President Russell M. Nelson, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints passed away on September 27, 2025. At 101 years of age, he was the world’s oldest leader of a global faith organization. How is a new president of the Church selected?

The Church has an organizational structure that provides a clear governance of the Church and an orderly succession when a leader of the Church dies.

• First Presidency. The highest-ranking governing body in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the First Presidency, consisting of the President of the Church and his two counselors, or advisers. This three-man body supervises the work of the entire Church in all matters of policy, organization, and administration.
• Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The second-highest presiding body in Church government is the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Apostles serve under the direction of the First Presidency and have heavy administrative responsibilities to oversee the orderly progress and development of the Church throughout the world. The First Presidency and Twelve Apostles are regarded by Latter-day Saints as leaders who receive divine revelation and inspiration to guide the Church.

Each of these 15 men are ordained as Apostles of Jesus Christ. The longest-serving Apostle serves as the President of the Church.

Seniority and Succession in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is determined by date of ordination, not by age or other factors. (If two Apostles are ordained on the same day, the older of the two is typically ordained first.) The most senior Apostle serves as President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles.

When one of the Apostles dies, a new Apostle is selected by the President of the Church and sustained by the membership of the Church at a general conference. The new Apostle becomes the most junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Succession in the First Presidency

When the President of the Church dies, the First Presidency is dissolved, and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles becomes the presiding council of the Church. Therefore, upon the death of President Nelson, his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, were released, and the First Presidency was dissolved. Elder Oaks and Elder Eyring then returned to their respective positions of seniority in the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. (See chart below.) President Dallin H. Oaks, as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve became the highest-ranking official in the Church.

Chart of Seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Below is a chart of the current Apostles, listed by seniority.

Process of Succession

The appointment of a new President of the Church happens in an orderly way that avoids internal lobbying for position or rank. When the President of the Church passes away, the following events take place:

1. The First Presidency is automatically dissolved and the two counselors in the First Presidency revert to their places of seniority in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
2. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, now numbering 14 and headed by Elder Dallin H. Oaks as the senior Apostle, assumes Church leadership.
3. The senior Apostle presides at a meeting of the Quorum of the Twelve to consider reorganizing the First Presidency. The Church has not yet announced when that meeting will take place. The Quorum of the Twelve unanimously selects the new President of the Church. (Throughout the history of the Church, the longest-serving Apostle has always become the President of the Church when the First Presidency has been reorganized.)
4. The new President of the Church chooses two counselors and the three of them become the new First Presidency.
5. The Apostle who has served the second longest is sustained as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. (If the second-longest-serving Apostle is also called to be a counselor in the First Presidency, he is still the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but the third-longest-serving Apostle becomes the Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.)
6. The President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with the rest of the Apostles, sets apart the new President of the Church through a formal laying on of hands.
7. The President of the Church names a new Apostle to fill the vacancy.
8. The new President of the Church and new Apostles are sustained by the membership of the Church at a general conference.

Infographics

An infographic published by ThreeStory.com shows how long each of the Latter-day Saint apostles have been serving in the Quorum of the Twelve, when they were called, and their age now. Click the image below to go to an interactive infographic, where you can mouse over the photos to see details for each apostle.

ThreeStory.com also has an interactive graphic of all 100 members of the Twelve called since 1835, which you can sort by age, age at time of call, or by length of tenure.