Latest Apostolic Statistics: Part One--Updated Data for President Oaks, President Nelson, and Longest-Serving Apostolic Groups

Hello again, everyone! While I hope any or all of you would feel free to continue to comment on any previous posts published on this blog, another 6 weeks have come and gone since I last posted updated information on the latest apostolic statistics (with that last update occurring on Sunday August 12, 2018). Since there have been an impressive number of changes in that information in the 1.5 months which have come and gone, it seems appropriate to focus on it again now.

As always, before we begin the discussion of that updated data, I wanted to recognize that there may be many of you who are not interested in the information I will be providing. So I will not in any way be offended or bothered if any of you prefer to bypass this information (which will, as always, be covered over the course of two posts).

As usual, all data is current as of today (Sunday September 23, 2018). This update will again feature the data 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 the latest data about all 15 of our apostles, including information on those who have had a birthday recently and those whose birthdays are getting closer.

So let’s begin with some information on 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 8 months and 9 days. As I noted in a post done on Friday September 14, last Sunday (September 16), the length of President Oaks’ tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve surpassed that of President David O. McKay, so President Oaks then became the 26^th longest-serving Quorum President.

Just less than one month from today (on October 22), he will become the 25^th longest-serving Quorum President, having served longer in that capacity than President Gordon B. Hinckley. Then, as previously noted, in 2019, he will mark 5 milestones, one in April, two others in July (which will be observed two days apart), and the remaining two in November, and December. I will mention the specifics of those milestones closer to that time.

Insofar as I have been able to determine, President Oaks does not appear to have any significant health issues, and if that continues to be the case, he is almost certain to be around for at least the next 5-7 years, if not longer. And of course, the length of his tenure as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will depend on both the length of President Oaks’ life and that of President Nelson. But by all appearances, President Nelson could be around for the next decade or two.

And speaking of 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 8 months and 9 days as well. He is now 94 years, 0 months, and 14 days old.

He will observe the first tenure length milestone of his presidency roughly 2.5 weeks from today, on Thursday October 11 (when he will have served longer than 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. And again, I will be detailing those more specifically closer to the time when they will be reached.

As I have also noted before, by all accounts, President Nelson remains healthy, vigorous, and fully involved in the day-to-day work of moving the Church forward. And as far as I know, neither of his counselors (who are both 7-8 years younger than he is) are suffering from any major health issues either, which means that these Brethren will likely be serving together for at least the next several years, and I could easily see them at least making the list of the longest-serving First Presidencies in the Church, which will, as previous noted, occur on Sunday April 1, 2024.

And by the end of that same year, not only will the current First Presidency reach a couple of other milestones, but President Nelson will also become the first centenarian apostle and Church president. I know that, as recently as last year, I had offered my opinion that, if President Nelson became president of the Church, he would likely not serve for very long, given his age. But by all reports, when meeting with Church members and other leaders, people have observed he seems 20-30 years younger than he actually is. As a former heart surgeon, it has been very rightly pointed out that President Nelson would know how to take care of himself, and that, due to his testimony of gospel principles (particularly those relating to health), he is one of the few heart surgeons self-disciplined enough to actually do those things. With that in mind, I would not be surprised if, as Elder Andersen expressed his hope last conference, he will be around for the next decade or two.

As for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, except for President Ballard (who will be 90 on October 8, which is 15 days away), and who appears to be in fairly good health as well, though he may not be as healthy as President Nelson), all other apostles are younger than 80, though within the next 2 years and 3 months, we will have 3 other octogenarians in the Quorum. With that in mind, the current members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who have served together since March 31 of this year, will most likely easily make the list of the longest-serving apostles on March 31, 2021. By the end of that same year, they will have moved up 3 spots on the list. I will give more specific data in this regard closer to that time.

By the end of 2021, the current group of apostles in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will have made and moved up on the list of other groups of ordained apostles to become the 12th longest-serving such group in Church history, and other milestones will be reached in the years following. All of those milestones will depend on how long each of our apostles live and serve, and on how much they (or anyone else) are affected by health issues. I continue to track the health and ministry of these Brethren and will keep you posted.

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, on this or any other post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe.

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.