Seventy's Council Table

SEVENTY'S COUNCIL TABLE. BY B. H. ROBERTS, MEMBER OF THE FIRST COUNCIL. To become a Seventy means mental activity, intellectual development, and the attainment of spiritual power. Congratulations. —We congratulate the Seventies, first, upon their now having an Organ by which we mean, of course, a publication devoted to their in- ; terest; to the development of their views; and the principles for which they stand; also a medium of announcement and publication of official acts. By means of the Era the First Council will be in constant communication with all the quorums of the Seventy in the Church. They will be able to suggest, advise, counsel, and direct the Seventies' work, both in administrative matters and in theological stu- dies. This new adjunct to our work will be especially useful in aiding the class work our quorums are about to undertake, since suggestions in relation to class methods and amplification of lesson topics can be made as occasions arise for such help to class teachers. Secondly, we congratulate the Seventies that the Era has been chosen as the "Organ of the Seventies." Its literature, even in the past, has been more generally adapted to our Seventies than to any other class of its readers ; and the fact that it now becomes the Organ of the Seventies quorums as well as of the Young Men's Improvement Associations, is a guarantee that it will continue to possess that quality. Let us be understood here: It is the intention of the publishers, of course, to make the magazine appropriate to both organiza- tions to which it stands in the relationship of organ; but what we mean to convey in the above remark is, that the Era has been the medium, of late years, through which nearly all important doctrinal and theological articles both of an official and semi-official character have been published, and it is these doctrinal papers that are of especial interest to the Seventies, since they deal with questions in which Seventies are, or should be, intensely interested; and are published in such form that they can be easily preserved and readily consulted. In this connection we may say that the term magazine implies variety, a receptacle in which anything is stored, and hence a magazine gives wide latitude for a variety of literature; stories, sketches, essays, poetry, drama, and the like. It is not expected, of course, that its readers will be equally interested in all its parts. What may be precious to one will be of no interest to another. One number may be issued in which a subscriber will find many things that suit his tastes, or that are helpful in the special lines of work he is following. The next number may contain less

64 IMPROVEMENT ERA. that appeals to him, and more that will appeal to another reader; all in all, how- ever, each subscriber will doubtless find articles whose value to him will be worth many times the price of the subscription; and so we say to our Seventies, now that we have an organ, let us make use of it, both because it will give helpful sugges- tions in relation to conducting the special work of the quorums, and also because it will contain literature of the general character that will be helpful in preparing the members thereof for their labors in the ministry. Official Recognition.— That the Seventy may see in what spirit the Young Men's General Board met the proposition of the First Council to make the Improvement Era the organ of the Seventies, we publish the official recognition of said proposition: Sept. 24, 1907. First Seven Presidents of Seventy, Salt Lake City, Utah. Dear Brethren : The General Board direct me to write your honorable body saying that they deem it an honor to have you select the Organ of the Young Men's Mutual Im- provement Associations, the Improvement Era, as the Official Organ for the Seventy, and to thank you for the honor so conferred. At a meeting of the Board held September 11, it was unanimously and with pleasure carried that the Improve- ment Era also become the "Organ of the Seventy." Very sincerely, your friend and brother, Alpha J. Higgs, General Secretary. The proposition has been equally welcomed by the Seventies wherever it has been presented to them, and is regarded as a most fortunate thing, both for the Era and the quorums of Seventy. Seventies Era Agents.— The presidents of the respective quorums should at once take under advisement the appointment of an Era agent for the quorum, whose business it shall be to solicit subscriptions within the quorum for the maga- zine, giving every member the opportunity of subscribing, and it should be made clear to the brethren of our quorums what an advantage it would be for them to be subscribers to the Era, if they would keep abreast of their work and become acquainted with the literature that will help to prepare them for their special calling in the priesthood. It is the desire of the First Council that this work shall be promptly and effiiciently performed, and let it be done at once, and if done thoroughly, it may then be dismissed for the year. The terms are two dollars per year, paid in advance; and the agents should promptly send both names and money to Alpha J. Higgs, Nos. 214-215, Templeton Building, Salt Lake City. It should be understood that the agents will render their services gratuitously; the work is a labor of love and interest to the cause for which the Era stands, the Seventies' work and the work of Mutual Improvement. The Era sends copies of each issue free to some two thousand missionaries in all parts of the world; it could not do this only that its agents who solicit and collect its subscriptions give

