The Prophet Elijah and our Ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee

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    On Sunday, I was sustained in our ward to a new calling which they designated as “Family History Consultant.”  Our Bishopric is reworking the callings in our ward for our Family History Committee.  I looked up what was written in the new Church Handbook on the web and there were three pages of direction regarding what was designated as Temple and Family History efforts in a ward.  I assume this is what our bishopric is organizing (or reorganizing).  In this three pages of material, there are job description for a ward Temple and Family History leader and for Temple and Family History Consultants, and specific instructions for developing a ward temple and family history plan, and for membership in and the conducting of ward temple and family history coordination meetings.
    I made an immediate connection of this information about the ward organization with the content of an article in the Church News this week.  We were informed that there are three essential executive councils at the general church levels headed by apostles and reporting directly to the First Presidency, the Missionary Executive Council chaired by Elder Uchtdorf, the Priesthood and Family Executive Council chaired by Elder Cook, and the Temple and Family History Executive Council chaired by Elder Bednar.  The first council oversees the Church’s missionary work.  The second oversees our efforts to “perfect the saints” including the work of the Relief Society, Children and Youth programs, Sunday School, integrated curriculum and Come Follow Me efforts.  The third council is responsible for everything pertaining to temple and family history work.
    According to Elder Cook, each of these three councils derives their focus based on specific keys that were restored to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple on April 3, 1836.  
    “Moses conferred the keys of the gathering of Israel, Elias conferred the “keys of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,” and Elijah conferred the keys of sealing.”
    “Today... the Church is organized with three executive councils that are based on these three keys that were restored.”
    “The keys of the gathering of Israel operate within the purview of the Missionary Executive Council.  The keys “of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” – of fulfilling the Abrahamic covenant – function in the Priesthood and Family Executive Council.  And the sealing keys are found in the  Temple and Family History Executive Council.”  (Church News, Vol. 91, No. 30, July 24, 2021, pp. 5-7)
    It is exciting to think that the little ward Temple and Family History Coordinating Committee to which I will belong appears to be a perfect counterpart to Elder Bednar’s general church level council with keys that flow directly out of Elijah’s appearance in 1836 in the Kirtland Temple.