Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, August 17, it is time to publish the newest such data on this General Conference Sunday. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency now moving up on that list), the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles). and an overview of when each of those current groups will move up on the list. As previously noted, the current Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and apostolic group will not join that list until late next year, assuming no other apostles pass away between now and then.
Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 12 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list.
With these apostolic data updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on the morning of Sunday, November 23 (which will be the last such update for this year)..
Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here.
Stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates.
Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
This comment is just to note that I will have to catch up on Church News updates later today (Monday). It took me longer than I thought to do a video for my YouTube channel tonight, so stay tuned for my thoughts on the latest Church News updates in about 10 hours or so. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! I am back on this Monday to share the other updates from the Church News that I referenced yesterday. Before doing so, I would like to note that President Nelson's viewing is ongoing until 8:00 PM MDT tonight, and the funeral proper will follow at noon MDT tomorrow. Additionally, Jenny Oaks Baker was on KSL's new "Noon Show", where she was asked about her dad, and she said that every time he gets together with any of his family, he always talks about Jesus Christ. Since that is (or should be) a major focus of the ministry of any prophet, I feel to testify that the Church is in good hands with President Oaks leading it.
DeleteThat being said, he paid tribute to President Nelson on Saturday Morning. The Church News also provided the background of the new hymn "Bread of Life, Living Water". During the Saturday sessions of General Conference, speakers focused heavily on messages of belonging.
The Church News also shared the history of temples in Mexico, and the text of the message given by Brother Derrick Porter on Sunday morning's broadcast of "Muisc & the Spoken Word". The latest edition of "In Case You Missed It: Week in Review" covered the top nine developments from the last week.Another major focus of the conference was ministering.Yet another focus was repentance & healing.President Oaks' closing remarks focused heavily on the valuable place of families in society.
With the "Come, Follow Me"curriculum this week focused on D&C sections 111-114, see what Church leaders have said about those sections. 12 gloabal participants sang with the choir during the 3 sessions in which they were featured. Where to find peace175 years of usAnd age. And one Church member family has deep connections to the Hill Cumorah.
So that brings my Church News coverage up to date. Any new Newsroom reports , temple updates, or aadditional Church News stories will be shared here later today. Hopefully those updates will probve interesting. My thanks once again to you all.
Literally thousands have flocked to Salt Lake City for the viewing of President Russell M. Nelson. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church Temples site reports that, a week and a half or so after its' September 25 groundbreaking, the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple is in the earliest phases of full-scale construction. It has been assigned a late 2028 completion window. There are now only 8 temples with full-scale construction pending. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared < PDF summaries of the 34 talks given during the April 2025 General Conference. Additionally, a special edition of "This Week on Social" entitled This Conference on Social", has been published, featuring social media content from the following general Church leaders:
DeletePresident Dallin H. Oaks, President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,, and the following members of that Quorum: Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Henry B. Eyring, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, Dale G. Renlund, Gerrit W. Gong, Ulisses Soares,. And while the previous editions of :This Conference on Social" have included general officers' posts as well, this time around, it did not. I am working on my "General Conference postmorten", as it were, so I hope to have something more to share in new comments and posts in the near term. My thanks once again to you all.
I had a thought. The recent norm when a prophet dies has been funeral on Saturday, and in Sunday the 14 apostles meet in the temple in a spirit of fasting. Itbis during this meeting that the new prophet, counselors, President and (if necessary) Acting President of the Twelve are sustained and set apart. The next day (Monday) they hold the press conference to announce the results of the meeting. With the funeral on a Tuesday, the meeting could theoretically be Wednesday, with part of the meeting dedicated to selecting the next apostle who could then be called and set apart on Thursday, with a Friday press conference.
ReplyDeleteMy other thought, President Oaks could be the first prophet since President Woodruff to be set apart in a building other than the Salt Lake temple. Where do you think they will meet? My wife joked that there are plenty of other temples in Utah to choose from.
Hey, Scott S.! Great to hear from you. My personal opinion is that President Oaks and the other apostles may need a slight break between the funeral and reorganization discussion occurs. My personal thought is that the meeting may happen on Thursday, which has been the day for major Church announcements except for temple construction announcements. Elder Kearon was ordained on a Thursday, and the ordination was reported on Friday. So I think the reorganization meeting will happen this Thursday, though I could see it being deferred to Friday.
DeleteWhat I will be interested to see is if President Oaks opts to talk to Church members before a press conference announcing his ordination. His predecessor did so, but I don't know if he will. About where the meeting will take place, the Church Temples site has noted that the apostles have dedicated a temporary meeting space in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building while the Salt Lake Temple renovation is ongoing. Does that answer your inquiry?
On the question of the resulting apostolic vacancy, President Ballard died in November, and the resulting vacancy was not filled until early December 2023. With that in mind, on the one hand, I don't think there's as much of a rush to fill the apostolic vacancy after the new First Presidency is in place. On the other hand, even though Elder Kearon was not ordanied until a month after President Ballard's passing, Elder Holland was ordained just over two weeks after the Hunter presidency was in place. The one thing we can be almost certain of is that there will be separate press conferences for the new First Presidency and the new apostle, whenever the latter is called. Elders Gong and Soares only met with the press three weeks after their ordinations, and Elder Kearon had his meeting with the press the month after he was ordained.
I would anticipate an announcement of whatever's going to happen with the First Presidency to be made on Wednesday, but the meeting of the apostles and the ordination and setting apart for President Oaks and his ccunselors to occur the day before the press conference. But in so many ways, this apostolic interregnum has been atypical, so it's difficult to say for sure what will happen. So I would just say, stay tuned, and we'll find out soon enough. Hope these thoughts, such as they are, are helpful. Thanks, Scott.
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DeleteI heard or read somewhere that when the Salt Lake Temple was closed for its renovation that the first presidency dedicated a room or rooms in the Joseph Smith Memorial Building as temporary temple space for the first presidency and apostles to meet. There may be other additional ordinances that they perform there but I don't know all the details.
DeleteThe Wikipedia article for the Joseph Smith Memorial building mentions that the 8th floor was dedicated as kind of a mini temple for the first presidency and apostles to meet in. It shares are reference link to the Salt Lake Tribune so take it for what it's worth. "The church's top leadership, known as general authorities, hold a weekly meeting in the nearby Salt Lake Temple. During the 2020s, when the temple was closed due to a large-scale renovation project, the eighth floor of the Joseph Smith Memorial Building underwent an estimated $2,000,000 remodel, after which it was dedicated as a sacred meeting space for leadership while the temple remained under renovation.[10". https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2021/01/14/joseph-smith-memorial/
Deletehttps://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Smith_Memorial_Building
DeleteHey, Chris! Insofar as I am aware, that dedicated place in the JSMB is solely for the purpose of holding their weekly Thursday meetings, which do not include any ordinances of which I am aware. My understanding is that part of that Thursday meeting includes an apostolic prayer circle, but that's not necessarily an ordinance. That's why I suggest that the First Presidency may be reconstituted on Thursday. I don't know if the Church will publicly announce that it happened. We may just hear about it whenever a press conference introduces the new leaders, although I am cautiously optimistic that President Oaks may follow the trend of President Nelson and speak to the Church membership before a press conference is held. I'm cautiously optimistic there will be an announcement about this after President Nelson is laid to rest. Either way, I look forward to seeing what happens this week
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