说实话，我在教会里待了那么久，就没听说过总会持有权柄的人里有电工、园艺工或者水管工，更别提渔夫、木匠或者牧羊人了。好像每个人都是律师、企业高管、医生，或者其他什么商业人士。

I have some positive stories.

I actually had a carpenter bishop. He’s the one who signed the papers to allow me to remove my name when I wanted to fully erase my records, and I hadn’t been active years before that. This was less than a decade ago. I genuinely love him and his family, we still talk and see each other from time to time. Before him we had a veterinarian, who wasn’t my favorite bishop, but he was a good vet to our dog up until he passed a few years ago. I could call or text him at any time if I was worried about my elder dog, he’d advise us on how serious it really was, what we could do for our dog to help him, and if needed get us in for an appointment where he was also honest and straightforward about what he suspected or knew was happening and different options for moving forward. When I asked if he did at-home euthanasia he said he didn’t have the license for it but gave me a few recommendations. Like I said to me he wasn’t a good bishop but he’s a good vet, and when I can have a pet again I’m likely to bring them to him.

One of the big filters for stake leadership is tithing contributions. When a GA shows up to call new stake leadership he already has a list of the top 15 tithe payers in the stake. A standard plumber or handyman is never going to make this list. That doesn't mean the GA can't pick someone not on the list, but typically they do pick someone from the list.

This fact means that someone making median wages who scrimps and saves to pay 10% gross will never overcome the multimillionaire even if he is only paying 1%.

Because there is no discernment they have to rely on other metrics. This filter means that by and large the candidate pool for GAs is wealthy men. Which leads to a bunch of MBAs and corporate executives and doctors in leadership.

The few nonwealthy GAs that got in decades ago mostly got in through nepotism or other friendships. Hinckley was a nephew of a Q12, Monson was friends with his former stake pres Harold Lee and worked with Hinckley in the publishing induustry. Benson was a grandson of a Q12. Spencer and J Golden were grandson and son of Heber Kimball. Russel Ballard was the grandson of Melvin Ballard and so on.

Christ did not have millions in his congregation. It requires different kind of people to run a large organization.

The problem with regular people is that they are the average so one out of six or so is a rapist. Many are pedophiles. Many have sex outside marriage. So, you obviously can't have regular people run your church.

Plus, regular people have no idea how to work with others when there are so many. The top leaders have been extensively vetted by profession, by moving up the church ladder of leadership, and by who they know or are related to. It is much less likely that major problems might happen.

We have to remember that in the past, the top leaders will basically regular people who were related to or knew the top leaders. So, we get hacks in there like Joseph F. Smith and George Albert Smith. the first phd apostle was Talmage. The first president of the church who graduated from a university was Benson, like the 1980's. Since then they have been very educated. So have the apostles.

What would Christ have done? Who knows. But if he accepted the creation of an organization with millions, he would have needed experienced people so similar to today. Don't underestimate the need for organizational stability.

The cult is a business so want business minded people. Which in normal company circumstances would be seen as fine, however the secretive nature of a "church" makes things stand out for the wrong reason. Regardless of types of previous jobs, even just a simple thing of looking at places where the "church" operates, membership numbers (even if fake) and average languages spoken, etc puts all the Q12 and Q70 at disproportionate levels. If numbers were that 1 in 3 Spanish per se, where all the Spanish speakers?

It just seems that the church just wants to be run as much as possible by European Americans with the odd token few foreigners, which even then is too many for some. And the world being 50/50 men and women but higher % in church circles makes it seem even less demographic representation.

The way I have always seen it is that to be a high ranking member from Stake Pres or Mission Pres upwards is to be all or as much as possible from the list of:
1) Be generally the right colour - or as near as possible
2) High tithe payer within stake and region
3) Be a "yes" man and be easily controlled or follow generals orders in a good way.
4) Be from right family, especially in Area and General Authority levels
5) Have done an action of merit, such as medical work on a GA, saved a GA's family member, or something to get noticed.
6) Have some information on a GA that shouldn't come to light, and given position to hush them.
7) Have a bit personality that makes you sound spiritual when speaking, or cheesy jokes that makes that typical Mormon semi-laugh action.
8) Remembering it's not always what you know, but who you blow! And Slurping a GA's ass in lower authoritive levels can help boost your ratings, especially with those who love the hero worship. Looking at you Susan's Husband.