Leaders of worldwide religions commonly stay at the helm well past retirement age, but it’s not often that a centenarian oversees a major faith. As of Monday, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints boasts such a leader, with church president Russell M. Nelson turning 100. He had already become the oldest president ever of the Utah-based faith three years ago and now marks its first to hit the century mark.
“Age, wisdom and spiritual authority go together,” said Angie Hong, a program director for Leadership Education at Duke Divinity School.
Pope Francis is 87. The Dalai Lama is 89. Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew of Constantinople, who leads Eastern Orthodox Christians worldwide, is 84. Ali al-Sistani, the grand ayatollah and senior religious figure for the world’s 200 million Shia Muslims, is 94.
To honor Nelson’s 100th birthday, the church commemorated the occasion with a special broadcast. Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, a Republican and church member, also declared Monday to be “President Russell M. Nelson Day” in the state.
“President Nelson is a leader not only in Utah, but across the world. He has worked tirelessly to build bridges of understanding and kindness and has led a life full of family, faith and selfless service,” Cox said in a statement.
The president of the denomination, widely known as the Mormon church, oversees everything from its multibillion-dollar financial holdings to church doctrine and policy. He is also considered to be a prophet of God and serves until death.
Traditionally, the new president is chosen from among the Quorum of The Twelve Apostles, one of the faith’s top governing bodies, specifically its longest-tenured member. Nelson, selected to join the Quorum in 1984, has spent four decades in the upper echelons of church leadership.
In 2018, he became the church’s 17th president at 93, making him the second oldest at the time to assume the role. Scholars and those who have known him for decades say he wasted no time in reshaping the church, including overhauling worship services and constructing new temples.
Nelson’s advanced age has not been a great concern primarily because of his dynamic leadership, stated Patrick Mason, a religion and history professor at Utah State University. He highlighted the church’s meaningful service opportunities for its older members as one of its strengths.
“There is a general sensibility that there is wisdom and steadiness that comes with age,” Mason said.
While the church continues to expand, Nelson’s 100th birthday highlights the broader composition of its aging white male leadership. Nelson’s top two counselors, one of whom is his presumed successor, form what the church calls “the first presidency” and are both in their 90s. Six of the 15 men in the church’s top leadership panels are 80 or older.
Over the years, some have argued that the church would benefit from younger leadership in a changing world. Others have defended the status quo, celebrating the wisdom and spiritual maturity the church’s aging leaders bring to their roles.
Hong, the leadership expert from Duke, observed that good spiritual leaders are those who “always look to mentor and raise up younger leaders.”
This practice spans faith traditions. In Hinduism, for example, aging leaders from various sects choose and guide their successors while remaining active and involved in day-to-day operations.
In a ceremony at church headquarters in Salt Lake City, close relatives, church leaders, and clergy from other faiths paid tribute to Nelson.
Nelson has been both the “Lord’s mouthpiece” and “unfailingly kind and composed, gentle and forgiving,” said Jeffrey Holland, acting president of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“We celebrate the sweet, robust, history-making 100 years of your life. We have come to say we love you and we say it in the name of Jesus Christ,” Holland said.
Leading up to his 100th birthday, Nelson called on church members to reach out to someone in need, inspired by the biblical parable of a shepherd who left the 99 sheep he was tending to find the one that was lost.
“He’s a very loving leader. He is easy to love,” said Dallin H. Oaks, a high-ranking church leader who is next in line to become church president, in a pre-recorded video interview aired during the broadcast.
In his own video message, Nelson contemplated why God had allowed him to live 100 years. “The length of your life is not as important as the kind of life you live. For each of us, even for a 100-year-old man, life passes quickly. My prayer is that you will let God prevail in your life,” he stated.
Rank-and-file church members expressed admiration for Nelson’s ability to lead at 100 and felt blessed to see and hear him speak. Church member Mark Chavez praised Nelson’s administration for constructing new temples globally and for appointing individuals from different countries to leadership roles, marking a more internationally focused era for the U.S.-based faith.
Nelson became known for leading the church during the COVID-19 pandemic and severing its century-long ties with the Boy Scouts of America when the organization decided to permit openly gay youth members and adult volunteers, as well as transgender boys and girls.
Under Nelson, the church stated it welcomes LGBTQ+ members but maintains that same-sex marriage is a sin.
Last month, new policies for transgender members were issued, barring them from serving as priests or teachers, working with children, or staying at youth camps overnight. Previously banned from being baptized, they may now only use single-occupancy restrooms in church meetinghouses.
One of Nelson’s first acts as president was to call on members to stop using the shorthand names “Mormon” and “LDS” as substitutes for the full name of the religion.
Born in Salt Lake City in 1924, Nelson joined the church as a young adult. At age 22, he served a two-year Army medical tour during the Korean War and later became the director of thoracic surgery residency at the University of Utah.
“He walks a very gentle line between underscoring what the doctrine states while expressing love for all involved,” said Sheri Dew, Nelson’s biographer and executive vice president of the Deseret Management Corporation, which is owned by the church.
“You may not agree with everything he believes,” she said. “But any fair assessment of his life would conclude that he has truly tried to make life better for millions of people.”
