Hello. Though it has been promised by me for weeks, I was today finally able to complete my update for the timeline which I feel will prevail for when future temple-related events might be announced and scheduled. My thoughts on the matter follow. As always, I welcome any feedback because, at the end of the day, I am just one person and am far from infallible. With that in mind, here is that update.
It continues to fascinate me how different
temples in different parts of the world take different lengths of time to
complete for a variety of reasons. It is wonderful to consider that these next
three years will be largely focused on seeing temple-related events announced
and scheduled worldwide. I also find it amazing to consider that some temples
that are not yet announced might have construction start within that same time
as well, depending on where they are located and how any difficulties with
getting that construction started might be dealt with.
I would like to think that a site
announcement for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple will be coming soon, but since that
has not happened yet, that announcement is more likely to come later this year.
More on that later. I also am hoping for and anticipating that a minimum of 3
new temples will be announced during General Conference, but I am personally
hoping for more than that. It will be interesting to see how my personal picks
will compare this time to any that are announced.
The next temple event is therefore the already-scheduled
dedication of the Church’s 156th temple in Paris France. The open
house for that temple will span three weeks (but oddly four Saturdays),
starting on Saturday April 22 (which falls exactly three weeks after General
Conference), and going through Saturday May 13, excluding the relevant Sundays (which,
as before mentioned, are April 23 and 30, and May 7). One week after the end of
the open house, the cultural celebration will be held, and the temple
dedication will take place the next day (Sunday May 21). I have before ventured
my opinion that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, our European apostle, will
preside, and be accompanied by Elder Neil L. Andersen, who served his mission
in France, and French-born Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse. I have also mentioned
why I feel a personal connection to this temple. And the time it took for this
temple to get from announcement to dedication is 5 years, 7 months, and 20 days
(5.64 years when rounded to the nearest hundredth), which is right in line with
the general timeline I have before observed of 3-15 years for temples outside
the United States to be built.
We next have the rededication for the Idaho
Falls Idaho Temple set to take place exactly two weeks after the dedication of
the Paris France Temple. Open house tickets for the Idaho Falls open house will
be available on Monday April 3, the day following General Conference weekend.
The open house event will span 28 days, starting, coincidentally enough, on the
same day as the open house for the Paris France Temple, and it will end on
Saturday May 20 (excluding the Sundays of April 23 & 30 and May 7 & 14).
The cultural celebration for this temple will be held the first Saturday in
June, with the dedication the next day. I have before mentioned that I am
certain that either President Henry B. Eyring or Elder David A. Bednar will
preside at this rededication. I could see either as being a feasible option.
Whoever presides there, it is likely that Elder Neil L. Andersen, a native to
the area, will accompany them. The Star Valley precedent where Elder Bednar
presided in view of his wife’s ties to the area open the possibility that Elder
Andersen could preside at the event himself due to his personal ties to the
temple, but we have never had such a junior apostle do that at any time. So I
think it unlikely. The rededication will mark the official conclusion of the
temple’s renovation process, which will have spanned 2 years, 2 months, and 19
days (or, rounded to the nearest hundredth, 2.22 years, which holds true to the
pattern of renovations taking between 1-3 years generally) by that time.
Unless we have other temple-related events
(like a groundbreaking or site announcements), the next events chronologically
will be the already-scheduled dedications for the remaining three temples under
construction in the United States. I do want to mention that I have my own
thoughts about when future groundbreakings for other temples will take place,
but as I have learned recently, such things are much harder to pin down than I
originally believe. For that reason, I will not list my thoughts on future
groundbreakings as I believe, hope, and am predicting they will happen, but
will defer discussion of that future events until I have discussed the timeline
I feel will prevail for the dedications or rededications of temples now under
construction or renovation, or those that are soon anticipated to be so.
The Church will start accepting renovations
for the Tucson Arizona Temple open house the Monday preceding the dedication of
the Paris France Temple (May 15, a significant day in Church history, as it is
the anniversary of the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood). That open house
will be held during the 3-week period spanning the Saturdays of June 3 and 24
(with the obvious exception of the Sundays of June 4, 11, and 18). This temple
will be the first in quite a while for which there will be a gap of around 1.67
months between the end of the open house and the dedication, and that is, as
previously noted, because of the annual July recess taken by General
Authorities.
