"Mormon" Royalty: Perceived leadership status

Every culture, group, and country revere their high profile members. Mormons or members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints do the same thing.  Our prophet and the president of our church is Thomas S. Monson. Almost every member of the church would recognize him in a picture or in person. A couple of years ago when the Boise Temple was remodeled and rededicated, President Monson visited. He attended a cultural celebration at the Taco Bell Arena where youth from our area performed dances symbolizing Idaho's history. When he walked in the arena, the audience broke into enthusiastic applause. We were rapt with attention and laughed when he made a joke. We listened intently to his words.

This past weekend, we listened to leaders in our church testify, teach, and prophecy during our semi-annual General Conference. The conference is broadcast through the internet and TV around the world. We took notes and some instantly tweeted or posted on facebook their favorite quotes from the conference.

In our local wards and stakes, we also revere our leaders. The leader of our ward is the bishop. Two counselors and various secretaries serve with him. In the stake, which is a group of wards, the leader is the stake president. He also serves with two counselors and various secretaries. Within the wards and stakes, there are presidencies for the priesthood groups, the Relief Society or women's groups , the Young Men and Young Women or youth groups, and the Primary who are the leaders of the children. As you would guess, those people who serve as leaders in presidencies are more well known in the ward or stake than the teacher of the three year-olds. Members of the church would never admit to aspiring to a leadership position. In fact, my father-in-law recently told me that anyone who aspired to be bishop should have the job because it is so much work. All positions at the local level are volunteer.

Recently my husband was released as the second counselor to the bishop in our ward. I have to admit (or maybe I shouldn't) that I liked that he was known in our ward. I liked that he sat on the stand on Sundays and conducted meetings. I liked that people thanked our family for supporting my husband in his service to the ward. So I was disappointed when he was released. But not just for the selfish reasons I listed. When he served the members of our ward, he grew spiritually and as a leader in our family. Our family was blessed for his service. Our children were supportive as my husband and I were away from home at the same time to serve in our ward and stake. We had more spiritual family home evenings, scripture study, and opportunities to go out and serve. I will miss the aspects I liked. I will enjoy having him home more. Now he will serve in a different capacity.
The standing joke in our church is that a stake president will be released and be asked to serve in the nursery which is the class for children ages 18 months to 3 years old. Or the bishop will be released and asked to serve in the nursery. Or the Relief Society President will be released and serve in the nursery. You see the pattern. A member can go from being a leader that is known by hundreds or thousands to wiping runny noses and calming children who are experiencing separation anxiety. That person will then be recognized by a handful of children and maybe their parents.
Apostle Dallin H. Oaks spoke in the April 2014 conference about how callings are not a step up or down. "At this conference we have seen the release of some faithful brothers, and we have sustained the callings of others. In this rotation—so familiar in the Church—we do not 'step down' when we are released, and we do not 'step up' when we are called. There is no 'up or down' in the service of the Lord. There is only 'forward or backward,' and that difference depends on how we accept and act upon our releases and our callings. I once presided at the release of a young stake president who had given fine service for nine years and was now rejoicing in his release and in the new calling he and his wife had just received. They were called to be the nursery leaders in their ward. Only in this Church would that be seen as equally honorable! (The Keys and Authority of the Priesthood, Dallin H. Oaks, April 2014).
The turn-over of leadership is one of the beauties of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our callings or positions are opportunities to serve. Jesus Christ taught, "But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant" (Matthew 23:11). The change also keeps us humble. As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explains, " We don't discover humility by thinking less of ourselves; we discover humility by thinking less about ourselves. It comes as we go about our work with an attitude of serving God and our fellowman. Humility directs our attention and love toward others and to Heavenly Father's purposes" (Pride and the Priesthood, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, October 2010). That's why, truly, there should be no Mormon royalty and that heightened status of leaders is perceived and temporary. We are asked to serve in highly visible and no-visibility callings to learn to love our neighbor as ourselves, to think less about ourselves and more about others.
We revere President Thomas S. Monson because he is the prophet. He speaks for the Lord, Jesus Christ. When he teaches, he is telling us what Christ wants us to know. We should listen. We should pay attention. We also revere our local leaders because they speak for the Lord on the local level. Like the prophet, they have the gift of revelation for the people they serve. We love and respect our leaders because they love us. When we serve in the nursery, we love those little children with their runny noses and sweet singing voices. And the hug of a nursery child is equal to or maybe exceeds a personal handshake from the stake president.