The Endowment of the Deacon
“And I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who hath enabled me, for that he counted me faithful, putting me into the ministry.” -1 Timothy 1:12
On May 4, 1842 Joseph Smith Jr. introduced on the second floor of his Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois what some call the Nauvoo Endowment to nine Brethren: James Adams, Patriarch Hyrum Smith, Bishops Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, and Apostles Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards.
Wearing the Robes of the Priesthood
“And Moses brought Aaron and his sons, and washed them with water. And he put upon him the coat and girded him with the girdle and clothed him with the robe, and put the ephod upon him, and he girded him with the curious girdle of the ephod, and bound it unto him therewith.” -Leviticus 8:6-7 KJV
When performing ordinances that require the use of the priesthood, the Lord has asked that ordained men and women of the Fellowship wear the Robes of the Priesthood. They are known within the Fellowship as Tzniut, Hebrew for privacy, sometimes translated as “modesty” in the scriptures. Tzniut are not mandatory as this is a nondenominational movement. The revelation asking us to do was sustained by the body of the Fellowship April 6, 2019. For those that accept the revelations, the Lord has explained that the Robes of the Priesthood signify the authority held by those using their priesthood keys; that they have been endowed. Those that have been through a Latter Day Saint/Mormon temple’s endowment session, regardless of denomination, will likely recognize variations of the attire.