The cultural celebration will take place on
Saturday August 12, and the dedication of this temple will follow the day
after, which will be 8 days before President Monson celebrates his 90th
birthday. Given that President Dieter F. Uchtdorf was the one to preside at
this groundbreaking, it would make sense if he were asked to return to dedicate
this temple. The dedication will signal the completion of the temple, which,
from announcement to dedication, will have spanned a period of 4 years, 10
months, and 7 days (4.85 decimal years), which holds pretty well the pattern of
temples in the United States taking roughly 3-5 years from announcement to
dedication.
It is almost certain that President Eyring
will return to Idaho to preside at the next dedication in Meridian three months
later. That dedication will follow the three-week open house, scheduled to take
place between the Saturdays of October 21 and November 11 (excepting the
Sundays of October 22 and 29 and November 5). It may be a while yet before we
hear when reservations for the open house might start being made available. As
with the rededication for the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple, it would not surprise
me in any way if Elder Bednar and Elder Andersen are in attendance at the
dedication for Meridian. I am not now ruling out the possibility of someone
else presiding. There has been enough past precedent to indicate that nothing
is certain in that regard. But if President Eyring or Elder Bednar do not preside
at that dedication, I don’t know who else might be asked. The dedication
scheduled there, set to take place the night after the cultural celebration on
November 18, will mark the end of the construction which by that time will have
spanned 6 years, 7 months, and 17 days. (That works out to 6.63 years, just
slightly more than the 3-5 years that generally prevail as a timetable for
temples built within the United States. It should be noted, however, that
construction took just over three years once it actually commenced. So in that
respect, it did follow the typical timetable noted above.)
Three weeks after the dedication of Idaho’s
newest temple, its sister-state, Utah, will have its 17th temple
dedicated. I could see President Uchtdorf presiding at that dedication, or
possibly even Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who grew up in St. George, which is
seen as somewhat of a sister-city to Cedar City. It is almost certain that we
will have several General Authorities in attendance at that dedication, as has
been the tradition for Utah temples.
That dedication has been confirmed as the
last one that will take place this year. And it is interesting to note that,
typical to the usual pattern for the construction of Utah temples (which generally
have taken 1-3 years between announcement and dedication, but may span twice
that long for some others), the Cedar City Temple will be dedicated 4 years, 8
months, and 4 days, or 4.68 years from its announcement to its dedication, which
is a pretty even average between its site announcement and groundbreaking, and
between the groundbreaking and dedication.)
One thing about the Cedar City dedication
that has kind of been a downer for me personally: where the temple dedication
in Paris will be carried to the whole nation and the Tucson and Meridian dedications
will be broadcast throughout the entire states of Arizona and Idaho, the temple
dedication in Cedar City will only be carried to the units that will fall
within the district of that temple. That is not at all uncommon, as it has been
known to happen before. However, it has generally been a tradition for temples
in Utah to have dedications carried to the entire state. Because my wife and I
were too ill to attend the last Utah temple dedication that was carried
statewide, for the Provo City Center Temple (historically significant by virtue
of not only being built from a burnt-down local icon, but also for becoming the
150th operating temple of the Church), I had high hopes of being
able to attend this dedication. That aside, I certainly hope that more temples
will be announced in the United States in general and for Utah in particular in
the not-too-distant future. That dedication has been confirmed as the last one that will take place this year.
Since no other temples will be dedicated or rededicated this year, that brings us to temples that might be
dedicated next year. Jordan River, Rome, Kinshasa, and Freiberg are the first
four we will likely see in 2018. When might those happen? By all accounts, the
work on all four temples is on track, and they might be interchangeable in
terms of when that might happen. But it is not uncommon for renovations to be
finished before the construction of new temples is finalized. And even though I
have thought that the temple in Rome might be the last of these four to be
dedicated, by all accounts, that temple is on track to be the first one
dedicated next year.
In light of that, I think it would be safe to
assume that we might see an announcement for all four events possibly at the
same time, in the final months of 2017. As to specific dedications, it would
not be hard to believe that the Jordan River Utah Temple might be rededicated
in late January or early February, that Rome could be next with a dedication in
late February or early March, that Freiberg would be finished in late March and
the dedication held either in the weeks after General Conference or in early-to-mid
May, and that the Kinshasa dedication could take place in either late May or
early June. As the four are seemingly interchangeable in terms of their
completion timeline, it would not surprise me at all if any of these four
happened sooner than anticipated. That said, it is sure that none of them will
happen any sooner than January next year.
