Today, Aug. 1, marks the start of new service for 20 general authorities and general officers of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well as the beginning of a new administrative area, the renaming of several other areas and changes to area presidencies worldwide.
The callings of the new leaders — a member of the Presidency of the Seventy, 16 new General Authority Seventies and a new Young Men general presidency — were announced and sustained April 5 in the Saturday morning opening session of the April 2025 general conference four months ago.
Also at that time, emeritus status was announced for five General Authority Seventies, and the then-current Young Men general presidency was released.
Most of these actions were announced as being effective Aug. 1.
The same Aug. 1 date was assigned for the start of the Church’s new Canada Area, the renaming of several areas in North America and the assignments of the now-24 area presidencies serving around the globe. The Canada Area was first announced in December 2024, while the area names and area presidency assignments were released less than four months ago, shortly after the April 2025 general conference.
Presidency of the Seventy changes
Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy who had been serving as the executive director in the Church’s Temple Department, is the new member of the Presidency of the Seventy. Elder José A. Teixeira, also a General Authority Seventy, was released from the presidency and will begin service as president of the United States Central Area.
New and emeritus General Authority Seventies
The 16 newly called general authorities include nine who were born outside of the United States — in Argentina, Botswana, Brazil (two), Canada, Germany, Jamaica, Taiwan and Venezuela.
The 16 are: Elder John D. Amos, Elder Ronald M. Barcellos, Elder Steven C. Barlow, Elder Kevin G. Brown, Elder B. Corey Cuvelier, Elder Michael Cziesla, Elder James E. Evanson, Elder Brik V. Eyre, Elder Ozani Farias, Elder Aaron T. Hall, Elder Brian J. Holmes, Elder Pedro X. Larreal, Elder Clement M. Matswagothata, Elder Eduardo F. Ortega, Elder Edward B. Rowe and Elder Wan-Liang Wu.
The five General Authority Seventies given emeritus status effective Aug. 1 are Elder David S. Baxter, Elder Randall K. Bennett, Elder Kevin S. Hamilton, Elder Rafael E. Pino and Elder Jorge F. Zeballos.
Young Men general presidency changes
The three men sustained as the new Young Men general presidency who began their service Aug. 1 are President Timothy L. Farnes and his counselors, Brother David J. Wunderli and Brother Sean R. Dixon.
The outgoing Young Men general presidency — President Steven J. Lund and his counselors, Brother Bradley R. Wilcox and Brother Michael T. Nelson — had served two years together, with President Lund and Brother Wilcox serving five years in the presidency. The last two had been called as president and counselor during the April 2020 general conference, with Brother Nelson called as a counselor in 2023 to replace Elder Ahmad S. Corbitt, who had been called as a General Authority Seventy.
Information on new leaders
Brief biographical information on the new General Authority Seventies and the new Young Men general presidency members was first published in April. Longer individual profiles on each new leader and his wife continue to be published weekly by the Church News online and in print.
New Canada Area
On Dec. 6, 2024, the First Presidency announced the new Canada Area, to become effective Aug. 1, 2025. The creation was to better provide leadership and support for all Church leaders and units in Canada.
The new area comes from divisions in three existing areas — what had been known as the North America Central, North America Northeast and North America West areas. Calgary, Alberta, serves as headquarters for the Canada Area presidency and the area office, which includes a director for temporal affairs and other area staff and support functions.
Name changes for 5 U.S. areas
Five of the Church’s areas covering the United States have been renamed, with the area names no longer starting with “North America.” The five renamed areas are the United States Central, United States Northeast, United States Southeast, United States Southwest and United States West areas.
The Utah Area will continue to be known as such. All six U.S. areas are administrated from Church headquarters in Salt Lake City.
New area presidency assignments
On April 14, the First Presidency announced the 2025-26 area leadership assignments, with the new assignments for the 24 areas effective Aug. 1. Area presidencies work under the direction of assigned members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Presidency of the Seventy.
Most members of area presidencies are General Authority Seventies, with some Area Seventies — there are four Area Seventies among the total 24 area presidents and 48 counselors.
