Talk:Elder (Latter Day Saints)

Capitalization
Some capitalization was recently removed. I think most of it should stay as Elder, Ward Mission Leader, Stake Presidency, etc. are all titles of a specific person, and thus are proper nouns. Any other thoughts out there on this? Trödel&#149; talk 02:54, 13 January 2006 (UTC)


 * My personal feeling is to follow the guidelines set forth in BYU's Style Guide. See the section called "Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints terms."


 * They are only proper nouns when the specific person is mentioned in conjunction with the title. An easy, non-Church example is the president of the U.S.  We can talk about the president, or we can talk about President Bush.  The same things apply here.  Elder Packer is in the Council of the Twelve, but there are lots of elders in my ward.  Bishop Smith is the bishop, etc.


 * I guess if we really can't figure out this business about proper nouns, we can look up rules in a grammar book or something on the Internet or at the local library. Either way, it shouldn't be too hard, I don't think, to find the proper English rules for this kind of stuff.


 * John 04:33, 13 January 2006 (UTC)

Distinction from common usage.
I've often thought it ironic that the common term "elder", being pre-empted in the context of the LDS faith, sometimes conflicts with its standard meaning.

I have many times invited LDS missionaries into my home, shared food and work and study and prayer and fellowship with them. They are firmly insistant that they not yield up their first names, leaving only the recourse of referring to them in terms like "Elder Jones". They're 18 or so. I'm almost 60. In some cases I know more about some aspects of their faith than they do.

This poses a certain dynamic tension around the title which I think deserves mention. I'm not sure if it should be here or in an article on the LDS Mission.

Roger 19:12, 1 May 2010 (UTC) — Preceding unsigned comment added by Rpnman (talk • contribs)

Unclear use of term "faithful"
The current version includes the sentence: "All adult men in the ward, whether they are faithful or not, are assigned to either the Elders Quorum or the High Priests Group as directed by the Bishop." It's unclear what is meant by "faithful" here-- it seems to be something apart from the expected meaning in an LDS article (i.e., a believer in the LDS teachings), since it concerns intra-church governance. No special meaning for this term is given in the linked "ward" article, either. 108.195.5.113 (talk) 00:32, 16 April 2012 (UTC)
 * It probably just means "attending". All adult men in the ward are assigned to one or the other groups, whether or not they attend church meetings. Good Ol’factory (talk) 05:27, 17 April 2012 (UTC)

Elders as Chaplains
Hello.

Can any Elder serve as a hospital chaplain? Or is this service reserved to Bishops and Missionaries? Prsaucer1958 (talk) 00:15, 13 July 2012 (UTC)

Incomplete section?
It looks like some of this article's incomplete. The tag "1830 in religion" was added and there's nothing pertaining specifically to 1830 in the article. Was this a false positive someone made? 67.8.227.76 (talk) 04:42, 27 February 2016 (UTC)
 * According to the references, the office was instituted in 1830. Good Ol’factory (talk) 23:46, 28 February 2016 (UTC)