First Presidency announces new Presiding Bishopric

Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell replaces newly called Elder Gérald Caussé, who was recently named as the Church’s newest Apostle

14 Nov 2025, 1:26 p.m. MST

The First Presidency has named Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, center, the new presiding bishop of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bishop L. Todd Budge, left, will serve as first counselor, and Bishop Sean Douglas will serve as second counselor. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Ryan Jensen is the editor of Church News.

Following the call of Elder Gérald Caussé to be the newest member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has now announced a new Presiding Bishopric.

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Bishop W. Christopher Waddell was announced as the Church’s new presiding bishop on Friday, Nov. 14. Bishop L. Todd Budge will serve as first counselor, and Bishop Sean Douglas will serve as second counselor.

Bishop Waddell and Bishop Budge served as the first and second counselors, respectively, to then-Bishop Caussé since Oct. 3, 2020. Bishop Waddell served as the second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric from 2015 to 2020.

Bishop Sean Douglas has served as a General Authority Seventy since April 2021.

As Elder Caussé described in an interview last week, the Presiding Bishopric serves under the direction of the First Presidency. Similar to bishops of local wards around the globe, the Presiding Bishopric manages the Church’s global humanitarian aid, welfare programs, tithing and fast offerings, physical facilities and the organization of membership records. Members of the Presiding Bishopric minister to Church members around the world.

Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, talks with Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, center, and Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency, right, of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, while admiring the sculpture Five Wise Virgins, created by artist Ben Hammond, at Temple Square during its unveiling in Salt Lake City on Wednesday, April 2, 2025. | Brice Tucker, Deseret News

Bishop Waddell recently attended the dedication of the Grand Junction Colorado Temple as part of his responsibilities in the Presiding Bishopric.

The previous Presiding Bishopric shared insights in 2022 into the role of the three bishops as part of the Church News “Inside Church Headquarters” series.

At the time, Bishop Waddell described the bishopric’s role in supporting the Church’s Aaronic Priesthood quorums.

“Our role is to prepare the way as John the Baptist did for the Savior in preparing the way for His ministry and mission and His first arrival. Our role is to prepare the way for the work of the Melchizedek Priesthood and the work of salvation and exaltation,” he said.

Inside Church Headquarters: What is the Presiding Bishopric? What do they do?

Bishop Budge said his testimony of the Lord’s guidance of His Church has grown since his calling to serve in the bishopric.

“I can testify that direction comes not only in terms of spiritual matters but also in terms of the temporal affairs of the Church as well. My testimony has been strengthened that all things are spiritual to God,” Bishop Budge said in that series.

Bishop L. Todd Budge and Sister Lori Budge greet missionaries at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. — Bishop L. Todd Budge, then second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, center, and his wife, Sister Lori Budge, greet missionaries following their addresses during the weekly devotional at the Provo Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. | Brian Nicholson, for the Deseret News

Bishop Douglas had been serving as the area president in the Church’s Mexico Area at the time of his call to the bishopric. In August, he spoke at Mexico’s 10th National Congress on Religious Freedom.

“In free societies like Mexico, laws are created by representatives of the people, therefore the quality of the law depends on the values of the people. For the good of the nation, it is vital that honest and upright values be cultivated in the minds and hearts of the people,” he said in a presentation at the conference.

Mexico Area president calls for peacemakers at religious freedom congress

Pastor Martha Alejandra Ibarra Merito, center, of the Covenant Church in Mexico, is accompanied by the Church's Mexico Area presidency members and General Authority Seventies, from left, Elder Brik V. Eyre, Elder Moisés Villanueva and his wife, Leticia Villanueva, and Elder Sean Douglas with his wife, Sister Patricia Douglas, at a session at general conference on Oct. 4, 2025. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

The Presiding Bishopric meets regularly with the Church’s directors for temporal affairs around the world and coordinates with area presidencies, participates in Church councils and visits Church properties.

Each member of the Presiding Bishopric also serves on an executive council at Church headquarters. Together they chair the Welfare and Self-Reliance Executive Committee.