About Mormon bishops - the fact and myth cheat sheet
This is part of the Mormon fact and myth cheat sheet on this website. The main list of Mormon facts and Myths can be found here. This section specifically discusses Mormon bishops.
This is a compilation of facts and myths about Mormon beliefs compiled from comments and other resources. I add things to this list as I run into them so this list has more information on it than I have had time to write about in detail. Some of these can be uncommonly random.
Some of these comments may have been collected from someone that is trying to imply that Mormons won't tell you about these things. This is partially accurate simply because we don't actually believe in many of these things. On a similar note, I have pulled some of this information from several "campaigns" which claim that they just want to help us Mormons realize the error of our ways. However, most of these campaigns are not actually targeted to Mormons. They are targeted to those who are not Mormon and may be curious about what we really believe. In war and politics it is known as a "disinformation" campaign and it's used to keep other people in the dark or doubtful of factual information. If these campaigns were intended to target Mormons, they would talk to us directly, instead of referring to Mormons in the third person as "they," and they would use our real teachings to try and convince us of our error.
You may notice that after the first sentence, these descriptions are written in a way so that anyone can quote them if they need to. The disadvantage to this is that there are some things that get repeated in the explanations more than once. It should be noted that this site is not an official source for Mormon doctrine, so if you're going to quote from this site I would recommend that you point out the sources or link back to this page so readers can verify accurate sources for themselves. I have also bolded some things in each statement to help identify the key points.
Speaking of repeating stuff, this introduction is fairly standard on the other fact and myth pages so you can probably skip it on the next one without missing much.
Editing and referencing is still an ongoing process for this page.
About Mormon bishops
"A Mormon bishop only serves for about 5 years":
This is true.
A Mormon bishop is a member of the congregation who is asked to serve as a bishop for a period of about 5-7 years.
"A Mormon bishop is unpaid":
This is true.
Most of the leadership positions in the Mormon church are unpaid, and are done as service. This includes bishops, stake presidents, high councilmen, and their councilors. Members that are called to serve life long positions, such as apostles, receive a modest stipend if it is required.
"A Mormon bishop can ask you any question he wants to determine if you can go into the temple":
This is false.
A Mormon Bishop has a specific set of questions that he asks during a temple recommend interview that are established by the church. These questions do not vary and the bishop does not have the authority to change them.
"A Mormon bishop can deny you a temple recommend for any reason he wants":
This is false.
A Mormon Bishop has a specific set of questions that he asks during a temple recommend interview that are established by the church. These questions do not vary and the bishop does not have the authority to change them. They verify that you have a testimony of the LDS church and that you are morally clean. If you meet these requirements a bishop cannot prevent you from having a temple recommend.
"A Mormon bishop can have you excommunicated for any reason":
This is false.
A Mormon bishop has the ability to start an excommunication process, but only for a few reasons: If you are teaching something as doctrine which is not and you are not stopping when asked; if you are committing a serious transgression and are not trying to stop and repent; or if you are an unrepentant predator or hostile apostate. While the excommunication process can start with the Bishop, it takes twelve high council members of a stake to excommunicate someone. Excommunication is the absolute last step that is taken and is the most serious thing the church can do.
"A Mormon bishop can meet with women, young adults, and children alone":
This is false.
A Mormon bishop cannot meet with anyone alone unless the person is an adult male. An adult is always required to be present in the clerks office, preferably the spouse or parent of the person meeting with the bishop, but a clerk or councilor is always required.