Church of Jesus Christ Huntington Beach and Fountain Valley
Summary
In the beginning was the family. The authority to govern the family came from its Creator who is God, the head of the eternal, pre mortal family. Adam and Eve were endowed with authority from God to govern both spiritually as priest and priestess and temporally as king and queen as the pre-mortal family came to earth. This is the priesthood of eternity which we knew as spirit children of Heavenly Parents and which was continued in the governance of the family in mortality. Today, that order of the priesthood is conferred in the holy temple as the first matter of business and the last matter of business.
As humankind multiplied, an ecclesiastical or church order of the priesthood was conferred and became operational. It is that priesthood that is active in the wards and stakes of the church today. It is that organization of authority that church members often think of when the subject of priesthood is discussed. Thus, the power of God which is the priesthood has a family organization shared by a father and a mother in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and a church organization with Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthood offices. As noted in the scripture, the family order of the priesthood which was in the beginning will also be in the end of world history