While things happen with this temple, we will
have two temples commence the renovation process. The Oakland California Temple
will be closed in February 2018 (I believe as of the very beginning of the
month) for a complete overhaul. The renovation is expected to last at least a
year. One month later, the Washington DC Temple will close for renovation,
which is expected to span roughly two years. I will speak more about my
estimate for when those will be completed later on.
In the meantime, the Barranquilla Colombia
Temple, the next one that might be completed, could have a dedication
announcement by sometime in March or April, with the dedication itself perhaps
taking place in June. If that is not possible, it is very likely that the open
house will finish in June and that the actual dedication might take place in
early August, after the General Authorities have their traditional July recess.
This is especially likely given the precedent that was set in this regard with
the Tucson Arizona Temple open house and dedication that was announced in January.
I could see the temples in Concepcion and
Durban being finished by the time fall starts in 2018. The dedications
themselves could take place in early-to-mid November (Concepcion) and early
December (for Durban).
The Winnipeg Manitoba Temple construction,
though started with a groundbreaking late last year, is only expected to begin
in earnest following the end of a really bad Canadian winter, in either April
or May, and is expected to last 20 months minimum. If the construction is able
to stay on track, that 20-month time period will be over sometime between the
beginning of December 2018 and the end of January 2019. With that in mind, it
is not hard to believe that the dedication might take place in either late March
or a week or two after the April General Conference.
The new information I have received seems to
indicate that the completion of the Fortaleza Brazil Temple would be next, and that this might happen within the first few months of
2019. With that in mind, the dedication could take place in early-to-md May.
The Oakland California temple renovation,
which, as mentioned above, will start in February of 2018, is expected to last
around a year. So I could see that renovation being completed around 15 months
after it commences, which would put that completion around May of 2019. It
would make sense if the open house takes place following the 2019 July recess
for General Authorities, and if the dedication itself happens in late August or
early September.
In the meantime, the next temple-related
event, based on that new information, would be the dedication of the temple in
Rio de Janeiro. Depending on how long it takes construction to commence (which
should happen at any time), I could see that construction being completed prior
to the July recess. If that happens, it is not hard to believe that a
dedication would follow in early-to-mid September.
The next event would then be the dedication
of Portugal’s first temple, which could be completed round about August or
September next year. If that happens, a dedication would follow either in late
October or early November.
Depending on how long construction in
Arequipa Peru takes, it might be completed in either late 2019 or early 2020.
Thinking and speaking optimistically, which I always try to do, I will say that
I could see construction completed round about the time General Conference
concludes in October 2019. If that happens, then a dedication would follow
sometime in December.
The renovation of the temple in the capital
city of the United States, set to begin in March of 2018, is slated to take
roughly two years. With that and the fact that renovations are often completed
much more swiftly than the construction of new temples, it is not unreasonable,
in my opinion, to assume that the renovations could finish sometime around
March of 2020, which would mean that a rededication could take place sometime
in May. I would love to see things finish sooner than that, but I want to be as
conservative as possible.
Additional future temple-related events that
might take place during the remainder of 2019 and the following year, 2020,
will largely be determined by what happens in temple-related developments this
year and next year. If the construction in Harare begins at any point this
year, depending on how soon that happens, it could very well be that the
completion of construction on that temple could happen in the early months of
2020, with a dedication following around the same time as the previous
rededication. But it will all depend on how quickly that site announcement and
the subsequent groundbreaking happen. More on that subject in a moment.
If the above schedule is observed, the Church
will add 4 new operating temples and have one rededication by the end of 2017,
and five additional dedications and two rededications done during 2018. In
2019, we could see 5 dedications and 1 rededication. I am not going to rule out
the possibility of more renovations being announced this year and being
completed by 2019 as well, and it could be that any other temples that commence
construction this year might also be completed before the end of 2019. The
complexity involved in predicting the timing of these future events is not as
cut-and-dried as I have believed it to be.
