Litany for priesthood restoration

Lesson 8 in the D&C/Church history curriculum focuses on the restoration of the priesthood. That doctrine, it seems to me, is the core of LDS orthodoxy. Even historicity, which is what I would most readily cite as the sin qua non of LDS orthodoxy, is important because it undergirds the orthodox claim that the LDS Church hierarchy possesses sole authority to administer saving ordinances.

As a liberal, I don't believe that. Religion is not centrally about authority for me—it's about revelation and mission and grace and the enacting of love. Not authority. I believe that Latter-day Saints are a people commissioned and empowered to do God's work in the world. I don't feel a need to assert that our commission and power are exclusive.

So what do the narratives of priesthood restoration mean to me?

According to LDS tradition, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had visions in which ancient prophets and apostles visited them and conferred upon them various priesthoods or priesthood keys: the Aaronic priesthood, the Melchizedek priesthood, the keys administered in the Kirtland Temple. D&C 128 refers in passing to some other angelic visitations as well, for which we don't actually have narratives—visions of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and "divers angels" (128:21).

Revisionist historians have argued that Joseph and Oliver's accounts of the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood were fabrications, basically, created a couple years after the fact to bolster their authority within the flegdling LDS community. I'm at least open to that argument. But it doesn't alter for me what fundamentally matters about the narratives: Latter-day Saints have a tradition of looking to these visions of priesthood restoration to tell us what our community's God-given mission is. And I believe that through those narratives, God does in fact communicate to us, giving us a commission and promising to endow us with the spiritual power to carry it out. That conviction is part of my testimony.

Reflecting my “High Church” liturgical tastes, I’ve put together a litany (i.e., a prayer in call-and-response form) that reflects my meditation on God’s commission to the Latter-day Saints as conveyed through scriptures referring to the restoration of ancient priesthood keys. The litany weaves together language from various passages of scripture, but the texts that are most central to this meditation are D&C 13:1; 27:12-13; 110:11-16; and 128:20-22. I'm posting it in the hope that someday, somewhere, there might be a liberal Mormon spiritual community that, whether they worship in this liturgical style or not, will hear in the litany an expression, or at least an approximation, of their faith commitments and prayerful aspirations.

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Rock of ages,
you are the same yesterday, today, and forever,
and your course is one eternal round.

God of our forebears,
you call us to your work in this age and generation
as in generations of old.

By a vision of your messenger John the Baptist,
you have commissioned us to proclaim the gospel of repentance
and to make disciples of your Son by baptism.

Endow us with power from on high
that we may perform your work on earth.

By a vision of the apostles Peter, James, and John,
you have commissioned us to bear witness of the risen Christ,
to continue his work and build up his kingdom.

Endow us with power from on high
that we may perform your work on earth.

By a vision of your servant Moses,
you have commissioned us to bring together, from out of every nation,
a people made one in heart and mind.

Endow us with power from on high
that we may perform your work on earth.

By a dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,
you have commissioned us to minister blessings
to all the families of the earth.

Endow us with power from on high
that we may perform your work on earth.

By a vision of Elijah the prophet,
you have commissioned us to unite generations,
turning the hearts of parents to children, and children to parents.

Endow us with power from on high
that we may perform your work on earth.

By visions of Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and diverse angels,
you have shown us that the powers of heaven support us in your work;
you console us and confirm our hope in what is to come.

All-powerful God,
give us courage and strength to press forward in your cause
until we have finished the work you have appointed us.

In Christ’s name, amen.