Elder's Quorum

[bytor2112]

Since High Priest's are Elders are they also a member of the Elder's Quorum? Can a High Priest be called to serve as a counselor? Are they subject (probably not the right word) to the Elder's Quorum President?

[MarginOfError]

Since High Priest's are Elders are they also a member of the Elder's Quorum? Can a High Priest be called to serve as a counselor? Are they subject (probably not the right word) to the Elder's Quorum President?

I'm not sure you can say that a High Priest is an Elder. We sometimes use the analogy of "a square is a rectangle, but a rectangle isn't a square" to convey a similar idea, but the analogy falls apart under more intense scrutiny. (I know this isn't really what you asked, but bear with me)

With rectangles and squares, the square is a subset of the rectangle. That is, the square has all of the characteristics of its superset-the rectangle-along with the additional condition of equal sides. In other terms, the subset is contained in the superset, but the superset is not contained in the subset (obviously).

When we compare elders and high priests, we're running the opposite direction. Elder is a subset of the rights, powers, and authorities of high priest, but it is a limited subset (whereas the square subset was created by adding a condition). Thus, it is impossible for a high priest to be an elder because not all of the conditions of high priest can be contained in the set that defines elder.

It is more accurate to say that the office of elder contains a proper subset of rights, powers, and authorities of those held by the office of high priest. (I hope that makes sense)

That being said, it would be uncommon to ask a high priest to serve in an elders' quorum presidency, but he certainly may if need be. I imagine that asking someone to do so might cause a few sideways glances, and maybe raise some questions from the stake, but I know of nothing that would expressly prohibit it.

The high priests would not be 'subject' to the Elders' Quorum president unless the Elders' Quorum president were assigned by the bishop or stake president to oversee a task. Neither are elders subject to the High Priests' group leader. Despite priesthood authority, these are governmental bodies intended to act separately and in concert to accomplish the tasks assigned to each of them.

Just out of curiosity, why do you ask?

[bytor2112]

Just out of curiosity, why do you ask?

Conversation with a High Councilman. He had made the statement that High Priest's could be called to serve in EQP's and that since they were all Elder's that they all technically belonged to the Elder/s Quorum. I thought it sounded a little fishy...or maybe I was just missing his point.

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[MarginOfError]

Well, I agree with him that you could call a high priest to serve as an elders' quorum president, although I'd only do it if I had no other option. If I were in such a position, I'd be more inclined to ask him to be a counselor responsible for helping train whoever I picked as president, but that's beside the point.

However, I disagree that an elder is a high priest. In fact, I could disprove that assertion with a simple Venn diagram and basic set theory.

[Traveler]

Conversation with a High Councilman. He had made the statement that High Priest's could be called to serve in EQP's and that since they were all Elder's that they all technically belonged to the Elder/s Quorum. I thought it sounded a little fishy...or maybe I was just missing his point.

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A High Priest can serve in any priesthood calling - including councilor (or secretary) to the deacon quorum president, Apostle or even the presiding high priest (president – sometimes called “The Prophet”).

The Traveler

[Just_A_Guy]

About four years ago I lived in a very young ward (all apartments and fourplexes) that only had one or two high priests in it, aside from the bishopric. We didn't have a functioning HP group, and one of the high priests served as the EQ secretary.

[MarginOfError]

A High Priest can serve in any priesthood calling - including councilor (or secretary) to the deacon quorum president, Apostle or even the presiding high priest (president – sometimes called “The Prophet”).

The Traveler

I don't think this is accurate. To serve as an Apostle, he'd need to be ordained to the office of an Apostle. To serve as the presiding high priest (an ambiguous term, as this can refer to a bishop, a stake president, or the president of the Church), he'd also need to be ordained to the office of an Apostle first. High priest is not the highest (adopting the hierarchical view of priesthood office) of the priesthood offices.

[kgrigio]

We just went through this in our ward where we only have about 5 active elders and 10+ active HP and of the 3-4 active elders, 2 of them are in YM and one is a primary teacher (where his skills, patience, and abilities, will keep him for some time). As a measure of last resort I was called as the EQ president. I was told I could not call any HP to be a councilor so I called the only remaining active elder as a councilor. We combine our Sunday classes, and have a HP group.

Technically, a HP is an office in the Priesthood and it's office deals with officiating in the Church, which is why you must be a HP in order to be in the Bishopric, High Council, Stake Presidency, etc...

And no, a HP is NOT apart of the EQ, they are apart of the HP Quorum. The HP quorum is made up of all the HP in the stake and the Stake President is the President of the HP quorum. They are required to have two HP quorum meetings a year. A HP group is made up of members of the Stake HP Quorum in a ward. Think of a HP quorum like a Priest Quorum, where the group leader is similar to the 1st assistant in the Priest Quorum.

Also, a HP (other than the Bishop, Stake President) do not hold keys, only an Elders Quorum President. Several years ago, before I moved into this ward, they had Priesthood Group, where an Elder and HP were apart of the presidency and they could not be called an Elders Quorum and the president couldn't hold keys.