On 7 November 1837 members in , Missouri, gathered to vote on church leaders and conduct other matters of church business. A similar meeting had been held in , Ohio, on 3 September 1837, during which several men were removed and replaced as church leaders. In his remarks on 7 November, discussed the 3 September reorganization of the church, after which moderator read the minutes of that meeting to the congregation.

In a departure from earlier church voting practices, which usually included only men who had been to the , all those in attendance were asked to vote, including women and unordained men. Some members of the assembled congregation objected to several individuals, including , , , and , who held leadership positions within the church. Ultimately, however, only Williams was removed from his position, as a counselor to JS in the ; was unanimously approved to replace him. Despite some objections raised against two members of the , other church leaders were unanimously chosen to retain their current positions, including the members of the who had been objected to in on 3 September.