October 29, 2025, 1:00 PM MDT
The Church History Department of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently added information about common church leaders to the Church History Biographical Database.
According to an Aug. 19 ChurchofJesusChrist.org blog post by Rhys Allen Walker, a staff member of the Church History Department, the new dataset provides searchable information and resources about historical and current leaders, starting with the first and second elders, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and continuing to the present day.
Each leader’s biographical profile includes a photo, a timeline summarizing the church’s service, and source documents. The church also plans to update information in response to future leadership changes.
biography database
The Church History and Biographical Database contains information about the lives of more than 100,000 members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who worked to build Christ’s kingdom on earth, according to its website.
This database includes records of pioneer immigrants to Utah (launched in 1998), early missionaries (2016), Mormon Battalion participants, and current Church leaders.
The Pioneer database was launched in 1998, and the Missionary database followed in 2016. These two datasets were merged into a biographical database at RootsTech 2022. Information about the Mormon Battalion was added in 2023.
Data collection
The Church Yearbook of the Doctrine and Covenants, General Conference Reports, Church News, and Deseret News were used as primary and secondary sources to compile information regarding the offices and dates of office held by all general leaders of the Church.
Overviews of the Church’s organization and positions have been verified for accuracy by historians in the Church History Department. These summaries include citations of the sources used to compile the information.
Historians have tracked church-wide leadership positions held by individuals within the church, including:
President of the Church. First Presidency. Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (including the president, president’s representatives, assistants, and counselors). General Authority Seventies and Presidencies of the Seventy (including the First Council of the Seventy and the first seven presidents). Church Patriarchs. Presiding Bishopric. Primary Presidency. Relief Society General Presidency. Sunday School General Presidency. Young Women General Presidency. Young Men General Presidentship (including assistants).
To the extent possible, the researchers tracked the exact date the person was called, placed in isolation, or maintained. Determining the exact dates of some early church leaders has proven difficult. If exact dates could not be determined, approximate dates were used.
Visitors can search for a person, organization, or job title using three different links:
Walker wrote that the church history department is “thrilled” to be able to share this information in the biographical database.
“I hope it will be of great help in studying the history of the Church and getting to know the dedicated men and women who have served and still serve Christ and His Church,” she wrote.
Providing feedback
Please provide feedback about our database by clicking the “Submit additional information” button at the bottom of each profile.
Patrons who require additional assistance with the database may contact a research consultant by clicking on the “Ask a Question” service.
For more information on the Church History Biography Database, please visit ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
