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Doctrinal question from something that came up in a discussion I was in the middle of:

In talking about who can be a Bishop it was brought up that a divorced fellow can’t be a Bishop. I didn’t know this or I had forgotten. I looked in the church handbook (Callings in the Church  and it doesn’t specifically address this but it references a scripture passage in 1 Timothy (1 Timothy 3 ) and it says one of the qualifications is “the husband of one wife”. Is this portion of the scripture interpreted to mean not divorced? I guess that to me could mean several things, but the Lord’s interpretation is all that matters.

Anyway, then someone asked if this included a man who had a marriage annulled? Is an annulment considered the same as a divorce in the eyes of the Lord and/or the Church?

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"the husband of one wife".... Not more than one, meaning not 2 or three at that time???. I would find it hard to believe that a man who has repented of his ways, and has the 1 timothy qualifications could not be a bishop. What if the circumstance of divorce had nothing to do with his actions, and he re-married, and had a wonderfull family??. I am sure it is case by case basis. If he is a just man before god, i would not have any problems with him being a bishop. Priesthood leaders, such as the Stake President who hold the keys for these areas would ultimately send a name to the First Presidency for approval for any called Bishop. Last time I checked divorce is forgivable, even if it was partially your fault. (Divorce for purpose which leads to comminting Adultry??, this would be a hard one for me to except???.) Policy is policy. If it states that you can not be a Bishop, then you can not be Bishop.

Edited by grantstine
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Actually, to be bishop, a man must be currently married (preferably in the temple). If he has been divorced, then he must be married to his current wife at least 5 years in order to be considered for the calling.

It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

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Actually, to be bishop, a man must be currently married (preferably in the temple). If he has been divorced, then he must be married to his current wife at least 5 years in order to be considered for the calling.

It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

Wow, can't teach seminary or insitute if you have beendivorced? I didn't know that. But now I do. :rolleyes:

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Actually, to be bishop, a man must be currently married (preferably in the temple). If he has been divorced, then he must be married to his current wife at least 5 years in order to be considered for the calling.

It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

Whew, At least another year before I can be considered for a Bishop.

After my 5 year anniversary, time to go inactive again!!!!!! :P:p

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It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

Rame, are you sure about this? Our seminary teacher (who has had the calling for at least 3 years, maybe more) is divorced and remarried. He hasn't been remarried long before he got the calling either... maybe only been remarried a year or so.

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We've had threads about this before, but basically, yes, you can be a bishop dispite having been divorced previously. Most likely a current bishop who gets a divorce, will be released as a bishop. You'll pretty much never meet someone who was called to be a bishop while he was single due to a divorce.

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Rame, are you sure about this? Our seminary teacher (who has had the calling for at least 3 years, maybe more) is divorced and remarried. He hasn't been remarried long before he got the calling either... maybe only been remarried a year or so.

I am talking about seminary teachers that are full time paid employees of the Church, not the ones called to teach early morning seminary by a stake.

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The Stake President recommends a name...provides info about that person and it has to be approved by the First Presidency. Regardless....being Sealed in the Temple is a must.

In the past, being sealed in the temple was dependent upon location. Those living far from a temple were not required to be sealed in the temple. While on my mission (Bolivia), we organized a stake. The new bishops went to General Conference (church paid for the trip), and were endowed, but their wives did not come with them. It was a 1 week bus drive to the nearest temple (Sao Paolo Brazil), and most could not afford it.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know that the OP’s question was specific to divorce, but it made me wonder about other qualifications for a bishop. In our ward, it seems as though bishopric members are commonly taken out of callings in the YM organization. Since our YM activities are so closely tied to the Boy Scouts, it occurred to me that those brethren have had background checks through the BSA.

This got me wondering: Does the church run background checks on men that they consider calling as bishops?

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I am talking about seminary teachers that are full time paid employees of the Church, not the ones called to teach early morning seminary by a stake.

I never realized there was a difference until wrote this. What do the full-time seminary teachers do that early-morning seminary teachers do not? Are they the ones that teach seminary during high school hours? Or is it something more?

