Emeritus status for all GAs over 70?

[JAHS]

I think this has been mentioned before(hasn't everything?), but I saw a recent commentary in the SLT (so consider the source).
Some excerpts from the article:

"Never one to keep his opinions to himself, Elder Hugh Brown told First Presidency counselor J.
Reuben Clark in 1945 what he thought of the church’s aging leadership. Clark recorded
in his diary:
“Hugh B. Brown — Quite a long talk with him. He says a very great deal of frank talk
and dissatisfaction in the church. Dissatisfaction seemed to be over the fact that so
many of the general authorities were getting old.”

President Heber J. Grant, who was Brown’s mentor and his
mission president, taught him that there was nothing sacred or doctrinal about the most
senior apostle becoming the president, nor was there justification for it in scripture. It
was simply a tradition.

The apostles knew that there would be significant risks having the ailing Joseph Fielding
Smith as the church president. They worried that he would stumble over his words in
General Conference, and embarrass himself and the church. They had good reason to
worry. Smith was dozing through meetings, couldn’t remember things, and often
repeated himself to friends and family. They also knew of Grant’s strong views about
presidential succession because they had heard them, too. Nevertheless, they feared
change; they didn’t want to alter “the proper order of things,” as then-apostle Spencer
W. Kimball put it. They asserted that it would take a divine revelation to change the
practice of presidential succession.

 Brown proposed that all general authorities, including the Quorum of
the Twelve and the First Presidency, be given emeritus status at age 70. He proposed
that apostles select the church president in a private meeting, in much the same way the
College of Cardinals picks the pope in the Catholic Church. There wouldn’t be smoke
wafting out of the Salt Lake Temple to signal that a new leader had been selected. The
new president, rather, would be announced at General Conference, and he would be
selected based on his health, vigor and fitness to lead — not on his seniority among the
apostle

Even though the apostles didn’t accept Brown’s proposal, his efforts did not go
unheeded. In 1978, N. Eldon Tanner of the governing First Presidency announced in
General Conference that members of the First Quorum of Seventy — which ranked just
below the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency — would achieve emeritus
status at age 70.
________________
I do remember when Spencer W Kimball was president the entire first presidency was too old and frail to perform duties so Gordon B Hinckley was chosen as a 3rd counselor to pretty much handle everything. So far having such elderly Apostles doesn't seem to have been a problem for the church. But could things be better if there were younger members of the FP and Twelve or is it more important to benefit from the older one's years of experience and wisdom?

[Nofear]

I was about to post this article. Not because I think Matthew L. Harris is exactly a faith promoting author, but neither do I shirk from history*. This article should also be juxtaposed with Elder Bedner's 2015 talk "Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name" where he defends the gerontocracy of the Church. For my part, I side with Elder Bednar but if change comes I'm ok with that too.



* Had a fascinating conversation with Gemini yesterday about the socio-religious norms among us LDS and using the cross. Apparently protestants weren't big into the cross (especially the crucifix) in the 1800s as part of an effort to differentiate from Catholicism. But it really came to be quasi-institutionalized when anti-Mormon Catholic Bishop Duane Hunt and Pres. McKay butted heads.

[Prof]

If you're 70, you can no longer be a seventy.

[Tacenda]

I think the apostles, general authorities and prophets, most likely would welcome some time to be with family, friends and especially their spouses! And attend to personal needs and hobbies etc. 

[JAHS]

37 minutes ago, Prof said:

If you're 70, you can no longer be a seventy.

I was a 70 once, but I was only 30 at the time.

[blackstrap]

Age is just a number. I know 50 year olds that should not be driving and 90 year olds who are still cross-country skiing. 

The current method of picking the President does seem to limit the political maneuvering found in other institutions 

[longview]

The Lord did "revitalize" Pres. Nelson to appear 30 years younger. The Lord can call back "junior" apostles before they get within top 4 "candidates" to Heaven.

[Calm]

1 hour ago, blackstrap said:

The current method of picking the President does seem to limit the political maneuvering found in other institutions 

I agree with this, but couldn’t it still occur if an age limit were put on serving.  I do think we would miss out on some benefits in some cases, but the losses might be more than compensated for by the gains.  I may be wrong here because I am using personal experiences of 80 and older individuals and in all likelihood, the 15 are not typical seniors.  There are at the very least significant cognitive benefits to remaining engaged in substantial and meaningful work, both for cognitive and social health and therefore physical health.

I do wish for their sake there was a basic health standard though.  It must be difficult for these sincere, committed men to struggle with health and on top of that know it’s interfering in your ability to serve.  I believe it would be more beneficial to be able to think of it as ‘I have done my best, now it’s time for someone else to have this opportunity’, which needs to happen eventually anyway.  Just make it a few years earlier.  Inability to serve and support others is the primary regret I have about my health, not the lost opportunities I have had to develop myself and fulfill my dreams—though these hurt deeply—but the sense of loss (and failing when my mind is undisciplined) because I haven’t been able to be in my family and friends’ lives as much as I wanted and expected, especially to give them support and love through their difficulties.  These weigh on me and these were optional choices for the most part (by the time it was affecting my family, my kids were adults), not something I see as a full time commitment.

