Presidencies and councils: Meetings and conferences
A plat-based community is served by a community public service made up of 480 presidencies of four presidents. Each president has clearly defined duties, an office in one of the 24 district buildings, next to the other presidents in their presidency. Each president also has a specific seat in one of the assembly halls.
In each presidency of four, each president represents one of the four demographic groups – partnered males (A), partnered females (B), single males (C), and single females (D). Therefore, there are 480*4 = 1,920 presidents.
Some presidencies, by nature of their duties, whereby they can make decisions that have far-reaching implications on the community – including changing the bylaws – form councils of 12. Councils are formed on the basis of shared responsibilities, interests, or opportunities for collaboration and synergy.
Some presidents also form demographic presidencies of three with other presidencies from the same demographic group, with whom they serve together in a council, or, in the absence of a council, in adjacent agencies that form a bureau.
No president or presidency has seniority over any other. There is therefore no chain of command, but elaborate structures that generate and guide cooperation, and an alignment of individual performance and goals with the overall community goals and interests.
To achieve the needed alignment and collaboration, presidencies hold regular meetings, as individual presidencies of four, councils of 12, demographic presidencies of three and in quarterly conferences of all presidents from the same demographic group.
Origin of presidencies and application in the plat-based community
Along with other aspects of the plat-based community, the presence of a 4 – member presidency, demographic presidencies of three, and 4 major demographics in the plat-based community is inspired by various revelations received by the early LDS movement leadership, as well as modern business and social realities.
The plat-based community concept appreciates that there are four major demographic groups, known in the community system as divisions, that transcend all other social-political constructs and biological categorizations including race, ethnicity, nationality, and gender. These demographics are represented in all aspects of community service to ensure that there is diversity in opinion and that all voices are heard.
A number of revelations received in the early 1830s allude to the need to involve all four demographic groups in governance and service. They specify four courts, located in two buildings (houses of the Lord).
In a revelation received between December27, 1832 to January 3, 1833, the saints were commanded to build a house with a higher and a lower court, to be used for various activities, “a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.” these directions were further elaborated in May and August 1833, in revelations later canonized as D&C 94 and D&C 95.
When the presidency of the high priesthood was first constituted after a revelation received on 8 March 1832, it consisted of three men – all married – Joseph Smith, Sidney Rigdon, and Jesse Gause. As was the reality then, and still is, married men dominated all facets of society – politics, the economy, religion, education, and others.
It was difficult at the time to consider that the presidency could have equal membership from other demographic groups, since it was strongly associated with patriarchy. The members of the presidency of the high priesthood had distinct and complementary roles. However, their structure was not complete. Previous and later revelations would show this, signifying an expanded role for other demographics in leadership.
A presidency with four presidents from different demographic groups was not totally inconceivable within the movement. Back in 1830, a revelation had been received declaring Emma Smith an “Elect Lady.” She was to be a teacher for women, expound on scripture, and select hymns that the movement would use. She was also designated an assistant and a scribe to Joseph Smith.
In April 1830, Oliver Cowdery, who was at the time unmarried, was named a “preacher” of the restored church, second elder, and associate president of the church. He would also have a clear set of duties to perform for the movement. Later, he married Elizabeth Ann Whitmer, who was a key witness of the restored church, having witnessed angels ploughing his family’s field, and among the first women to be baptized into the movement.
Joseph Smith (partnered male) Emma Smith (partnered female), Oliver Cowdery (single male), and Elizabeth Whitmer (single female) can therefore be seen as an attempt by revelation to establish a four-member presidency (presidency of four), representing all demographic groups. Members of the presidency would have had a decision-making role as a unit and would have effectively helped in the formation of other presidencies to serve in other parts of the movement’s organization structure.
Another key clue was given in the revelation received on May 6, 1833, and later canonized as D&C 94. In the revelation, two buildings were to be built in Kirtland, according to a pattern that would be forthcoming. It specified that each building would have a lower court and a higher court, and therefore, four courts.
It can be inferred that each court was to be filled with presidencies of the same demographic group, with the same seat replicated three other times to have a presidency that performed the same function but having representation from different groups.
Presidencies of three
Drawing on the evidence of the early LDS movement, and modern practical business needs, many presidencies in the plat-based community are organized into presidencies of three. This applies to presidencies that form more than one quorum. For instance, while services (agency), village, and district presidencies form three quorums for every agency, village, or district, trustee and constitutional presidencies, as well as knowledge and records and business development bureau presidencies only form one quorum within the entity they serve, agency or bureau.
Quorums can better be regarded as functions. Within a bureau, these are agencies. There are three services presidencies, each serving one agency.
Every three of the 24 agencies are organized into a bureau. The agencies in a bureau discharge different duties but may sometimes have similar interests and shared responsibilities. For instance, agencies in the Village Bureau – Residential and Mediation (agency 1), Commercial (agency 2), and Enterprise Assets (agency 3) have shared interests in recruiting and ensuring that participants are grounded well in social and economic matters as they seek to establish lives and businesses within a plat-based community.
Since each of the three agencies is served by an services presidency of four, it then means that there are three presidents from each demographic group in the bureau – partnered males, partnered females, single males, and single females. Presidents from a similar demographic form a bureau demographic presidency.
