I read about this yesterday when it was published, but this is the first chance I've had to blog about it. We have had yet another death of an emeritus general authority. Elder Ronald T. Halverson passed away on Friday. He was 80. He served in the Second Quorum of the Seventy from 1998-2006. He was an amazing servant of the Lord. To read more about this remarkable man's life, please click here. In his 8 years of service, he gave two remarkable and powerful addresses in General Conference. Click here to read those. Funeral services are being held on Wednesday.
That said, I wanted to note a couple of significant things. It seems that the Church is losing a lot of active and emeritus general authorities lately. Obviously the Lord needs these great men to be called home. Also, I wanted to share some little-known facts officially regarding emeritus General Authority Seventies.
Up until 2012, only members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were granted emeritus status. When the members of the Presiding Bishopric were released during April 2012 General Conference, they became the first non-General Authority Seventies to be granted emeritus status. Then in October 2015, for the first time in Church history, two of the brethren serving in the Second Quorum of the Seventy (Elders Koichi Aoyagi and Bruce A. Carlson) were granted emeritus status. Elder Carlson was 65 at the time, so his emeritus status was likely granted for in view of his health or for other reasons unknown. It was subsequently revealed that former living members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy had received letters from the First Presidency designating them as emeritus general authorities.
Then things changed further in April 2016, when the men who were sustained as new General Authorities were not sustained to a specific quorum. Between my work on Wikipedia and my inquiries regarding the matter, I found out that, while they will still be assigned to a specific quorum, that designation will not be made public. This was verified by the facts that, on the General Authorities Chart in the General Conference Ensigns since then, the two quorums are listed under that one group. Further proof of this is the fact that each biography of a General Authority Seventy on LDS.org now just refer to these brethren under that title.
I am sorry I failed to mention that before. It is an important and intriguing development in Church history to be sure. I hope that this explanation helps to answer any questions anyone has about what's going on there. Thanks to you all for your interest and support. More to come soon. I have a major update I'm working on about the latest apostolic statistics. I will also have an important Church Growth development to report as well. In the meantime, any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks.
Sunday, February 26, 2017
Elder Ronald T. Halverson, Emeritus General Authority, Passes Away
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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I found your blog off of lds church growth. As for Emeritus Eldred G. Smith held hereditary office of patriarch and was made emeritus do to problems with the office. All that did was retire the office he still continued to give Patriarchal blessings. Said do to availalibility of patriarchs. But lost legacy by his son Gary and cd version of lengthen your stride has some interesting info on why we no longer have patriarch that is descendent of Father Smith, Ed Kimball passed away a few months ago.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your insight. I appreciate your contribution. Many sources that I have read did not have the information you shared above. Thanks for letting me know.
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