A question that i posted during my general conference semi-liveblogging sessions, but one i want to highlight separately, ’cause i really do wonder what people’s answers might be:
Joseph Smith was a teenager when he was first called as a prophet (though he was in his twenties once his ordination occurred). The original quorum of apostles was made up of fairly young guys. Why don’t we have notably young people in the highest levels of church leadership any more?
Faith Hill: Where Are You, Christmas?
11 years ago
2 comments:
I think it has to do with a living stipend vs. being paid for their job. Being a general authority, at least as far as quorum of the twelve and first presidency goes, is a full time job. They need to either have enough money from some sort of income source to support themselves (pre-retirement age) or to be retired and have money coming that way. The money they get is not really enough to really live. They must have some other income source without actually working for that money. Since the vast majority of people who fit that bill are over 60 or so, the vast majority will be over 60 or so. Plus, right now, we've got a whole bunch who have been in their callings a very long time. They weren't in their 80s when they were called, but they are now simply because they've kept on living.
God’s an economic pragmatist?
Those general authorities who don’t have enough income from other sources to support themselves and their families receive a living stipend from the church. Presumably that would go for a 25-year-old just as much as it does for a 65-year-old.
Thomas S. Monson was called as an apostle when he was quite young by modern standards—but even that age would have made him pretty old if he’d been called with the original quorum of apostles.
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