Hi brother. Congratulations on your recent baptism! I hope you find the same blessings that I have found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The leadership of the Church is organized into presidencies and councils. As you probably know, Mormons believe that to receive revelation from God, one must study and pray. As councils are made of different people with different perspectives and opinions, there's no better way to study a given question than to discuss it in a council.
The worldwide church is lead by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles. These men are called to be prophets and apostles, in harmony with Ephesians 2:20. As a comparison, the First Presidency is like the Pope in Catholicism, and the Apostles are like Catholic Cardinals.
Below the First Presidency and the Twelve are the Presidency of the Seventy and the associated Quorums of the Seventy, in harmony with Luke 10:1,17. Some of the quorums are made up of general authorities whose scope of authority, like that of the apostles, is over the whole church. The other quorums are made up of regional authorities. These men are kind of like Catholic archbishops.
Below the Seventy are Stake Presidencies and their associated councils, the "High Councils." Stake Presidents preside over a stake, which is a group of several Mormon congregations. Stake Presidents are kind of like Catholic bishops.
Each Mormon congregation, or "ward," is made up of a Bishopric, in harmony with Titus 1:7, and its associated council, the ward council. In branches (smaller congregations), a Branch President leads the congregation instead of a Bishop. Bishops and Branch Presidents are kind of like Catholic priests who lead their congregations.
Within each congregation, the various organizations are headed by their respective presidencies. For example, the women's organization is headed by the Relief Society Presidency, the organization of young adult men is headed by the Elder's Quorum Presidency, the organization of older adult men is headed by the High Priest Group Leader, etc.
There is no trained professional clergy in the LDS Church; all these callings are filled by regular members of the Church, most of whom volunteer without any financial compensation. For example, the current president and prophet of the Church, Thomas S. Monson, worked in the newspaper industry prior to his calling as a general authority. Hope this answer helps!
The leadership of the Church is organized into presidencies and councils. As you probably know, Mormons believe that to receive revelation from God, one must study and pray. As councils are made of different people with different perspectives and opinions, there's no better way to study a given question than to discuss it in a council.
The worldwide church is lead by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles. These men are called to be prophets and apostles, in harmony with Ephesians 2:20. As a comparison, the First Presidency is like the Pope in Catholicism, and the Apostles are like Catholic Cardinals.
Below the First Presidency and the Twelve are the Presidency of the Seventy and the associated Quorums of the Seventy, in harmony with Luke 10:1,17. Some of the quorums are made up of general authorities whose scope of authority, like that of the apostles, is over the whole church. The other quorums are made up of regional authorities. These men are kind of like Catholic archbishops.
Below the Seventy are Stake Presidencies and their associated councils, the "High Councils." Stake Presidents preside over a stake, which is a group of several Mormon congregations. Stake Presidents are kind of like Catholic bishops.
Each Mormon congregation, or "ward," is made up of a Bishopric, in harmony with Titus 1:7, and its associated council, the ward council. In branches (smaller congregations), a Branch President leads the congregation instead of a Bishop. Bishops and Branch Presidents are kind of like Catholic priests who lead their congregations.
Within each congregation, the various organizations are headed by their respective presidencies. For example, the women's organization is headed by the Relief Society Presidency, the organization of young adult men is headed by the Elder's Quorum Presidency, the organization of older adult men is headed by the High Priest Group Leader, etc.
There is no trained professional clergy in the LDS Church; all these callings are filled by regular members of the Church, most of whom volunteer without any financial compensation. For example, the current president and prophet of the Church, Thomas S. Monson, worked in the newspaper industry prior to his calling as a general authority. Hope this answer helps!