The World Church Leadership Council is a leadership body of the Community of Christ. It encompasses the First Presidency, the Council of Twelve Apostles, and the Presiding Bishopric.^[1] The group convenes at the church headquarters in the Independence temple. With the adoption of a sweeping new set of church bylaws at the 2002 World Conference, this body replaced the predecessor council known as the Joint Council. Bylaw provisions allow for additional members to be added to the World Church Leadership Council. Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA. Dedicated 1994 RLDS redirects here. ... The Community of Christ First Presidency or First Presidency is the highest leadership or priesthood quorum of the Community of Christ church. ... In Mormonism, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Quorum of the Twelve, the Council of the Twelve, or the Twelve) is one of the governing bodies of the church hierarchy in many Latter Day Saint denominations, members of which are considered to be Apostles and special... The Presiding Bishop is an ecclesiastical position in some denominations of Christianity. ... Community of Christ Temple in Independence, Missouri, USA. Dedicated 1994 The Independence Temple is a house of worship and education dedicated to the pursuit of peace, reconciliation, and healing of the spirit. It dominates the skyline of Independence, Missouri, USA, headquarters of the Community of Christ. ... A Bylaw (sometimes also seen as By-Law or ByLaw) is a rule governing the internal management of an organization, such as a business corporation. ... In Mormonism, General Conferences are church-wide meetings of individual Latter Day Saint denominations. ...

Overview

Since its formation, the World Church Leadership Council has been the deliberative and consensus forming body for a number of important decisions, such as the 2002 Statement on Homosexuality, formation of mission centers, and setting of dates for specially called World Conferences. The World Church Leadership Council assisted with the recommendation to the World Conference by the Council of Twelve that Stephen M. Veazey be ordained as Prophet-President of the church. In 2006, the World Church Leadership Council deliberated significant restructuring of the church's headquarters operations and reduction in the number of paid field ministers. It has contributed to development of a new format for the 2007 Community of Christ World Conference. Stephen M. Veazey (born May 3, 1957) is the current Prophet-President of the Community of Christ headquartered in Independence, Missouri which has no affiliation with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. ...

Prior history of the Joint Council

Before the adoption of the 2002 bylaws, the predecessor body known as the Joint Council served essentially the same role as the new World Church Leadership Council. During their deliberation of the vision and mission statements of the church at a 1994 Joint Council retreat, President Wallace B. Smith first suggested a new name for the church, Community of Christ^[2]. The Joint Council was often designated as the policy approval body in legislation passed at World Conferences over a period of many decades. Wallace B. Smith (born 1929) was Prophet and President of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (now Community of Christ), from 1978–1996. ...

Notes

1. ^ Community of Christ Bylaws, webpage, retrieved June 24, 2006
2. ^ Community of Christ Name, webpage, retrieved June 24, 2006