Every village is served by three village presidencies of four. Each presidency performs the functions of an agency in The Village Bureau within that village. Three presidents from the same demographic, but serving different agencies (or in other words, from different quorums), form a village demographic presidency, so that there is a village demographic presidency for partnered males, another for partnered females, a third for single males, and a fourth for single females.
In the same way as villages, each district is served by three district presidencies, each performing the services of an agency in the District Bureau. The district presidents representing the same demographic group within that district form a district demographic presidency, so that there is a district demographic presidency for partnered males, partnered females, single males, and single females.
Demographic presidencies do not have operational responsibilities. Their core purpose is to train and mentor presidents within the demographic presidency. They also perform advocacy for their demographic group within the interests of the community.
Presidencies of four
Demographic presidencies sit next to each other in the assembly hall during quarterly conferences. There are four assembly halls, each sitting the presidents of a particular demographic group. The four assembly halls are identical. Each president has their counterparts occupying the exact same seat, but in a different assembly hall. Therefore, each seat, replicated in four seats, creates a presidency of four.
Why four presidents?
Having four-member presidencies serves both practical and conceptual purposes. It ensures demographic balance, improving diversity in the service, while also providing a robust check-and-balance mechanism. To emphasize the non-hierarchical status within a presidency, and to achieve maximum coordination and unity of direction, every presidency meets weekly with a different president presiding each week and the President who will preside in the next meeting clerking.
The pattern on which the plat-based community is founded originates from multiple sources. One of the key sources is the LAW, a revelation received by Joseph Smith on February 9, 1831. In the LAW, “two by two” was given as the template for all leadership.
Another key source is another revelation Joseph Smith received on May 6, 1833, canonized in LDS scripture as D&C 94. The revelation specified two buildings for leadership assembly each with identical higher and lower courts and, therefore, 4 identical courts.
Additionally, historical analysis of different ancient civilizations strongly points to a belief in a quadriune godhead, further emphasizing the importance of this concept.
In a plat-based community, a four-president presidency enables all major demographics to be represented. It allows every principle, project, and bylaw to consider the interests of all demographics, and institutes an important peer check and balance system which makes up for the lack of a hierarchy both within the presidency and in relation to other presidencies.
The “quadriune” framework—rooted in both revelation and proven civic design—prevents concentration of power, enhances diversity of perspectives, and allows every adult, regardless of relationship status, to serve and lead within a unified order.
How the community public service operates
Presidencies
In a plat-based community, presidencies of four have unique aspects to their structure which guides how they work. These characteristics are essential in achieving agencies and bureaus’ objectives.
All presidencies, regardless of their relationships with other presidencies, have no hierarchical seniority over any other. For instance, a village presidency serving in the agency 1 is not subordinate to the services presidency serving the same agency, even though the services presidency provides the overall operational policy direction.
Every president has clearly defined responsibilities, a specific seat in the assembly hall, and a specific office in a district building. These qualities reflect the command given to public servants, to “stand in their place,” and to “do their duty.”1 It also serves practical purposes, ensuring that there is no overlap or duplication of duties, which often leads to confusion, inefficiency, and attempts by some officers to seek to seize the initiative and dominate others.
Besides each president having a clear set of duties which they are meant to accomplish, they all belong to a presidency of four. The presidency is the system’s primary check-and-balance mechanism where each president is held accountable, and where teamwork is fostered.
Councils
There are four types of councils in the community. Agency (services, trustee, and constitutional), village, and district presidencies belong to councils of 12 which provide additional avenues for collaboration beyond the presidency. Councils serve an important set of functions which augment individual presidencies’ work.
Councils set the strategic direction of the body they serve – village, district, bureau, or agency. For instance, a village council can use the information at its disposal to decide that it will embark on aggressive recruitment of nurses over the next five years to address a gap in the skill set. Individual village presidencies will then work to adopt the council’s decision and implement it.
Councils are a useful check-and-balance mechanism. They ensure compliance of individual presidents and presidencies with bylaws, operating guidelines, and the law. Councils regularly review presidencies and presidents’ decisions and performance to ascertain whether they follow the different guidelines that help them in their service.
In addition to complying with bylaws and the law, presidents ought to make decisions that are data driven and prudent, whose primary aim is to further the community’s interests. Councils meet at least once a month to review performance, give updated guidance, and serve other objectives.
While village and district presidencies only belong to one council, services presidencies belong to two councils (bureau and agency). Trustee and constitutional presidencies also belong to two councils – they sit in two agency councils (because they serve two agencies).
Demographic presidencies
Demographic presidencies, which are formed within bureau, village, and district councils ensure that council deliberations and decisions take their groups’ interests into account. These presidencies are not meant to offer an additional check and balance mechanism. Instead, they are designed to foster teamwork, mentorship, and deeper cooperation between different entities whose representatives make up a council – villages, districts, or agencies.
In the context of a council’s business, demographic presidencies provide an additional perspective on discussions and decision-making, so that they cover all angles needed.
Types of councils and presidencies
Agency presidencies and their councils
There are 24 agencies in the community, each with a specific set of roles to play as part of the plat-based community’s economic and social system. The 24 agencies are organized into eight bureaus of three agencies each.
