Hello again, everyone! In a recent comment on this blog, a question was asked about the potential timing for future temple events. Based on the information I have regarding what is currently known about these developments, here are those general estimates. Note that, while I am offering my estimates for the groundbreakings for the Bangkok Thailand and Urdaneta Philippines Temples, until more is known about which other temples are close to a groundbreaking, I will not be offering any estimates for other announced temples beyond what I shared here, which will be subject to change once more is known. Here are those estimates:
2018:
July 23: Hamilton New Zealand Temple will close for renovation (confirmed)
Mid-to-late 2018: Groundbreakings for Bangkok Thailand and Urdaneta Philippines Temples (Note: the two may be interchangeable in terms of which might be held first.)
Anytime in the near future: Full-scale renovation anticipated to begin for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple.
October 28: Concepcion Chile Temple Dedication (160th operating temple; already confirmed)
December 9: Barranquilla Colombia Temple Dedication (161st operating temple; already confirmed)
Final note on 2018: As has been pointed out recently on this blog, given President Nelson's reportedly ambitious temple-building plans, it is possible (and even very likely) that other announced temples might have a groundbreaking by the end of this year, but for the moment, only the two are anticipated.
2019:
March 10-17: Rome Italy Temple Dedication (162nd operating temple; already confirmed)
Early-to-mid 2019: Kinshasa DR Congo and Fortaleza Brazil Temple Dedications (163rd and 164th operating temples; may be interchangeable in terms of their dedication order); Frankfurt Germany Temple Rededication.
Mid-2019: Port-au-Prince Haiti and Lisbon Portugal Temple Dedications (165th and 166th operating temples; may be interchangeable in terms of their dedication order); Oklahoma City Oklahoma and Memphis Tennessee Temple Rededications (may be interchangeable in terms of their rededication order, although Oklahoma City is slightly further along for the moment).
Mid-to-late 2019: Durban South Africa Temple Dedication (167th operating temple); Raleigh North Carolina and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temple Rededications (all three temples listed here may be interchangeable in terms of their future dedication or rededications)
Late 2019-early 2020: Oakland California Temple Rededication (Note: Although the First Presidency indicated this temple would be rededicated sometime in 2019, since this is the first renovation for this temple, and since it is older, until there is concrete verification that this will be the case, I have felt inclined to be more conservative in this estimate.)
Final note on 2019: As noted above for 2018, I also heard that 2019 could potentially be a big year for temple groundbreakings. Depending on how & when President Nelson's ambitious temple-building plans are revealed, and to what extent they will be implemented, we may be in for a windfall of new temple announcements and groundbreakings.
2020:
Early 2020: Arequipa Peru and Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple Dedications (168th and 169th operating temples; may be interchangeable in terms of their future dedication, although Arequipa is further along)
Early-to-mid 2020: Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Dedication (170th operating temple; may potentially occur on the earlier side of that estimate if progress remains steady); Tokyo Japan Temple Rededication (Note that the two may be interchangeable in terms of their future likelihood)
Mid-2020: Asuncion Paraguay Temple Rededication (Note: Although the First Presidency indicated that this temple would be rededicated sometime during 2019, the timing of this event will depend on how soon renovation efforts can formally begin. Until that time, it has seemed wiser to be more conservative in this estimate.)
Mid-to-late 2020: Mesa Arizona and Washington DC Temple Rededications (Note: Since the Mesa temple has been renovated once before, and since the Washington DC Temple is a larger one, I would anticipate that Mesa will be rededicated first, perhaps several months in advance of the rededication for the temple in DC)
Note: Any temples that have a groundbreaking during the remainder of 2018 and in 2019 may potentially be dedicated during this year, depending on the design and construction process. It is also more likely than not that President Nelson will have announced several other temples by this time, which means we may be seeing many more temple events during this year.
2021:
Early-to-mid 2021: Hamilton New Zealand Temple Rededication (Note: When this temple's renovation was announced, the First Presidency noted that a rededication would occur during 2021. It has been widely noted that this renovation process may involve an expansion of the current temple's size. If that occurs, this event could potentially be pushed back further if needed).
I continue to monitor any and all temple developments and will bring word of those to you as I receive them, including any changes that may be needed for these estimates. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to, please feel free to subscribe to stay informed of newly-posted content. 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, July 15, 2018
Updated General Estimates for Anticipated Temple Events
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.
16 comments:
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.
