President Russell M. Nelson is having a 100th birthday “commemoration” — and everyone’s invited.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints “welcomes all” to view a worldwide broadcast Sept. 9, the day the renowned-heart-surgeon-turned-global-religious-leader is set to become the faith’s first prophet-president to reach the century mark.
Scheduled for 4 p.m. MDT, the 75-minute program will include, according to a letter sent to regional and local church leaders, testimonies along with music and tributes “celebrating his remarkable life and ministry.”
An accompanying news release notes the event also will mark the culmination of Nelson’s invitation to Latter-day Saints around the world to engage in service inspired by Jesus’ example of “looking beyond the 99 to reach the one lost from the flock.”
It’s an example, Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, said in a recent social media post, shared by the soon-to-be centenarian.
“One of the virtues I have seen President Nelson portray unfailingly is his genuine, heartfelt kindness,” Holland wrote, “which has often led him to leave the 90 and nine to go after the one.”
He continued: “In the more than 40 years I have known him, I cannot think of a time that he was unkind, abrupt, rude or insensitive. It just isn’t in his nature.”
Viewers can livestream the broadcast at Broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org, the church’s YouTube channel and via the Gospel Stream app, according to the release. It also will be available for on-demand viewing on YouTube, Gospel Media and the Gospel Stream app.
Nelson has shepherded the church during a period of sweeping changes in the Utah-based faith’s policies, practices and curriculum — in addition to a record-setting temple-building spree.
After a whirlwind start to his presidential tenure — including globe-trotting travels — he has shown definite signs of slowing down. He ventures abroad less, sits on a chair to deliver his highly anticipated and highly viewed General Conference addresses and occasionally views those sessions remotely.
A fall in September 2023 injured his back and sidelined him from attending conference in person. Earlier that year, he confirmed that he sometimes uses a walker or a wheelchair when he encounters a “small challenge” with his balance.
“Gratefully, my heart is good,” the former cardiac surgeon said at the time, “my spirit is strong as are my legs, and my brain still works.”