News

Actions

LDS Church to send two apostles to Trump’s inauguration

Posted at 6:39 AM, Jan 13, 2017
and last updated 2017-01-13 08:39:04-05

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced it will send two of its top leaders to attend the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump.

In a statement early Friday morning, the LDS Church announced that Elder D. Todd Christofferson and Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles would attend the event in Washington D.C., next week. The church said the presence of the apostles continues “a tradition, going back more than a century, of Mormon leadership supporting and celebrating the process that makes possible the peaceful transfer of power.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson  (Image courtesy LDS Church)

Elder D. Todd Christofferson (Image courtesy LDS Church)

“A presidential inauguration is a civic ceremony that transcends the person being inaugurated,” Elder Christofferson said in a statement released through the church. “It is an act of state, not of politics. Its primary purpose is for the president-elect to take the constitutionally required oath of office, and for the people by witnessing it to bind him to that oath. It is a time to reaffirm collectively the enduring principles that have sustained this country for over 200 years, including the peaceful transfer of power, which remains a remarkable event even in this modern world.”

The Mormon Tabernacle Choir will also be performing at the inauguration event.

The LDS Church said that members of the LDS Church’s First Presidency typically attend or send representatives to inauguration events. Representatives of the LDS Church attended President Obama’s inauguration events.

Elder Christofferson will also attend the National Prayer Service at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, the church said in its statement.