In the laws of the area where a plat-based community operates, an agency is a separate legal entity. It has a legal identity and has the capacity to act in legal terms – it can enter contracts, sue, or be sued, separately from other agencies. 2 Within the community, each agency is an autonomous legal entity, with a clearly defined set of responsibilities and rights.
Figure 1: Community agencies: the 24 community agencies are organized into 8 bureaus with 3 agencies each. They are also organized into two departments – one for agencies 1 – 12 (Human and Financial Capital), and another for agencies 13 – 24 (Regulatory and Process).
Each agency is served by three presidencies of four. One is a trustee presidency, another is a services presidency, and a third is a constitutional presidency. The three presidencies form an agency council of 12, which helps them coordinate their different roles into a cohesive operation.
The trustee presidency is legally responsible for the agency. Therefore, it enters into any contracts on behalf of the agency and performs the agency’s executive roles. In this capacity, the trustee presidency also leads the agency’s strategy and budget.
Trustee presidencies receive data from various public servants and participants regarding their agency. Using contractors, their automated system and other data-crunching tools, they form proposals to set, scrap, or amend strategy.
The trustee presidency presents these proposals to the agency council, where they are discussed, approved, amended further, or rejected. If approved, they are owned by the council in line with each presidency’s responsibilities.
The second agency presidency – the services presidency – implements an agency’s strategy, as adopted by the agency council. The presidency facilitates various projects that are needed to achieve strategic aims and is in constant interaction with other presidencies in the agency council to help achieve them.
In the course of their service, the services presidency can recommend changes in course, supplementary budgets, and any other significant changes to what the agency council has set. This feedback is channeled to the other two presidencies through the agency council and approved or rejected.
The third presidency – the constitutional presidency – helps the trustee and services presidencies to operate within established laws, bylaws, and best practice. The presidency checks compliance of strategies’ origination, formulation, adoption, and implementation with various guidelines.
The constitutional presidency offers legal opinions on operations, as well as audit and oversight. The constitutional presidency additionally monitors the agency’s automated system to ensure it is compliant with various legal, audit, and other guidelines.
The agency council meets regularly – on a bi-weekly basis – so that the trustee, services, rational, and constitutional presidencies are in constant contact and collaboration.
The trustee and services presidencies supply data and insights on the actual workings of agencies, helping the constitutional presidency to develop sound legal and oversight mechanisms for the agencies they serve.
While a services presidency only serves one agency, constitutional and trustee presidencies serve two agencies: one in the Financial and Human Capital Department (agencies 1 – 12), and another in the Regulatory and Process Department (agencies 13– 24). On Monday and Wednesday, the trustee presidency in the Financial and Human Capital Department, while constitutional presidency serves an agency in the Regulatory and Process Department. On Tuesday and Thursday, they swap offices.
In a typical week, the trustees and constitutional presidencies serve their agencies as shown in the graphics below:
Figure 2: Agency presidencies offices: Agency presidencies’ offices are in the East and West of their district building. Services agency presidency offices face trustee and constitutional agency presidency offices. For agencies 1 – 12, the services agency presidency offices are in the West, while for agencies 13 – 24, these offices are in the East.
The graphic below represents offices in district buildings 13 – 24 where the services presidency offices are in the East, and those shared by trustees and constitutional presidencies in the West.
Figure 3: Agency presidencies – 13 – 24: for agencies 13 – 24 the offices change as shown.
In many instances, presidents in a trustee or constitutional presidency may have distinct roles. For instance, the trustee presidency for Health and Nutrition (agency 4) also serves the Accounting Agency (agency 16). To optimize performance, some presidents may be equipped to serve the Health and Nutrition Agency, while others focus on the Accounting Agency.
Services, trustee, and constitutional presidents serve full-time without pay or expense reimbursement. They are therefore expected to have sold all their business operations.
Councils
Trustee, services, and constitutional presidencies who serve the same agency form an agency council. The 12-member council is used to coordinate the activities of the three presidencies, provide a wider range of perspectives, and collaborate in implementing agency strategies and policies.
Services presidencies for three agencies that belong to the same bureau form a bureau council. For instance, services presidencies for agencies 1, 2, and 3 form the Village Bureau Council.
Bureau councils have a different mandate than that of agency councils. While agency councils are designed to provide a collaborative platform for strategy formulation and implementation, bureau councils focus on synergizing the operations of the three agencies in a bureau, so that they pick out current or potential areas of overlap and optimize their efforts.
For instance, Health and Nutrition (agency 4), Life Planning (agency 5) and Sports, Arts and Leisure (agency 6) have an interest in promoting healthy lifestyle among participants. They can collaborate through the bureau council to package and disseminate information on the crucial influence of healthy diets and exercise to participants’ success in the community system.
Agency presidencies’ demographic presidencies
Within a bureau council, the three presidents who represent the same demographic form a demographic presidency. In each bureau council therefore, there are four demographic presidencies, formed by partnered males (A), partnered females (B), single males (C), and single females (D).
Demographic presidencies provide an additional platform for collaboration between the three agencies in that bureau. Demographic presidencies ensure that a bureau council’s deliberations take into consideration the interests of all groups, while giving individual presidents an additional opportunity to work together.
