Essay

The Standing of the Proclamation

Maybe you have wondered, Is The Family: A Proclamation to the World actually scripture? If it is not in the standard works, is it simply inspired counsel? Could some of its teachings eventually change? And how much authority should I give a document written in 1995?

Those are great questions. Let’s unpack them carefully, because the answer is more precise than simply calling the Proclamation “good advice.”

Simply put, the restored gospel of Jesus Christ uses the word scripture in a broader way. The Lord teaches that when His authorized servants speak as moved by the Holy Ghost, their words can be His word, His will, and His voice. The Family Proclamation was issued unanimously by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles after what President Dallin H. Oaks explicitly called a “revelatory process.” Prophets have since described it as inspired of the Lord, eternal truth, the will of the Lord, and words from God.

Scripture Is More Than You Might Realize

There is an important background behind this distinction.

In November 1831, the Lord gave a revelation concerning several elders who had been called to preach the gospel. He told them to speak as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Then He explained what happens when His authorized servants speak that way: their words “shall be scripture,” “the will of the Lord,” “the mind of the Lord,” “the word of the Lord,” and “the voice of the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 68:3–4).

Notice what the Lord did not say. He did not say that His word becomes His word only after it is bound into a volume of canonized scripture. He tied its authority to revelation through the Holy Ghost.

This is why the Church’s explanation of scripture teaches both ideas together. It says that prophets and apostles speaking or writing by the Holy Ghost can speak words that “shall be scripture.” The very next sentence identifies the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price as the Church’s “official, canonized scriptures.”

That distinction helps enormously. Canonized scripture is a specific category, and God’s revealed word is not limited to that category.

Then Why Isn’t the Proclamation in the Standard Works?

Canonization is the Church’s formal process for adding something to the standard works. The Family Proclamation has not gone through that process, so it would not be accurate to call it a fifth standard work.

There is an interesting detail, however. On the Church’s official Gospel Library website, The Family: A Proclamation to the World is found under scriptures in the Gospel Library. That location by itself does not canonize the document. But it is worth noticing alongside the way the Church actually uses the Proclamation—in scripture curriculum, seminary, institute, general conference, and prophetic teaching.

The better question, then, is not simply, Which digital folder is it in? It is: What have the prophets who issued and taught this document said about where it came from?

President Oaks Was There When It Was Prepared

President Dallin H. Oaks gave a firsthand account of the Proclamation’s preparation in “The Plan and the Proclamation.”

He explained that the inspiration identifying the need for the document came to Church leaders before it was written. Members of the Quorum of the Twelve discussed its subjects for nearly a year. Language was proposed, reviewed, and revised while they “continually pleaded with the Lord for His inspiration” about what they should say and how they should say it. The proposed document then went to the First Presidency for further consideration and revision. President Oaks described all of this plainly as a “revelatory process.”

That is helpful because revelation does not always mean a finished paragraph suddenly appears in someone’s mind. Scripture itself describes revelation coming “line upon line, precept upon precept” (Doctrine and Covenants 98:12). Prophets can study, counsel, write, revise, pray, and seek unity while the Lord guides the process.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson has explained that same pattern of Church doctrine. When the First Presidency and Twelve deliberate together, they consider scripture, previous teachings, and past practice, but their final objective is not simply institutional consensus. It is “revelation from God” and obtaining “the mind and will of the Lord.” He also carefully noted that not every comment by an individual Church leader carries that same weight. (“The Doctrine of Christ”)

That distinction is important. The Family Proclamation is not an isolated remark from one leader; it bears the united witness of the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles.

Hear the Prophetic Witnesses Together

When President Gordon B. Hinckley first presented the Proclamation in 1995, he did not introduce it as a collection of new opinions about family life. He called it a “declaration and reaffirmation” of standards, doctrines, and practices prophets had repeatedly taught throughout Church history. (“Stand Strong against the Wiles of the World”)

President Oaks later gave perhaps the clearest description of its authority: he testified that the Proclamation is “a statement of eternal truth, the will of the Lord” and concluded that it was “revealed by the Lord Jesus Christ to His Apostles.”

