Prophet Power Rankings (during your lifetime)

[jay santos]

Hinckley was great, #1. I'd put Nelson last. I think his changes were primarily superficial or regressive and upped the "prophet worship" culture.

[PaloAltoCougar]

Holy crap you are old!

…as you keep reminding me.

[beefytee]

Hinckley was great, #1. I'd put Nelson last. I think his changes were primarily superficial or regressive and upped the "prophet worship" culture.

Care to elaborate on what he has done to promote prophet worship culture? I can't figure out where that is coming from.

I'm also trying to think of anything regressive. As far as women are concerned, he changed things in the temple to be more equal and allowed them to be witnesses. For gays, he reversed the policy about kids with gay parents getting baptized. What do you think went the other way and was a step back?

[BigPiney]

Care to elaborate on what he has done to promote prophet worship culture? I can't figure out where that is coming from.

I'm also trying to think of anything regressive. As far as women are concerned, he changed things in the temple to be more equal and allowed them to be witnesses. For gays, he reversed the policy about kids with gay parents getting baptized. What do you think went the other way and was a step back?

The only regressive thing I can think of was making it a bad thing we say Mormon.

[Shaka]

PAC's young at heart.

[YOhio]

PAC's young at heart.

PAC didn't do a power ranking because he's still sore at losing all those stick pull games to Brother Joseph.

[Moliere]

Here's my list:

Hinckley: I'm not sure anyone will surpass him in my mind. He definitely had a silver tongue and he used it very well. I don't care if he was loose with the media. He was the prophet of my teenage years and it was great to see an energetic old guy that could demand repentance in one breath and send an outpouring of love in the next. He's what was needed when the church moved even further out of obscurity.

Nelson: I was very surprised by how much his death actually impacted me, which caused me to think about the impact he's had on my life, which is quite a lot. I agree with others on the 2-hour church thing and getting rid of the BSA. I have the opinion that "Think Celestial" is still a stupid tagline. Nelson I think understood a couple things better than most prophets and that is that the church has vast resources and it should use those resources to bring the full gospel to all of God's children. That thought is driving the boom in temples and the expansion of the missionary work. He was also likely the most accomplished prophet in his professional life and I respect anyone that gives up a career like that to serve full time in the church.

Kimball: I was too young to really remember anything about him but just the fact he overturned the PH and Temple ban is enough in my book to keep him top 3. I also like that he sounded like Yoda.

Monson: Like others, I didn't like how he did his talks but there's no denying that his emphasis on pure religion ran very deep. I would mock his stories about "little Billy" being asked to take dinner to "old Sister White own the street" because she has no family around to care for her. But what is religion if we don't care for the poor and widowed? Monson understood that and lived it. It had to be tough to follow Hinckley, but Monson did a fine job filling those shoes.

Hunter: Too short of a life to really have a huge impact and I think the only real conference talk he gave was about the temple.

Benson: I vaguely remember hearing him speak in conference. I served a mission after all of the "flood the world with the BoM" had calmed down so It also wasn't a big impact on me.

It's crazy to think I've only lived during the time of 6 prophets...I'm clearly not as old as PAC

[Pelado]

It's crazy to think I've only lived during the time of 6 prophets...I'm clearly not as old as PAC

Same here. My earliest recollections of the church president were of SWK, not because of anything I remember from General Conference, though. I remember my dad coming in at bedtime each night and helping me say my bedtime prayers, which invariably included a request to bless Spencer W. Kimball.

1) Nelson - In addition to the obvious, it's hard to beat a 33% reduction in church meeting time (though, to be fair, I was pretty much already on the 2-hour church schedule even before the official change). Loved his "Peacemakers" message, too. Abandoning the "Mormon" moniker is a miss, though.

2) Kimball - I don't remember much from him, but ending the priesthood ban merits at least this position, if not higher. I heard a bit about The Miracle of Forgiveness, which may be why I never read it.

3) Hinckley - The face (and perhaps driving force) of the First Presidency for much longer than his actual presidency. He was the concluding speaker pretty much every time my dad dragged me to the Priesthood session. Also, it was his signature on all of my mission paperwork, including the form I carried around in Argentina declaring me a representative of the Church.

4) Monson - I enjoyed his talks and stories, but remember a bit of surprise about them while on my mission. In my last area, we lived in a rented room with a member family. They had a book with all the General Conference talks going back several decades. One day when I had to stay at the house because my companion was sick, I started reading through some of Monson's older talks. It seemed very familiar - perhaps because he had repeated the talk at a recent General Conference. Can't say I blame him.