The so-called backlog that once existed has
long-since been done away with, raising the likelihood of more temples being
announced in the next year or so. And I have given my thoughts and feelings on
the refined predictions for those sites recently. With General Conference
coming up next weekend, there is every chance that we will see at least a few
temple announcements. (I am anticipating a minimum of 3, but hoping for many
more.) I will be excited to report on that as I am able to.
As for future groundbreakings, they may be
more unpredictable to anticipate than I originally thought. I look at the
groundbreaking in Winnipeg, and it happened much faster than usual. And with
the way things unfolded in Rio and Arequipa, though there was a significant
time period between when they were announced and when ground was broken, those
groundbreakings happened very quickly. It is significant that full-scale construction
is pending on all three, but the Brazil and Peru construction is anticipated to
begin in earnest at any time, and Winnipeg will, as noted, follow in April or
May, though they will be completed at very different intervals.
In the meantime, there is more than a
sufficient reason to believe that the groundbreakings for temples that have not
had that happen as of yet might happen in the following order:
As the Harare site announcement is
anticipated at some point this year, it could happen anytime. But my current
study indicates that a groundbreaking might only happen by the middle or latter
part of this year. And it is very likely that the Harare Zimbabwe Temple will
be the last temple to have a groundbreaking this year. If others happen this
year, it wouldn’t surprise me, but that doesn’t seem to be nearly as likely as
I once felt it was.
In the meantime, next year could be a big
year for groundbreakings. Since the site for the first Haitian temple in
Port-au-Prince was confirmed earlier this month, there is every chance that a
groundbreaking for that temple could happen in early-to-mid 2018. The same
timeline might very well hold true for the Bangkok Thailand temple, which has
not yet had a site confirmed, but which might have an existing building
renovated and repurposed as a multipurpose edifice akin to the buildings that
now house not only the temples in Manhattan New York and Hong Kong China, but
Church offices and meetinghouses as well.
In the meantime, while an exact site has yet
to be announced and confirmed, the second temple in Lima Peru, whose name was
specified last year as the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple, will likely be built in
the Peruvian district from whence its name originates. This means that it is
more likely to have a groundbreaking well in advance of any of the other
temples, and it is my feeling that such an event might happen in mid-2018.
The second Ecuadoran temple, set to be built
in the capital city of Quito, will likely not see the delays in construction
commencement that prevailed for the first temple in that nation, as the time
span between the site announcement and groundbreaking was 14 years, 4 months,
and 10 days, or 14.36 years. As that particular time span is the Church record,
at least in recent years, for the longest such period, I don’t see a similar
situation prevailing for Quito, particularly since South America’s perception
of temples have changed so much since then, and since the unprecedented growth
in South America has quickened and eliminated the need for such delays going
forward. For that reason, it wouldn’t surprise me to see this groundbreaking
happen in either late 2018 or early 2019.
Given the average time frame I have observed
as generally prevailing between the announcement of any Brazilian temple and
its groundbreaking, especially lately, it is my feeling and opinion that the
groundbreaking for Brazil’s ninth temple, in the city of Belem, will take place
in early-to-mid 2019. I would love to see it happen sooner, but that seems to
be the best prediction I can give for the moment.
While I constantly and consistently hope to
hear news that the current delays preventing progress towards construction on
the Urdaneta Philippines Temple have cleared enough for a site to be announced
and a groundbreaking scheduled, and in spite of the fact that it is the only
temple announced back in October 2010 that has not yet had a groundbreaking, I
have not seen sufficient reason to move it up on my list of near-future
possibilities for a groundbreaking to happen. It would be wonderful indeed if
that temple could commence construction sooner than many, including myself,
believe will happen, but right now, it doesn’t seem to be anywhere close to
having that happen. For that reason, I believe we will only see a groundbreaking
for that temple in mid-to-late 2019. Stay tuned for any update as I hear of it.
In these projections, I am always open to
suggestion, clarification, and correction. Please feel free to share any
feedback you might have for me. Thanks for taking time to read this post. I
look forward to hearing of all future temple-related developments, and I will
do my level best to report on such things as I hear of them. Thank you!
