October 2017 Changes in General Church Leadership

[james]

Hello. I know I am very early in posting this right now, but as I have already assembled my predictions for next General Conference (which is still almost six months away), I wanted to use this topic to discuss the changes I feel we will see in general Church leadership for the October General Conference.

Before I share those predictions, I wanted to note a couple of things. Those 3 General Authority Seventies I have listed below are or will be 70 by the time this conference comes around. And I would have to go over my list of area seventies (once I get that updated) and determine how many of them have served the longest (the standard service period seems to be around 6-7 years in most cases). Also, if any current area seventies or General Authority Seventies are called to be temple presidents when those assignments are announced later this year, that would likely impact these predictions.

That said, we are entering a new era that is somewhat unprecedented. Since area seventies started being referred to as such, it was customary to have them released if they received subsequent assignments to preside over missions or temples. But I had thought for the April General Conference that several area seventies who were called to be mission presidents would be released as per the usual custom and pattern, and, since each of those area seventies were assigned to preside over the missions in the area in which they are currently serving, they were all retained.

In fact, it was very weird that only two area seventies were released. I'm sure the Church simply needs all those who are called right now in view of the extensive expansion of the work in all parts of the world. And it makes sense on another level when we consider that area seventies serve on a part-time basis, and at times, both area seventies and mission presidents in areas of the world are invited to participate in stake conferences.


While I have yet to update my lists tracking area seventy changes in full after the General Conference changes last weekend, I think it would be safe to say that the number of area seventies we have serving right now is the greatest number it ever has been.

The thing I don't know is how the two releases in April might factor into how many area seventies are released and sustained next October. Usually, as noted, only a few changes seem to be made in October (when President Eyring leads out in the Sustaining) and the bulk of changes happens in April (when President Uchtdorf, who, as one who is familiar with international name pronunciations, leads out).

More to come once more is known. In the meantime, comments are welcome and appreciated. Thanks in advance.

Here's that list:


Changes in General Church Leadership

General Authority Seventies: Elders Stanley G. Ellis, Larry R. Lawrence, and W. Craig Zwick released as General Authority Seventies and granted emeritus status.

NOTE: Elder Ellis turned 70 in January this year, just as Elder Zwick did in June, and Elder Lawrence did in August, so it would make sense if these men were released and granted emeritus status.

RESULT:

Area Seventies: Releases and sustainings.

NOTE: It has been customary for most changes in area seventies to take place in April, when President Uchtdorf leads out in the sustaining vote, and for only a few to take place in October, when President Eyring leads out in the sustaining. Since we are talking about an October General Conference, it would make sense if only a few changes happened this go-round.

RESULT:


Thoughts?

[brycen]

I agree with what you have here. Barring any deaths that may occur, those 3 releases may be the only General Authority changes. One other possibility remains, though. Every July there is a change in the Area Presidencies, and occasionally this leads to someone in the Presidency of the Seventy being released. The last two changes in the Presidency involved someone being released from service as a Seventy (Elder Rasband was called to be an Apostle in Oct 2015, and Tad R Callister was called to be Sunday School President in April 2014). Therefore it's been over 4 years since there was a change in which the released member of the Presidency remained an active Seventy. Walter F Gonzalez was released from serving in the Presidency in 2013 but is still a General Authority 70. I don't know that we can predict when this will happen, but I only raise as a possibility that there could be a change in the Presidency because of the Area Presidency assignments. If so it would be announced in July, but we would still sustain them in October. Unless they were no longer in the Presidency by then. Twice that I am aware of, someone has served in the Presidency of the 70 for only 2-3 months and then become an Apostle (Joseph B Wirthlin in 1986, and Quentin L Cook in 2007).

I also wonder if all the new Mission, temple, and MTC presidents have been announced. Occasionally a sister in the auxiliary presidencies is released to serve with her husband on a mission. All the university presidents have been changed recently, one of whom was in the Sunday School Presidency, so I don't expect those to be affected for a while.

[james]

Apr 10, 2017 6:15:30 GMT brycen said:

I agree with what you have here. Barring any deaths that may occur, those 3 releases may be the only General Authority changes. One other possibility remains, though. Every July there is a change in the Area Presidencies, and occasionally this leads to someone in the Presidency of the Seventy being released. The last two changes in the Presidency involved someone being released from service as a Seventy (Elder Rasband was called to be an Apostle in Oct 2015, and Tad R Callister was called to be Sunday School President in April 2014). Therefore it's been over 4 years since there was a change in which the released member of the Presidency remained an active Seventy. Walter F Gonzalez was released from serving in the Presidency in 2013 but is still a General Authority 70. I don't know that we can predict when this will happen, but I only raise as a possibility that there could be a change in the Presidency because of the Area Presidency assignments. If so it would be announced in July, but we would still sustain them in October. Unless they were no longer in the Presidency by then. Twice that I am aware of, someone has served in the Presidency of the 70 for only 2-3 months and then become an Apostle (Joseph B Wirthlin in 1986, and Quentin L Cook in 2007).