Trustee and constitutional presidencies also form demographic presidencies. Three trustee presidencies, serving, for instance, agencies 1/ 13, 2/14, and 3/ 15, though they do not form a council, form four demographic presidencies, each comprising of the presidents from a similar demographic group.
Village presidencies and councils
In a plat-based community, a village is formed by 10 branches. A branch is based in a 5-story apartment building, which consists of one podium/ commercial floor and four residential floors. Each residential floor houses a unit, which has an average of 25 (and a maximum of 30) participants. With a branch having approximately 100 people, a village is home to around 1,000 participants, all of whom live in apartment buildings next to each other sharing the same park in front of them.
Village presidencies serve these participants, facilitating their access to services offered by agencies in the Village Bureau, that are crucial to their social and business endeavors, and which require extensive interaction with community agencies and public servants.
In each village, there are three village presidencies, each serving one agency in the Village Bureau – Residential and Mediation (agency 1), Commercial (agency 2), and Enterprise Assets (agency 3). Since each presidency has four presidents, there are 12 village presidents. They form a village council, which acts as an additional check and balance for individual presidents and their presidencies.
Village demographic presidencies
Within a village council, village presidents from the same demographic group form a demographic presidency. These presidencies are important in helping councils have a balanced approach to issues and give an additional point of view to deliberations. Demographic presidencies in the village council are useful avenues for mentorship and teamwork across the three functions of the Village Bureau.
In the table below, each of the four columns consists of a demographic village presidency. There are four such presidencies as shown – partnered males (A), partnered females (B), single males (C), and single females (D).
Table 1: Village Council – Each village is served by 3 presidencies of four, which create a village council. Within the council, there are 4 demographic presidencies of 3, formed by three presidents from the same demographic.
District presidencies and councils
Four villages, each with around 1,000 participants, make up a district. A district, therefore, has 4,000 participants. In the physical campus, the layout of a district is shown below.
Figure 4: Layout of a district, showing apartment buildings, villages, and the district.
The smallest numbers (1 – 10) are branches (village buildings, with a podium commercial floor and four residential stories). Next, there are numbers in larger letters 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are the villages. The Largest #1 is the district number. There are 24 districts in a community, each in a unique location within the community.
A district is served by three district presidencies, each of which carries out the functions of one agency in the District Bureau (4,5 or 6). Therefore, there is a district presidency for Health and Nutrition (agency 4), Life Planning (agency 5), and Sports, Arts, and Leisure (agency 6).
The three presidencies, each with four presidents, also form the district’s council. The 12–member council is important in assessing and ratifying major decisions made by individual presidencies in a district, which have direct implications on the district or the wider community.
The 96 villages in a community are organized into 24 districts, with four villages each. Therefore, there are 24 district councils.
Demographic district presidencies
Demographic presidencies also form within district councils. They help foster teamwork among presidents and functions and ensure that councils adopt a holistic approach to their district’s issues, including considering demographic angles.
In the table below, there are four demographic presidencies of three. Each is formed by the presidents in that district council who belong to the same demographic group. There are four such presidencies of three – partnered males (A), partnered females (B), single males (C), and single females (D).
Table 2: District Council – A district council consists of the 3 district presidencies of four who serve agencies in the District Bureau (Health and Nutrition (4), Life Planning (5), and Sports, Arts, and Leisure (6)). The presidents also form four demographic presidencies based on the demographic group they represent.
| District council | ||||
| Function/ agency | Demographic | |||
| Health and Nutrition (4) district presidency | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Life Planning (5) district presidency | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Sports, Arts & Leisure (6) district presidency | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
Presidencies without councils
Due to the specific more limited nature of their duties, Knowledge & Records and Business Development Bureau presidencies that serve all 24 districts and have offices on the first floor of each building do not form councils. However, their presidencies still meet weekly, like other presidencies. These presidencies’ responsibilities are summarized below:
Knowledge & Records and information Business Development Bureau presidencies also form demographic presidencies. Each agency is served by one Knowledge and Records Bureau presidency. Three presidencies, who serve agencies in the same bureau, also form four demographic presidencies. This is illustrated below:
Table 3: Three Knowledge and Records Bureau presidencies serving agencies in the same bureau, in this case the Village Bureau, form demographic presidencies as shown.
| Presidency | Demographic presidencies | |||
| Presidency serving agency 1 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Presidency serving agency 2 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Presidency serving agency 3 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
Each agency is formed by two Business Development Bureau presidencies. With their offices in the South, one presidency occupies offices next to the Knowledge and Records Bureau presidency, with the other next to them on the same side. For the purposes of identification, the presidency next to the Knowledge and Records Bureau presidency is presidency 1, and the other, presidency 2. This does not however mean that one presidency is senior, or that it takes precedence over the other in any form.