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I am excited for the Democratic Republic of the Congo temple. I feel the whole of the African continant is one of the ripest fields of missionary work in the world. Next will be China. I hope and pray for more openness in mainland China. However China is partway opening. Many Chinease have joined the church around the world and have returned to China. Members can share the gospel only with immidiate family. But that is one of the greatest missionary tools anywhere. Most new members in the world can invite family and friends to learn the gospel. But in China, it's just family. On my mission in Ecuador, member referrals, especially family referals were the most successful investigators and strongest converts.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris! Thanks for this comment as well. The Kinshasa Temple seems to be the closest to having a dedication announced, especially since that one will not feature an angel Moroni. I would anticipate that within the next 2-3 months, there may be an official announcement of its' open house and dedication information. The growth the Church has seen within the African continent is nothing short of miraculous, which is why I see the prospect of several other temples being announced in the near future to serve the two Church areas that cover that continent.
ReplyDeleteMainland China will certainly be a fruitful field for the gospel once the Church is allowed to proselyte and operate more fully there. I stand by my theory that President Nelson's recognized status as a "friend of China" will likely help the Church to open missionary work there at some point within the next several years. How and when that happens will be up to the Lord, but it may be sooner than many (myself included) currently believe is possible.
While I never served a full-time mission away from home, I have heard lots of returned missionaries talk about how the referrals Church members worldwide give to the missionaries led to more success in their labors, as the families could see how their family members have been benefited by their Church membership.
I cannot say for sure, but if early reports are any indication, then the prophetic administration of President Nelson will likely oversee many ways to more fully expand the gospel and the number of temples worldwide, and it also appears as though more will be done to unify the Church worldwide and to simplify the work of the Lord. It will surely be interesting to see. Thanks again for taking time to comment, Chris!
I understand you served a great mission, maybe two if you count your time as a temple worker. Love that in the past decade more local missionary callings have opened up for people unable to serve full-time. As for the temple in Kinsasha, I have heard that the steeple is being built to support an angel statue for a future addition. Also the Hamilton New Zealand Temple appears to have a similar design as temples in London England and Bern Switzerland. They had Angels added during renovations decades after dedication. Do you think one will be added during its renovation?
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of angel moroni statues, I understand why some temples don't have a statue due to the design, like Mesa, but I have wondered why some haven't had a statue placed on a detached pillar near the temple. I remember the Boise temple had a spire that was originally not attached to the temple at all until it was expanded and then the spire or pillar was in the lobby as the temple was expanded around it. The Mesa and Hawaii and others could have a statue placed in a prominent position near the temple to help distinguish it as a temple.
ReplyDeleteI can see reasons why DR of the Congo and Haiti would not have statues though. We are already more than half way to Oct conference. I am excited of what might happen or announcements during conference.
Kenny, I have thought about the idea of temples like Mesa, Cardston, and Laie could possibly get a detached spire with an Moroni statue. Maybe the same for Paris someday. Several temples have added statues after dedication. They they may not of had them due to pending legislation and zoning, (Such as Boston) or the angel was not part of the original design of the building. Even several temples with detached spires had the angel included.
DeleteThank you for your kind words, Chris. I did have two great part-time opportunities: though I would have liked to do more, I was grateful for the chance to do what I did, mostly because my temple service led me to my wife. But it has been awesome to see how the service missionary program has evolved and changed since my formal call ended just over a decade ago.
ReplyDeleteAnd we also now have the chance to hear about the number of Church service missionaries each year in the statistical report, which they didn't start doing until about 6-9 years ago.
That said, I was, if only vaguely, aware that there are and will be temples that do not currently have an angel Moroni but are built so one can be added in the future, if and when that is appropriate. As I understand it, the DR Congo may be a poorer country where eyebrows would be raised if the Church put an expensive statue on the top of the temple right now. But that could change in the future.
ReplyDeleteI had heard through the grapevine that part of the plan would be to potentially expand the New Zealand Temple, in addition to doing seismic and systemic upgrades. That said, as far as I know, I have not yet heard of any plans the Church has as to the full extent of that process, so it could be possible that the Church will add an angel Moroni statue. It's interesting that that temple's renovation closure was the first major temple announcement of President Nelson's administration. Unless the date has changed, the temple is set to close a week from tomorrow.
I have also been anxiously anticipating more temple news being released in the near future. It was just about this time last year (give or take a day or two) that the groundbreaking for the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple was announced to take place at the end of last October. So even though July is a typical recess month for the Brethren, the First Presidency has made significant announcements during their annual July recess. Most notably, in 2015, following the death of President Boyd K. Packer, President Nelson was set apart as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles exactly three years ago today. So major announcements have been made during this typical recess month.
The next big thing I am anticipating (for the moment) is the day sometime during either this week or next week when the August 2018 Ensign is made available in PDF form. I am looking forward to that for a couple of reasons.
