School of the Prophets

Summary

A term occasionally used to refer to a Protestant seminary; specifically used by JS to refer to a school to prepare elders of the church for their ministry. A December 1832 revelation directed JS and the elders of the church in Kirtland, Ohio, to establish the school. Their instruction was to include both sacred and secular topics. The school was organized on 23 January 1833, on the second day of a conference held in the upper room of Newel K. Whitney’s store. Members were initiated into the school by the ordinance of the washing of feet and met each other with a formal, prescribed greeting at each school meeting. JS presided over the school. The school was temporarily adjourned in April 1833 so the elders attending it could be sent on missions to raise funds to purchase property in Kirtland. On 1 June 1833, a revelation directed that the upper floor of the House of the Lord in Kirtland be used for the school. In October 1833, plans were made to house the school in the printing office building, which was to be built on the temple lot. A similar school, led by Parley P. Pratt, convened in Jackson County, Missouri, during summer 1833. In late 1834, ministerial training resumed under the name “Elders school” or “school for the Elders.” Although this school differed from the original School of the Prophets in that it did not include the foot-washing ordinance or the formal greeting, JS and others sometimes referred to it as a School of the Prophets. Additional sessions of the Elders School were held in winter 1835–1836.

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