Structure of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a unique organization. For those of us who believe in its divine origin this is felt to be a result of the fact that it is actually lead by Jesus Christ.
The method of succession that involves no campaigning or jockeying for influence may be unliked by religion reports who thrive on conflict, but it works to help the work move forward more effectively.
The fact of the matter is that the nature of how the Church is run is sometimes not understood much by members of the Church.
This is because it is a highly hierarchical structure, that at the same time puts lots of autonomy and direction at a very local level.
Decisions to admit people in the Church are largely under the direction of the mission president and administered by missionaries themselves, usually the district or zone leader approving the actions of individual missionaries, but with mission president or mission president counselor approval needed in some special cases.
Some feel that decisions on entering into the Church should be transfered to bishops and branch presidents. I can see the appeal of this course of action, and it was actually done in South Africa for a few years after 1978 and may in part by why the Church built stable roots in the indigenous African population there and still struggles to find a sustainable membership base among African-American members in the United States.
On the other extreme, in Nigeria and Ghana in 1979 baptisms were required to be administered under the direct supervision of the 4 full-time missionaries even after branches with local presidencies were set up in many locations.
This is actually a key factor in the oft circulated picture of Elder Mabey standing in the water baptizing a person as a long line is trying to get baptized. If you analyize the line closely you will see two Nigerian men off to the side of the line. I want to say one is Anthony Obina, however I think the picture in question actually comes from Akwa Ibom state, while Brother Obina lived the other way from Aba, where the temple is today, much closer to Enugu, where the missionaries had their residence, and where hopefully a temple will be built before next decade is out.
I look forward to Akwa Ibom state getting a temple, since it has 12 stakes plus a few districts. The issue is that it is not that far from Aba, some parts of it at least are less than 50 miles from the temple, so this is not a high priority. On the other hand the state of some of the roads and low access to motorized viehicles in parts of Akwa Ibom state may mean that going 50 miles to attend the temple even once a month or even once every few months may be a major sacrifice for some members.
Still I am 90% convinced that Nigeria's 3rd temple will be in Benin City.
The method of succession that involves no campaigning or jockeying for influence may be unliked by religion reports who thrive on conflict, but it works to help the work move forward more effectively.
The fact of the matter is that the nature of how the Church is run is sometimes not understood much by members of the Church.
This is because it is a highly hierarchical structure, that at the same time puts lots of autonomy and direction at a very local level.
Decisions to admit people in the Church are largely under the direction of the mission president and administered by missionaries themselves, usually the district or zone leader approving the actions of individual missionaries, but with mission president or mission president counselor approval needed in some special cases.
Some feel that decisions on entering into the Church should be transfered to bishops and branch presidents. I can see the appeal of this course of action, and it was actually done in South Africa for a few years after 1978 and may in part by why the Church built stable roots in the indigenous African population there and still struggles to find a sustainable membership base among African-American members in the United States.
On the other extreme, in Nigeria and Ghana in 1979 baptisms were required to be administered under the direct supervision of the 4 full-time missionaries even after branches with local presidencies were set up in many locations.
This is actually a key factor in the oft circulated picture of Elder Mabey standing in the water baptizing a person as a long line is trying to get baptized. If you analyize the line closely you will see two Nigerian men off to the side of the line. I want to say one is Anthony Obina, however I think the picture in question actually comes from Akwa Ibom state, while Brother Obina lived the other way from Aba, where the temple is today, much closer to Enugu, where the missionaries had their residence, and where hopefully a temple will be built before next decade is out.
I look forward to Akwa Ibom state getting a temple, since it has 12 stakes plus a few districts. The issue is that it is not that far from Aba, some parts of it at least are less than 50 miles from the temple, so this is not a high priority. On the other hand the state of some of the roads and low access to motorized viehicles in parts of Akwa Ibom state may mean that going 50 miles to attend the temple even once a month or even once every few months may be a major sacrifice for some members.
Still I am 90% convinced that Nigeria's 3rd temple will be in Benin City.
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