Business Development Bureau presidencies 1 serving 3 agencies in the same bureau comprise 12 presidencies, forming four demographic presidencies. Presidencies 2 do the same. In the Village Bureau, this can be presented as follows:
Table 4: 3 Business Development Bureau presidencies 1 serving agencies in the Village Bureau will form demographic presidencies as shown.
| Presidency | Demographic presidencies | |||
| Business development presidency 1 serving agency 1 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Business development presidency 1 serving agency 2 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Business development presidency 1 serving agency 3 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
Table 5: 3 Business Development Bureau presidencies 1 serving agencies in the Village Bureau will form demographic presidencies as shown.
| Presidency | Demographic presidencies | |||
| Business development presidency 2 serving agency 1 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Business development presidency 2 serving agency 2 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
| Business development presidency 2 serving agency 3 | Partnered male | Partnered female | Single male | Single female |
Presidencies’ offices
Each of the 1,920 presidents has a specific office in a specific district building and a specific seat in one of the 4 demographic assembly halls. This feature helps in clearly demarcating presidents responsibilities and roles, and gives force to the community principle first revealed in D&C 107:99, which calls on presidents to, “… Wherefore, now let every man learn his duty, and to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence.”
Village presidencies offices
Village presidents have offices on the third and fifth floors of their district buildings, with each of the 24 district buildings having offices for presidents of the four villages which make up that district. In every district, the third floor has offices for villages 1 and 2, while the fifth floor has villages 3 and 4.
Figure 5: Village presidencies offices – the offices are on the 3rd and 5th floors of a district building. Villages 1 and 3 occupy the offices situated on the Southern side, while 2 and 4 occupy those on the Northern side. Villages 1 and 2 in a district have floor 3, while 3 and 4 have floor 5.
Other presidencies offices
All other public servants have offices on their building’s first floor. Agency presidents for agencies 1 – 12 have offices in their district buildings’ western side, facing trustees and constitutional presidents’ offices in the East. Services presidents for agencies 13 – 24 have offices in the East, while constitutional and trustee presidents face them in the West.
Trustee and constitutional presidencies share offices, with each presidency occupying the office on two alternate days a week since both presidencies serve two agencies.
On the same floor, business development, knowledge and records, and district presidents have their offices. District presidents have offices on the southern side, while business development and knowledge & records presidents’ offices are in the North.
Figure 6: First floor offices – the first floor of each district building has 32 offices. All offices in the North and South are used by part-time presidents, from 8 – 8:45 Am Monday to Thursday, plus 2 more hours on Thursday. Those in the East and West are used for four hours, by full-time agency presidencies.
Presidencies and councils’ meetings
Meetings are an important element to ensure that all presidencies, regardless of how diverse their roles are, coordinate their activities and align their operations with the community’s interests.
Meetings are precisely scheduled, using the patterns revealed in the Plat of Zion and other revelations for guidance, as well as the practical needs of communities, and modern breakthroughs in information technology and transport.
General characteristics of service and meetings
Agency presidents – who serve the community on a full-time basis – and village, district, business development, and knowledge and records bureau presidents – who serve on a part-time basis – open their offices at 8:00 AM every Monday to Thursday.
Every Monday to Wednesday, from 8:00 – 8:45 AM, presidents serve participants in one –on one meetings. Participants who desire to meet with presidents book their meetings online and clearly describe their issues. The automated system which receives the appointment applications filters them to relevant presidents, and in some cases, may offer sound automated advice to eliminate the need for a sit-down with a public servant.
On Thursday, presidents’ do not meet participants. Instead, they use the first 45 minutes from 8 AM to compile reports for the week, and prepare for the presidency and sometimes, council, meetings. All presidencies have a meeting on Thursday from 9:00 – 9:45 AM.
For three of the four Thursdays in a month, part-time presidents’ service to the community ends for that week with their presidency meeting. On the last Thursday village and district presidents additionally attend a council meeting which runs from 10:00 – 10:45 AM. The short service periods enable them to serve their community and still have ample time to handle all the responsibilities of their daily business.
Agency presidents – who are full-time – have a council meeting at one of the two councils they are part of. Like village and district presidents, they attend council meetings after their presidency meetings from 10:00 – 10:45 AM. Trustee and constitutional presidencies belong to two agency councils, while services presidencies belong to one agency council and one bureau council.
On other days, agency presidencies serve the community for four hours – from 8:00 AM – 12:00 PM. However, on Thursdays, due to much of this time being spent in meetings, they serve an additional two hours in the afternoon after a lunch break which lasts from 12:00 – 2:00 PM. They therefore leave their offices at 4:00 PM.
Part – time presidencies – presidency and council meetings
Village presidencies and councils – meetings
During village presidency meeting, one president presides, with the one who presided the previous meeting clerking. Presiding and clerking happen in rotation. This gives presidents an opportunity to be fully acquainted with the details of the meeting they presided in the previous week.
On the first Thursday of a month, the partnered male village president (A) presides, assisted in taking minutes by the single female village president (D) who presided the presiding week. The partnered female village president presides on the second week, with the partnered male village president (A) taking minutes.
On the third week, the single male president presides, while the partnered female village president (B) takes minutes. On the final week (4), the single female village president (D) presides, with the singled male village president (C) taking minutes.
Presidency meetings are held in the office of the presiding president. On the fourth Thursday of the month, after presidency meetings, all village presidencies in a village, which make up the village council, meet from 10:00 – 10:45 AM. With 12 members, every president has a chance to preside at the meeting once each year since they meet once each month.
Clerking the month after presiding enables the clerking president to correct the minutes taken when the president was presiding. This gives the presidency or council an accurate record of discussions.
The partnered male village president serving in agency 1, Residential and Mediation presides the first meeting, in January, while the single female, who presided the last month – December meeting, clerks. The partnered female president in the Residential and Mediation Agency presides in February, and so on, as shown in the table below.
