In Mormonism, a high council is one of several different governing bodies that have existed in the church hierarchy in many denominations in the Latter Day Saint movement.
On February 17, 1834, Joseph Smith, the founder of the movement, created a presiding high council at church headquarters in Kirtland, Ohio.
The original members of the high council in Kirtland were:[1] This high council took on the role of chief judicial and legislative body of the local church and handled such things as excommunication trials and approval of all church spending.
In 1835, Smith created an additional "traveling high council" of twelve men to oversee the missionary work of the church.
After the 1844 succession crisis, high councils developed differently in the various denominations of the Latter Day Saint movement.