Elder Karl D. Hirst

General Authority Seventy

Elder Karl D. Hirst considers himself “an ordinary person in an extraordinary calling.”

The new General Authority Seventy sees his testimony and its confirmations as somewhat ordinary as well. “No visitations, absolutely nothing spectacularly spiritual—and I have stopped worrying about that because I am so fulfilled by the way God has chosen to speak to me, even if He chooses to speak to other people in a different way,” Elder Hirst said. “It is not spectacular, but it is abundant.”

Elder Hirst’s father, Jack, ran a humble corner shop. He learned of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through customers and joined the Church several years after Karl was born on February 28, 1972, in Bury, Lancashire, England.

Elder Hirst’s testimony of Jesus Christ began when he learned stories of the Savior and sang hymns while attending Sunday School in another church as a child with his mother, Vivien Ruth Meakin Hirst, and grandmother.

Young Karl later attended Latter-day Saint meetings and received an invitation from a Primary teacher to be baptized, which he accepted at age 10. Through five-plus decades of life, Elder Hirst has maintained his childlike faith and testimony.

“God has spoken to me in my heart in the same way He did when I was in Primary and in the same way He did when I was in Sunday School,” Elder Hirst said.

He married Claire Elizabeth Wright on May 29, 1993, in Burnley, Lancashire. They were sealed later that day in the London England Temple.

Elder Hirst received a bachelor of law degree in 1996 from Lancaster University and a master of business administration degree from Alliance Manchester Business School in 2016. Since 1997, he has worked as a barrister (lawyer).

The parents of six children, the Hirsts were residing in Bolsover, Chesterfield, England, and serving as For the Strength of Youth session directors at the time of his call.