Table 6: Presiding and clerking in village councils – clerking and presiding follows the order shown below, with a president who presides in month 1 clerking in month 2. this gives presidents an opportunity to correct previous minutes and enhance accuracy.
| Month | Presiding presidency | Clerking |
| January | Partnered male, agency 1 | Single female, agency 3 |
| February | Partnered female, agency 1 | Partnered male, agency 1 |
| March | Single male, agency 1 | Partnered female, agency 1 |
| April | Single female, agency 1 | Single male, agency 1 |
| May | Partnered male, agency 2 | Single female, agency 1 |
| June | Partnered female, agency 2 | Partnered male, agency 2 |
| July | Single male, agency 2 | Partnered female, agency 2 |
| August | Single female, agency 2 | Single male, agency 2 |
| September | Partnered male, agency 3 | Single female, agency 2 |
| October | Partnered female, agency 3 | Partnered male, agency 3 |
| November | Single male, agency 3 | Partnered female, agency 3 |
| December | Single female, agency 3 | Single male, agency 3 |
District presidents and councils – office times and meetings
District presidents serve part time. They are in their offices from 8:00 – 8:45 every Monday to Thursday, and an additional 1 hour on Thursdays for presidency meetings. When their offices are not in use, they can be used as offices, classes, and even locker rooms, when the basketball court or swimming pool is in use.
Along with other presidencies in the community, district presidencies meet on Thursday, after 45 minutes of service to participants. These meetings take place from 9:00 – 9:45 AM.
Presidency meetings are held in the presiding president’s office. Since there are four meetings in a month, every president has a chance to preside one meeting, and clerk in the next. The first Thursday’s meeting is presided by the partnered male president (A), with the single female president (D) taking minutes. In summary, meetings are presided and clerked as follows:
Table 7: Presiding in presidency meetings – Evry president in a presidency has an opportunity to preside one meeting in a month, and in the following month, clerk another meeting. Besides ensuring accuracy of meetings, rotational presiding and clerking removes and hints of hierarchy and prevents domination of one president over others.
| Day | Presiding | clerking |
| First Thursday | Partnered male | Single female president |
| Second Thursday | Partnered female president | Partnered male president |
| Third Thursday | Single male president | Partnered female president |
| Fourth Thursday | Single female president | Single male president |
On the fourth Thursday of the month, the three presidencies meet as a district council. The meeting takes place from 10:00 – 10:45 AM.
Council meetings are held in the presiding president’s office, plus the adjacent office, which usually belongs to the clerking president, apart from January, when the offices of the presiding and the clerking presidents’ offices are not next to each other.
Each of the 12 presidents has a chance to preside one council meeting per year, and clerk at the next. The presiding and clerking at council meetings is ordered as shown in the table below:
Table 8: District councils presiding and clerking – presiding in the monthly meeting starts with the partnered male serving the district presidency the lowest numbered agency – 4 – in January and ends with the single female president serving the highest numbered agency – 6 – in December.
| Month | Presiding president | Clerking president |
| January | Partnered male, agency 4 | Single female, agency 6 |
| February | Partnered female, agency 4 | Partnered male, agency 4 |
| March | Single male, agency 4 | Partnered female, agency 4 |
| April | Single female, agency 4 | Single male, agency 4 |
| May | Partnered male, agency 5 | Single female, agency 4 |
| June | Partnered female, agency 5 | Partnered male, agency 5 |
| July | Single male, agency 5 | Partnered female, agency 5 |
| August | Single female, agency 5 | Single male, agency 5 |
| September | Partnered male, agency 6 | Single female, agency 5 |
| October | Partnered female, agency 6 | Partnered male, agency 6 |
| November | Single male, agency 6 | Partnered female, agency 6 |
| December | Single female, agency 6 | Single male, agency 6 |
Knowledge & Records and Business Development presidencies meetings
Like all other presidencies, Knowledge & Records and Business Development Bureau presidencies have a meeting every Thursday from 9:00 – 9:45 AM. As they do not form councils, they break after the meeting for their daily business commitments.
Agency presidencies: meetings
Agency presidents, who serve on a full-time basis, work for four hours a day, from Monday to Thursday. On Mondays through Wednesdays, their service begins at 8:00 AM and ends at 12:00 PM. Between 8:00 and 8:45 AM, they serve clients. Thereafter, for the next three hours, they do other duties of their office and close at lunchtime (noon).
On Thursdays, alongside other presidents, agency presidents do not meet participants, instead using the first hour of service preparing for their meetings and other administrative duties.
From 9:00 – 9:45, presidents meet as presidencies. The meetings are held at the office of the president who is presiding. In the four weeks of a month, every president gets a chance to preside, and another chance to clerk (take minutes).
Agency council meetings take place every 2 weeks. Agency council meetings for agencies 1 – 12 are held on the first and third Thursdays of the month. Agency council meetings for agencies 13 – 24 are held on the second and fourth Thursdays.
On the Thursday they take place, agency council meetings run from 10:00 – 10:45 AM. Since trustee and constitutional presidencies serve in two councils, they attend the council meetings every week.
