LDS Church expands Senior Service missionary options
If you are a senior member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and meet the requirements, you may now serve no matter where you live and as young as 26 years old.
Senior members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints may now serve as service missionaries no matter where they live. Many can live at home and serve between eight and 40 hours a week.
Starting this month, senior members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who meet the requirements may be called as service missionaries no matter where in the world they reside.
In the past, service missionaries have only been called in the U.S. and Canada and a few other locations. Now, service missionaries as young as 26 may serve from their homes wherever they live in the world.
The new missionary information was sent in a letter to church and local leaders from the First Presidency, which includes President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring.
Senior service missionaries live at home and serve for eight to 40 hours a week for a minimum of six months and as long as two years. Their local stake president continues to be their ecclesiastical leader, according to the letter.
If senior couples can, they are still encouraged to serve missions away from their home area.
“We are deeply grateful for the faithful service of senior missionaries around the world and for the significant contributions they make in building the kingdom of God,” the letter from the First Presidency says.
The church’s 20,000-plus senior service missionaries help assist in mission offices, bishops’ storehouses, distribution centers, FamilySearch centers and libraries, self-reliance programs, BYU-Pathway, employment centers and many other places, according to church information.
Opportunities for senior missionary service, both at home and away from home, were shared in a recent update to Chapter 24 of the church’s General Handbook.
Thousands of senior service missionary opportunities are currently available. For example, in February, senior service missionaries began to be called and assigned to serve in the church’s temples in the United States and Canada to perform non-ordinance work. They will fill roles previously carried out by temple volunteers.
Senior service missionary candidates can review and request which kind of service they prefer.
More information is available at SeniorMissionary.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. This portion of the church website is available in English and will soon be available in French, Spanish and Portuguese. The page matches church needs to individual talents, interests and availability for those interested in applying. New service opportunities are added to the site continually.