On this blog, I, James Stokes, share insights and analysis covering the latest news and developments reported about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My specific emphasis and focus is on the ministry of our current apostles, General Conference, and up-to-date temple information. This site is neither officially owned, operated, or endorsed by the Church, and I, as the autthor thereof, am solely responsible for this content.
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Monday, March 27, 2017
Fulfilling the Promise to Post an Updated Timeline by which Future Temple-related Events Might Be Announced and Scheduled
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.
Latest Update on Temple Construction Progress
While I have continued to update my temple construction progress report on a daily basis, it has been a few days since I have been able to post that report here on this blog. For that reason, this report contains a lot of changes, which, though new since my last posted report, are not new as of today. I will hope to be able to be more diligent in this regard going forward. In the meantime, I am taking time over the next day or two to do my long-promised update on when future temple-related events might be announced and scheduled. Sorry that has taken me so long. For now, here's the report. Any comments are welcome and appreciated.
Temple Construction Progress Update
(current as of 3/26/17)
Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 4 scheduled
for dedication; 7 under construction; 3 more
have construction pending, but all of them are anticipated to commence
construction before (or at least by) the start of Summer 2017; 1 scheduled
for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 2 renovations scheduled; 8 announced. NOTE: With
two groundbreakings having already taken place this year, we could see several
others before too much longer. For all of the announced temples that have not
yet had a groundbreaking, I offer my best-guess estimate for when that might
happen, to which I have recently made adjustments and corrections. One
correction is noting that we might only see one other groundbreaking this year,
though it seems that one is not as imminent as I originally was led to believe.
Dedication scheduled:
156. Paris France
Temple: Plaza water features operational; accepting
reservations for public open house (which will run from Saturday April
22-Saturday May 13 (excluding the Sundays of April 23 and 30 and May 7)); dedication
scheduled for Sunday May 21, 2017.
157. Tucson
Arizona Temple: Additional lighting tests underway; accepting reservations for
public open house beginning Monday May 15, 2017; (which will run from Saturday
June 3-Saturday June 24 (excluding the Sundays of June 4, 11, and 18)); dedication
scheduled for Sunday August 13, 2017.
158. Meridian
Idaho Temple: Monument sign installed; interior work progressing; dedication
scheduled for Sunday November 19, 2017.
159. Cedar
City Utah Temple: Installing glass; hanging drywall on interior; dedication
scheduled for Sunday December 10, 2017.
Under Construction:
160. Rome Italy Temple:
Angel Moroni installed on March 25, 2017; installing
art-glass windows; completion anticipated sometime during early-to-mid
2018.
161. Kinshasa
Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Concrete
block set in place for base of tower; completion anticipated
sometime during early-to-mid 2018.
NOTE: For the two temples above,
they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be
completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all
developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.
162. Barranquilla
Colombia Temple: Sheathing exterior walls with rigid foam insulation; steel
framework for cupola installed; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.
163. Concepcion Chile
Temple: Exterior cladding progressing on north wall; planting palm trees on
west side; monument sign poured; waterproofing membrane attached to east wall; completion
anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
164. Durban South Africa
Temple: Pouring main floor exterior walls; support
structure for baptismal font poured; completion anticipated
sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
NOTE: For the two temples above,
they seem to be interchangeable in terms of which one might potentially be
completed and dedicated first. I am trying to keep an eye on any and all
developments and will adjust their listings as necessary once more is known.
165. Fortaleza Brazil
Temple: Erecting structural framing for temple tower; completion anticipated
sometime during early-to-mid 2019.
167. Lisbon Portugal
Temple: Excavation completed for temple foundation; structural framing
going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during mid-to-late 2019.
Construction pending:
166. Winnipeg Manitoba
Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; awaiting commencement of
full-scale operations, which may occur in April or May 2017 (construction
currently delayed by a very bad Canadian winter); completion anticipated
sometime during early-to-mid 2019.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to last around 20 months (approximately 1.67 years.) It is a
smaller edifice that is being built to at the moment serve just the one stake
in Manitoba. So it might be completed sooner than that. It all depends on how
soon construction will be able to start, and how quickly it progresses after
that.
168. Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Groundbreaking
held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting
commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion
anticipated sometime during mid-2019.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to last around 24 months (2 years) in view of it being the one
and only building on the project.
169.
