Fifteen Men, Ordained for Life

An apostle in Latter-day Saint usage is a man ordained to the highest office of the Melchizedek priesthood and set apart as a special witness of Jesus Christ. Fifteen hold the office at any time: the twelve members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the three members of the First Presidency, all of whom are apostles. Ordination is for life, and a vacancy is created only by a death, so the composition of the quorum changes slowly and its members are usually in their seventies and eighties.

The work is full time. Apostles are given a living allowance, which makes theirs among the very few paid positions in a church otherwise run entirely by unpaid volunteers, and the church says little publicly about the amount. They preach at the two general conferences each year, which are broadcast worldwide and are the occasion on which most members hear them; they supervise geographical areas of the church by assignment and travel constantly; they create and reorganise stakes and call stake presidents; they dedicate temples; and they sit on the boards that govern the church's finances, its educational system and its welfare operations.

All fifteen hold the same keys. In practice only the president exercises them all, and the others exercise what he delegates, which is the doctrinal device that keeps fifteen men who each claim apostolic authority working as one body rather than as fifteen.