First, although the Church has already announced area leadership changes for August, any subsequent changes that have been made in either area leadership or the magazine editors and advisers is usually noted in the August Ensign every year.
But above and beyond that, although the Church released a copy of President Nelson's January 16 address from the temple with the April 2018 Ensign, and an Ensign supplement in tribute of him with the May 2018 Ensign, as of right now, we have not seen articles published in tribute of Presidents Oaks and Eyring, and in tribute of and to introduce Elders Gong and Soares to the Church.
The interesting thing is that, in the past, the articles about the new First Presidency counselors have typically been released within one or two months after the article or supplement introducing the new Church president has been published.
Most recently, the supplement for President Monson (which was included with the May Ensign 10 years ago) was followed by articles for President Eyring and then-President Uchtdorf in July of that year.
Elders Christofferson and Andersen had Ensign articles introducing them published in August 2008 and August 2009 respectively, and articles about Elders Rasband, Stevenson and Renlund were published in the April, June, and July Ensigns of 2016. Since we have not seen any other articles about new leadership except that supplement in May of this year for President Nelson, I would anticipate that happening within the next 2-4 editions of the Ensign.
I have tracked a history of articles about new apostles and changes in the First Presidency since the October 2004 sustaining of Elders Uchtdorf and Bednar to the apostleship. So that's why I am excited to see what the August 2018 Ensign features in that regard.
Sorry, I went off on a few tangents. Thanks for taking time to comment again here, Chris. I always appreciate hearing from you and hope my replies are helpful to you as well.
Kenny, I was apparently putting together my responses to Chris above when your comment was posted. Thanks for stopping by. I would have to do the research on it, but I believe that a few of the temples in Africa (and possibly South America as well) originally were dedicated without an angel Moroni, but that many of those have since had such statues placed. I also understand why (in cases such as Kinshasa) the Church might feel that an angel Moroni statue on a temple in a relatively impoverished nation may send the wrong message.
ReplyDeleteI am also beyond excited for General Conference. In just around 12 weeks, October will be here, and we will once again have the opportunity to hear from our Church leaders. I too am excited for any temple announcements. I know that the last time we had two back-to-back conferences where announcements were made was in October 2012 and April 2013, after which we had the 2-year hiatus on temple announcements so the backlog could be cleared.
We have discussed in detail on this blog the fact that President Nelson is so enthusiastic and energetic about the prospect of bringing temples to the people. We have also talked a lot about how President Nelson's legacy as a temple-building prophet will outpace and overshadow President Hinckley's status as such.
With that in mind, I am more confident than ever that he will do what he can to speed along the prospects of getting announced temples built and dedicated, and announcing several more. Therefore, regardless of the fact that there are 19 announced temples awaiting a groundbreaking (7 of which were announced by him in April), I would be very much surprised and shocked if no new temples are announced at all during the upcoming General Conference and those that follow.
That said, just a general note to all of you who may be curious: While I am still hoping beyond hope that I will be able to revisit my series on the most likely temple prospects that could be announced next conference, my ability to do so will depend on the resources I have available to me within the next 4-6 weeks. If I wind up not being able to do that this go-round, I may simply take the feedback on the initial list I did and add the locations for which there is a high likelihood on the additional list.
If nothing happens to enable me to start that series by this time next month, I may forego it this time. Stay tuned for more on what I decide there in the near future. Thanks again for your comment, Kenny!
Hi,
ReplyDeleteI was in the Hamilton New Zealand Temple Visitors Centre earlier this year and had a chat to the director. There are a couple of confirmed things:
- The form and appearance of the Temple will remain static, except with the addition of the an Angel Moroni is a possibility, but not confirmed yet.
- The construction brick manufactured on site for the Temple is showing significant duress at the moment. There is no guarantee it will remain.
- The Hamilton New Zealand Temple is the largest single endowment room temple in the Church at the moment. It's sister temples in London and Bonn were renovated to have four endowment rooms, with the London receiving an additional floor during it's renovation in the 90's. Therefore, it is highly likely the New Zealand Temple could be completely gutted and refurbished. (Not confirmed).
- There is no guarantee that the existing Visitors Centre will retain it's current function post renovation. There is a chance it will be turned into an arrival centre and non patrol waiting room.
** Fun fact, until the mid 90's, New Zealanders wishing to have a temple wedding were required by legislation to have a civil marriage outside. There was a chapel in the rear of the Visitors Centre that was used for this purpose. My parents were married in there first in 1967 before proceeding up to the Temple to be sealed together.**
Hello, Brett! Thanks for stopping by to comment. Interesting insights. If the visitor's center director has that kind of inside information on these points, there is certainly no reason to doubt it.
