Hello again, everyone! Earlier today, the Church released this official statement on local celebrations. The wording of this statement seems to explain why the Church has shifted from cultural celebrations the night before a temple dedication to holding a devotional for the youth that night instead. Local celebrations will still be encouraged, and adjustments will be made in the future to continue, end, or modify larger-scale productions such as pageants. This is an interesting development. In the coming days, we will learn more about the extent of these changes, and I will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it.
In the meantime, there have been a few big Church news stories on which I wanted to focus here as well. I reported several days ago about how Bishop Dean M. Davies, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, dedicated a new Deseret Industries facility in Arizona. Yesterday, Bishop Davies represented the Church in presenting a $1.5 million check to the American Red Cross.
The Church has been a partner with that organization for many years in such endeavors as blood drives, donation collections, and so on. In light of the Church's numerous contributions to that organization, the Church was honored by the American Red Cross as the first-ever organization to be named a "Mission Leader", a title which emphasizes how much the American Red Cross values their partnership with the Church.
Bishop Davies was joined by Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, and Sister Jean B. Bingham, who serves as Relief Society General President. More complete reports on this development can be found in the Church News and the Newsroom on the Church's official website.
We now shift our attention to yet another edition of "This Week on Social". The latest article in that series is unique, as it only features social media posts from 6 of the 9 members of the female-led auxiliary presidencies of the Church. Their posts covered the topics of abuse, receiving and following revelation, finding peace, and the importance of serving.
I have mentioned this before, but it bears repeating: Since President Nelson became Church President at the beginning of this year, I have noticed a significant increase in the number of Church news stories sharing highlights of service and counsel provided by the women of the Church on both the general and local level.
The first address President Nelson gave as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was directed to the women of the Church, and he has demonstrated how much the Church and its' leaders value the contributions and opinions of women. This article, focusing solely on social media posts from the women leaders of the Church, continues that tradition. And that is wonderful to see.
Next, roughly 35 years ago, President Gordon B. Hinckley, then Second Counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Papeete Tahiti Temple as the fifth for Polynesia, the 25th operating temple of the Church, and one of six temples which were dedicated in 1983. The process of planning, constructing, and dedicating that temple had a miraculous history which is well worthy of review.
And finally, as noted in a previous post, the Church News had solicited feedback from women who had taken President Nelson's counsel about having a 10-day fast from social media. The Church News shared 3 quick takeaways from among the many responses on that subject. All of these articles were wonderful to read, and I can heartily and without hesitation recommend them to you all.
I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will keep doing my level best to pass word of those along to you here as I become aware of them. This weekend marks the dedication of the Concepcion Chile Temple, so there will be coverage of that provided here as such information becomes available.
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.
Saturday, October 27, 2018
Church Releases Official Statement on Local Celebrations; Other 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.
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Hello again, everyone! New information posted on KSL in the last few hours provides some clarification on how the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti will be affected by the Church statement releated today. The article below contains the details. My thanks again to you all.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.ksl.com/article/46415519/manti-pageant-to-be-scaled-down-following-statement-from-the-church-of-jesus-christ-of-latter-day-saints
And the News & Events page on the Church's official website has shared an article about this statement that says point blank that cultural celebrations the night before temple dedications are discontinued, and that a devotional will instead be held for youth, their parents, and leaders the night before.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense to me because there is a chance that the youth involved in previous cultural celebrations might have placed more focus on preparation for that than on preparing for a temple to be dedicated in their midst. And if that is the case, then having a youth devotional the night before will allow youth to appropriately focus on the temple dedication, and to receive first-hand counsel directed to them from the leaders who preside at these events. Again, a link to that information follows below:
https://www.lds.org/church/news/church-statement-discourages-large-pageants?lang=eng
Fox13 (KSTU/Salt Lake) is reporting that the Hill Cumorah pageant is gone after 2020, I don't have the link but has hit social media.
ReplyDeleteI believe that the articles I cited above may have had those details, but I am not entirely sure. So I would like to thank you, James Anderson, for taking time to let me know. My favorite local news (KSL) has carried some coverage of these developments, so I assume they will include those additional details in their 10:00 PM newscast tonight. Thanks, James Anderson, for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
ReplyDeleteSaw this about ten minute address by President Nelson in Chile tnight, simple teaching about the temple, but he was on fire as he spoke of the subject.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.facebook.com/eressud/videos/326431928152808/
That does not surprise me. President Nelson has repeatedly emphasized the importance of the temple, so the fact that he should speak on that subject at a devotional the night before one is dedicated makes perfect sense. Thanks again, James Anderson.
ReplyDelete