Funeral Arrangements for Thomas S. Monson Announced, LDS Will Name New Leader

It is anticipated Russell M. Nelson will now head the church

The recent death of Thomas S. Monson, the prophet and president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will compel the church to name a successor to the role. It is widely expected that Russell M. Nelson will succeed the position. He is at present the most senior member of the church’s leadership council, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Funeral Arrangements for Thomas S. Monson Announced, LDS Will Name New Leader[/tweetthis]

Funeral services for the departed president will be on January 12, at the Conference Center on Temple Square and will be open to the public aged eight years and above. Those who wish to publicly view Thomas S. Monson can do so from 9 a.m. – 8 p.m. in the Conference Center. The Mormon president died due to age-linked problems on January 2. He was 90 years old.

The LDS Church has stated people who wish to attend the funeral services must be sitting on their seats by 11:30 a.m. The Conference Center can seat 21,000 people. There are no reserved seats and is available on first come and first served basis. If the number of visitors exceeds the number of seats, then the proceedings can be viewed from the adjacent Conference Center Theater, Tabernacle, and Assembly Hall. Funeral service broadcast will be done by the Church satellite system, Mormon channel, and also via LDS.org, MormonNewsroom.org, KSL, BYUtv Global and a number of other apps. The burial service will be a private affair. It will be held at Salt Lake Cemetery after the funeral.

Mormons do not anticipate any new direction for the church with the appointment of a new president.[/tweetit] This is as Max Perry Mueller of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, has pointed out, it’s the “temperament” of the Mormons. The assistant professor has written a book on the LDS church, named Race and the Making of the Mormon People. He said that the Mormons could expect continuity instead of change. Mormons hold the belief that leaders of their church are selected by revelation to Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It means anyone can be chosen to hold the presidency. In practice, however, the head of the Quorum has always succeeded to the position.

It's not enough to say that President Thomas S. Monson was an amazing man. Since words don't adequately honor his legacy, I hope perhaps action will. January 12, the day of his funeral, I plan to visit someone who is sick or lonely. As he would do. #ForPresMonson

— Melissa Bingham (@bythewaymel) January 7, 2018

Resources

• Mormon News Room
• Mormon channel
• The Salt Lake Tribune
• Religion News Service
• World Religion News
• Amazon

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