Hello again, everyone! Having set the background in my previous post for what the current temple districts in the North America Central Area cover, we now turn our attention to potential future temples. The possibilities I will suggest mainly qualify for a temple due to the distances involved from their currently assigned temples.
While again bearing in mind that the US in general is going through a period of stagnated growth, I have felt that we could see temples announced very soon in the following locations within the North America Central Area: Missoula Montana, Green Bay Wisconsin, and Rapid City South Dakota. Let's talk a bit about each.
I have previously referenced the fact that I heard from someone that a temple had been publicly proposed for Missoula by Elder David A. Bednar last year or the year before. While I have not been able to verify that, I do know that the Missoula Saints, who are assigned currently to the Spokane Washington Temple (which is not within the same geographical area of the Church) travel a distance of 197.3 miles. I would think that since that is just short of President Monson's stated goal to have every member within 200 miles of a temple, Missoula would qualify for its own temple in that regard. When we add the public proposal in, that makes a Missoula temple seem even more likely.
Next, we move on to Wisconsin. When I was originally considering a temple for that state, I was absolutely convinced that Milwaukee would be the best place for it. After all, 2 of the 6 stakes in that state are based in Milwaukee, the capital city.
(Correction, added on Christmas Day 2017: As was rightly observed in the comments for this post, and as I already knew very well, Madison is Wisconsin's capital city, NOT Milwaukee as asserted in the paragraph above. As I also explained in my response to that correction, my wife and I have spent a majority of this month not feeling well, and in my case, battling the illness has not been at times very conducive to allowing me to express myself as clearly and correctly as I normally try to do so. So to twinnumerouno, I again offer my thanks for the correction, and to all of you, I offer an apology for this error. I will do everything within my power to prevent such errors going forward. Thanks for understanding)
But then several people pointed out that the Green Bay area of Wisconsin was more likely to be the best location for a temple in Wisconsin. Subsequent personal study on my part verified that completely. Saints in the Green Bay area currently fall under the Chicago Illinois district, and the distance between the two cities is 208.7. According to President Monson's goal, Green Bay qualifies for its own temple.
Finally, we move on to South Dakota. A temple in that state could rise in Rapid City. I favor this location for a couple of reasons. My dad served his mission there, and beyond that, the Saints in South Dakota travel 300.7 miles to their assigned temple in Bismarck.
These are the possibilities I came up with, and the reasons behind them. Feel free to "sound off" in the comments below with any I have missed, or if any of you feel that I should eliminate any of these. That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.
Thursday, December 7, 2017
Temple Site Possibilities: North America Central Area, Part Two--Potential Future Temples
I have had a lifelong love for Church history, which has extended to ongoing reports of the ministry of our apostles and prophets, General Conference, and all temple developments. This blog enables me to share that love with all who read my thoughts on these developments, which are sometimes reported multiple times per day as needed.
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I agree with your assessment. Two other places that might pull out of this Area that I thought might be possibilities would be Evanston WY and Wichita KS. The only distance location in Canada I see getting a temple if the area grew in membership would be the Sault St Marie Ontario area but again currently there is only a ward there not even a stake.
ReplyDeleteI am not good at the actual church areas, but also nearby might be a temple in Des Moines IW.
I also favor Green Bay but could see Milwaukee instead. It would still be closer than Chicago.
Hello, Kenny! Thanks so much for taking time to comment. I took a look at Evanston Wyoming, Wichita Kansas, and Des Moines Iowa, which are all part of the North America Central Area. Evanston is just 121.3 miles from Wyoming's first temple, which has been named "Star Valley" though the temple is based in the city of Afton. As we know, the Star Valley wyoming Temple was dedicated last October. At this point, I don't have much information about how busy that temple might be, but I can see Evanston as a potential candidate for a temple in the distant future. It might become more imminently needed if the Wyoming Saints keep Star Valley busy enough, but it could also be 5-10 years down the road. I'll keep an eye out for information on that.
DeleteI also looked at Kansas. The state has 7 stakes there, 4 (more than half)of those 7 fall under the Kansas City Missouri Temple district. Two others are within the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple district, and that temple, as we know, is closed for renovation. The final stake in Kansas is part of the Denver Colorado district.
In terms of the potential for a temple in Wichita, we know that the Church generally opts to put the first temple in any location in the boundaries of the capital city, which in the case of Kansas would be Topeka. The possibility of a temple in either location is feasible, to be sure. The question is, how likely might such a possibility be? That is definitely something that merits future study.
As for Des Moines Iowa, many have suggested a potential temple there. It makes sense. There are two stakes of the Church within that city, and the Saints in that region do travel 138.4 miles to their assigned temple in Winter Quarters Nebraska. I had the possibility of a Des Moines Iowa Temple on my list at one point, but in the process of consolidating and expanding that list, I took it off. As with Evanstaon, I can see it as a possibility in the future. The only question is how imminent such a possibility might be. And that will be something for me to do more studying about over the next little while.
As far as Wisconsin, some have suggested Milwaukee over Green Bay, since the former is the state capital. But the reason Green Bay made my list is because it may be a more central location that is easier for the Wisconsin Saints to access. A temple in either place would do, but Green Bay seems more central (and that is without knowing too much about Wisconsin geography).
There are many potential locations for future temples within this area, and I am constantly looking to improve my list, so you can be sure I will be considering the possibilities you mentioned more in depth as I can in the future. I wouldn't be surprised to see many more temples in this area over the next 30-50 years. The only question is how, when, and where those might be. The location of temple sites is ongoing study for me, and I will pass along additional findings as I discover them. Thanks for your great comment, Kenny!
James, Just to let you know, Milwaukee is the largest city in Wisconsin, but Madison is the state capital. So you may want to revise that portion of this post. (Sorry, I've been busy and haven't been able to read your blog in 3 weeks, or I would have caught this before.)
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, thank you for stopping by to comment. Sorry I didn't notice that myself before you mentioned it. You are absolutely correct. I knew that Madison was the actual capital of Wisconsin, so I don't know why I stated above that Milwaukee was. If I have one excuse for this unintentional error, it is that my wife and I have spent most of this month not feeling well, and though I have pushed past how I am feeling to continue to add posts to this series, at times when I have put them together, my brain has not been functioning fully. Thanks for letting me know and for taking time to comment. I will fix that error in the post above very shortly. And I will certainly welcome any additional feedback you may want to provide for any or all of the posts I have done within the time you have not been able to read my posts. Hope you have a merry Christmas.
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