The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is a 12-man body that acts of the leaders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and is presided over through the First Presidency.

The purpose of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is to spread the gospel of the church into every part of the globe, being, to quote the church’s website, “special witnesses of Jesus Christ”.

The current members of the Quorum of the Twelve are:

• M. Russell Ballard (ordained in 1985)

• Jeffrey R. Holland (ordained in 1994)

• Dieter F. Uchtdorf (ordained in 2004)

• David A. Bednar (ordained in 2004)

• Quentin L. Cook (ordained in 2007)

• D. Todd Christofferson (ordained in 2008)

• Neil L. Andersen (ordained in 2009)

• Ronald A. Rasband (ordained in 2015)

• Gary E. Stevenson (ordained in 2015)

• Dale G. Renlund (ordained in 2015)

• Gerrit W. Gong (ordained in 2018)

• Ulisses Soares (ordained in 2018)

There have been a total of 102 apostles in this latter-day dispensation, 16 of whom later became prophets.

The Quorum of the Twelve was organized in 1835, with the original members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, with the exception of William Smith, being chosen by the Three Witnesses of the Book of Mormon.

The original members of the Quorum of the Twelve were:

• Thomas B. Marsh (Quorum President)

• David W. Patten

• Brigham Young

• Heber C. Kimball

• Orson Hyde

• William E. McLellin

• Parley P. Pratt

• Luke S. Johnson

• William Smith

• Orson Pratt

• John F. Boynton

• Lyman E. Johnson

The original members were put in seniority by age. However, when some of the Apostles left the Church, and after new Apostles had been ordained by their place, seniority was determined by the order or length of time one had been in the Quorum. The most senior apostle of the fifteen upon the Earth, including the First Presidency, is the Prophet and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. The next apostle in seniority is the President of the Quorum of the Twelve.