We here in the USA just had our president give his State of the Union Address. It was attended by everybody who is anybody in politics. That list includes all the people in the line of succession to be president. So if a terrorist where to take out the Capitol building that night, the US Government could be left without a leader. Starting at the height of the cold war in the 1950’s, the US has appointed a “designated survivor” that is usually somebody low on the line of succession, to leave the Washington DC area and hunker down in an undisclosed location in case the unthinkable were to happen. There is even a TV show called “Designated Survivor” that had a Secretary of Housing and Urban Development become the president after a terrorist attack on the Capitol during the State of the Union Address.
Does the Mormon Church have a “designated survivor”? The Church has a very well-known line of succession, going by uninterrupted [1] length of service in the Q12 Apostles. But there is no known succession after the latest called Apostle. What would happen if all the Q15 were killed?
As a teenager in the 1970’s, I remember conference in the old tabernacle, with overflow in the assembly hall next door. They would always have an Apostle sit on the stand in the assembly hall, and I remember hearing that this was to preserve the line of authority if something were to happen to all the Apostles and Prophet in the Tabernacle. It sounded cool at the time to my teenage mind, but was probably not true.
So back to today. During General Conference all the Q15 are in the same build at the same time. They are probably together lots of times for meetings. I wonder if they all flew in the same airplane to Italy for the dedication for the Rome Temple. Do you think there is any rule that prohibits them all being on the same airplane?
Let’s get back to the unthinkable. All 15 are killed. Maybe an airplane crash, an explosion in the Q15 office building, accidental or deliberate. What happens next? Would the Church have another succession crisis as various members of the Quorum of 70 vied for the job?
Let’s dig a little further. Does a member of the 70 have the keys of this dispensation? Do they have the keys that have been handed down from Peter, James and John, directly to Joseph Smith, on an unbroken chain through the Apostles to the current Prophet, Russel Nelson? I don’t think so.
For a 70 to become prophet, would it require another visit by Peter, James and John? If so, how would this go over in today’s modern world? Would the members believe a 70 that got up at General Conference and said last week Pete, James and John visited him in his garage, and placed their hands on his head and gave him the keys to run the church? What would the headline in the New York Times look like? It’s one thing to believe something happened almost 200 years ago to Joseph Smith, and quite another to believe it happened to Elder James W. McConkie III last week.
(I’ve obviously spent way too much time thinking about something like this. In fact, I have a couple of pages already written down on a fictional story about what happens to a ward far removed from SLC when word arrives that the Q15 are gone. Its got a long way to go, and maybe when I finish it one day I’ll post it in a serialized form here on W&T.)
What do you think would happen if all of the Q15 met an untimely demise? How would the Church move forward? Is the TBM answer that the Lord would never allow this to happen? Do you think that the Church has contingency plans for something like this, at least legally in its incorporation documents?
Image by Myriams-Fotos from Pixabay
[1] the rule was originally the most senior member, but in 1875 Brigham Young changed the rule of seniority in the Quorum: the senior member was to be the person with the longest uninterrupted service in the Quorum, as opposed to the person who entered the Quorum at the earliest date. This was to keep Orson Hyde from becoming the senor Apostle.
Wheat & Tares 
You present some interesting questions. I have to believe they’ve thought this through. It’s not like the Church would ever allow a succession crisis 😃.
The presidency of the Seventy would become the presiding quorum.
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2005/12/the-quorum-of-the-first-presidency?lang=eng
When my wife and I went on our honeymoon, we flew from SLC to Amsterdam. It was the weekend before the Rome temple dedication.
As I recall, at least 4 maybe 5, apostles were on our flight presumably headed towards Rome. They, and their wives, boarded the plane before any of the boarding zones were announced and were all seated in, I presume was 1st class. By the time we passed then on the way to economy, Uchtdorf was in a track suit hanging out.
Their entourages all wait in Economy Plus or whatever so I can say on that flight in particular that not all twelve were together.
Any of you interested in womens sport, should be aware the Womens T20 World Cup of cricket is presently being played in South Africa. This is a short version of cricket around 3 hours a match. Incredible skill and power on display. The cricket ball is similar in size and weight to a baseball but a little softer than a baseball, but the fielders don’t have gloves.
There are not likely to be any Australians in the Church succession.
So if all the leadership was gone, it makes no sense to have the Melchizedek priesthood restored by Peter,James and John . Why not have Nelson, Oaks and Eyring come back in angelic form to restore the priesthood and retaining the priesthood uninterrupted.
Just a thought 😁
@Bishop Bill, great question. I too recall attending GC in the Tabernacle as a young man and a member of the 12 was in the adjacent Assembly Hall where overflow seating was provided for those who couldn’t get into the Tabernacle.
I don’t recall with perfect recollection, but it seems to me before Covid struck, a member of the 12 would preside in the Tabernacle where overflow seating was provided. But I don’t recall any of the 12 missing from the more current sessions post Covid. The church has not filled the Conference Center to capacity since Covid–maybe the security threat is deemed too small to bother.