Elphaba

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Does the church run background checks on men that they consider calling as bishops?

It wouldn't surprise me. What I know for sure, is that a member's record can be permanently* annotated with information about that member's acts of abuse - especially that of minors.

* Permanetnly = there forever unless a member of the 1st Presidency authorizes it's removal.

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I never realized there was a difference until wrote this. What do the full-time seminary teachers do that early-morning seminary teachers do not? Are they the ones that teach seminary during high school hours? Or is it something more?

Elphaba

A full-time seminary teacher is a seminary teacher by profession. That is his job.--he is a church employee--not his calling. The High Schools in Utah (and some other Western States) give the students “released time” to attend seminary. Those teachers teach one seminary class after another throughout the school day—just as a history teacher or math teacher would.

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A full-time seminary teacher is a seminary teacher by profession. That is his job.--he is a church employee--not his calling. The High Schools in Utah (and some other Western States) give the students “released time” to attend seminary. Those teachers teach one seminary class after another throughout the school day—just as a history teacher or math teacher would.

Yes, I know they are full-time Church employees. That's what I meant when I asked if they were the ones who taught seminary during high school hours.

However, I didn't realize teaching early-morning seminary was a calling. So, I appreciate that clarification.

Elphaba

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  • 2 years later...

Can you be a Bishop if you have be Disfellowshipped or Excomunicated? Mt Stake Pres mentioned something about raising the bar for Bishops being called. Surely if the Lord remembers your sin no more the Church should do the same?

Not normally. Could it happen, sure. But having been forgiven of your sins removes the eternal consequences of your actions. It doesn't always remove the temporal consequences.

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  • 3 months later...

Actually, to be bishop, a man must be currently married (preferably in the temple). If he has been divorced, then he must be married to his current wife at least 5 years in order to be considered for the calling.

It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

Actually this is not true. I taught in the Seminary Program Full-Time and two of my fellow teachers had been divorced and were re-married

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Yes, I know they are full-time Church employees. That's what I meant when I asked if they were the ones who taught seminary during high school hours.

However, I didn't realize teaching early-morning seminary was a calling. So, I appreciate that clarification.

Elphaba

Actually, I was a early morning Supervisor for Seminary when I worked for the church and early morning Seminary teachers should not be called and set apart. I was surprised by this when I found this out but it is the way it is! :)

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Actually, to be bishop, a man must be currently married (preferably in the temple). If he has been divorced, then he must be married to his current wife at least 5 years in order to be considered for the calling.

It is actually easier to be a bishop than a full time Institute/Seminary instructor, where you can never have been divorced!

I have been looking for this answer myself. Could I ask you what your source is on the being married for 5 years after a divorce?

Thanks in advance :)

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What things stay on your records? I thought disfellowshipment and excommunication were removed from your records once taken care of? It seems as if it does stay on your records if it's a factor in what callings you can hold. Does leadership at Ward/Stake level have access to this, or is it just kept in the archives at SLC for the General Leadership of the Church?

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I have been looking for this answer myself. Could I ask you what your source is on the being married for 5 years after a divorce?

MSD, please bear in mind you're asking someone to clarify a comment they made over two and a half years ago. This is a very old thread.

What things stay on your records? I thought disfellowshipment and excommunication were removed from your records once taken care of? It seems as if it does stay on your records if it's a factor in what callings you can hold. Does leadership at Ward/Stake level have access to this, or is it just kept in the archives at SLC for the General Leadership of the Church?

Permanent annotations for serious transgressions (like felony convictions for embezzlement or child/spouse abuse) can be made to your record, and these only come off at the request of the first presidency. This is how the church (for example) makes sure convicted child molesters do not hold callings with the youth. As for who can see the annotation, it's usually bishop's eyes only. If I remember correctly, even the membership clerk, who receives records, cannot view these annotations. The clerk is notified that there is an annotation, but the bishop must log into the church computer with his personal ID to view it.