I also wonder if all the new Mission, temple, and MTC presidents have been announced. Occasionally a sister in the auxiliary presidencies is released to serve with her husband on a mission. All the university presidents have been changed recently, one of whom was in the Sunday School Presidency, so I don't expect those to be affected for a while.

Hey, brycen! You raise a very valid point about members of the Presidency of the Seventy. Another possibility that you did not mention is if by chance we have an apostolic death and if the successor to that apostolic vacancy is sustained from the Presidency. But right now (as I observed recently in another thread somewhere, might have been here, not sure), we have three in our current Presidency of the Seventy (Elders Clayton, Hallstrom, and Gong), who came to the Presidency to fill a vacancy occasioned by an apostolic call (Elder Clayton filled the spot that Elder Christofferson left, as did Elder Hallstrom for Elder Andersen, and Elder Gong for Elder Rasband). Interestingly enough, Elder Clayton's current status as Senior President of the Seventy also came because his predecessor, Elder Rasband, was sustained an apostle. So Elder Clayton's status in the Presidency has been affected twice by an apostolic calling. Elders Maynes and Soares were called to the Presidency outside of normal times because of the calls of Elders Steven E. Snow as Church Historian and Recorder and Walter F. Gonzalez to a different area presidency. Elder Craig C. Christensen's call to the Presidency in August of 2012 came because he was asked to fill the vacancy created by Elder Jay E. Jensen's release from that body to become an emeritus seventy the following October. Elder Lynn G. Robbins's call was effected by Elder Tad R. Callister being released from the Presidency of the Seventy and as a General Authority Seventy in April of 2014 to accept the new calling as Sunday School General President.

That said, we should not have to wait long to find out what will happen with changes in area leadership. Those changes are usually announced either in late April or early May of each year, becoming effective on August 1 (used to be August 15) of that same year.

But I don't know what to expect there. The Lord seems to need General Authority Seventies to serve in the Presidency of their quorum on a very differing schedule. We have had two Presidency members, as you noted, that served for only a month or less in their assignments before being called to the apostleship. And there have been others whose service spanned 10+ years in the Quorum presidency.

This makes me very glad that I am not the one in charge of making such changes. And it seems that there is no consistency used in determining how long each Presidency assignment lasts. We could see changes there, but I would not be surprised if we didn't. And there may be any number of other reasons why tenure in that presidency could be affected.

You can be sure I will be keeping an eye out for any such developments and that I will do my best to report them here whenever I do find them. 

As to your other questions, temple presidency assignments are scattered throughout the year (for new temples) or made during early fall of every year (for their assignments to take effect on or around the first Monday in November). Temple president changes are sometimes hard to pin down. If a certain president is in ill health or dies unexpectedly, the Church moves swiftly to make a change. But that is the general pattern.

And unless the Church announces more missions (which is unlikely but possible) or unless something happens with the health of one currently serving, all mission president assignments are announced during the first part of the year (so they can attend the Seminar for New Mission Presidents held during the first third of the year), no changes typically happen there.

There is always a possibility that the Church will make such changes, but it seems improbable. The Lord has been known to surprise us at times, but it doesn't seem very likely.

So barring anything changing that is unexpected, it is not likely that we will see any changes in the Presidency of the Seventy. We can also rule out any changes in auxiliary presidencies, which generally happen in the April General Conference (with the Primary just changed last year, the Relief Society this year, the Young Women due for next year, the Sunday School in 2019, and the Young Men in 2020. So it is unlikely that anything will change there.

The presidents of most of the Church-owned universities are not due for a change anytime soon either. BYU has had President Kevin J Worthen for just under 3 years, BYU-Idaho and BYU-Pathway Worldwide have had Henry J. Eyring and Clark S. Gilbert since April 10 of this year, John S. Tanner only became the BYU-Hawaii president in July two years ago, and LDS Business College's new president Bruce Kush will start his new assignment on the 17th of this month.

With those changes happening so recently, it is unlikely that any of that will factor in to changes in the Presidency of the Seventy. The Church has been known to surprise us, so we will have to see.

Hope this information is helpful to you. Thanks for reading this.