And in October 2025, Elder Ronald A. Rasband titled his general conference message “The Family Proclamation—Words from God.” He taught that the Proclamation has “a divine origin” and should be treated with the reverence appropriate for words from God.

This clip brings it all together:

This Is Not How Prophets Talk About Ordinary Policy

Sometimes you may hear the argument, Church policies change, so perhaps the Family Proclamation will eventually change too.

It is true that Church policies can change. President Dieter F. Uchtdorf taught that procedures, programs, policies, and organizational patterns can be adjusted, while the doctrines and principles of the gospel do not change. (“Christlike Attributes”) He was not speaking specifically about the Family Proclamation in that passage, so we should not make him say more than he did.

But his distinction matters because prophets have repeatedly described the Proclamation itself in doctrinal terms.

BYU religion scholars Michael Goodman and W. Justin Dyer examined more than 250 general conference references to the Family Proclamation. When Church leaders specifically described what kind of document it is, the recurring descriptions were inspired, revealed, eternal truth, doctrine or principle, and prophecy. Elder Richard G. Scott, for example, told members to study it carefully because “it was inspired of the Lord,” while Elder M. Russell Ballard called it a “prophetic document.”

This research shows that across decades of prophetic teaching, leaders have consistently treated the family proclamation as a prophetic document of eternal truth.

What If Some of Its Teachings Are Hard for Me?

For some people, this question is not mainly about terminology. The Proclamation may touch something deeply personal—being single longer than expected, infertility, divorce, same-sex attraction, questions about gender, painful family experiences, or uncertainty about whether the family life you hope for will ever come.

Taking the family proclamation seriously does not require pretending those circumstances are easy.

The family proclamation begins by locating every person in an eternal family: each of us is a “beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents” with divine nature and destiny. Its teachings about marriage, male and female, parents, children, and eternal family therefore begin with who you are to God. They also point toward what He is helping you become through Jesus Christ.

You can have questions while continuing to trust the Lord. But there is an important difference between asking Christ to help you understand His teachings and assuming that a revealed teaching must eventually change before you can trust Him.

A Few Questions Worth Thinking About

Have I been treating “not canonized” as if it means “optional” or less binding than prophetic counsel?

When I decide how much weight to give the Family Proclamation, am I taking into account what the prophets and apostles who issued it have said about how it came to be?

What might I discover if I approached the Proclamation with a prayerful heart, asking the Holy Ghost to help me understand the Lord’s purposes as I study it?

What You Can Do This Week

Read Doctrine and Covenants 68:3–4 and the Family Proclamation together. Pay attention to the Lord’s definition of what His servants’ words can become when they speak by the Holy Ghost.

Listen to President Oaks’s “The Plan and the Proclamation” or Elder Rasband’s BYU devotional “The Family Is Ordained of God.” Elder Rasband speaks personally about how revelation can come through a careful prophetic process and testifies that the Proclamation is the will of the Lord.

Then ask Heavenly Father yourself. Moroni promised that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things” (Moroni 10:5). Personal revelation does not authorize us to rewrite doctrine for the Church, but the Holy Ghost can give you your own confirming witness that what the Lord has revealed through His prophets is true.

The Family Proclamation is not currently a fifth book in the canon. But that does not leave it sitting somewhere between scripture and human opinion. The Lord has given His Church living apostles and prophets precisely because Jesus Christ still speaks. He has promised that when His servants speak by the Holy Ghost, His word can come through their voices (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38).

As you study the Proclamation with that understanding, the more important question becomes less What type of document is this? and more What is Jesus Christ teaching me through His prophets about who I am, what I am here to become, and the kind of eternal family life He is preparing His children to receive? That is a question the Holy Ghost can help you answer with both confidence and peace.