Now that it's been announced that Mitt isn't going to run for a new term, any chance he will be called as a general authority?

What's his middle initial, if he get's called it will be needed.

As a sidenote, does anyone know when they started calling the GA's with their middle initial added to the name?

Just wondering.

I say no. The others are too intimidated by his social presence. They don't want the competition.

Faithful tither that he is, he's quite adept at computing 10%.

"W. Mitt Romney," perhaps?

I doubt it. He swims in a much bigger pond now.

I don't think this sort of demotion would be the way he would like to crown his career. Being a G.A. isn't what it used to be. Besides, he has to have had the S.A. so why do all the annoying work after the fact?

If they were to make him a GA, it would be to appeal to a certain segment of the membership, there are a few segments - groups, some would appreciate that appeal.

I don't think he's in that mindset - groove.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2023 02:41PM by GNPE.

I think if he wanted the job, he could have had it long ago. Perhaps he just wants to enjoy his family. I doubt that he wants anything to do with a church job at this point.

I think temple president more likely. There is an implied hierarchy among GAs, and he would upset the balance. There is not an implied hierarchy of temple presidents.

I doubt even that is possible. I expect he will continue to try to revive the traditionalist wing of his party

My guess is that he already has many years of practice in saying no to church jobs. IIRC, he never went any higher than stake president.

There is a possibility that he was never offered a higher position that SP because of "spiritual jealousy" in that his national status would have likely made him more popular than those who could have called him to GA status.

It'd be like making Steve Young a GA...  Who could compete!

Exactly. He is too prominent to be a GA backbencher. It is difficult for Congress critters to have a church job because they are gone too much, either back to their home state, or on trips. I think Harry Reid was a Sunday School teacher in his Washington ward, but I can’t see Mittens teaching SS.

I don't think the top 15 want a reformer or a maverick. If he were to ascend in church leadership, would he submit to the strict adherence to church policy?

I think he would agree to the basic tenets of Mormonism, but would would attempt to expand his power and opinions. If he were to be assigned to a position in a church office building, he would try to trade offices, swap assistants, redecorate, etc.

I believe that there's a prescribed order about how the desks, furniture and filing cabinets are to be arranged. All laid out by church management.

Yes, the church is all about you doing things in an exact order and Mitt would likely attempt to buck that control.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/14/2023 02:42PM by messygoop.

He said that he will be in his 80s if he was a senator for another term after this, so decided against it.

I think this is his way of throwing shade at both Biden and Trump. "If I can't have it..."

Mittens desperately wants to be relevant, or have an impact.

This is not the first time he's conspicuously backed away from something when no one cares anyway.

He waits in the wings and desperately hopes a white horse inexplicably turns up. He's ready to saddle up and ride. Always.

Mittens would buy the presidency if he could, and perhaps as an also-ran being a senator simply isn't enough for him.

No. They might use Mitt as a regional rep but he’s not going to be a prominent player on the Mormon stage. Too many members hate Mitt because he’s viewed as being a sellout. The church doesn’t need the controversy of bringing Mitt up the ranks and he too old anyways for that process.

He'd never agree to be a lowly 70. The only conceivable option would be to take the Oaks route and go directly to the Q12. And those guys reportedly do everything in order of seniority, from entering/leaving a room to selecting their weekly chocolates. I can't see Romney going along with that kind of ritualized egotism.

He can be more useful to the church as their informal unpaid lobbyist in Washington, like a shadow third senator. He's more respected there than he is in Utah.

Given what his forthcoming book reportedly says about the GOP--everyone from Peron and the Peronistas (good name for your new band, Jesus) to the sheep who know the truth but lack the courage to stand for it--I don't think the church would touch Romney with a ten-foot pole.

Sure, the Q15 have made it as clear as they feel safe that they opposed the coup and hence are on the same page as Romney. But they are acutely aware that a quarter or a third of Mormons sympathize with the insurrectionists and that offending them could spit Mormondom in two. Since Romney has now said the quiet part out loud, they won't dare elevate him to the Q15, which is the only place a man of his stature would fit.

Viewed from a different vantage, Romney has just guaranteed that he'll never get a church calling higher than perhaps Gospel Doctrine teacher.

Aren't there some, a few Mormons who would like to see him as a GA?

IT seems they're being ghosted here...

Mitt should plan a heist of Nelson night-light pens. He then could demand a ransom of 2 billion dollars for the return of Dusty's pens.

Mittens should buy a night-light pen company, and then program the pens to send the messages he wants! ;)

Middle initial and middle name use started quite early in the church.

You hand Joseph Smith Sr, Joseph Smith Jr, Joseph F Smith his nephew and Joseph Fielding Smith his grand Nephew.

Toss in Joseph's cousins George A Smith and George Albert Smith.

For all the made up names in the Book of Mormon you'd think they'd have more variety in names.

Thank you for the insight on the middle initial.