5) Hunter - Didn't get much time with him, and don't remember much about him. Maybe I should have him higher on the strength of sharing a birthplace with him. The one thing that comes to mind about him was an event I wasn't even present for - a devotional he gave at BYU in which there was a disruption. I don't remember the specifics, but it seems there was some dude that was threatening him or claiming he had a bomb or something. I'm sure you all know better than I.

6) Benson - Sorry, Ezra, but someone has to occupy the last spot.

[The_Tick]

Same here. My earliest recollections of the church president were of SWK, not because of anything I remember from General Conference, though. I remember my dad coming in at bedtime each night and helping me say my bedtime prayers, which invariably included a request to bless Spencer W. Kimball.

1) Nelson - In addition to the obvious, it's hard to beat a 33% reduction in church meeting time (though, to be fair, I was pretty much already on the 2-hour church schedule even before the official change). Loved his "Peacemakers" message, too. Abandoning the "Mormon" moniker is a miss, though.

2) Kimball - I don't remember much from him, but ending the priesthood ban merits at least this position, if not higher. I heard a bit about The Miracle of Forgiveness, which may be why I never read it.

3) Hinckley - The face (and perhaps driving force) of the First Presidency for much longer than his actual presidency. He was the concluding speaker pretty much every time my dad dragged me to the Priesthood session. Also, it was his signature on all of my mission paperwork, including the form I carried around in Argentina declaring me a representative of the Church.

4) Monson - I enjoyed his talks and stories, but remember a bit of surprise about them while on my mission. In my last area, we lived in a rented room with a member family. They had a book with all the General Conference talks going back several decades. One day when I had to stay at the house because my companion was sick, I started reading through some of Monson's older talks. It seemed very familiar - perhaps because he had repeated the talk at a recent General Conference. Can't say I blame him.

5) Hunter - Didn't get much time with him, and don't remember much about him. Maybe I should have him higher on the strength of sharing a birthplace with him. The one thing that comes to mind about him was an event I wasn't even present for - a devotional he gave at BYU in which there was a disruption. I don't remember the specifics, but it seems there was some dude that was threatening him or claiming he had a bomb or something. I'm sure you all know better than I.

6) Benson - Sorry, Ezra, but someone has to occupy the last spot.

I can't believe I missed this on my "huge miss" post.

I miss Priesthood sessions. I don't have any boys, but I loved taking my YM to those that didn't have a father figure available or in their home.

Bring that back...

[Pelado]

I can't believe I missed this on my "huge miss" post.

I miss Priesthood sessions. I don't have any boys, but I loved taking my YM to those that didn't have a father figure available or in their home.

Bring that back...

The best part of being dragged to the Priesthood session was that we would typically stop at Delsa's Ice Cream on the way home from the stake center.

[PaloAltoCougar]

PAC didn't do a power ranking because he's still sore at losing all those stick pull games to Brother Joseph.

Genuine lol. Dude cheated.

My top three, in chronological order, are Kimball, Hinckley, and Nelson. I'd probably add McKay who was the President during my first eighteen years, but by the time i was a teenager he was fairly enfeebled, One story about Kimball;

At a "private" birthday party for President Kimball, a speaker retold an incident when then-Apostle Kimball visited the home of an inactive member in his former stake in Arizona to see how the man was doing. This was after Kimball's throat surgery that had left him with a distinctively raspy, quiet voice. After knocking on the man's door, the man's wife opened and Elder Kimball whispered, "Is your husband home?" The woman paused, looked around, and whispered back, "No, come in...'

On the tail end of my rankings list would be JFS, Lee, and Benson, but Benson's talk on pride was pretty great (although its authorship is subject to debate).

[BigFatMeanie]

Those of you that lament the church’s severance from the BSA are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Divorcing the BSA was one of the best things the church has done in my lifetime.

[Jeff Lebowski]

Those of you that lament the church’s severance from the BSA are cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. Divorcing the BSA was one of the best things the church has done in my lifetime.

Preach, brother.

[falafel]

I can't believe I missed this on my "huge miss" post.

I miss Priesthood sessions. I don't have any boys, but I loved taking my YM to those that didn't have a father figure available or in their home.

Bring that back...

I miss it too. President Hinkley will always embody the love of Christ to me.

Like Pelado, my dad "dragged" me to the Priesthood session. I think he didn't necessarily want to be there every time, but he always made sure I was there between the years 12-18. I think my mom's incessant pestering (love you mom) might have contributed to his dedication.

[Bo Diddley]

No love for President Kimball and the change to the 3 hour block? I remember it was better than all day church.