During these meetings, the council reviews the individual presidencies’ activities during the previous two weeks. Over the course of 6 months (2 quarters), each president has a chance to preside the meeting, and another to take minutes. Trustee presidents preside for the first month, followed by services presidents, and for the third month, the constitutional presidents.
Table 9: Agency councils – agency councils’ meetings are held twice a month. Over a six-month period, every president gets a chance to preside, and a consecutive one to clerk. Presiding starts with the partnered male in the trustee presidency and ends with the single female constitutional presidency.
| Week | Clerking | Presiding |
| Month 1, first meeting | Partnered male, trustee presidency | Single female, constitutional presidency |
| Month 1, Second meeting | Partnered female, trustee presidency | Partnered male, trustee presidency |
| Month 2, first meeting | Single male, trustee presidency | Partnered female, trustee presidency |
| Month 2, Second meeting | Single female, trustee presidency | Single male, trustee presidency |
| Month 3, first meeting | Partnered male, services president | Single female, trustee presidency |
| Month 3, Second meeting | Partnered female, services presidency | Partnered male, services president |
| Month 4, first meeting | Single male, services presidency | Partnered female, services presidency |
| Month 4, Second meeting | Single female, services presidency | Single male, services presidency |
| Month 5, first meeting | Partnered male, constitutional presidency | Single female, services presidency |
| Month 5, Second meeting | Partnered female, constitutional presidency | Partnered male, constitutional presidency |
| Month 6, first meeting | Single male, constitutional presidency | Partnered female, constitutional presidency |
| Month 6, Second meeting | Single female, constitutional presidency | Single male, constitutional presidency |
Bureau council meetings happen once a month. Bureaus which are formed by agencies 1 – 12 have their bureau council meetings on the fourth Thursday of a month, when they do not have agency council meetings. Those bureaus that are formed by agencies 13 – 24 have their bureau meetings on the third Thursday, when they too do not have agency council meetings.
As with other council meetings, these meetings take place in the presiding president’s office, joined with the adjacent office to create enough room for 12 people.
Summary: meeting schedules
All presidencies in the community, regardless of whether they are part-time or full-time, and regardless of whether they form councils or not, have their presidency meetings from 9:00 – 9:45 AM in the presiding president’s office.
Agency councils have meetings on a bi-weekly basis on Thursday, with the meetings running from 10:00 – 10:45 AM.
Meetings’ schedule is as summarized below:
Table 10: Meeting schedule – there are presidency meetings every Thursday. Each president has a maximum of two meetings on Thursday – one for their presidency, and another for their council if they belong to one. All council meetings are held between 10 – 10::45 Am in the presiding president office + an adjacent office.
| Day (of the month) | Time | Venue | |
| First Thursday | 10:00 – 10:45 AM | Agency councils for agencies 1 – 12 | Presiding president’s office + adjacent office |
| Second Thursday | 10:00 – 10:45 AM | Agency councils for agencies 13 – 24 | |
| Third Thursday | 10:00 – 10:45 AM | Agency councils for agencies 1 – 12 | |
| Bureau councils for bureaus 5 – 8 (formed by agencies 13 – 24, which do not have agency council meetings this week) | |||
| Fourth Thursday | 10:00 – 10:45 AM | Agency councils for agencies 13 – 24 | |
| Bureau councils for bureaus 1 – 4 (formed by agencies 1 – 12, which do not have agency council meetings this week) | |||
| Village councils | |||
| District councils |
Demographic presidencies – meeting times and presiding
All demographic presidencies meet once a month, on the first Monday of the month. The meetings take place after individual presidents meet clients and run from 9:00 – 9:45 AM.
Every quarter, each presidency in a demographic presidency gets a chance to preside, and another, the following month after presiding, to clerk. The order of presiding starts with the president who serves the agency with the lowest number, so that in a demographic presidency formed by presidents serving in the Village Bureau, the president serving Residential and Mediation (agency 1) will preside first, followed by the one serving agency 2, and in the third month, agency 3. This is replicated across all demographic presidencies.
Table 11: This example shows a demographic presidency formed by services presidents serving agencies 1, 2, and 3.
| Presiding | Clerking | |
| First Monday, month 1 | Agency 1 president | Agency 3 president |
| First Monday, month 2 | Agency 2 president | Agency 1 president |
| First Monday, month 3 | Agency 3 president | Agency 2 president |
Quarterly conferences: schedules and assembly hall seating
Quarterly conferences
There are no council meetings on the thirteenth week. The community holds various events centered on districts on Fridays, including sports, arts, and music. On Saturdays, the events are community-wide and take place the whole day into the evening.
The holding of quarterly conferences is informed by the need to receive updates on agencies’ performance. It is also inspired by the LDS movement’s early leadership establishment of these conferences to cement structure and governance of the fledgling community of latter-day saints.
There are four parallel conferences on the 13th Sunday. Each services president representing a particular demographic makes a 12 – 14-minute report to the other public servants about the results during that quarter of each agency. All 1,920 community public servants attend the specific conference for their demographic. Participants can listen to the reports online.
After every three presentations, done by the three presidents serving the agencies in a bureau, there is a 15–minute break. The program also allows for a 2–hour lunch break and a 2–hour dinner after all the presentations by the agency operations presidents are complete.
