Hello again, everyone! I am back again now with the
second part of this apostolic statistical update, in which we will move on to
talk specifics regarding the long-form and decimal ages of our current apostles,
which will also include updated information on the average ages of the First
Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the 15 apostles as a group, and current
and future nonagenarians. So let’s get right into all of that. Again, all data
is current as of today (Sunday June 16). There have been two apostolic
birthdays since my last update (which was published here on Sunday April 28).
As previously noted, President Henry B. Eyring observed his 86
th
birthday on May 31, and Elder David A. Bednar, as noted in
another
recent post on this blog, observed his 67
th yesterday.
The next apostolic birthdays will not take place until
August, and particularly, none of them will occur prior to my next update
(which, as noted in my last post, I plan to publish here on Sunday August 4).
But I did want to provide an overview of what is coming up in that respect. The
three August apostolic birthdays will each be observed three days apart. Elder
Gary E. Stevenson will celebrate his 64th on Tuesday August 6,
followed on Friday August 9 by Elder Neil L. Andersen’s 68th, and wrapping
up on Monday August 12, with the 87th birthday of President Dallin
H. Oaks. There will be two more apostolic birthdays observed in September, for
which I will provide more specific detail in my next update.
Having noted that, we now move on to some exact figures
about the ages and average ages of the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, and all 15 apostles as a group. In the Church’s leading Quorum, President
Nelson is, as noted towards the end of my previous post, 94 years, 9 months,
and 7 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 94.77 years. First Counselor
President Oaks is now 86 years, 10 months, and 4 days old, or 86.84 years. The
junior member of the First Presidency, President Eyring, having observed his
birthday since my last update, is now 86 years, 0 months, and 16 days old, which
is 86.04 in decimal years.
The First Presidency thus now has a combined 267.65 years
of life experience, which results in an average age for each man of 89.22 years.
President Nelson remains 5.55 years older than that average, with President
Oaks closest to it (he is now 2.38 years younger than that average), which
means that President Eyring, who is a mere .8 years younger than President
Oaks, is now 3.18 years below it. Unless there is something of which we are not
aware in relation to the health of any of these Brethren, they will continue to
set new records for the oldest-serving First Presidency in Church history for
the foreseeable future.
Next, let’s turn our attention to the members of the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles. President Ballard’s long-form age now sits at 90 years,
8 months, and 8 days, or 90.69 years. Elder Holland now has a long-form age of
78 years, 6 months, and 13 days, with a resulting 78.53 decimal years. Elder
Uchtdorf (who is a mere 27 days older than his senior apostolic seatmate) is
now 78 years, 7 months, and 10 days old, which works out to 78.61 years. Elder
Bednar, who observed his birthday just yesterday, has now reached the full age
of 67 years, 0 months, and 1 day, which works out to an even 67.00 decimal years.
Leading off the second third of that Quorum is Elder Cook,
who is also the oldest but least senior of the 3 apostles born in 1940. His long-form
age is 78 years, 9 months, and 8 days old, with a resulting decimal age of 78.77
years. Elder Christofferson has now reached the age of 74 years, 4 months and 23
days, making his decimal age 74.39 years. Elder Andersen is now 67 years, 10
months, and 19 days old, and his decimal age is 67.85 years. Elder Rasband is
now 68 years, 4 months, and 10 days old, or 68.36 years.
As for the final third of the Quorum, Elder Stevenson, at
exactly 4.5 years younger than Elder Rasband (since both were born on the 6th),
now has a long-form age of 63 years, 10 months, and 10 days, or 63.86 in
decimal years. Elder Renlund is now exactly 66 years, 7 months, and 3 days old,
with a resulting decimal age of 66.59 years. Elder Gong’s exact age is now 65
years, 5 moths, and 24 days old, which works out to 65.48 decimal years. As for
Elder Soares, he is now 60 years, 8 months, and 14 days old, with a resulting
decimal age of 60.70 years.
Based on those numbers, the current members of the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles now have a combined 860.83 years of life experience,
which results in an average of 71.74 years per member. Elders Christofferson
and Rasband remain respectively above and below that average. Elder
Christofferson is now 2.65 years older, while Elder Rasband remains 3.38 years
below it. With the information I presented earlier about the First Presidency,
the 15 apostles as a group now have a combined 1,128.48 years of life
experience, which is an average of 75.23 years. As noted previously, Elder
Holland remains 3.3 years older than that average, while Elder Christofferson is
0.88 years younger than that average.
We now move on to the nonagenarians. President Nelson
remains the seventh oldest apostle in Church history, and is set to move up to
the sixth spot on July 5 of this year. In the meantime, President Ballard’s
lifespan has now passed that of both Presidents Spencer W. Kimball and Marion
G. Romney, meaning President Ballard has now become the 15th oldest
apostle. He is set to move up on the list one more time this year, which will
occur on the last day of next month, when his lifespan will match that of
President Boyd K. Packer, making President Ballard the 14th oldest
apostle in Church history. Among the other apostles, President Oaks will join
the nonagenarian list in 3 years, 1 month, and 27 days, while Elder Soares will
do so in 29 years, 3 months, and 16 days, with the other apostles doing so at
other various intervals, which will be detailed more fully as they approach.
I hope that many of you found this information to be
interesting, informative, and accurate. 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
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that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Hello again, everyone! I wanted to note here that the Church News provided initial coverage on the Oakland California Temple Rededicatory Weekend. An article describes how this rededication was personally significant to Elder Bednar, and also noted how President and Sister Oaks and Elder and Sister Bednar divvied up their responsibilities relating to the afternoon and evening, leading up to and including the devotional itself. You can find more information in the ar4ticle, to which I post the web address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-06-16/3000-youth-welcome-president-oaks-elder-bednar-to-devotional-prior-to-oakland-temple-dedication-50145
I will be carrying full and complete coverage on the rededication of this temple as it becomes available later today. In the meantime, my thanks once again goes out to you all for your continued interest and support.
I wanted to note here now that the Newsroom has provided coverage on the rededication for the Oakland Temple, which you can find at the folowing web address:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-oaks-rededicates-oakland-california-temple
My thanks once again to you all for your ongoing interest and support.