ReplyDeleteAs to the point about the visitor's center, I had been aware of the Church planning to close several of them around the world, some of which may not reopen again.
Additionally, as one who worked in a fairly busy temple on the Friday evening shift when masses of patrons would flock to the temple, I can say that, while there may be merit to the idea of keeping an endowment room that may seat a large number of patrons, there is at times an equal or greater advantage to having regular-sized rooms that could more easily accommodate a smaller amount of patrons, rather than having to potentially wait for a decent-sized number of patrons to fill the single endowment room.
That said, I am not sure that the Saints who attend the Hamilton temple have had to wait for enough patrons to fill the currently large single room, but I imagine that would be a more efficient use of space and time than bringing patrons in to several sessions that are below room capacity.
I also know that, when the First Presidency originally announced the renovation process for the Mesa Arizona Temple, while some details were released in conjunction with that announcement, we did not learn of the full extent of the plans for that renovation or the surrounding area until after that temple closed on May 20 of this year. I cannot say for sure, but I would imagine the same will also be true for the Hamilton temple, which, according to the information I have found, is set to close six days from now.
But I also looked into this further, and the Church's page for the Hamilton temple seems to imply that the temple might possibly already be closed for that renovation process. I include the address of that page for any that would like to verify what I am seeing:
https://www.lds.org/temples/details/hamilton-new-zealand-temple?lang=eng
Thanks for taking time to comment, Brett! I appreciate the insights you shared.
I understand that the visitors center in Hamilton is closing and combining with another nearby facility or museum about the local area and formal church school. Also several recent temple renovations have reduced the seating capacity of the endowment rooms. I think that changing a large room into a few smaller rooms will be more efficient. More work can be down in the same time. Thinking shorter time waiting your turn in before going into the Celestial room. A 200 seat endowment room would take a lot more time. With two or more instruction rooms we can stager the session more frequently and not have to wait for as many people to fill a session.
ReplyDeleteIt always amazes me how the Church can start with a different, more unique design that sets many of these temples apart from each other, and then, as circumstances necessitate, alterations can be made to the original design to compensate for the growth of the Church in such areas, and to enable such temples to serve the Saints in those areas. It would certainly make sense to me if the Church split the one large single-session room into several smaller ones.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, just as a point of interest, I have made the determination that I will be keeping Auckland as a temple prospect on my list for the near future. Regardless of what happens with the renovation process for the Hamilton temple, the fact that the Church has land set aside in Auckland, combined with the extensive number of new stakes and districts that have been established in Auckland since the Hamilton New Zealand Temple was dedicated (there may have only been 2 or 3 at that time, and there is now a grand total of 13 stakes named for that city now. That kind of growth certainly merits its' own temple. It will certainly be interesting to see how soon the Church winds up announcing a temple for Auckland. As I noted earlier, I learned years ago that land has long been held in reserve, and the time may indeed be coming when the only question on the announcement is how soon, and it is my feeling that could occur within the next 1-5 General Conferences, but likely sooner rather than later. Thanks, as always, for taking time to comment, Chris!
Hi L. Chris Jones and James,
ReplyDeleteThe Church History Museum recently opened down the road as part of the Temple View re-envisioning project the Church implemented when the Church College of New Zealand was closed and earmarked for repurposing. The director indicated they haven't fully come to a decision on the either combining the existing visitors centre and Church History Museum or keeping the functions separate.
The biggest issues for a closure would be how to use the Christus Statue. The Visitors Centre is very busy during the Christmas Period with the Christmas lights display and choirs.
Anecdotally the temple often has full sessions on a frequent basis, which is around 200. It does limit the amount of sessions that temple can run. In the past the temple ran sessions all night on a Friday night to enable those who travelled from abroad or long distances in New Zealand to maximise the amount of work they could do.
Previously,I worked for Manukau City Council and had access to records. I saw the original resource consent for the Stake Centre, MTC and temple which was approved in 2006. Part of the resource consent was detailed plans for site grading and water table holding ponds work that needed to be done for the temple foundation. From my desk I had a great view of the site as it was built, and the ground work for the Temple was completed. It involved removing the top of the hill, completing the works and then returning the bulk of the earth back onto the hill. It overlooks the main highway that connects Auckland to the rest of the North Island as well as the International Airport which is the main entry to the country. It also overlooks Manukau City town centre. To say it's a highly visible location is and understatement. Part of the plans of the Temple included maintaining a line of site from the Military redoubt that sits behind the temple out to the Manukau Harbour. The St Johns Redoubt dates from 1863.
https://www.doc.govt.nz/our-work/heritage/heritage-publications/by-region/auckland/st-johns-redoubt-1863-heritage-assessment/
Part of the site borders and encroaches on the Church property.
https://missionarymums.files.wordpress.com/2012/10/mtc-flags.png?w=584&h=349
You can see the fence that surrounds the site.
https://www.lds.org/bc/content/ldsorg/service/missionary-service/mtc/new-zealand/photo-gallery/images/new-zealand-mtc-front.jpg
In the background you can see the proposed site for the temple.
