He Stopped Church Members From Using 'Mormon'

Russell M. Nelson, the oldest-ever president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, died Saturday night at the age of 101, per the AP. Nelson died at his home in Salt Lake City, church spokesperson Candice Madsen said in a statement.

• Nelson, a former heart surgeon, spent four decades in the highest levels of church leadership after he was selected in 1984 to join a top church governing body called the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He ascended to the presidency in January 2018 when Thomas S. Monson died and in 2024 became the first president of the faith to hit the century mark.
• The next president of the faith, known widely as the Mormon church, was not immediately named, but is expected to be Dallin H. Oaks, per church protocol. He is the next longest-tenured member of the church's governing Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

• Nelson had a vibrant and transformative tenure, especially in 2018, his first year, when he made a surprising announcement calling on people to stop using the shorthand names "Mormon" and "LDS" as substitutes for the full name of the religion, a sharp shift after previous church leaders spent millions to promote the moniker over decades.
• Nelson also made headlines the next year when he repealed rules that banned baptisms for children of gay parents and labeled same-sex couples as sinners eligible for expulsion. Those 2015 policies had generated widespread backlash.
• But even though Nelson's administration was gentler and more welcoming to LGBTQ people than those of previous presidents, the church stance on same-sex marriage didn't change. His administration also sharpened rules limiting the participation of members who pursue gender-affirming medical procedures, or change their names, pronouns, or how they dress, leading to criticism that it would marginalize transgender members. Nelson and one of his top counselors described their approach to LGBTQ members as trying to balance the "love of the Lord and the law of the Lord."

• Nelson also was known for severing the faith's century-long ties with the Boy Scouts of America, creating the church's own youth program that also could serve the more than half of its 17 million members who live outside the US and Canada. He also shortened Sunday services and accelerated a long-running push to build more temples, dotting the world with the faith's lavish houses of worship despite resistance in some parts of the US. And he forged a formal partnership with the NAACP.
• Presidents of the Utah-based faith are considered prophets who lead the church through revelations from God in collaboration with two top counselors and members of the Quorum of the Twelve.