Stokes Sounds Off: Anticipated Changes in General Church Leadership and Statistical Report Estimates for April 2019 General Conference

Search This Blog

Leaderboard

Friday, January 25, 2019

Anticipated Changes in General Church Leadership and Statistical Report Estimates for April 2019 General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the second post about my April 2019 General Conference predictions, which I hope will kick off a more thorough discussion of the topic. The purpose of this post is to share those changes in general Church leadership which I have felt are likely, along with the estimates I have assembled for the statistical report. That part of my predictions follows below.

So as not to disturb the flow of that information, I will end here and now as I always do. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Predictions for Changes in Church Leadership
General Authority Seventies: New General Authorities sustained from among the Area Seventies or the Church at large (including any current mission or temple president); Elder Steven E. Snow released as Church Historian and Recorder, with a new Church Historian and Recorder called from among the current or newly-called General Authority Seventies.
Note: It is traditional for new General Authority Seventies to be sustained each April, so I would anticipate that occurring for this General Conference.
Additional note: Elder Steven E. Snow, who has served as Church Historian and Recorder since 2012, will be 70 in November 2019, so the Church will likely sustain a current or new General Authority in that assignment to succeed him.
Result:
Area Seventies: Some area seventies released, others called.
Note: Although there have been exceptions in recent years, April General Conference has generally seen a large number of area seventies called, and a few released, especially if any of the new General Authorities are currently serving as area seventies. I am anticipating the same will be true for this General Conference.
Additional note: The following area seventies may be released for the following reasons:
Called as mission presidents: Aley K. Auna, Walter Chatora, J. Kevin Ence, Jose L. Isaguierre,  Bryan R. Larsen, W. Jean-Pierre Lono, Khumbulani Mdletshe, Hoi Seng Leonard Woo
Longest-tenured: Kevin J Worthen (sustained in April 2010; is serving as BYU-Provo President; if he is released, he may be sustained as General Authority Seventy)
Result:
Sunday School General Presidency: Tad R. Callister, Devin G. Durrant, and Brian K. Ashton released, new Sunday School General Presidency called.
Note: Brothers Callister and Durrant have served together in the Sunday School General Presidency since April 2014, and Brother Ashton joined this presidency in June 2015. Since it has been somewhat standard in recent years for the Church to make a change in auxiliary presidencies after 5 years of service, I would anticipate that a new presidency will be called, with the new presidency comprised of either or both of the current counselors, members of the current Sunday School General Board, members of the current Young Men General Presidency or General Board, area seventies, or the Church at large.
Result:
Additional note: Reid L. Neilson, who has been serving as Church historian and recorder and is not a General Authority, will likely be released from that assignment, since he has been called as a mission president as well. As far as I know, he was never sustained in that position, so his release may or may not be presented.


No comments:

Post a Comment

In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.

At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.

I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.

And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.

Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.