Arequipa Peru Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday March 4, 2017; awaiting
commencement of full-scale operations (which is anticipated ASAP); completion
anticipated sometime during late 2019-early
2020.
NOTE: Once construction commences,
it is anticipated to take roughly 28 months (2.25 years) to complete. This is
because there are neighboring construction projects involved that will all be worked
on simultaneously.
Rededication Scheduled:
8. Idaho Falls Idaho
Temple: Closed for renovation; accepting reservations for public open house beginning
Monday April 3, 2017; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.
Undergoing Renovation:
20. Jordan River Utah
Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid 2018.
41. Frankfurt Germany
Temple: Closed for renovation; building basement addition for new baptistry; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to
mid-2018.
Renovation Scheduled:
13. Oakland California Temple: Scheduled to
close for renovation in February 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during
mid-to-late 2019.
16. Washington D. C. Temple: Scheduled to close
for renovation in March 2018; rededication anticipated sometime during early-to-mid
2020.
NOTE: In view of the fact that we
have already had two temple groundbreaking events so far this year, it is entirely
possible that we might see site announcements and groundbreakings for other
temples in the near future. That said, it is interesting to consider that,
while some of those groundbreakings might be more likely than others,
ultimately, it is more difficult than I originally believed to try and pinpoint
how soon those groundbreakings are likely to take place. Wanting to be as
conservative in my estimates as I am able to be, I have adjusted some things.
As always, I would be gratified to hear of such events happening much sooner
than anyone expects. But for the moment, it seems wise to make some
adjustments. Thanks.
Announced:
170. Harare Zimbabwe
Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; site announcement and
groundbreaking anticipated sometime later this year.
NOTE: While the site announcement
for this temple has been anticipated since the president of the Church’s Africa
Southeast Area stated it would happen sometime this year, and while I would
love to see a site announced just before, sometime during, or shortly after
General Conference and to see a groundbreaking happen sometime between the
dedication of the Paris France Temple and the rededication of the Idaho Falls
Idaho Temple, I am not as confident as I once was in predicting that it will
happen within that time frame. I will be more conservative, therefore, and say
that whenever we do have a site announcement, the groundbreaking could take
place sometime between mid-and-late 2017.
171. Port-au-Prince
Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; temple site confirmed;
groundbreaking not announced.
NOTE: On Sunday March 12, while
presiding at a stake conference for the area in which the first Haitian temple
will be built, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles officially
announced and confirmed that, just as members in the area had speculated, the
plot of land behind an existing meetinghouse on the Route de Freres (French for
“The Route of Brothers”) had been purchased as the official site for the first
Haitian temple. While such site announcements generally signal that a
groundbreaking might shortly follow, there is reason to believe that it will
take the Church at least a year to plan and design the edifice to conform to
government regulations and to be acceptable to the locals. It therefore makes
sense to adjust my estimate here and to say that a groundbreaking could happen
by early-to-mid 2018.
172. Bangkok Thailand
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: There is more than sufficient
reason to believe the current speculation being perpetuated to the effect that,
in the mold of the already-existing multi-purpose buildings that house not only
an office building but a meetinghouse and a temple as well (they are now known
as the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York Temples), a similar renovation
and rebuilding might happen to a Church-owned office building in Bangkok. If it
happens that way, we could see construction there commence with a
groundbreaking by early-to-mid 2018 as
well.
173. Lima Peru Los
Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: This temple is the last of
the four announced in 2016, and is unique already for two reasons: First, this
temple will make Lima Peru the third city in the world to have a second temple
announced. The other two are in Utah: South Jordan and Provo. Second the name
for this second temple for the capital city of Peru is Los Olivos, and the fact
that there is a Los Olivos district in Lima gives us some indication as to the
general area in which this temple will be built. These facts are sufficient
grounds to surmise that this temple is ahead of the others listed below that
were announced first. Considering all of this leads me to conclude that we
could see a groundbreaking held for this temple sometime during mid-2018, if not indeed before.
174. Abidjan Ivory
Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: The growth in Cote d’Ivoire
has really taken off in the last several years. It is interesting to note that,
even though this first Ivory Coast temple has not yet had a site announcement
or groundbreaking, the astonishing growth developments that are ongoing have
led some to speculate that the Ivory Coast could have another temple or two
announced at some point before the first one is completed. Time will tell. In
the meantime, it seems more than likely that construction could commence on
this first one with a groundbreaking ceremony held sometime during mid-to-late 2018.
