Conservative is likely next Mormon leader
93-year-old Russell M. Nelson does not see himself as a reformer, observers say
The man set to become the next Mormon church president is a 93-year-old former heart surgeon whose conservative track record on the religion’s leadership panel has led Mormon scholars to predict he won’t make any major changes.
Russell M. Nelson is likely to be formally named to the post under longstanding church protocol designed to ensure a smooth handover by giving the post to the longest-tenured member of the governing Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Nelson has been on the panel for three decades.
President Thomas S. Monson died on Tuesday at his home in Salt Lake City after leading the church for nearly a decade. He was 90.
Nelson would become the second-oldest person to be named president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Only Joseph Fielding Smith was older, by one month, when he became church president in 1970.
Expect more “continuity than change” from Nelson, who seems to maintain a conservative interpretation of church doctrine while trying not to alienate anyone, said Patrick Mason, associate professor of religion at Claremont Graduate University in California and the Howard W. Hunter chair of Mormon studies.
“He has a generous impulse within him, but it co-exists alongside a fierce commitment to orthodoxy,” Mason said. “There’s no indication from his previous service that Nelson sees himself as a reformer.”
Scholars don’t expect Nelson to deviate from the church’s current stance on LGBT issues. The faith has opposed gay marriage and homosexual activity amid widespread social acceptance while trying to foster an empathetic stance toward LGBT people.
In a 2016 speech, Nelson defended the religion’s decision the year before to adopt new rules banning children living with gay parents from being baptized until age 18 and clarifying that people in same-sex relationships are considered apostates, meaning they can be kicked out of the religion.
That policy drew harsh criticism from gay church members and their supporters, who considered it a major setback from recent progress.
Nelson said in the speech that the new rules came from a revelation that Monson and other leaders received that gave them “spiritual confirmation” that it was the right thing to do after many U.S. states legalized gay marriage.
Presidents of the Utah-based faith are considered prophets who lead the church through revelations from God in collaboration with two top counsellors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve.
Born in Salt Lake City in 1924, Nelson became a doctor by 22. He served a two-year Army medical tour of duty during the Korean War before resuming a medical career that included being director of thoracic surgery residency at the University of Utah.
In 1984, he was called to join the religion’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and left behind his medical career.
Nelson still uses the precision mentality that made him a successful surgeon, said Richard Bushman, a Mormon historian and emeritus professor at Columbia University.
“He likes exactitude. He likes good order,” Bushman said. “I think we’ll see that.”
Nelson also has a soft side and loves his family, Bushman said. He and his first wife, Dantzel White, had 10 children together. After she died in 2005, Nelson married Wendy Watson in 2006.
The first chance to gauge Nelson’s intentions could come when he chooses his two counsellors from the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Although none of the members are true reformers, some have more centrist streaks than others, Mason said.
Another factor in Nelson’s presidency will be his age, even though he is well-known for vibrant health that makes him look much younger.
“No matter how healthy he is, the limits of age mean it’s going to be tough for him to have a really vigorous and dynamic presidency,” Mason said.
Bushman believes Nelson will have many years of effective leadership. “I don’t think he will come across as an old, old man,” Bushman said. “He seems to have plenty of vigour.”
Nelson is expected to be formally appointed as the 17th Mormon president during a private meeting of the apostles in the Salt Lake City temple, most likely after a funeral is held for Monson on Jan. 12.
Monson, considered a prophet by nearly 16 million Mormons worldwide, spent nearly a decade as church president.
He expanded the church’s reach and its transparency and was known for promoting humanitarian causes despite leading a divisive fight against gay marriage.
Monson spent more than five decades serving in top church leadership councils.
A church bishop at the age of 22, the Salt Lake City native became the youngest church apostle ever in 1963 at the age of 36. He served as a counsellor for three church presidents before assuming the role of the top leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in February 2008.