Hello again, everyone! In view of my personal need to slow down in the last few days and recuperate from illness, there have been a number of Church and temple news stories that I have not passed along on this blog. It is time to remedy that right now. So let's get right into it.
First of all, with today being March 4, 2018, I can now confirm that the Washington D. C. Temple has officially closed for its' renovation process, which is anticipated to last about two years. When announcing this closure a year ago, the First Presidency indicated that it would reopen in 2020.
With that said, it is a comparatively larger temple, so I have set my general estimate for the completion of that process for this temple as mid-to-late 2020. The purpose of the renovation is to upgrade and update electrical and mechanical systems and refresh the furnishings.
Second, a general note for you all regarding the full temple construction progress report I am keeping and have frequently updated as I find out more information. As I considered how best to track the information on that report, it made more sense to me to eliminate the notes under the status of each temple, since I generally post separate updates on time-frames for such events. So I have simplified that report quite a bit.
Next, we move on to several excellent Church news stories from Mormon Newsroom which are well worth mentioning. In this blog post, the Church mentions the publication of a unique volume containing a number of talks given specifically by the women of the Church. That volume will be available in full PDF version on the Church's website later this year.
I read some articles after the announcement of the new First Presidency that were less than complimentary about how President Nelson handled the question put to him about the place of women in the Church, and hopefully this volume helps to show how highly the counsel provided by the women of the Church is valued among the leading Brethren.
We next move on to news releases highlighting the ministry of our apostles. This article shares how Elder Andersen ministered to the Saints and friends of other faiths in Mexico following an earthquake in that region. And Elder Stevenson was asked to represent the First Presidency in ministering to Church members and friends of other faiths who were impacted by the horrific school shooting in Florida.
In connection with the Church's disaster relief efforts, members of the Presiding Bishopric (who, among other responsibilities, oversee the Church's Welfare efforts and disaster cleanup) have been busy as well. Bishop Dean M. Davies, who serves as First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric. had a "homecoming" of sorts when he was asked to minister to the people of Puerto Rico recently; he had been a mission president in San Juan prior to his full-time Church service. This report shares more about his recent visit there.
Presiding Bishop Gerald Causse, meanwhile, has given two significant addresses to vastly different groups. He spoke at a religious symposium in response to an invitation to explain to those gathered there how the Church's welfare and humanitarian programs work to help provide for the poor and needy, both inside and outside of the Church.
And more recently, Bishop Causse spoke at a Church history symposium on Mormon economic history. During his remarks, he particularly focused on how the Church's finances are handled, and highlighted principles of welfare and self-reliance that how the Church cares for the poor and needy, both inside and outside of the Church.
The final thing I wanted to mention is that the Church held its' annual RootsTech gathering within this last week or so. Among the featured speakers were President and Sister Oaks, who gave the keynote address highlighting their own experiences with family history.
In a leadership session for Church leaders and for those called as Temple and Family History Consultants, Elder Quentin L. Cook and Elder Dale G. Renlund, who (unless I am mistaken) serve on the Church's Temple and Family History Executive Council provided key counsel regarding the many efforts the Church is making to help people find their roots and to take names to the temple.
I apologize for the length of this post, but these stories needed to be covered. That does it for this post. 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.
Sunday, March 4, 2018
Miscellaneous Church and Temple News
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment
In addition to my life-long love for the subjects which I cover in the posts of this blog, I have long held the belief that we can disagree without becoming disagreeable. Differences of opinion are natural, while being disagreeable in expressing those differences is not. And in that sense, I have no desire to close the door on anyone who earnestly desires to contribute to the ongoing dialogue on subjects covered in the posts on this blog.
At the same time, however, I recognize that we live in a time when incivility, discourtesy, unkindness, and even cyber-bullying has regrettably become part of online interactions. With that in mind, while anyone who wishes can comment on anything if they choose to do so, I hereby reserve the right to immediately delete any comments which are critical, unkind, lack civility, or promote prodcuts, services, and values contrary to either the Church, or to the rules of online etiquette.
I'd also like to remind all who comment here that I try to respond personally to each individual comment as I feel is appropriate. Such replies are not meant to end the conversation, but to acknowledge earnest feedback as it is submitted.
And in order to better preserve the spirit and pure intentions for which this blog was established, I also hereby request that anyone not commenting with a regular user name (particularly those whose comments appear under the "Unknown" or "Anonymous" monikers, give the rest of us a name to work with in addressing any replies. If such individuals do not wish to disclose their actual given names, a pseudonym or nickname would suffice.
Any comments made by individuals who opt to not give a name by which they can ber identified may, depending on the substance and tone of such comments, be subject to deletion as well. I would respectfully ask that all of us do all we can to keep the dialogue positive, polite, and without malice or ill-will. May the Lord bless us all in our discussion of these important matters.