Hello again, everyone! Having put my recent focus on more pressing matters, there were major Church news stories which I missed reporting on. The Church reported one week ago today that a new full-time organist had been appointed to assist the Tabernacle Choir. Dr. Brian Mathias joins the other three full-time organists (Richard Elliott, Clay Christiansen, and Andrew Unsworth) and two part-time organists (Linda Margetts and Bonnie Goodliffe), where he will rotate duties with the others in playing during General Conference, Music & the Spoken Word, other Choir concerts and events (including tours, daily organ recitals, and other public appearances. You can read more about Dr. Mathias here.
Meanwhile, the Philippines Mormon Newsroom has published an article about how the China Conference on Religion and Peace (CCRP) sent a delegation to the Philippines Area Office to promote understanding between that organization and the Church. Representing the Church at that gathering were Elders Evan A. Schmutz, who serves in the Philippines Area presidency, and Elder Randy D. Funk, who serves as the president of the Church's Asia Area. A summary of the CCRP delegates present and the Church buildings and grounds they toured can be found here.
As my US readers may be aware, there has been a lot of talk about how President Trump is choosing to approach the so-called "Dreamers", who remain in the US under the DACA program which was established by his predecessor, President Obama. The First Presidency released this statement earlier today, which speaks for itself.
Turning now to the Church News website, Sister Sharon Eubank gave a forum address at BYU, a report of which can be found here. Meanwhile, Elder Gary E. Stevenson spoke at a BYU-Idaho devotional recently, during which he shared his first-hand experience that occurred in the Salt Lake Temple on January 14 to reorganize the First Presidency. You can find the summary of his address here.
The Primary General Presidency and Board released this article to share guidelines for planning the newly-announced Temple and Priesthood Preparation Meeting for 11-year-old Primary children. The Church has also announced a new style of temple garments for women. Gerry Avant, the retired editor of the Church news, has continued her series of articles about her many experiences covering the Church and its' leaders, and she shared this account of riding horses with President Spencer W. Kimball.
And rounding out the Church news coverage are some articles about President Dallin H. Oaks, this one to highlight how he and his wife are speaking at the annual Family Discovery Day for the RootsTech Annual Family History Conference, and this one for Church members wanting to learn more about the new First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Sorry about the length of this post. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. 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.
Friday, January 26, 2018
Major Church News Update
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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