Now it begins.
In Mormon living rooms, church foyers, at family reunions and on Mormon blogs, LDS Church members already are speculating about who will become the next counselor to LDS President Gordon B. Hinckley following the Aug. 10 death of his second counselor, James E. Faust.
After all, it's been 19 years since the last counselor in the First Presidency died, and Mormons love to speculate.
Faithful Mormons believe the choice will be inspired by God. It won't be based on tradition or seniority or favoritism. It's not a vote or a popularity contest. It won't be announced on some predictable schedule.
"The decision rests with President Hinckley," LDS Church spokesman Scott Trotter said Wednesday. "He will decide who it will be and when it will happen."
But that hasn't stopped the talk among Latter-day Saints, who are all ardent hierarchy watchers. It's human nature.
There is only one rule for choosing a member of the First Presidency: no women. Other than that, the choice is wide open, but tends toward men who already have proved their worth. It's a lifetime position, after all, so Mormon presidents are not willing to take many risks. Most, but not all counselors were drawn from the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, a group of men whose place in the seniority is determined by the day they were appointed an apostle.
Within the Quorum, the possibilities are intriguing.
Some believe Hinckley will replace Faust with another longtime colleague, Elder L. Tom Perry, the No. 2 man in the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, who has been an LDS general authority since 1972. Perry was a Boston business executive and recently spent two years in Germany, building up the church there. But he turned 85 this month.
Others predict Hinckley, who enjoys surprises and clearly knows the benefit of having younger men in the mix, might pick Apostle M. Russell Ballard (No. 5). Ballard is 79. A popular choice would be Apostle Jeffrey R. Holland (No. 9), former president of Brigham Young University who spent two years in Chile, learning how to manage rapid growth and the cultural challenges facing South American Mormons. Holland is 66 and was chosen to speak at Faust's funeral.
Choosing Russell M. Nelson (No. 3) would guarantee that Hinckley would always have a doctor nearby. Nelson was a heart surgeon before becoming an apostle.
If Hinckley were really bold, he would grab Apostle David Bednar, the youngest man in the Quorum at 55. What Bednar, former president of BYU-Idaho, lacks in experience, he could make up in enthusiasm and good health.
But the 97-year-old Hinckley, considered a "prophet, seer and revelator" to the 13 million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, doesn't have to choose an apostle. Though most counselors have come from that quorum, there is no rule requiring it.
In 1901, Joseph F. Smith selected John R. Winder, a counselor in the Presiding Bishopric which oversees the church's vast physical holdings, to join him in the First Presidency. Two decades later, Heber J. Grant brought in Presiding Bishop Charles W. Nibley.
Later, Grant sidestepped the church's hierarchy altogether in his 1933 appointment of J. Reuben Clark as his second counselor. Although Clark, as U.S. ambassador to Mexico, was one of the church's most prominent members, he had not served a proselytizing mission, nor had he ever been a bishop or stake president.
In that same vein, Hinckley could choose Bishop David Burton, the "presiding bishop," who has directed the church's renovation efforts in downtown Salt Lake City.
If he wanted to maintain a connection to the Democrats, he could tap Elder Marlin Jensen, a member of the First Quorum of Seventy who serves as the LDS Church historian. Jensen is a lifelong Democrat, who represented the church on the recent PBS documentary, "The Mormons."
If Hinckley does choose one of the apostles, as is likely, that will create a vacancy among the Twelve. And Mormons will begin a new round of wild speculation.
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* PEGGY FLETCHER STACK can be reached at pstack@sltrib.com or 801-257-8725.