(That's how it was explained to me 6 years ago - I'm not sure if there have been changes since then.)

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What things stay on your records? I thought disfellowshipment and excommunication were removed from your records once taken care of? It seems as if it does stay on your records if it's a factor in what callings you can hold. Does leadership at Ward/Stake level have access to this, or is it just kept in the archives at SLC for the General Leadership of the Church?

When I was Ward Clerk (released about 3 years ago) obviously one of the functions of the calling was to make notes at Disciplinary Councils using the Church's special forms, then make electronic copies using the Church's record-keeping program (I believe the MLS program is in use worldwide for this). Once this was done, we were to dispose of the paper copies, and set a password for unlocking the "Confidential Report" which was kept in the aptly-named "Confidential Reports and Forms" section of MLS. I remember at one time the Bishop wanted me to access the record for a member's disciplinary council, but it had disappeared. I distinctly remembered having created it and certainly had no reason to delete it. A phone call to the relevant Salt Lake department led to them telling me that after about 30 days on the Ward/Stake electronic system, such confidential reports would disappear, "syphoned" to Salt Lake, if you will.

Permanent annotations for serious transgressions (like felony convictions for embezzlement or child/spouse abuse) can be made to your record, and these only come off at the request of the first presidency. This is how the church (for example) makes sure convicted child molesters do not hold callings with the youth. As for who can see the annotation, it's usually bishop's eyes only. If I remember correctly, even the membership clerk, who receives records, cannot view these annotations. The clerk is notified that there is an annotation, but the bishop must log into the church computer with his personal ID to view it.

Unless I'm completely unaware of where the notification would appear (an individual's IOS, the electronic directory of members, who knows), I'm not aware of anything that indicates an annotation to a member's record. I definitely never had the experience of having to get Bishop to log into anything because there was something that he could access that I couldn't (not on MLS anyway, which is the Church's record-keeping software; I'm aware there are certain segments of Leader Resources on LDS.org that even those that can see the Leader Resources page generally - like Clerks and Exec Secs - have to get a Bishop to log into).

Then again, maybe there was just never a need. In addition, there are certainly also differences in rights between certain MLS accounts, so maybe it was something he never so much as discussed with me and just did when he used the computer on his own (there was only one username/logon for logging onto the computer itself, but each member of Ward Leadership had their own MLS account with differing levels of rights).

Actually, I was a early morning Supervisor for Seminary when I worked for the church and early morning Seminary teachers should not be called and set apart. I was surprised by this when I found this out but it is the way it is! :)

If not a CES employee, Seminary Teacher is a Stake calling; CHI 2 specifically includes it in the Chart of Callings as a position:

Recommended by: Bishop (may consult with seminary and institute personnel)

Approved by: Stake presidency and high council

Sustained by: Members in stake conference

Called and set apart by: Stake president or an assigned counselor or high councilor

This is for the calling of Stake Seminary Teacher. Of course, for all I know, the early-morning teachers are the CES employees in the USA. From what I can gather throughout this thread though, it seems early-morning teachers are what is reflected in CHI as Stake Seminary Teacher (the same as early-morning Seminary Teachers here, a calling), and those that teach as a school class during school hours are CES employees. Feel free to correct me if I am wrong.

The title of “Stake Seminary Teacher” can be misleading; at least over here in Australia. Early-morning Seminary is done on the ward level (or two wards together if the wards share the chapel). For all I know (again), early-morning Seminary could take place on a stake level in the USA with much bigger classes and geographically much smaller stakes given the higher concentration of members and meetinghouses.

If I’m right in my assumption that the early-morning Seminary Teachers are not CES employees, then it is in the CHI 2 Chart of Callings as a calling needing Stake Presidency approval, calling, and setting apart as shown above. Both CES employees and called Seminary Teachers need to be temple-worthy, as per CHI 1; I can’t find anything in there with reference to needing to have never been divorced though. I have heard this floated around though (not that that means it necessarily has any legitimacy). Maybe, as some have speculated, it is a condition for CES employees only, or those holding the position as a calling only.

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