“New Presiding Bishop, Counselors Called,” Ensign, Mar. 1996, 74
New Presiding Bishop, Counselors Called
The First Presidency has called Bishop H. David Burton as Presiding Bishop, replacing former Presiding Bishop Merrill J. Bateman, who began his term as president of Brigham Young University on 1 January 1996. Called to serve with Bishop Burton are Bishop Richard C. Edgley as first counselor and Bishop Keith B. McMullin as second counselor.
Bishop Burton and Bishop Edgley had been serving as first and second counselors, respectively, to Bishop Bateman. Bishop McMullin was managing director of the Welfare Services Department at the time of his call.
Bishop Burton, 57, has served in the Presiding Bishopric since October 1992. Prior to that call, he worked with the Bishopric as its executive secretary and spent a year as the assistant Church budget officer. He has also worked for Kennecott Copper and the Utah State Tax Commission.
A Salt Lake City native, Bishop Burton attended the University of Utah, receiving a degree in economics. He earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.
Bishop Burton’s previous Church callings include bishop, bishop’s counselor, stake president, and stake high councilor. He served a mission in Australia. He and his wife, Barbara Matheson Burton, have five children.
Bishop Edgley, 59, has also served in the Presiding Bishopric since October 1992. He served as second counselor to both Bishop Bateman and Bishop Robert D. Hales.
Prior to his call to the Presiding Bishopric, Bishop Edgley was managing director of the Church’s Finance and Records Department. He formerly worked at General Mills in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Bishop Edgley, a native of Preston, Idaho, graduated from Brigham Young University and earned a master’s degree in business administration from Indiana University. He has served as a bishop, stake president, and counselor to a stake president. He served a mission in the eastern United States, and he and his wife, Pauline Nielson Edgley, are the parents of six children.
Bishop McMullin, 54, leaves 20 years of working with the Welfare Services Department to serve in the Presiding Bishopric. He has also managed several small and family businesses and worked with Ford Motor Company as an investment and performance/cost analyst.
A native of Utah—St. George, Leeds, and Salt Lake City—Bishop McMullin attended the University of Utah and received a degree in banking and financing. His Church callings include both missionary and later mission president in Germany, bishop, stake president, and ward Young Men president. He and his wife, Carolyn Jean Gibbs McMullin, have eight children.
Bishop Richard C. Edgley, First Counselor; Bishop H. David Burton, Presiding Bishop; Bishop Keith B. McMullin, Second Counselor