Stokes Sounds Off: Some Preliminary Observations About the Potential Speaking Order for General Conference

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Monday, January 21, 2019

Some Preliminary Observations About the Potential Speaking Order for General Conference

Hello again, everyone! I am back, as promised earlier this afternoon with some revised observations about the potential speaking order for General Conference. First, by way of review, you can find the speaking order on those predictions as they currently stand here. Turning to details of that order, since President Nelson only conducted 1 General Conference session last April (the Sunday Morning Session), and opted to have his counselors conduct the four general sessions in October (since the Women's Session continues to be conducted by one of the three female auxiliary General Presidents), I think the scenario that applied last April will again apply for this upcoming General Conference, with his counselors conducting two sessions each, and President Nelson conducting the Sunday Morning Session.

Second, since President Eyring will likely be the concluding speaker for the Saturday Morning Session (as President Oaks was last October), I feel confident that President Oaks will conduct that session. If he does, since President Eyring led the Sustaining of Church Officers in the Saturday Afternoon Session last October (while President Oaks conducted that session) and since that was reversed last April (with President Eyring conducting the session and President Oaks leading the sustaining), last April's scenario seems likely to be repeated.

Since President Eyring conducted the Priesthood Session last April, I think it is safe to assume that President Oaks will do so this go-round. President Nelson would then conduct the Sunday Morning Session, and President Eyring will likely conduct the Sunday Afternoon Session. Barring anything unexpected, I would anticipate President Nelson speaking at least 4 times (at the beginning of the Saturday Morning Session, and the ends of the Priesthood Session and the Sunday Morning and Afternoon Sessions, but he could speak more than that, if any other major announcements are coming down the pike.

I would also assume that the entire First Presidency will speak in the Priesthood Session. And if President Eyring does speak to conclude the Saturday Morning Session, President Oaks could do so at the top of either the Sunday Morning or Sunday Afternoon Sessions. Since Easter Sunday does not coincide with General Conference Sunday this year as it did last year, I am not anticipating that the entire First Presidency will speak to conclude the Sunday Morning Session.

As for the Quorum of the Twelve, I can see a minimum of 3 possible scenarios in terms of their speaking order. Each of those scenarios has 2 members speaking in both the Saturday Morning and Sunday Afternoon Sessions, with 4 more speaking on Saturday Afternoon. The first and second scenarios feature two different members of the Quorum speaking during the Priesthood Session, with 3 others speaking during the Sunday Morning Session. The third scenario features both of the apostles from the other two scenarios speaking in the Priesthood Session (which would allow for any unexpected announcements during that session), with the remaining two apostles speaking on Sunday Morning.

Other than that, the speaking order I am anticipating isn't changed at all in any of the three scenarios. Of course, depending on which of the three scenarios I use, some alterations might be necessary. I am anticipating that the member of the Presiding Bishopric who will speak to us will be Second Counselor Bishop W. Christopher Waddell. I am likewise anticipating two members of the Presidency of the Seventy will speak to us, and I believe those two will be Elders Terence M. Vinson and Elder Carlos A. Godoy in the Saturday and Sunday Morning Sessions respectively. Elder Vinson has only given 1 talk since his call as a General Authority (in October 2013) and Elder Godoy has only spoken twice since his call as a General Authority (in October 2008 following his call as a General Authority, and in October 2014).

It has been a little difficult in recent years to know how many general officers of the Church might speak during General Conference. When President Monson reduced his speaking load in April 2015, the general officers were tapped with extra speaking opportunities to fill the time. Given that the Women's Session will not be held this go-round, I am anticipating that Sister Lisa L. Harkness, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, will speak in the Saturday Morning Session, that Young Men General President Stephen W. Owen will do so in the Priesthood Session, that Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, will do so in the Sunday Morning Session, and that Sunday School General President Tad R. Callister will speak during the Sunday Afternoon Session, following his likely release the previous afternoon.

It is even more difficult to know which General Authority Seventies might speak to us. After researching the matter, I have none speaking in the Saturday Morning Session, Elder Scott D. Whiting giving his second talk along with Elder Mathias Held's first in the Saturday Afternoon Session, and the first talk for Elder David P. Homer occurring during the Priesthood Session, Elders Marcus B. Nash and Anthony D. Perkins giving their third talks in the Sunday Morning and Afternoon Sessions respectively, with Elder Kyle S. McKay giving his first talk in the Sunday Afternoon Session.

I also have Elder David S. Baxter giving his third talk in the Sunday Afternoon Session after speaking previously in the April 2012 and October 2006 General Conferences. That said, I wanted to note that his biography on the Church website notes that he is currently on medical leave from his Salt Lake headquarters assignments, and unless I am mistaken, he is dealing with cancer, which, if that is still true, may prevent him from speaking during this General Conference. And in reference to these predicted speakers, I wanted to reach out to you, Scott Shipley, because I believe you had indicated that you were keeping a database on General Authority Seventies, and if I am missing anything in this paragraph about any of the GA Seventies who haven't spoken in a while (or at all) that may do so during this General Conference. Thanks in advance for the information.

In the meantime, that does it for this post. I will be posting again shortly to provide a more specific look at the three potential scenarios I see as possibilities in terms of apostolic speaking order. 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.

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