Question
Gramps,
What is the difference between the duties of the priesthood and the responsibilities of the priesthood?
Salve
Answer
Salve,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that there are two parts of the priesthood: the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood. The Aaronic Priesthood is described as the preparatory priesthood and includes the keys to ministering angels and to administer outward ordinances. Young men in the Church typically receive the Aaronic Priesthood at age 12, progressing through the offices of deacon, teacher, and priest, and (for bishops) a role as president of the Aaronic Priesthood. The Melchizedek Priesthood, by contrast, is the greater priesthood, holding the rights of presidency and… power and authority over all the offices in the Church to administer in spiritual things.
The progression within priesthood offices is not just a matter of administrative hierarchy but is directly linked to the performance of sacred ordinances—baptism, the sacrament, confirmation, and more. As described by N. Eldon Tanner, the restoration of the priesthood to earth was so vital that [the Lord] sent John the Baptist to come and restore the Aaronic Priesthood, and Peter, James, and John to bring the Melchizedek Priesthood; the legitimacy of ordinances depends on this authority.
A man is not born with the priesthood, nor can he simply choose to assume it. The Fifth Article of Faith proclaims: “A man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.” Authority is conferred through a ritual act—ordination by someone who already holds the proper priesthood and has the authorization (“keys”) to confer it.
For instance, a priesthood holder cannot ordain a family member or administer the sacrament in his own home without authorization from the one who holds the appropriate keys—typically the bishop or another presiding authority. During disruptions such as the global pandemic, bishops authorized worthy fathers or sons in their homes to administer the sacrament, an act that could not occur legitimately without priesthood keys.
The Church’s priesthood structure includes specific offices, each with unique (if sometimes overlapping) responsibilities. For example, within the Aaronic Priesthood:
Deacons – (traditionally ages 12–13) pass the Sacrament during Sacrament meeting.
Teachers – (14–15) are tasked with “watching over the church always, and be with and strengthen them; and see that there is no iniquity in the church” as outlined in Doctrine and Covenants 20:53-57.
Priests – (16) may baptize and administer the sacrament, but not lay hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Bishops – preside over the Aaronic Priesthood and the ward.
The Melchizedek Priesthood’s offices—elders, high priests, patriarchs, seventies, and apostles—offer increasing administrative and spiritual responsibilities, but, critically, any worthy holder of this priesthood has access to its power, regardless of office. Elder Bruce R. McConkie poignantly taught that “every elder in the Church holds as much priesthood as the President of the Church. No apostle can or will rise higher in eternity than the faithful elder who lives the fullness of the gospel law.” The distinction between offices concerns Church order and responsibility, not intrinsic power or eternal value.
A defining teaching of the Church is that only male members are formally ordained to the priesthood and its offices. This is stated explicitly in official Church handbooks: “The conferral of the Aaronic Priesthood and ordination to an office and the conferral of the Melchizedek Priesthood and ordination to an office are only for young men and men.” As of a 2019 policy, worthy boys may be ordained deacons in the calendar year they turn 12. Advancement to teacher and priest follows at 14 and 16, based on individual worthiness and readiness.
The question as to why the priesthood is conferred only upon males is based on scriptural precedent, prophetic direction, and what leaders describe as a divinely appointed “house of order.” The call for men to organize priesthood service does not mean men hold greater power, but rather that they are entrusted with organizing and administering the visible workings of priesthood authority. God’s house is a house of order, and God works through small and simple things. One of the smallest and simplest things He does is call men to be holders of His Priesthood. This does not give a man more power. Power comes through faith and obedience. Rather, it calls the man to organize efforts and, in many cases, to be the first responder to meet people’s needs for Priesthood Power.
The assertion that only men are ordained to the priesthood raises an important follow-up question: Do women have access to priesthood power? The answer is yes, though distinctions matter.
Women cannot be ordained to an office in the priesthood, but they participate in priesthood power in several ways:
Temple Service: Women are authorized to perform priesthood ordinances within temples, “much as they did in Joseph Smith’s day. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that women “have authority given unto them to do some great and wonderful things, sacred unto the Lord, and binding just as thoroughly as are the blessings that are given by the men who hold the Priesthood.”
Official Witnesses: Since 2019, women may serve as official witnesses at baptisms and temple sealings—roles that previously were reserved for ordained males.
Faith and Service: Women utilize priesthood power through faith, prayer, service, and leadership within their families and the Church’s organizations. In fulfilling the works of God, women have always had access to Priesthood Power through their faith, even if that has not been so clearly taught. When a mother petitions for a priesthood blessing for her family or serves as a spiritual leader, she operates in the power of the priesthood, even if she is not ordained.
This distinction—between offices of authority (exclusive to men) and participation in priesthood power (open to all the faithful)—is central to the Church’s understanding of gender, callings, and spiritual equality. The Church’s highest potential for both men and women is described in lofty terms—becoming kings and priests, queens and priestesses—through faithfulness, temple ordinances, and exaltation, rather than office alone.
What are the actual blessings of priesthood authority? In one sense, the priesthood provides the power to act in God’s name, perform saving ordinances, and administer the Church’s affairs. But its ultimate purpose is service—blessing families and communities, organizing efforts of compassion, and inviting all to Christ.
Robert D. Hales taught, “The priesthood of God gives light to his children in this dark and troubled world… Through the blessings of the priesthood, we can be equipped with ‘the whole armour of God…’ This protection is available to every one of us.” The priesthood organizes the Church’s work—leading congregations, performing baptisms, administering the sacrament, presiding at marriages and burials, and more—but its gifts bless all members, men and women, young and old.
While a priesthood office determines who conducts certain ordinances or leads quorums, the Church’s doctrine affirms equanimity before God. All who are faithful—whether men ordained to priesthood office, or women endowed with priesthood power in the temple—may inherit every spiritual blessing, receive revelation, and be exalted in the highest degree of the Celestial kingdom, where both men and women “may reign over their posterity in an ever-expanding kingdom” as kings, queens, priests, and priestesses.
Gramps