175. Quito Ecuador
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: Ecuador’s second temple is set
to be built in that nation’s capital city. The new temple was announced around
33 years after the first Ecuadoran temple in Guayaquil. The time intervening
between the announcement of that temple and when it was actually dedicated
still stands as the longest such period in Church history. It is my personal
hope that the second temple for this nation will not be subjected to so many
delays. Given how much the Church has expanded throughout South America of
late, I will venture my estimate that we could see a groundbreaking for this
temple sometime during late 2018-early
2019.
176. Belem Brazil
Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.
NOTE: Because Brazil ranks as one
of the very fastest growing nations in terms of the Church’s presence there,
the announcement of the ninth temple in Brazil brings it closer than any other
nation to the number of operating temples in Utah. (The December dedication
already scheduled in Cedar City will bring the number of Utah temples to 17,
which means that Brazil is more than halfway there. If there is any merit at
all into what I have heard about possible future temple sites for Brazil, the
number of Brazilian temples could increase by at least five within the next
15-20 years or so, and perhaps more than that may be under active consideration
right now. Getting back to the Belem temple, construction might officially be
underway there sometime during early-to-mid
2019, which would ensure that Brazil would continue to have at least two
temples simultaneously under construction for at least the next two years.
177. Urdaneta
Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting
official site announcement.
NOTE: While it is true that this temple
is technically ahead of those above by virtue of it being in the planning and
approval phase, it has been almost 6.5 years since this temple was announced.
That is a most significant delay. As noted above on the listing for the Quito
Ecuador temple, the first Ecuadoran temple (built in the city of Guayquil) is
remembered for being the temple that had the longest known interval in Church
history between its announcement and its groundbreaking (a time period that
spanned 14 years, 4 months, and 10 days, which rounded to the nearest hundredth
of a year is 14.36. It is my sincere hope and belief that we will never again
see such a lengthy period of time between any other site announcement and
groundbreaking. All going well, I could definitely see a groundbreaking for the
Urdaneta temple somewhere around mid-to-late
2019, if not before.
NOTE: Given how much progress we
have seen with temples recently, it is not hard to believe that we will see
many more temples announced in the near future. There have been reports of several
cities that have already had a site purchased already. These four have been
identified by name: Managua Nicaragua, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea,
Bentonville Arkansas, and Missoula Montana. If other potential temples have had
a site purchased, they have yet to be identified as such. As the apostles
travel, they sometimes have felt impressed to publicly propose a temple for the
areas they visit. Such temples have been proposed in New Delhi India (in June
1992 by Elder Neal A. Maxwell; may not be likely due to the prevailing
political and religious obstacles to such an edifice); Vilnius Lithuania (in
May 1993 by Elder M. Russell Ballard); Nairobi Kenya (in February 1998 by
President Gordon B. Hinckley; this temple might have an official announcement
within the next year or so, as Kenya ranks as the 10th of the top
ten countries with the most Church members without a temple); Maracaibo
Venezuela (in August 1999 by President Hinckley); Singapore (in January 2000 by
President Hinckley); for the Southwest Salt Lake Valley (in October 2005 by
President Hinckley; NOTE: While some contend that this temple announcement has
already happened, verifiable sources widely available prove otherwise); Managua
Nicaragua (in January 2012 by then-Elder Russell M. Nelson; the fact that it
has not only been publicly proposed but has had a site purchased for it makes
it very likely; it is also the 1st of the top ten countries with the
largest LDS presence without a temple); Missoula Montana (sometime in 2014 by
Elder David A. Bednar; while the report of this proposal has yet to be
verified, the fact that there has been a purchase of a temple site seems to
indicate that it is a most imminent possibility); and for the Kasai Region in
the Democratic Republic of the Congo (in February 2016 by Elder Neil L.
Andersen). I have heard many reports of several more temple sites being
procured, but the nature of those reports are such that they have yet to be
verified.
Key:
Bolded numbers and text denote
temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a
scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as
dedication or groundbreaking dates.
Italicized numbers and
text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in
which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.
Underlined numbers and text denote
temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval,
and groundbreaking.
Red
text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report.
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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