Presidencies part of gospel's pattern
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Speaking on the subject of presidencies in the Church, Elder William R. Walker of the Seventy said, "As a boy, I didn't understand so well the significance of there being three in the First Presidency rather than having one President.
"I knew that my father was one of three men in the bishopric, serving as a counselor," he said. "I knew my grandfather was the stake president and that he had two counselors who stood beside him.... In every case — a presidency — not just consisting of one man as the leader but as three who led together."
Elder Walker said, "In 1835, the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith the proper order of presidencies in the Church" (see Doctrine and Covenants 107:21-22).
Elder Walker explained that what the Lord designated was "not a president and two vice presidents but three presiding high priests, a quorum of three presidents. The First Presidency of the Lord's Church."
He said it was as a deacon that he learned how, through prayer, the Lord helps a president choose his counselors and how a presidency should function in the Church. "As a deacons quorum president and later as bishop and stake president, I knew that whatever wisdom, understanding or capacity I had, it would be magnified considerably when I included my counselors in any decision that needed to be made," he said.
The Lord gives patterns in all things including leadership, said Elder Walker. "With the exception of the Quorum of the Twelve and the Seventy, all Church quorums are led by a president and two counselors.... Every one of us who serve in presidencies anywhere in the Church should look to the First Presidency as our pattern and the example that we seek to follow as we carry out our stewardships. We should strive to be like them and to work together in love and harmony as they do."