The conference runs for 12 hours, including breaks, lunch, and dinner. Services presidencies serving agencies in the Human and Financial Capital (agencies 1 – 12) present for the first four hours, followed by those in the Process and Property (agencies 13 – 24), as seen in the timetable below.
Table 12: Quarterly conference timetable – Each bureau’s three services presidents get 45 minutes to present. After they do, there is a 15–minute break. The conference also breaks between 12 – 2PM for lunch and is adjourned for a dinner of all 480 presidents at 5:45 PM.
| Quarterly conference schedule | ||
| Presentations by services presidencies | ||
| Bureau 1 | Agency 1 | 8 – 8:15 |
| Agency 2 | 8:15-8:30 | |
| Agency 3 | 8:30-8:45 | |
| Break: 8:45 – 9:00 AM | ||
| Bureau 2 | Agency 4 | 9-9:15 |
| Agency 5 | 9:15-9:30 | |
| Agency 6 | 9:30-9:45 | |
| Break: 9:45 – 10:00 AM | ||
| Bureau 3 | Agency 7 | 10-10:15 |
| Agency 8 | 10:15-10:30 | |
| Agency 9 | 10:30-10:45 | |
| Break: 10:45 – 11:00 AM | ||
| Bureau 4 | Agency 10 | 11:00 – 11:15 |
| Agency 11 | 11:15 – 11:30 | |
| Agency 12 | 11:30-11:45 | |
| Lunch break: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM | ||
| Bureau 5 | Agency 13 | 2:00 – 2:15 |
| Agency 14 | 2:15 – 2:30 | |
| Agency 15 | 2:30 – 2:45 | |
| Break: 2:45 – 3:00 PM | ||
| Bureau 6 | Agency 16 | 3:00 – 3:15 |
| Agency 17 | 3:15 – 3:30 | |
| Agency 18 | 3:30 – 3:45 | |
| Break: 3:45 – 4:00 PM | ||
| Bureau 7 | Agency 19 | 4:00 – 4:15 |
| Agency 20 | 4:15 – 4:30 | |
| Agency 21 | 4:30 – 4:45 | |
| Break: 4:45 – 5:00 PM | ||
| Bureau 8 | Agency 22 | 5:00 – 5:15 |
| Agency 23 | 5:15 – 5:30 | |
| Agency 24 | 5:30 – 5:45 | |
Assembly halls
The 480 presidencies that make up the community public service meet for a quarterly conference every quarter, on the thirteenth week. Four conferences are held simultaneously, each with 480 attendees.
Each community has 2 assembly halls, in district buildings 5 and 17, each with an inner court and an outer court. Besides the differences in buildings and courts for each demographic, the four assembly courts are identical.
Assembly halls also host other functions as they can at other times be subdivided to host classes, smaller meetings, social events, and offices. Each president has a specific seat in a specific court of the assembly halls.
Table 13: Assembly halls – There are 2 assembly halls – one in building 5, and another in building 17. For the purposes of the quarterly conference, the inner part of the lower and higher courts is used.
| Building | Court | Demographic |
| 5 | Lower court | Partnered males (A) |
| 5 | Higher court | Partnered females (B) |
| 17 | Lower court | Single males (C) |
| 17 | Higher court | Single females (D) |
Agency presidents’ seats
Of the 480 presidencies, 24 are services presidencies, each serving one community agency. In assembly hall seating, these 24 presidencies have their seats in the middle of the pulpits on both the East and West of the assembly hall. In front of them, there is a row of 12 seats. These seats belong to trustee presidents.
In the middle of the Western pulpit, there are 12 seats for services presidents serving agencies 1 – 12. In the middle of the Eastern pulpit, the twelve seats there are for services president serving agencies 13 – 24. In front of them, there is a 12–seat row of seats used by the constitutional presidents.
In all quarterly conferences, the 24 services presidents will do all the talking, so they are seated in podiums within the pulpits. These seats are raised up when it is each one of the 24 Presidents turn so each agency president can better be seen and heard by the other public servants of their demographic.
Other seats
District demographic presidents have 72 seats on the western pulpit. There are 36 either side of the tiered podium where the 12 services presidents serving agencies 1 – 12.
On the Eastern pulpit, there are 24 seats for knowledge and publishing presidents. 12 presidents sit either side of the tiered podium where 12 agency presidents serving agencies 13 – 24 sit. Next to them, on the far left and far right of the pulpit, there are 48 seats for business development presidents, 24 on either side.
Village demographic presidents sit in the middle of the assembly hall. They occupy 288 seats. An assembly hall is specifically designed for those sitting in the body area to face either set of podiums; to enable this, transforming technology allows seats on the floor to easily switch direction. The seating arrangement affirms that equal attention must be paid to the duties and responsibilities of both main departments and that one department does not preside over the other.
From his or her assigned chair, each public servant can stand, and with the help of a mule, be raised above others to be seen easily by all present. The elliptical arch in each assembly hall’s ceiling, which helps reflect sound to all in the room, also enables all to be heard easily with a normal microphone.
Figure 7: Assembly hall seating – Each assembly hall has 2 courts – a lower and upper court, which are identical. During conferences, 480 presidents from the same demographic sit as shown in the diagram. They sit as a demographic presidency of three.
Summary table
