Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post again now to share some additional Church news which has crossed my radar in the last couple of days. Let's get right into all of that. We start with stories from the Newsroom on the Church's official website. Yesterday, I reported that additional members of the general Young Women and Primary boards had been called. But apparently three new members have also been called to the Relief Society General Board. You can read more complete biographies of all of these newly-called board members here.
Second, as some of you may or may not be aware, Jacinda Ardern (the Prime Minister of New Zealand) is the niece of Elder Ian S. Ardern, who is serving in the Church's Pacific Area Presidency. He and his wife joined area president Elder O. Vincent Haleck in presenting PM Ardern with a compilation of her family history. Although the Prime Minister has not been personally involved with the Church for some time, she graciously accepted this gift. This continues the Church's ongoing tradition of presenting such histories to major leaders of the world.
Next, Relief Society General President Jean B. Bingham, joined by Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, met with Chile's Minister of Women and Gender Equality, Isabel Plá. They spoke with her on the subject of eliminating gender discrimination and violence and the valuable role women have in society. The two Church leaders exchanged ideas with the Minister, particularly describing how the Church has emphasized the divine nature and vital role of women of all ages, and what the Church has done and continues to do to protect the women of the Church. More details, including a list of other articles describing the recent worldwide ministry efforts of the women of the Church, can be found in this article.
And the Newsroom also reported today some additional details about how clean-up efforts are underway after Typhoon Mangkut swept through Hong Kong and the Philippines. I don't know this for certain, but it is possible that any further progress towards a groundbreaking for the three temples announced in the Philippines (for Urdaneta, Muntinlupa City, and Cagayan de Oro) may be delayed until the aftermath of the storm is dealt with. I hope there will not be a delay, but it is possible. I will be keeping an eye on that aspect of things for sure.
Turning now to the Church News website, the Church has recently reemphasized the ongoing need and available opportunities for senior missionary couples. In light of that need, the Church News provided 5 suggestions for prospective senior missionary couples to remember as they are looking into the options that best suit their gifts and their situations. I would just interject here that without the loving leadership and labor provided by older couples, the work of the Church's Humanitarian program and many temples around the world (to name a few opportunities in which I have actually had experience) could not occur to the degree it does.
The Church News also marked the second anniversary of the dedication of the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple with a retrospective look back at the history of how the temple was years in the making. And as those in the southeastern United States continue to recover from the recent flooding, the local members of the Relief Society have mobilized to provide assistance.
It may just be my personal opinion, but I have noticed that there has seemed to be an increase this year, and especially in recent months, in the number of news stories about the way the women of the Church, both generally and locally, are making a difference. The Brethren of the Church have been very clear about the fact that the women of the Church have made very valuable contributions to the furthering of the work. It is very significant to me that the first address President Nelson gave as President of the Quorum of the Twelve was directed to the women of the Church.
Some may claim that the Church can and should do more to include women in the Church, but seem to overlook the fact that no major decision in recent years was ever made by the general Church leadership without extensive input from the women of the Church. That has been particularly true recently in the decision to replace home and visiting teaching with ministering, to consolidate the Priesthood and Women's Sessions of General Conference, and with the Come Follow Me curriculum. And we know that two of the general Women presidency members are on each of the three major Church councils, which is significant. Also, Priesthood Executive Committee meetings have been discontinued, with both male and female leaders in the ward meeting to discuss issues on an as-needed basis.
The Church continues to find ways to enhance the contributions of all women in the Church. But more than that, it has been correctly observed that women make up roughly half of the world's population and are mothers to the other half. It has been amazing and humbling for me to see what the Church continues to do to show women how valuable they are in the eyes of the Lord and to the Church as a whole.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will pass word of those things along to you all as I become aware of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. 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.
Tuesday, September 18, 2018
Additional Church News Reported
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.
3 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.
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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I will miss priesthood meeting in October. But the changes bring the General Women's meeting to the same weekend as general conference, and it seems to show more equal status and value.
ReplyDeleteHello, Chris! Thank you for commenting. I agree that this change shows more equal status, value, and deference to the women of the Church. But more than that, as I observed previously when the consolidation of General Conference was first announced, the purpose was stated as being to reduce and simplify the work and the demands of time made on the Church and its' leaders.
ReplyDeleteAnd another thought occurred to me as well: With no General Conference sessions the week before the other sessions, the Church and its' leaders will be more free and flexible to schedule events for the last weekends in March and September now, including for temple open houses (which, if run during the previous regular schedule, ended early on the Saturdays of the General Women's Session), but temple groundbreakings could also potentially be held on those days when needed, or the Church could now have temple dedications during those weekends as well.
Sorry. Had to split my reply into two comments. I agree that I will miss the Priesthood Session, which I always look forward to, but there will be other things that I will be intrigued to see with the Women's Session during the typical General Conference weekend. Particularly, it has been tradition that, in addition to the First Presidency and the advisers to the General Women's auxiliaries (which has been 2-3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and the Presiding Bishop) to be the only ones seated on the stand along with the general Women's presidencies and their board members. Would the attendance of general male leaders for that session change now that it is a part of the regular weekend in October? Also, as I have observed, although the Women's Session has generally only been around 1 hour and 15 minutes previously, and although the schedule for the general sessions last April stated that the Priesthood Session would only last 90 minutes, it stretched around 2 hours. Would that prove true for the Women's Session now as well?
ReplyDeleteAnd if the Women's Session is also lengthened (which would make sense for consistency with the time allotment for radio and TV stations and websites that are airing the sessions live), does that mean that the entire First Presidency will speak during that session, as they have traditionally done, or will only one representative from that Presidency speak? And will there be other speakers (including perhaps a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles)? How might all of that change given that the Church will air the Women's Session every October two hours after the conclusion of the Saturday Afternoon Session? That will be intriguing to see.
Many people have seemed to criticize the Church for many publicly-announced policy decisions. As I have noted, however, nothing is officially announced until it has been studied thoroughly and until the Brethren are sure such things are right for the Church. Other people have made comments that I've heard to the effect that the Church should switch when the Women's and Priesthood Session are held, since most men attending that session in April would miss part or all of a Saturday night football game to attend. As for myself personally, I am not a sports fan, so it doesn't matter to me when the sessions are held. And if you look at the history of the Church, the way the sessions have been scheduled makes sense. April General Conference is generally held around 6 weeks before the Church marks the restoration of the priesthood every year. And although it has correctly been observed that the Relief Society was first organized in March as well, before the Church started having a combined Women's Session every six months for those 8 years and older, the Relief Society General Meeting was always held in September (after that session was split off from the Young Women General Meeting).
Sorry for my long-winded response. But there are things to look forward to with the General Women's Session as well, which will be particularly intriguing to see. And maybe whatever occurs in a couple of weeks with that session will help set a pattern of precedence for what the layout and length of that session will look like every October. I will, as noted, miss the Priesthood Session, but I always watch both sessions here at home with my wife either way, so I am looking forward to that. Thank you again, Chris, for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you. Hope all is going well.