Regional representative of the Twelve
Regional representative of the Twelve, commonly shorted to regional representative or regional rep, was a priesthood calling in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) between 1968 and 1995. As the title suggests, the responsibility of regional representatives was to represent the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the various regions or areas of the church. Regional representatives were not general authorities or general officers of the church, but were lay ministers who donated their time to church service.
Duties and authority[edit]
The primary duty of the regional representatives was to "assist the members of the Council of the Twelve in training and encouraging stake leaders in their various duties, and for this purpose they began to visit the stakes frequently".[6]
Regional representatives were given the honorific title "Elder" and were considered to be layer of authority spanning the bridge between general authorities and the stake, ward, and mission church leaders.
Abolishment and replacement[edit]
At the April 1995 general conference, in one of his first major administrative acts as church president, Gordon B. Hinckley announced the discontinuance of the position of regional representative.
In April 1997, the church ordained all area authorities to the priesthood office of seventy and renamed the position "Area Authority Seventy".[7] Later, the title "Area Authority Seventy" was shortened to "Area Seventy".
In the LDS Church today, the duties that were formerly carried out by regional representatives are now largely carried out by these area seventies.