SALT LAKE CITY — Dallin Harris Oaks, a former Utah Supreme Court justice and longtime apostle, was announced Tuesday as the 18th President and Prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The 93-year-old leader succeeds President Russell M. Nelson, who died on Sept. 27, 2025, at the age of 101. The announcement was made during a live worldwide broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.
President Oaks, who was sustained and set apart earlier in the day, now leads a global faith of more than 17 million members. As part of his first responsibilities, he announced his two counselors who will now make up the new First Presidency.
“After an extended process of fasting and prayer,” stated President Oaks, “I have been inspired by the Lord to call President Henry B. Eyring as First Counselor, and President D. Todd Christofferson as Second Counselor in the First Presidency.”
The reorganization of the Church’s senior governing body follows a tradition where, upon the death of a prophet, the First Presidency dissolves and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles assumes leadership. The new prophet is then chosen through what members believe to be divine revelation and is confirmed by the Quorum.
President Christofferson, 80, was called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2008. His professional background includes serving as associate general counsel for NationsBank Corporation (now Bank of America) and practicing law in Washington, D.C.
“I recall many years ago,” said President Christofferson, “slipping into a meeting in Washington D.C. that I wasn’t invited but I wanted to hear Dallin H. Oaks who was speaking. He made a lot of sense then as he always does, and has, and does now. I was most impressed with his many qualities, intellect, but most of all his spiritual depth. I bear witness as one who has been part of the process that he is called of God.”
President Eyring, brings extensive experience to the role, having served as a counselor to President Nelson, President Thomas S. Monson, and President Gordon B. Hinckley. Before his call as an Apostle in 1995, President Eyring was president of Ricks College (now BYU-Idaho) and was on the faculty at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University.
“It’s been a reassuring thing to me, to know that just in days of old, when Peter and others would lead the church, that the people would be able to recognize that that was the Lord’s servant to lead his church,” stated President Eyring. “I’ve had that blessing and I’ve had that assurance come to me, and I’m so grateful for that.”
President Oaks has served as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since May 1984. Before his full-time church service, he was president of Brigham Young University from 1971 to 1980 and a justice on the Utah Supreme Court from 1980 until his resignation in 1984.
“We do not have the answers to all the world’s problems, they have not been revealed,” said President Oaks. “What we do know is that we are all children of heavenly parents and that we are called to serve all of the children of God in this wonderful, restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Additionally, Jeffrey R. Holland, 84, who served as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from November 2023 until the death of President Nelson, will now serve as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Holland, who was sustained as an Apostle in 1994, previously served as the ninth president of Brigham Young University.