I think of Bruce R. McConkie, who even when terminally ill would get dressed in his suit and then lay on his bed too exhausted to do anything else.  The drive to serve can be so strong, so much a part of one’s identity permission to rest needs to be something more than just ‘you have done enough, go home and take care of yourself’.  Something concrete like a release may be hard on the ego, but if it becomes common the benefit of being able to focus on self care and those immediately around one would be high, imo.

Quote

On Sunday, April 14, Elder Packer came and blessed Dad for the final time. Elder Packer said that the promises given in the previous blessings were fulfilled in Dad’s conference address and that it was a miracle we had had him this year. Before this blessing, Dad had rested on his bed during the day with his clothes on, refusing to make the concession to his illness by remaining in bed. He had also refused to eat in the bedroom. Regardless of how bad he felt, he would come to the kitchen to make the attempt to eat.

https://fontanacomeuntochrist.com/elder-bruce-r-mcconkie/

Edited March 31 by Calm

[The Nehor]

18 hours ago, Tacenda said:

I think the apostles, general authorities and prophets, most likely would welcome some time to be with family, friends and especially their spouses! And attend to personal needs and hobbies etc. 

It depends. For the workaholics it would be a punishment.

[Prof]

Have we ever had an apostle or members of the presidency step down from their calling?

[Navidad]

I am 77 years old and shar p assss a tick!

[The Nehor]

14 minutes ago, Prof said:

Have we ever had an apostle or members of the presidency step down from their calling?

Sort of, but not due to age-related issues. Most die in office. A few were excommunicated. Moses Thatcher is a weird outlier. He refused to sign a political manifesto requiring that church leaders seek approval before seeking or taking any political office. He saw this as violating the church’s pledge of political neutrality. He was removed from the Quorum of the Twelve but he remained an apostle and continued to serve in other areas of the church.

You could argue there were other apostles that stepped down from their office but these were usually the apostles that were ordained but never added to the Quorum of the Twelve.

 

[MrShorty]

For whatever reason, I recall asking myself once how long it took after RLDS/Community of Christ to extended priesthood ordination to women before a woman was called to the apostleship. I discovered that the first women apostles were called in 1998 -- a mere 14 years after women were first ordained. I realize that there are a lot of different dynamics in that branch of the restoration (smaller membership, they don't broadly ordain people to priesthood like we do, etc.), but I couldn't help but compare to our tradition that broadly began ordaining black people to priesthood in '78 and that has not, yet, trickled up to the top quorums. One of the differences between them and us is that the Q15 don't serve for life. I wonder how more frequent turnover in that top quorum causes the quorum to more closely reflect the demographics of the church at large.

I don't know that it means anything, but that is one thought I've had on this topic.

[JAHS]

On 3/30/2026 at 6:31 AM, Nofear said:

I was about to post this article. Not because I think Matthew L. Harris is exactly a faith promoting author, but neither do I shirk from history*. This article should also be juxtaposed with Elder Bedner's 2015 talk "Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name" where he defends the gerontocracy of the Church. For my part, I side with Elder Bednar but if change comes I'm ok with that too.



* Had a fascinating conversation with Gemini yesterday about the socio-religious norms among us LDS and using the cross. Apparently protestants weren't big into the cross (especially the crucifix) in the 1800s as part of an effort to differentiate from Catholicism. But it really came to be quasi-institutionalized when anti-Mormon Catholic Bishop Duane Hunt and Pres. McKay butted heads.

I think it helps that there are 15 Apostles and the ones more recently called are relatively younger than the others and therefore can fill in as needed with younger minds and bodies.

[JLHPROF]

On 3/29/2026 at 11:30 AM, JAHS said:

President Heber J. Grant, who was Brown’s mentor and his
mission president, taught him that there was nothing sacred or doctrinal about the most
senior apostle becoming the president, nor was there justification for it in scripture. It
was simply a tradition.

 He proposed
that apostles select the church president in a private meeting, in much the same way the
College of Cardinals picks the pope in the Catholic Church. 

According to scripture the current Prophet of the Church has the right to name a successor. In my opinion the Q12 doesn't and shouldn't choose. Only the head can designate his successor.

On 3/31/2026 at 3:57 PM, The Nehor said:

You could argue there were other apostles that stepped down from their office but these were usually the apostles that were ordained but never added to the Quorum of the Twelve.

There were many ordained Apostles who were never a part of the Q12. And some were faithful members throughout their lives.

[MustardSeed]

We attach ourselves so tightly to traditions that even when our traditions are pried from cold dead hands we refuse to speak to what is happening. 
 

why are we like this? Is it because we are highly defensive due to generational abuse from the outside? I imagine so. 
 

so many testimonies I’ve heard are in part based on this very tradition.  My guess is if it was changed it would rattle a lot of older generations cages for a few reasons- older people don’t appreciate getting put out to pasture or watching it be done to others simply due to a number.  Then there’s the lifelong belief that God will not steer his prophets wrong, and since all prophets had been put in place decades previously, we can trust that what is meant to be is meant to be. 
My brain doesn’t need that reassurance these days- but what it does need is accountability. ⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️

[Kenngo1969]

On 3/30/2026 at 9:08 PM, JAHS said:

I was a 70 once, but I was only 30 at the time.

Cue rimshot?