SEVENTY'S COUNCIL TABLE. 65 their service gratuitously in the interest of missionary work ; and it is on this basis that the First Council ask their brethren who shall be called to act as agents to accept the appointment cheerfully, and perform the work promptly and well. The First Lesson. —We call especial attention of the quorums to the Intro- duction to the Seventy's Course in Theology for this year, and as there is no such suggestion in the Introduction itself, we make it here. The Introduction should be taken up as tne first lesson of the course, as an understanding of what is there set forth is necessary to a clear comprehension of what is sought to be achieved in the lessons following it. We advise, therefore, that on the first meeting of the quorums, on the first Sunday in November, that the Introduction first be read through, and afterwards that it be read and discussed topic by topic until a thorough understanding shall be had of each division of it. Then at the second meeting, the first lesson in Part I may be taken up. Each member of the quorum should have The Seventies' Year Book, since he will not be able to fully participate in the lessons without he is so furnished. The price of the Year Book is but 25 cents, and no Seventy can afford to be without it. Quorums sending in their orders for the Year Book, should order as many as there are members in the quorum. A workman could just as consistently undertake a job of work without tools, as a Seventy can undertake his class work without this book outlining the year's work; and the Presidents should put the matter forcibly before the brethren, and take steps to have each member supplied with means of studying the class lessons. The New Movement— The inauguration of the new working conditions under which the quorums will hereafter do their work is quite frequently referred to as the "New Movement among the Seventies," or more briefly 'The New Move- ' ment." The phrases are certainly not inappropriate; but have you stopped to think what the "New Movement" will mean to Seventies work? In the first place it gives us a day-time appointment for our quorum meetings, on a day regularly set apart for worship and thought and reading concerning the things of God; our members are released from other Church duties during that forenoon, that they may devote themselves to this quorum appointment and its work; the arrangement gives a uniform time of meeting for all the quorums in the Church; it will enable all the quorums to pursue the same general line of study, and at the same time the meetings will be so frequent and regular that interest in the Seventies' course of study can be sustained throughout the year; the new arrangement practically insures us a very much larger attendance upon quorum meetings; it sweeps away all excuses for protracted absence from quorum appointments it gives recognition ; foreign to the importance of the Seventies' work, and emphasizes the dignity of the ministry of the Church ; to use the phraseology of the Fi^st Presidency in their circular letter to the Presidency of the Stakes— it will enable us "to make the quorums the schools of instruction they ought to be, and which it was intended of the Lord from the beginning that they should become." The General Conference of the Seventies, 1907.— The first General Conference held by the Seventies in sixty three years convened at the Assembly

66 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Hall, Salt Lake City, on Friday evening, October 4, 1907, Elder Seymour B. Young The number of quorums represented were 132 out of 151 presiding. quorums in the Church, so that all but 19 quorums were represented; and when it is remembered that these quorums are scattered in three countries, Mexico, the United States and Canada, in five of the inter-mountain states and two of the ter- ritories, the representation was remarkable. There were 239 Presidents of quorums in attendance, and 277 members. The opening prayer was offered by Elder Francis M. Lyman, President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles, and in itself grandlv foreshadowed the purpose and spirit of the "New Movement among the Seventies." Words of greeting were given by the Senior President of the First Council, Elder Seymour B. Young; after which the purpose of the "New Movement" and the first year's course in theology, were outlined by Elder B; H. Eoberts of the First Council. The singing led by Brother Evan Stephens was spirited throughout, and contributed much to the enjoyment of those present. The closing prayer was offered by Elder John Henry Smith. It was an occasion long to be remembered, and the hope was very generally expressed that such a conference would be held every year, at the time of the General Conference of the Church, in October. Seventies' Conference in 1844. —The last General Conference of the Seventies was held in the city of Nauvoo, beginning on the 26th of December, 1844, and continuing through one week. At that time there were fourteen quorums of Seventy in the Church. These quorums that year had erected a Seventies' Hall, and on the 26th of December, 1844, the dedicatory services began. It was arranged that two quorums with their wives and children should meet each day throughout the week, with the first council always present. A number of the Twelve Apostles were present at each of the services and addressed the Seventies and their families. President Brigham Young offered the dedicatory prayer at the first session of the conference, and W. W. Phelps' hymn, "A voice from the Prophet," written for these services, was sung; it's opening line is ' ' 'Come to me, will ye come to the Saints that have died, ' etc. It was for these services also that the late President John Taylor wrote his heroic hymn, ' 'The Seer, the Seer, Joseph the Seer !' though he dedicated the hymn to President Brigham Young. All these are pleasant memories, even if they are tinged with sadness, and we gladly refer to them for the instruction of our Seventies in relation to the history of our organizations. Now that we have resumed the holding of our general Seventies conferences, and with them have now gathered up the scattered threads of our history, let us hope that never again will sixty- three years be allowed to pass without a general Seventies conference b eing held.

MUTUAL WORK. HELPING TO GET FIFTEEN THOUSAND. We are pleased to note that a number of the association officers have already secured five per cent of their Church poputation, and over, as subscribers for Vol. XI of the Improvement Era. The Heber City Second ward, Wasatch stake, President RoyalJ. Murdock, and Counselor Leo N. Richards, had already secured a ®er list of 51 subscriptions on September 27, which is Church population, and by Octob- 15 they had 72, or 15 per cent. In connection with this work they were doing effective missionary nearly eleven per cent of the labor, before the opening of the season. They had visited nearly every man who is of Mutual Im- provement age in their ward, and their efforts in this direction are certainly commendable, and a good example to other Mutual Improvement officers in the Church. Superi ntendent John royal j murdock. . T. Roberts "writes that | the leo N. Richards. satisfaction they received from their labors is worth all the effort they put forth, and they rejoice in the work accomplished ,not so much from the goodly number of subscribers they obtained, as in the fact that the Lord blessed them in meeting with the young men of their ward, and in feeling that the spirit of the gospel is still with the young men of Zion, and that they are willing to assist with their means the institutions of the Church. "President Murdock and Counselor Richards," says Superintendent Roberts, "have been connected with the Second ward Y. M. M. I. A. for two years past, and have been able to get five per cent of the ward population for the past two volumes but this did not satisfy them, and, as President Murdock expresses himself, 'Most people will not follow you up asking that they may subscribe; but if you will go after them and take their names, it is an easy matter to get subscribers.' I am