- President Dallin H. Oaks will be sustained as the new leader of the Church of Jesus Christ on Saturday.
- Solemn assemblies are a historic tradition where members raise hands to support leaders.
- Participation in solemn assemblies has expanded globally, unifying church members worldwide.
SALT LAKE CITY — The Saturday morning session of general conference will be a unique experience for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, many of whom have not had the opportunity to sustain a new prophet in a solemn assembly.
President Dallin H. Oaks was named the new leader of the church on Oct. 14, just after the last general conference, and this is his first conference as the church's president.
Solemn assemblies have a "rich tradition" dating back to the beginning of the church, according to Brandon Metcalf, an archivist with the Church History Department.
He said members stand and raise their hands to support a new church leader as a covenant with God to follow his direction and counsel.
"It's more than really just a ritualistic raising of the hand. It's a commitment to uphold, support and assist those you're sustaining," he said. It is a "unique tradition" which makes this session of general conference historic, and Metcalf encouraged members not to be late for that first weekend session.
History of solemn assemblies
The first solemn assembly held to sustain a new church leader was for the third president of the church, President John Taylor, but church founder Joseph Smith was sustained in a similar manner.
Metcalf said the first time members stood in groups to sustain church leaders was at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836.
At the first session of that dedication, Sidney Rigdon invited groups to stand and sustain Joseph Smith as a prophet and seer. Smith took that process a step further at the next session, inviting members to sustain his counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
General conference
Each of the four general conference sessions this weekend will be streamed live on KSL.com and summaries of the talks from church leaders will be published shortly after each speaker. The sessions will also be broadcast on KSL, Ch. 5, and on KSL NewsRadio, 102.7 FM and 1160 AM.
The sessions begin at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. Mountain time Saturday, April 4, and Sunday, April 5. In November, the church announced that the evening session on Saturdays has been discontinued.
Parking at the Conference Center will not be available to the public, but there are other lots available. General conference tickets can also be used as a UTA pass for traveling to and from conference sessions.
For the Saturday morning session, doors to the auditorium will be closed when the session begins at 10 a.m.
Metcalf said after Joseph Smith was sustained, he promised church members that if they upheld those leaders, the blessings of heaven would be theirs.
Since President Taylor was sustained as a prophet in 1880 at a solemn assembly, the same has been done with each new church leader.
Changes over time
The process at a solemn assembly is more formal than the process of sustaining church leaders at each general conference, which is done separately, Metcalf said. Church members stand in quorums, or groups, as invited to voice their support for the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The final group includes everyone, giving many a second opportunity to raise their hands.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, when he was sustained as president of the church in 1995, added the Relief Society and Young Women as separate groups in the solemn assembly, Metcalf said. The process also used to be much longer. In 1986, church leaders consolidated it and stopped saying each name every time leaders were sustained.
Those listening to general conference outside of the Salt Lake Tabernacle were invited to participate for the first time in 1945, initially as part of the final group. In 1986, at the solemn assembly for President Ezra Taft Benson, members around the world were also invited to stand whenever their quorum or group was called.
Metcalf said allowing participation around the world, as the church has grown and technology has expanded, brings members of the church together.
"I think there's a unifying power of knowing that you're standing with the worldwide church, no matter where you are. That it's not just limited to a select few that are in the conference center … is a great blessing," he said.
Scriptural examples
Although parts of the Kirtland Temple dedication resemble today's solemn assemblies, Metcalf said that, at the time, what early church members called a solemn assembly took place a few days later. Members participated in an ordinance of washing of feet, and were given a promise of power as they went out to serve as missionaries.
Members had been instructed to hold solemn assemblies beginning in 1831, according to scriptures in the Doctrine & Covenants, and they were used to conduct church business.
Until the 1980s or 1990s, Metcalf said, gatherings with local leaders were at times referred to as solemn assemblies. Temple dedications or other instances where church leaders invite members to participate in a "hosanna shout," following New Testament examples, have also been referred to as solemn assemblies.
The Old Testament also has examples of the phrase solemn assembly being used during different feasts and festivals and the dedication of Solomon's temple.
Although Metcalf said the phrase solemn assembly is "all over the place in scriptures," the process of standing up and raising your hand is "more of a tradition" that began with President Taylor following the pattern at the Kirtland Temple dedication.
"There's this added power, I think he felt, that came by having the church in a unified manner sustaining him and really making a covenant that they supported him as God's prophet on earth, that they would listen and follow and uphold him and support him," Metcalf said.