We just passed the 30th anniversary of the evening Cody Judy disrupted a CES fireside held at BYU’s Marriott Center, rushing onto the rostrum and threatening to blow up Howard W. Hunter (who never flinched). A story published in a local newspaper reflecting back mentioned that BYU police and church security were completely unprepared for the scenario. I’m sure that’s changed since then.
Regarding succession, wasn’t the current succession method also codified by members of the 12 who pressed Brigham Young on the matter after it was discovered BY had ordained his youngest son (the New York playboy) an apostle? BY’s son wasn’t made a member of the quorum, but, if I am not mistaken, was ordained to the office of apostle. Members of the twelve were worried BY might try to sneak him in somehow in a succession play, and moved to harden the terms of succession to one dictated by time-in-the-quorum seniority. It has been years since I read an article in Dialogue on this topic. I could be remembering it all wrong.
In terms of current succession under your scenario, if Peter, James and John were not available for a return trip, here are my ideas on how succession could be determined:
By Nepotism: Elder Matt Holland and BYU-I President Henry J. Eyring could arm wrestle. The winner becomes church president.
By Competition: The area presidents could hold a winner-takes-all game of Risk tournament, with all area presidents playing for world domination, seeded by tenure.
By Checkbook: Bishop Causse may not hold the keys, but he signs the checks and controls the money.
By Coup d’etat: Clark Gilbert leads a CES uprising to take over the COB and lead the church.
I would caution the Church against basing its line of succession on a farcical television program that represents the worst of what modern Hollywood has to offer.
The Yellowstone sisemic belt extends into Utah and Arizona. A volcano in SLC could do it. From memory isn’t there a lava field on the highway between Rexburg and SLC?
Often when there is activity in one sisemic area likeTurkey, there is some elsewhere in the world.
Geoff-Aus, I’ve not figured out how to take out the Q15 in my book. I was thinking a terrorist attack during GC, but a large earthquake or even a super volcano under the conference center would work!
A few points:
* Charles Manley Brown wrote a book called DISASTER: WHY, OH GOD, WHY? in 2006 that explores this topic.
* D&C 107:26 does state that the Q70 is “equal in authority” to the Q12, which might imply that collectively they would hold the keys to reorganize the Church leadership in the event of a catastrophic event.
* Not to be morbid, but I can think of a number of potential ways to eliminate the entire Q15. The earthquake idea is certainly viable and based in science. A chemical or biological attack on the Conference Center would be fairly easily carried out by a motivated bad actor. Of course, some “willing suspension of disbelief” moments could be used–think the ending of Tom Clancy’s DEBT OF HONOR or the entire plot of John Goodman’s film KING RALPH.
* JCS: in the extremely unlikely event that the LDS Church hierarchy has based its succession plan on DESIGNATED SURVIVOR, there are far more problematic issues going on at 50 N. Temple than the show’s connection to Hollywood. To quote you, that is an irrefutable fact.
Geoff-Aus: There is in fact a giant lava field in Eastern Idaho called Hell’s Half Acre. Despite the name, it’s actually about 150 square miles, just west of Idaho Falls. I-15 passes through the southeastern section of it, and there are excellent very short paved hikes accessible from the reststops on either side of the highway, just north of Blackfoot. The lava fields were apparently created a little over 5000 years ago. I have no idea if they could become active again. If they did, it would certainly make things interesting for those of us in Eastern Idaho.
Earthquake during a temple meeting, flattening the SLC temple.
The leadership vacuum would be interesting, but also the members’ reactions. Personally, I’d interpret it as a sign from God that the leadership were massively leading the church astray and as a condemnation. Any of the 70 would probably seek a continuation of the status quo, not radical reform. Yet if they sought radical reform, would that be supported? So, the safest route would be to resign my membership.
Similarly, my grandmother’s gym was struck by lightning 20 years ago and she interpreted it as sign that she never should exercise again. She’s doing quite well at 85 today.
@ Tim
As a naive newcomer to N America my very first journey through the lava field in Idaho made me wonder if it was from volcanic eruptions mentioned in the BoM after Christ’s crusifiction. I was in awe! I’ve since decided they are most definitely much older 😂
Oh you silly, only The Three Nephites visit people in their garages.
Suppose the Q15 and Q70 all tragically pass away at GC from a natural disaster. Here’s my dream solution for replacing them. A poll is conducted with all of the primary children and youth (bishopric is excluded even though they now work with youth) around the world where each child/youth is asked to rate their primary/youth leaders. Those teachers with the highest rankings are randomly selected to become the next Q70/Q15, but there will be an even distribution of Q15/Q70 members selected from around the world (i.e., there will be Q15 members from Africa, South America, Australia, and Europe). Yes, women will be ordained and allowed to be the Q15 and Q70, and in fact they will likely be overrepresented since more women than men serve in the primary. Yes, it’s likely we’d have people in their 20s and 30s in the Q15/Q70. It would be chaotic at first, but in the end, I think it would be a whole lot better.