Priesthood
For the newly ordained, missionaries, returned missionaries and their families. Learn how to get your line of authority from the Church, find a keepsake idea, and go straight to the Church’s own resources for serving in the priesthood.
Get your official line Where it leads Keepsake Church resources
From the Church
These steps come from the Church’s help page, Request a Priesthood Line of Authority. Check there for the latest.
For Melchizedek Priesthood holders. It’s the quickest way, because it’s already on your phone:
You can also find it from the home screen tile or by searching in the app.
Use this for someone else in your home or a missionary, because the Church sends you the right form:
It can’t be requested for someone whose membership has been withdrawn.
does not negate the validity of a member's priesthood ordination if it was authorized by the proper authority and recorded on the official records of the Church.
Hand to hand
A line of authority is a simple list. It names who ordained you, who ordained that person, and so on, back through the years. Every name on it is a pair of hands that once rested on someone’s head. Followed far enough, a Melchizedek Priesthood line reaches the Savior Himself.
Jesus Christ called and ordained His Apostles. He told them, Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you
(John 15:16).
Peter, James and John later came to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery. The Lord told Joseph and Oliver that these were the messengers by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles
(Doctrine and Covenants 27:12). Joseph Smith wrote of The voice of Peter, James, and John … declaring themselves as possessing the keys of the kingdom
(Doctrine and Covenants 128:20).
John the Baptist laid his hands on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said, Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron
(Doctrine and Covenants 13:1). Joseph Smith recorded, It was on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, that we were ordained under the hand of this messenger, and baptized.
(Joseph Smith—History 1:72; read verses 68–72).
The Church notes, A priesthood line of authority is not recorded for Aaronic Priesthood conferral or ordinations.
That is why the chain above follows the Melchizedek Priesthood.
Why it matters: no one gives himself the priesthood. And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.
(Hebrews 5:4). A man is called of God by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority
(Articles of Faith 1:5).
Because authority comes from God through those who hold it, the hands on your head connect you to real people, one after another. You are not starting something alone. You are joining a long line of hands.
Want to see your own names? Request your line from the Church, then make a keepsake at My Line of Authority.
Keepsake
Once you have your line from the Church, you may want a printed copy to frame, tuck in a scripture case or give as a gift. My Line of Authority is a website that turns your line into a designed, printable document.
Visit My Line of Authority (opens in a new tab)
This is an outside website. It isn’t run by In the Very Hour or by the Church, and it has its own pricing and privacy terms, so please read them there before you start.
Gift idea for parents: request the line by email before an ordination or a mission farewell, because the reply can take a little time. Then give the keepsake on the day, maybe with a short note about the people in the line you know.
A keepsake is a personal copy. Your ordination is recorded on your Church membership record, and the Church notes that a line of authority itself is not an official Church record.
For parents and families
A line of authority is a list of ordinations, one priesthood holder to the next, that can be followed back to the early days of the Restoration. Many people find it meaningful to see the names of a father, a grandfather, a bishop or a mission leader in that line. It can turn an ordination day into a story a family remembers.
The scriptures record how the priesthood came back to the earth. John the Baptist conferred the Aaronic Priesthood on Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery:
“Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins…”
Doctrine and Covenants 13:1
In a later revelation, the Lord spoke of Peter, James and John:
“And also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles, and especial witnesses of my name…”
Doctrine and Covenants 27:12
Because a line of authority is easiest to understand as a story, try reading it together the week of an ordination or before a missionary leaves. For questions about the priesthood itself, your parents, quorum leaders and bishop are the best people to ask.
Church resources
Everything here is on ChurchofJesusChrist.org. We don’t explain doctrine ourselves; the Church’s own words, and your local leaders, are the best guides.
Returned missionaries and new elders: your elders quorum president and bishop can help you find your next place to serve.