Bishops and Divorce
Can a man married to a divorced woman (specifically if she was sealed in the temple in her first marriage) be called to be a Bishop? I can’t find an accurate answer for that. Thanks!
Bernice
_______________
Bernice,
As I have taken time to research an answer to your question I have found nothing specifically stating a man who is married to a woman who was divorced, temple sealing or without.
Stake presidents recommend names to the First Presidency to fill the calling of a bishop; upon approval the stake president is able to extend the call and set apart the individual as a bishop.
I recognize practices and policies may change overtime, however we have examples in our history of stake presidents who were married to divorced women. For example, Andrew Kimball (President Kimball’s father) upon the death of his first wife married a woman who was divorced. Andrew Kimball was a stake president for 26 years.
Gramps
I had a bishop who had been divorced and was in his second marriage. His wife had also been divorced in a previous marriage
AFAIK there is no specific Church policy that callings to a position of being an official representative of the Church, like a bishop or stake president, are closed to men who’ve been divorced or who’ve married a ‘soiled dove’.
Certainly the Church is thorough in whom it calls to such positions. A man who has had significant problems in upholding Church standards may experience divorce as a consequences, OTOH, sometimes said disobedience does NOT cost him his marriage. Men and women also experience situations where they’ve no realistic choice save to divorce an ‘errant’ spouse, in spite of their own faithfulness. Every situation is unique, and the Lord is smart enough to not disqualify men who have done their best to lead a good life for a situation brought on by the misdeeds of another. And even persons who’ve made serious mistakes can demonstrate repentance; again, AFAIK, there’s no ‘scarlet’ letter on their membership record. Finally, even if a woman had made mistakes which led to the demise of her prior marriage, she too can and ought to be able to repent, and her past should not diminish the abilities of her present husband.