Pandemic lessons on church leadership Two interesting stories this week highlighted some lessons about a level of church leadership overlooked by many Latter-day Saints.
It’s a level of leadership that has had a major role in shaping the spiritual practices of church members during the pandemic.
For example, area presidencies made recommendations about foreign missionary service during the pandemic to the missionary executive council and First Presidency. Of the 21 areas of the church, 19 areas sent missionaries back to their home countries. Only the Europe and Europe East area presidencies kept in place all missionaries serving in the 22 missions that operate in those two areas.
Differences in decisions between areas is by design. They are intended to be a strength, allowing the church to have leadership that can be more flexible and more responsive to local needs and issues.
On Tuesday, members of the First Presidency issued a letter with instructions about how The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will start returning to meetings as pandemic restrictions ease.
These instructions will put a lot of responsibility on those 21 area presidencies who, while extremely important, are fairly anonymous. (See the names and photos of each area presidency here.)
The instructions issued yesterday included a tidbit that, combined with another story, led me to today’s subject. It’s something I also think few Latter-day Saints realize: Each area presidency is directed by a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a member of the Presidency of the Seventy.
So as the pandemic rolled across the world, the Quorum of the Twelve and the seven presidents of the Seventy worked directly with area presidencies to consider the impact of COVID-19 in each area, to make decisions on closing meetings, activities and temples as well as alterations to missionary work.
The church’s global expansion has required an expansion in leadership, too. Area presidencies direct area seventies who supervise a group of stakes.
Which leads to the second story this week. The Church News reported that the church is adding four more quorums of area seventies. That means there now will be 12 quorums of the Seventy. The first and second quorums consist of General Authority Seventies. The other 10 will be area seventies.
If you’re interested in seeing the new area presidency assignments for 2020-21, which were announced last month, click here. Those assignments are effective Aug. 1. | 
