Quorum of the Twelve Average Age over the years

[Stargazer]

I occasionally watch the LDS-oriented YouTube channel "Ward Radio," but I don't watch every video they put out. I started to watch one of them the other day, don't remember which one, and with my ADHD quickly lost interest. But one thing that was brought up before I moved on was the alleged danger of an increasingly elderly Quorum of the Twelve. Apparently some people with nits to pick worry about their average age getting greater and greater, and turning the church into a gerontocracy (that's "rule by old people"). Interesting idea, I thought, though in watching General Conference twice a year, it seems that they are not a crew of doddering old men so much as a crew of rather vital intellects and spiritual giants. YMMV.

But the idea of checking out how the Q12 average age has been tracking over the history of the church intrigued me. I decided to put my retired programmer brain to work in order to produce a graph of Q12 average ages on April 6 each year from 1836 to 2025. I put each apostles date of birth, dates of Q12 joining and leaving (either by death, release, rejoining, or joining the 1st Presidency) into a Sql database and wrote a program to calculate the average each year. The graph below is the one I came up with using MS Excel.

I thought it would be mildly interesting to some of you. This is the kind of useless nonsense I sometimes get into as a retired person living a life of leisure.

[supersc]

It is on a trajectory to be >90 or 100 when the Savior returns.

[The Nehor]

Now my ADHD brain is thinking that the graph might better show change if the Y axis started at 30 but then I wonder if that is clarifying or if it is biasing the appearance of the data.

I have no idea so going to give my brain a break.

[Kenngo1969]

I'm not critiquing your interest, the product that has resulted from that interest, or even anyone who is gainsaying the seemingly-ever-advancing average age of members of the Quorum of the Twelve.  These are simply general observations.

As the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has matured as an institution, so has the average age of those in leadership risen, generally speaking.  However, even in this dispensation, recall that then-Elder Thomas S. Monson was called into the Quorum of the Twelve at the ripe old age ... of 36!   (He skewed the average, I'm sure! )

AI returned this when I asked about the average age of LDS Apostles (formatting mine):

Quote

 

AI Overview
The ages of Latter-day Saint (LDS) apostles at the time of their call have varied over time. The original 12 apostles called in the 1830s were in their 20s and 30s. By 1860, the apostles who remained in the quorum were in their 50s and 60s. 
Average ages of apostles 
19th century
The average age of apostles called in the 19th century was 33 years and 2 months.
20th century
The average age of apostles called in the 20th century was 54 years and 0 months.
21st century
The average age of apostles called in the 21st century was 61 years and 8 months.

 

 

 

My personal opinion is as the Church of Jesus Christ continues to grow deeper roots in Africa and South America, the likelihood of Brethren being called into the Quorum from those areas increases, and it is my impression (though I don't have any particular data to back it up) that the Church tends to skew younger in those areas.  (I'm not sure about numbers, but my own impression from your neck of the woods is that members who have relocated there are some of the strongest and staunchest in the Church.)

 👍

[Kenngo1969]

19 minutes ago, supersc said:

It is on a trajectory to be >90 or 100 when the Savior returns.

And, if so, so be it.  Eighty might just be the new 60.  I'm sure there are moments when President Nelson feels every second of his age.  Your mileage probably varies, and that's fine, but I always laugh when members of my family pray for him to have strength and energy.  Naw!  President Nelson seems like the Energizer Bunny: Heavenly Father, give me some of his strength and energy!  😆  While, again, others' mileage may vary, I'm less concerned about who Christ selects to lead His Church than I am with the idea that whoever holds the earthly reins (and however old he might be), ultimately, it is Christ who is in charge.

Edited February 8, 2025 by Kenngo1969

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, supersc said:

It is on a trajectory to be >90 or 100 when the Savior returns.

The curve seems to be asymptotic to a line between 70 and 80, actually. 

[Stargazer]

2 hours ago, Kenngo1969 said:

My personal opinion is as the Church of Jesus Christ continues to grow deeper roots in Africa and South America, the likelihood of Brethren being called into the Quorum from those areas increases, and it is my impression (though I don't have any particular data to back it up) that the Church tends to skew younger in those areas.  (I'm not sure about numbers, but my own impression from your neck of the woods is that members who have relocated there are some of the strongest and staunchest in the Church.)

The reason why the church skews younger in Africa is because the church is very new there. 

There are some other areas where this is also true, but the size of the membership is very small. About five years ago we had a couple of full-time missionary elders in our ward who were both from Papua New Guinea, of all places! Being in the UK, we get a lot of missionaries from areas that I never saw in my USA life. Over the last few years we've had missionaries (sisters, in our case now) from Portugal, South Africa, Armenia, and the Northern Marianas Islands (a US territory, but still). We've even had a couple from the US, but not that many. We just got a new sister assigned, whom I haven't met yet, but her name seems to hail from either Cameroon or Kenya. I'll find out tomorrow.

[Dario_M]

Maybe the 12 apostles from the Quorom these days may be older then they used to be in the past but are still young in the mind. Age is just a number. As long as they are doing a good job i don't care what their ages are.🤷‍♀️

[Rain]

5 hours ago, Stargazer said:

The reason why the church skews younger in Africa is because the church is very new there. 

I would assume the biggest reason why is because the general population of Africa is younger.  

