“King Mosiah granted Alma the right to ‘establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla’ and authorized him ‘to ordain priests and teachers over every church’ (Mosiah 25:19)—a prerogative heretofore pertaining only to kingship. The overall organization was called the ‘church,’ but it was made up of subordinate local units also called ‘churches.’ There were seven of these local units in Zarahemla alone (Mosiah 25:22–23). Indeed, Mosiah gave Alma authority over the Church (Mosiah 26:8), thus effectively delegating to another man a major portion of the sacral authority which had traditionally been attached to the Nephite throne” (Peterson, “Priesthood in Mosiah,” 202–3).