Lord who called them to do His work. We sustain our leaders, we don’t vote them in. If you don’t sustain them, then you have your agency to oppose them when given the opportunity. We didn’t call them to their positions, the Lord did. We have no more right to vote them out of their position than we had to call them into it. There is no impeachment within the Church!

As far as leaders going wrong, I think this is good advice:

Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, reported: “Joseph the Prophet … said, ‘Brethren, remember that the majority of this people will never go astray; and as long as you keep with the majority you are sure to enter the celestial kingdom.’ ”16

William G. Nelson reported: “I have heard the Prophet speak in public on many occasions. In one meeting I heard him say: ‘I will give you a key that will never rust,—if you will stay with the majority of the Twelve Apostles, and the records of the Church, you will never be led astray.’ The history of the Church has proven this to be true.”17

Ezra T. Clark remembered: “I heard the Prophet Joseph say that he would give the Saints a key whereby they would never be led away or deceived, and that was: The Lord would never suffer a majority of this people to be led away or deceived by imposters, nor would He allow the records of this Church to fall into the hands of the enemy.”18

so, one or two apostles/leaders might go astray, but the majority of the leaders will never go astray. Those who follow the majority are safe.

[BenRaines]

I believe church leaders are accountable to The Lord and I am accountable to him too. I will be one of those who follow the brethren.

Ben Raines