5 hours ago, Stargazer said:

There are some other areas where this is also true, but the size of the membership is very small. About five years ago we had a couple of full-time missionary elders in our ward who were both from Papua New Guinea, of all places! Being in the UK, we get a lot of missionaries from areas that I never saw in my USA life. Over the last few years we've had missionaries (sisters, in our case now) from Portugal, South Africa, Armenia, and the Northern Marianas Islands (a US territory, but still). We've even had a couple from the US, but not that many. We just got a new sister assigned, whom I haven't met yet, but her name seems to hail from either Cameroon or Kenya. I'll find out tomorrow.

 

[Anonymous Mormon]

@Stargazer - It would be interesting to overlay this with a graph showing the age trend of the population overall. I am guessing that the church is following the general population trend that is getting older and living longer.

As technology and medicine improves, people are living longer and able to do more in their older years. This is why the age of our politicians is getting older also.

[longview]

Would it be useful to track the age of apostles who were martyred and/or the age for excommunication? The number as well as the averages.

[Robert F. Smith]

18 hours ago, Stargazer said:

..................................

.. Q12 average ages on April 6 each year from 1836 to 2025............... using MS Excel.

....................

Now if you will include a simultaneous graph of the increase in longevity for American men over that same period, at the same time excluding childhood mortality figures, we would be able to see what is really going on.  The graph would continue to show that the early leaders of the Restoration were quite young, but around the turn of the century most members of the Q12 and Pres. (Q15?) would level off into a normal range of old age at death.  Likely nothing unusual.  Particularly in a population which eschews booze, drugs, tobacco, and a dissolute lifestyle.

[JustAnAustralian]

14 hours ago, Robert F. Smith said:

Now if you will include a simultaneous graph of the increase in longevity for American men over that same period, at the same time excluding childhood mortality figures, we would be able to see what is really going on. 

Yes, I'd like to see that added too. I'd also like to see a plot of the average age of the first presidency added.

[Calm]

21 hours ago, Rain said:

would assume the biggest reason why is because the general population of Africa is younger.  

Converts in general also tend to be younger iirc.  With membership in Africa being more first generation (this is a guess), they are overall likely younger than members in the States and more established areas.

[2BizE]

I love data. Thanks for making this graph. As a very nuanced member of the church, it is my viewpoint that the older the church leaders get, the more irrelevant they become. For example, President Nelson is 6-7 generations removed from the current generation which leads many to believe he cannot understand what is important to them.

[Robert F. Smith]

1 hour ago, 2BizE said:

I love data. Thanks for making this graph. As a very nuanced member of the church, it is my viewpoint that the older the church leaders get, the more irrelevant they become. For example, President Nelson is 6-7 generations removed from the current generation which leads many to believe he cannot understand what is important to them.

Could you please graph the stats on that?

[longview]

10 hours ago, 2BizE said:

For example, President Nelson is 6-7 generations removed from the current generation which leads many to believe he cannot understand what is important to them.

The leadership has more individual wisdom in the tip of their little fingers than you have in your whole body. Having great familiarity with the "Big Picture" is something the young whippersnappers don't have. Even if they were to scour history textbooks, there is NO substitute for profound personal experiences.

[2BizE]

3 minutes ago, longview said:

The leadership has more individual wisdom in the tip of their little fingers than you have in your whole body. Having great familiarity with the "Big Picture" is something the young whippersnappers don't have. Even if they were to scour history textbooks, there is NO substitute for profound personal experiences.

I somewhat agree.  Age definitely gives experience. What I am talking about is perspective. I do wonder if long-time church leaders lose some of their grip on reality having been in a Mormon bubble, surrounded by those who only speak to them what they want to hear.

[Robert F. Smith]

3 hours ago, longview said:

The leadership has more individual wisdom in the tip of their little fingers than you have in your whole body. Having great familiarity with the "Big Picture" is something the young whippersnappers don't have. Even if they were to scour history textbooks, there is NO substitute for profound personal experiences.

 

3 hours ago, 2BizE said:

I somewhat agree.  Age definitely gives experience. What I am talking about is perspective. I do wonder if long-time church leaders lose some of their grip on reality having been in a Mormon bubble, surrounded by those who only speak to them what they want to hear.

Q15 are supposed to be prophets seers and revelators. 

Latter-day Saint leaders are supposed to listen to the Holy Spirit -- which should enable them to remain au courant, n'est-ce pas?

[rodheadlee]

On 2/8/2025 at 7:07 AM, Stargazer said:

I occasionally watch the LDS-oriented YouTube channel "Ward Radio," but I don't watch every video they put out. I started to watch one of them the other day, don't remember which one, and with my ADHD quickly lost interest. But one thing that was brought up before I moved on was the alleged danger of an increasingly elderly Quorum of the Twelve. Apparently some people with nits to pick worry about their average age getting greater and greater, and turning the church into a gerontocracy (that's "rule by old people"). Interesting idea, I thought, though in watching General Conference twice a year, it seems that they are not a crew of doddering old men so much as a crew of rather vital intellects and spiritual giants. YMMV.

But the idea of checking out how the Q12 average age has been tracking over the history of the church intrigued me. I decided to put my retired programmer brain to work in order to produce a graph of Q12 average ages on April 6 each year from 1836 to 2025. I put each apostles date of birth, dates of Q12 joining and leaving (either by death, release, rejoining, or joining the 1st Presidency) into a Sql database and wrote a program to calculate the average each year. The graph below is the one I came up with using MS Excel.

I thought it would be mildly interesting to some of you. This is the kind of useless nonsense I sometimes get into as a retired person living a life of leisure.

It would be interesting to interpose that on a graph of the lifespan of man. I'm sure that has changed over the years they might even match. You would maybe have to do that by the country that they live in as I'm sure it's different in different countries.

Edited February 12, 2025 by rodheadlee