Heartless Wrote:
--------------------------
>
> You had Joseph Smith, Sr,
> Joseph Smith Jr, Joseph
> F. Smith, his nephew and
> Joseph Fielding Smith
> his grand Nephew.
>

There were two Joseph Fielding Smith who served in the church.  There's the one I flipped off in early July of 1965, who later became the 10th president of the church, and Joseph Fielding Smith (patriarch), the son of Hyrum M. Smith, a son of Hyrum Smith, the prophet's brother, and thus another grand nephew of JoJu... The JFS, patriarch, was 23 years younger than the JFS, church president.

You can read a somewhat sanitized version of the gay patriarch's life at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Fielding_Smith_(patriarch)

For a litany of the gay life of the Patriarch, you can, if you have the patience and determination, review such a scatological review at http://www.connellodonovan.com/smith.html

And, as always, for those who haven't perused it, I again provide a definitive history of The Gay in mormonism, at http://www.connellodonovan.com/abom.html

I get a "does not exist" message for the first link, EOD.

As for the rest, wow. Interesting.

That photo is amazing!

The closing parenthesis on the link is not a correct part of the link (it is black not blue}. So when yoy click on the link, it does not lead to the correct page - there will not be a closing parenthesis. Just add one to the rest of the title at the top of the page and then reload the page.

I just read a summation of the Atlantic Magazine article (which in turn is excerpted from Romney's memoir.) If you read a chunk of it, it explains a lot of things. IMO Romney will never rise higher in the Mormon church because, while he is a company man, he is a company man only to a point. He will speak up about anything that he feels is grossly wrong. And that won't fly in the upper echelons of the Mormon church.

I just read it down to where the paywall blocked it.

The first thing I noticed is that it's written by the guy who's authored multiple pro-Mormon puff pieces over the last few years.

I just skimmed through his list of articles and he's written a lot of anti-Trump pieces, several pro-Mittens pieces, and at least one "Mittens hates Trump"-ish piece, so it's no wonder Romney picked him to author his memoir: he's singing Romney's song.

Obviously, I don't have any problem with the anti-Trump pieces, but sometimes I think there's a little too much fascination with Mittens from a enemy-of-my-enemy perspective. Don't forget that Mittens is still the guy who doesn't care about the 47%, that and his gang in HS pinned a classmate down and cut his hair because they thought he was gay. Then of course there's the corporate raiding. Etc.

The next thing I noticed is that it seems to be starting off with the "hero of my own story" vibe that's apparently common among Mormon leaders.

Are we really expected to believe that the way security concerns propagate through the senate is that one member just happens to be at the pentagon, where someone just happens to share some info with him, who then thinks he ought to relay it on to the senator in danger?

At that point the story is paywalled, but I assume that Mittens leapt onto a white stallion and galloped over to the National Archives to defend the constitution! ;)

W. Mitt Romney will be 78 years old at the April 2025 General Conference. When is the last time the FP/12 made anyone over age 70 as a General Authority? I only see 2 realistic possibilities for Romney in prominent church leadership positions at his age - Visitors Center Director or Temple President, and the former just doesn't seem likely. So, we could see him as a Temple President. At the rate they are building new temples and consolidating Wards they are going to eventually have to extend callings to every child in Nursery to be a Temple President in order to get those slots all filled.

He has been quietly bucking for it for decades.

Somehow I think Big Nellie & crew are intimidated by him.

Would be surprised if he were elevated.

Maybe a "special calling" - to take advantage of his contacts but doubt he will be "special witness to a Name".

is this thread really a discussion?

It seems to be heavily one-sided without discussion of any upside benefits to ChurchCo.

I think name familiarity w/could be one, perhaps to mostly outsiders / ('gentiles', ja ja) who count WMR as reasonable & perhaps personable moderate.

On that basis, both Donny AND Marie should be called as Apostles!

But how much interaction would he have with non-Mormons in a church job, anyway?

I think with his upcoming memoir, he blew up any possibility of running for future office, and any possibility of a church job as well -- the latter perhaps on purpose, although I never felt that he aspired to anything higher with the church.

I think most people who know his name probably already know he’s Mormon, so to whatever extent that’s true TSCC already benefits from the name recognition. And making him an apostle (or whatever) wouldn’t boost it, because most non-mormons don’t even know what Mormon apostles are, let alone who they are.

He's far too independently wealthy to be a good fit for any church job. They'd never feel comfortable with that lack of control over him.

I think with mainstreaming Mitt could be considered a channel for communication from leaders of other groups, faith groups & others, a listening ear.


I'm Not saying this is going to happen, but: isn't this board about having reasonable discussions with every POV considered?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/18/2023 10:48PM by GNPE.

Perhaps we're exaggerating the political aspect of this circumstance.

The Romney family name is of pioneer heritage; as far as I'm aware he is 100% TBM.

Yawn. . .

The view from the Canadian bus. . .