During his business career prior to becoming a general authority for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President M. Russell Ballard learned an important principle: “If you want to improve something, you’ve got to counsel about it.”

It’s a principle he said he maintained all of his adult life. He learned that it works not only in business but at church and at home, too.

“I’m an advocate of the council system,” said President Ballard, the late Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in an interview for the Church News Inside Church Headquarters series on councils in 2021. 

As an Apostle of Jesus Christ, President Ballard — who died Nov. 12 at age 95 — frequently emphasized the power and importance of councils in the Lord’s Church, including general, stake, ward and family councils.

A fellow Apostle, Elder D. Todd Christofferson, said, “President Ballard can be credited with almost single-handedly reestablishing the use of councils in Church government at every level” (“A Biography of M. Russell Ballard: Anxiously Engaged,” p. 355).

Efficiently run councils are ‘vital’ to the Church

President Ballard talked about the subject in general conference for the first time in October 1993, putting councils in a divine context and emphasizing the spiritual power and direction that come when councils are properly conducted. He emphatically spoke about councils again in the next general conference. 

“The Spirit continues to bear witness to me of how vital efficiently run Church councils are to the accomplishment of the mission of the Church,” he said in April 1994. His teachings were later expanded into a book titled “Counseling With Our Councils.” 

President Ballard returned to the subject in April 2016 general conference, this time focusing on family councils. “A family council that is patterned after the councils in heaven, filled with Christlike love and guided by the Lord’s Spirit will help us to protect our family from distractions that can steal our precious time together and protect us from the evils of the world,” he taught.

With his wife, Sister Barbara Ballard, by his side, then-Elder M. Russell Ballard tells a story to his family members during a council meeting in Salt Lake City on Monday, Dec. 26, 2016. He was an energetic advocate of the council system in the Church stretching at least as far back as October 1993, when he talked on that subject in general conference for the first time.

Nick Wagner, Deseret News

As part of his teachings on councils, President Ballard repeatedly spoke about the need to include and listen to women. “The voice of women at every level, including the home, is critical,” he said in a 2021 interview.

An example of inviting participation

Not only did President Ballard talk about the principles of effective councils, he lived them. 

In an interview with the Church News in 2021, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles recalled that while serving on the Missionary Executive Council with President Ballard some years prior, President Ballard often extended invitations for others to weigh in on a discussion item. 

“There’s a power in that,” Elder Cook said of seeking additional insights. “It may not be the direction it goes, but they are appreciated, and that builds unity. A council is a place to build unity.”

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gather for their weekly meeting at the Church Administration Building in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, May 11, 2021.

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

President Ballard said in October 1993: “When we act in a united effort, we create spiritual synergism which is increased effectiveness or achievement as a result of combined action or cooperation, the result of which is greater than the sum of the individual parts.”

Underscoring the need for men and women to work together, he said in that same talk: “This is not man’s work nor woman’s work; it is all God’s work, which is centered on the Atonement of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

The best leaders and the best result

President Ballard said listening to each other and the Spirit is the “miracle of Church councils.”

“When we support one another in Church councils, we begin to understand how God can take ordinary men and women and make of them extraordinary leaders,” he said in April 1994. “The best leaders are not those who work themselves to death trying to do everything single-handedly; the best leaders are those who follow God’s plan and counsel with their councils.”

Those who learn to counsel effectively in their stakes, wards and families — following the divine pattern Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ demonstrated — will “always end up with a better result, always end up with a better answer, will always end up with a better spirit,” he told the Church News in 2021.

President Ballard testified in October 2022 that the Church is guided as members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles work together to seek the will of the Lord. “When we are in council, I can say to you the Church is secure and always will be secure,” he said.