Worldwide Leadership for Worldwide Church?

The church claims to be a worldwide organization. They state they pay their top leaders a living allowance so they can choose leaders from all over the world rather than just limiting their choice to those who are financially independent. However, they also claim these callings come from God, so this rationalization for why church leaders are paid is nonsensical.

General Authorities leave their careers when they are called into full time Church service. When they do so, they are given a living allowance which enables them to focus all of their time on serving in the Church. This practice allows for far more church members on a worldwide basis to be considered for a calling to serve as a General Authority, rather than limiting considerations to only those who may be financially independent. The living allowance is uniform for all General Authorities. None of the funds for this living allowance come from the tithing of Church members, but instead from proceeds of the Church’s financial investments.

Do General Authorities get paid?
https://faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/do-general-authorities-get-paid

Of the top leaders in the church though, how many are from a poor background? How many are from outside of Utah? Looking at the Quorum of the Twelve and the First Presidency as of today, we can see that the vast majority of the leadership is from Utah. Of the 15, 9 are from Utah, another 3 from other states (2 from California and 1 from New Jersey). There are 3 leaders from outside the US: Uchtdorf from what is now the Czech Republic but was born in Nazi Germany, Soares from Brazil, and Kearon from England.

Even this small showing is a new trend however, as we can look at all the apostles who have served since the turn of the century and they were all from the US. Heavily representing Utah again, but adding representation from Idaho and even New York. Considering all top leaders since the year 2000, we have 26 – and 17 of which are from Utah. This represents two-thirds of all leaders. Then there are 2 Idaho, 2 California, 1 New York, 1 New Jersey. This represents 88% of the leaders as being from the US. Still only 3 out of 26 are from outside the US. Surely recalculating this with all previous church leadership would increase the skew towards Utah and the US, even if only including the apostles that served since they began receiving a living allowance… if only the church was transparent and told us when this practice began.

Considering the fact that the church states the living allowance is granted to these men (only men of course) so that the selection does not need to require those who are independently wealthy, why are the vast majority still local to the Utah Mormon Corridor.

Lets add all the LDS Apostles (see as an online spreadsheet) since the beginning, we can see that the individuals called are not worldwide, but nearly exclusively concentrated on Utah. This is not surprising as nearly all the members of the church were also concentrated in these areas. It does bring up that the sole reason they give for paying leaders of the church is so that the pool of leadership can be worldwide. Does the leadership reflect this claim?

Since Utah became a U.S. Territory in 1850, more than 82% of the Apostles have either been immigrants to or natives of the state. When expanding the geographic scope to include the broader Mormon Corridor (Utah, Southern Idaho, and Northern Arizona), this figure rises to over 92%. As of 2024, 66% of current church leaders are from Utah.

It may be starting to be less exclusively centered on Utah and the Mormon Corridors, but so is the general church membership. If the leaders are paid so they can choose the most worthy, wouldn’t God choose his leaders with a bit more diversity? It really does look like a good ole boys club. Nearly all church leaders from 1900 through 2000 were either born in the corridor, or moved to it before adulthood. It’s how it would work in an organization where promotions come due to “who you know,” rather than God calling valiant leaders from the worldwide pool of members. Again, the church states that these living allowances are paid to avoid “limiting considerations to only those who may be financially independent.” They suggest that they don’t select just form the wealthy of Utah, but that “far more church members on a worldwide basis” are “considered for a calling to serve as a General Authority.” Does the data support that?

• https://faq.churchofjesuschrist.org/do-general-authorities-get-paid
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_members_of_the_Quorum_of_the_Twelve_Apostles_(LDS_Church)
• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mormon_corridor
• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/11ZMbrbqUDT7l7Fvc8lcMs9t2nkrutHnZMLej3V4XHvM/edit?usp=sharing
• How Much is a Modest Living Allowance for Mormon Apostles? How Much Do LDS Church Leaders Get Paid?
• Are Mormon Church Leaders Paid?
• How Much is a Modest Living Allowance for Mormon Apostles? How Much Do LDS Church Leaders Get Paid?