Latest Apostolic Statistics: Part One--Updated Information for the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, Church President, and Apostolic Tenures

Hello again, everyone! While I have no desire to detract attention from the big news of the day, which is the Jordan River Utah Temple rededication, it has been 6 weeks since I last posted an update on the latest apostolic statistics. And although I do not want to distract focus from the coverage of the Jordan River Utah Temple rededication that was held today, I have felt it advisable to post these statistics right now. I will continue to post such updates every month or two.

As always, before we begin discussing that information, I wanted to note that I know that some of you might not find this information interesting. For that reason, I will not be at all offended if any of you choose to bypass this post, as there is a lot of information to unpack. For those of you who are staying with me for this information, let’s dive right in to this subject. It is more likely than not that I will split the data I will be providing into two posts, as I have in the last little while.

I wanted to provide some updated observations regarding apostolic birthdays. In 1.5 weeks, or 11 days (on May 31), President Eyring will be observing his 85^th birthday. And just over two weeks (exactly 15 days) after that, Elder Bednar will mark his 66^th birthday. The next apostolic birthday will not occur for almost 7.5 weeks (exactly 52 days) following that time.

I also wanted to note that I have recently expanded yet again the amount of data I track, as such information puts the ongoing statistics into a more complete and proper context. That said, as I also always say, if any of you see anything that doesn’t look right in this report, I would appreciate any corrections and clarifications. As I also always note, all data contained herein is current as of today (May 20, 2018).

This update will also continue in the same order as previous updates. We will start with some data about the Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then turn our attention to the Presidents of the Church. After discussing those things, the first post will end, and the second (to be published shortly after the first) will then highlight all of the latest data about all 15 of our apostles.

To start, let’s address President Oaks’ current tenure length as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, which will include exploring how soon he will move up on this list. The length of his service has currently spanned 4 months and 6 days. As noted in previous updates, he will be marking 2 additional tenure milestones before the end of this year, and will be marking 5 others in 2019.

In terms of those he will observe in 2018, on Sunday September 16, he will become the 26^th longest-serving Quorum President, with his tenure being longer than that of President David O. McKay. Just over a month later, on October 22, with his tenure length exceeding that of President Gordon B. Hinckley, he will become the 25^th longest-serving Quorum President. Looking ahead to next year, he will mark other milestones in April, July (in which he will observe two milestones two days apart), November, and December. I will mention the specifics of those milestones closer to that time.

Moving on now to President Nelson, since he was ordained and set apart as Church president on the same day he set apart President Oaks as Quorum President, his tenure has spanned 4 months and 6 days as well. Nothing has changed since my last report regarding where he stands among the 16 other Church presidents in terms of his tenure length or age.

He will observe the first tenure length milestone of his presidency in just under 5 months, on Thursday October 11 (when the length of his service will be longer than that of President Howard W. Hunter). He will observe both another tenure-related and his first age-related milestone two days apart in July of 2019, with subsequent milestones more spread out in the years following that. I will be detailing those more specifically closer to the time when they will be reached.

Before closing out this portion of the update, I wanted to add some information about the longest continuously-serving First Presidencies, Quorums of the Twelve Apostles, and, for the first time ever, some additional information about the groups of ordained apostles that have served together for the longest periods of time.

As I may have mentioned in the last update I did, our current First Presidency (Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, and Henry B. Eyring) will not join the list of the longest continuously-serving First Presidencies until Sunday April 1, 2024. Many have said that President Nelson could (and likely will) serve for several years, so it will be interesting to see what happens there.

By comparison, the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will not have to wait as long for the milestone that will put them on the list of the longest-serving Quorums. Once they reach the 3-year mark of service together (which will occur on March 31, 2021), they will join that list, and they will move up on it fairly quickly after that.

And interestingly enough, the currently-serving First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will actually observe two milestones as an apostolic group before the current Quorum of the Twelve reaches their first milestone. But those milestones are still almost three years away. I will discuss more specific milestones for each of these groups closer to the time in which they will reach them.

With that said, I want to conclude this portion of the update. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post (which should be the second one on this subject and will be published here within the next few minutes), I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.