AILSA CHANG, HOST:
The leader of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints died on Saturday. Russell M. Nelson was 101 years old - the oldest person to have ever led the faith. Nelson was president for seven years. He led the more than 17 million members of the church through a global pandemic, an increased role for women and a major rebranding. KUER's Emily Pohlsander has more.
EMILY POHLSANDER, BYLINE: President Nelson was born in 1924 in Salt Lake City. He was an internationally renowned heart surgeon who performed the first open-heart surgery in Utah. But in 1984, he left medicine to join the LDS church's second-highest governing body, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He became president of the church in 2018. And while he made significant changes in the church, he will also be remembered as a leader who held conservative views. Nelson was also vocal with his public appeals for civility and decency. He repeated the call in his last speech to the church in April.
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RUSSELL M NELSON: The present hostility in public dialogue and on social media is alarming. Hateful words are deadly weapons.
POHLSANDER: Members of the faith loved him for his grandfatherly wisdom. In his first year as president, Nelson turned his attention to rebranding the church. Nelson worked hard to get people in and outside of the faith to quit using the term Mormon and adopt the formal Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Historian Benjamin Park says the push was part of the church's, quote, "deep-seated anxiety" to be seen as part of the broader Christian community.
BENJAMIN PARK: And so I think he's trying to present Mormonism as a modern Christian movement with, you know, some of the unique aspects that still prove its exceptional status.
POHLSANDER: Nelson also stewarded the church's significant international growth. He visited 32 countries and U.S. territories and announced the construction of 200 new temples during his presidency. He also trimmed Sunday meetings from three hours to two. Mormon scholar Patrick Mason says this was a move with worldwide membership in mind. The Church reports 2024 was its largest year of growth in a quarter century. The biggest gains were in Africa and the Philippines. Mason says three hours of church might work in Utah, where the faith has more than 2 million members, but it's hard in areas where the congregations are smaller and there's less leadership.
PATRICK MASON: I think this was a case of actually the global church dictating what was going to happen in Utah rather than the other way around.
POHLSANDER: Nelson also put the spotlight on women in the church. He made women visible by giving them more prominence in meetings and equity in temple ceremonies. In 2019, women were allowed for the first time to be witnesses for baptisms and temple sealings, or marriages. But some women say he didn't go far enough on that or other social issues. Women still don't hold the priesthood or many leadership roles. Dallin H. Oaks is next in line to lead the church.
For KUER News, I'm Emily Pohlsander.
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