Church Government
Ensign, July 1972, “We are Called of God”; “…The Twelve are accountable to the prophet, and not the Church, for the course they pursue…If we are to take that same principle and apply it at the ward level, we can see that the bishop, who is considered the father of his ward and who leads his ward with judiciousness and love and patience and kindness, is nonetheless not answerable to the members of his ward, but instead is answerable to the Lord and to those priesthood leaders who preside over him. The bishop is answerable for the members of his ward but not necessarily answerable to the members of his ward.
The church of Jesus Christ, then, is organized from the top down.” – Loren C. Dunn, First Council of the Seventy
