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 85th birthday. And just over two weeks
(exactly 15 days) after that, Elder Bednar will mark his 66th
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 26th 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 25th
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.
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