Thank you, Brett, for those interesting insights. I had been aware that the Church has land in reserve in Auckland (which I discovered when I was first sharing my thoughts about prospective temple locations that could be announced in the near future), and for that reason, Auckland has been on each of my lists for the immediate future. If you have firsthand knowledge of the specifics, that is more reason than ever to believe that an announcement of that temple is just a matter of time.
ReplyDeleteI also know from my own research on the matter that the Church has habitually held land in reserve for a temple in many places, and may keep their title of it for 10-20 years or more before any action might actually be taken in terms of building a temple on such spots.
We have also seen temples publicly proposed by apostles and prophets that have gone on to be announced by a future Church president. I know for sure that, among the selections on my personal list for the last three years was the temple that was announced for Managua last April. Then-Elder Nelson had publicly proposed a temple there about six years ago, and with the land having been procured some time ago, all the Brethren were waiting for was the right time to announce it. And it just so happened that the official announcement came among the first of those announced during now-President Nelson's administration. While President Nelson has not, to my knowledge, been back to visit Nicaragua since announcing that temple, I would imagine the Saints there are overjoyed that he fulfilled his own promise, prophecy, and proposal for a temple in that land.
But getting back to the subject of the Auckland temple, I have not been able to ascertain if a public proposal was made by an apostle or Church president on a temple there. What i do know is that I saw it as an imminent possibility from the first time I started sharing my thoughts on the subject. Based on what you shared in support of what I already know, the prospect may be even more imminent than I realized.
On my main list which will definitely be included in my October 2018 General Conference predictions, in addition to the Auckland temple, for the Church's Pacific Area, I also have the prospect of one in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, where land has reportedly also been held in reserve for a while now. While I personally prioritized Auckland over Port Moresby for many years, I was advised and was able to confirm that Port Moresby may be more imminent. According to Matt's most recent list of the top ten nations without a temple, Papua New Guinea comes in at #1 now that Nicaragua has seen a temple announcement.
So Port Moresby might still be more imminent, but I can see an even stronger reason now to keep Auckland as a prospect, and I wasn't really comfortable with the prospect of removing it anyways.
What will surely be interesting to see is whether or not President Nelson's ambitious temple-building plans and the renovation for the Hamilton temple (which is currently anticipated to conclude in early-to-mid 2021) will delay the likely announcement of a temple in Auckland, and if so, by how much. Either way, thanks for sharing this information, Brett. It is interesting, to be sure.
It could delay it, or it might bring it forward as the Temple department and support resources would already in the country completing the renovation. It makes sense to have them work on the two projects close together to avoid having to bring them out again.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that might delay is the significant money spent on the CCNZ and Temple View re-envisioning project so far in addition to the temple, temple president's home, temple patron and workers accommodation as well as the visitors centre is costing well in excess of $100 million I would think. That is a significant capital investment project. Another temple project would require tens of millions of dollars more. This after the MTC was expanded in 2015.
http://www.templeviewproject.org/
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/elder-david-a-bednar-dedicates-extension-to-new-zealand-missionary-training-centre
Thanks for those additional insights, Brett. I know that the Church has at times announced a new temple in a certain area while renovating an existing temple in that same area. But I also know that experts from the Church temple department have indicated that it generally takes 2-3 years following a temple announcement for any work to begin on a temple.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, although it would make sense to have crews work on a potential temple in Auckland while the Hamilton renovation is in progress, we may or may not see work on both projects coincide.
That said, I am also aware that we have heard quite a bit more about President Nelson's temple building plans, so perhaps with his energy and vigor, the Church will be entering a new chapter where both an unprecedented number of temples will be announced and built, and where the process of getting temples to the people will somehow be accelerated.
That is one of many reasons why, despite factoring in a potential delay for an Auckland temple in light of the Hamilton renovation, I have had it on my list for the immediate future. And there is also much we don't know about the extent of President Nelson's temple-building plans, although we have heard a lot about how those plans will overshadow President Hinckley's previous legacy.
In a lot of ways, the Church has seen a great deal of extensive developments in the six months of President Nelson's prophetic administration thus far. At this point, perhaps nothing is off the table in terms of the future prospects. It will surely be interesting to see. Thanks again, Brett, for this additional comment.