u/utter_fade

I’m reading the September FSY lessons, and it includes the following statement, “Joseph Smith received priesthood keys…The members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles hold all priesthood keys…Local priesthood leaders and quorum presidents also hold priesthood keys…Priesthood keys govern God’s work. They authorize and empower men and women to assist in that work.”

So my question is, in a practical sense, what do keys allow a Teachers’ Quorum president to do that any other teacher couldn’t (or wouldn’t be expected to do) in the event of the TQ presidency all being out of town for an extended period, or perhaps a delay in calling a new presidency (like when all the old ones moved up to Priests’ Quorum or something)?

I’m just thinking in a practical, run the church, sense. For example, if the TQ is assigned to conduct an activity, and none of the presidency can make it, we just have the oldest Teacher present do the conducting. Or if the Teachers who are assigned to prep the sacrament don’t show up, we just ask the Teachers who did arrive on time to step in, and that may include asking a Priest or Elder to assist. But it’s random Teacher #7 who coordinates that activity, with no keys. Similar with Deacons. If they’re short on sacrament passers on Sunday and nobody from the presidency is there, we just tell the Deacon who is there that he’s the most in charge Deacon so it’s his job to go round up some non-Deacon priesthood holders who are there to assist with sacrament passing.

Basically, when I look at the list of things that a TQ president is supposed to have the keys for, none of it feels like something that wouldn’t get done if you didn’t call a presidency for a year for some reason. Am I missing something?