As has been a long-standing tradition dating back 100+ years, the Church has officially designated two apostles to represent Church leadership at the inauguration for President Donald Trump one week from today. This time, Elders D. Todd Christofferson and Gary E. Stevenson have been asked to do so. I am grateful to have been able to read about this today. These men will represent Church leadership very well.
In addition to Elder Christofferson attending the inauguration, he will represent the Brethren at a National Prayer Service the day following the inauguration. When I read that, I wondered for a moment why Elder Stevenson would not join him in doing that. But that is cleared up by the very next sentence of the article, which indicates that shortly after he and Elder Christofferson attend the inauguration, Elder Stevenson will depart directly from there to fill another Church assignment he has in South America.
This is the third inauguration of a US President since President Monson's tenure as prophet began almost 9 years ago (it will be exactly nine years in just three weeks from today). During that time, the Church has been well represented by those sent to such events. For President Barack Obama's first inauguration, which happened just before President Monson marked one year as Church President, the leading Brethren were represented at that event by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Elder M. Russell Ballard.
Four years later, it was the late Elder L. Tom Perry and Elder Quentin L. Cook who did so at President Obama's second inauguration. And now we have Elder Christofferson and Elder Stevenson asked to attend President Trump's inauguration this year. It marks the first time during President Monson's tenure that two apostles that were still relatively junior in terms of apostolic seniority have been asked to attend (with Elder Christofferson being the 11th and Elder Stevenson being the 14th).
However, I am aware of one of the most likely reasons for at least Elder Christofferson's assignment to this event. Unless things have changed, he has been for quite a while the senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles that chairs the Church Public Affairs Committee. As far as I know, he is still doing that. If I am in error on this point, please do let me know. In the meantime, click here to read the full news release from the Mormon Newsroom at lds.org that verifies this information.
It is interesting how busy the apostles have been. And this is particularly true in the case of Elder Christofferson, who has more frequently represented the Church at various important events just within the last year. And the information the news release shared about Elder Stevenson's back-to-back assignments indicates that even though the three newest apostles have n been in their callings for about 15 months, they are still being extensively asked to fill a variety of assignments. I think it is awesome to see how well our three newest apostles have adjusted so well to the mantle of the apostleship.
As those of you who regularly follow this blog know all too well, I have always had a great love and admiration for the service our apostles so willingly render. I have loved being able to report the latest things they are doing and the assignments they are filling. And within the last little while, I have so very much enjoyed posting about the latest milestones these 15 good men are reaching in terms of age and tenure length and so on. I look forward to doing so much more in the future.
Thank you so much for taking time to read my musings about the latest developments in this regard. I appreciate you all more than I can say. Please don't hesitate to let me know if you have any feedback of any kind for me in regards to things posted on this blog. Such comments help me fine-tune the way I report developments in the future, and hearing the thoughts you have has greatly heightened my understanding of factors involved in matters on which I report. The sense of "community" I feel has been established here, even as small and insignificant as that may be in comparison with, say, the LDS Church Temples site maintained by Rick Satterfield or the Church Growth blogs maintained by Matthew Martinich, has continued to embolden me to share things like this that have personally impacted me. Thanks again.
Friday, January 13, 2017
The Church has assigned two apostles to represent Church leadership at the inauguration of President Donald Trump
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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