Hello again, everyone! The Church News reported about an hour ago that a new president has been called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple, which was yet another change I had not anticipated when putting together my list of temples which might have a new president called this year. This brings the number of new temple presidents called this year to 67.
But more than that, the new president for this temple is Wolfgang Pilz, who is currently serving as an area seventy. This brings me to revisiting something I have previously mentioned on this blog: in recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of current area seventies who are called to serve as mission or temple presidents in any given year.
For area seventies called to preside over missions, it has not been uncommon to see them continue to serve as area seventies for 1-3 General Conferences following the beginning of their new assignments. For those called as temple presidents, however, the practice has generally been to release them during the General Conference before their service commences (which has traditionally been in November for currently operating temples, and for new temples or those undergoing renovation, that service begins once the temple is dedicated or rededicated.
That said, the number of area seventies on my list of those who may be released now stands at 16 (with 4 who began serving as mission presidents in July, 7 others who will be serving as temple presidents within the next few months, and 5 more who have served for seven years or longer), although in recent years, we have seen far more area seventies than that released each October. It used to be the case that the bulk of changes in area seventies occurred every April, with only a few changes in October, but, as others have observed in previous comments here, that does not seem to be the case now.
In the days ahead (particularly at some point during the upcoming General Conference weekend), we are sure to learn more about what President Nelson has planned for future temple-building efforts in the Church. And if those turn out to be on the scale that many (myself included) have heard is possible and likely, we are almost certain to see an increase in the number of temple developments reported, and that in turn may lead to additional news about new temple presidents in the years ahead.
To the best of my ability, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all ASAP after I learn of them. I will also be providing extensive coverage of whatever occurs during this General Conference weekend. 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.
Thursday, October 4, 2018
New President Called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple
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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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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It's also notable to point out that the introduction to the story states:
ReplyDelete"A new temple president and matron have been called by the First Presidency. They will begin their service in November."
Could this mean he will start next month when the temple is still not done? Or could it mean that the church is planning to dedicate the temple in November of next year?
Hello, Cory. Thank you for taking time to comment. I can only answer based on my personal experience as a former temple worker, and based on the information I have available from the sources which have shaped the opinions I offer here.
ReplyDeleteSo, a couple of preliminary observations: As a temple worker, I watched the outgoing presidency members being shadowed by their incoming counterparts, and it was common for that to occur within the last two weeks or so of each October, with the new leadership taking over at some point in early November.
Next, unless there is something of which both my sources and myself are not aware, nothing has changed in terms of the last general estimates I provided. According to the latest information I have, that means a rededication of the Frankfurt Germany Temple will occur at some point in early-to-mid 2019. And given the facts that we are almost 3 months away from the end of 2018, and that two new temples have already had dedications set to occur by the end of April next year, I would anticipate that, barring anything unexpected, the Frankfurt rededication will not occur any earlier than May or June of next year.
I also was recently reminded that new temple presidency members and their wives that will assume their assignments at some point between the end of this year and the third quarter or so of next year will have the opportunity to attend a seminar and be trained by the First Presidency and other Church leaders. Although, as noted previously, nothing has changed in the general estimates for temple dedications and rededications anticipated last year, the presidents for all new temples anticipated to be completed within the next 15 months have been announced so they are ready to go when their temples are ready.
That said, on the list I have kept of temples for which a new president has been announced this year, among the surprising announcements were new presidents for the Asuncion Paraguay Temple (which, unless it has not been reported, has not had a renovation process start almost a year after its' closure) and the Oakland California Temple (which had a renovation begin earlier this year and was originally anticipated to be completed at some point next year, but which may, as an older temple having its' first full-scale renovation occur, be delayed in its' completion until early in 2020.
If it helps, I also know (by virtue of being the son of someone who does proofreading work, in addition to having served in an editorial capacity with my high school newspaper and in my personal experience as a blogger) that at times when massive content is churned out each week (which has been true for the Church News), tiny inaccuracies, typos, or errors may make it to the published work. I am therefore assuming that the Church News editors may have merely overlooked the correct wording and instead used what has been automatic wording relating to other temples. If you go back and look at the announcements of the new presidents for the Asuncion and Oakland Temples (which can be found via search), I believe you will find similar wording about the new presidents beginning their service later this year as well, though we know that will not be the case. Unfortunately, in a fast-paced technological age, so-called "fat-finger errors" (typos) are not uncommon.
With all of that shared (along with my apologies for being so long-winded), I hope that addresses your questions. Let me know if you have anything else which needs clarification. Thanks again, Cory, for taking time to comment.
And, if I may add, sorry for the unintentional sermon. But I hope what I have shared above is helpful to you. Thanks again.
ReplyDeleteGreat, thanks for the insight.
ReplyDeleteNot a problem. My thanks to you, Cory, for taking time to ask those questions. I appreciated the opportunity to address them.
DeleteDeseret News reported on new name for choir. "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square". I always called it just "The Tabernacle Choir" anyways. The rebranding may be more difficult for those outside the church.
ReplyDeleteHello, Chris! Thanks for taking time to comment. It appears that this change was not only motivated by President Nelson's statement, but also to conform in style to match with the Orchestra at Temple Square and the Bells at Temple Square.
DeleteI applaud the name change. For a time during President Monson's administration, he and his counselors, in introducing the Choir during General Conference, merely called them "the Tabernacle Choir".
This name may be a mouthful, and, as with other things that will change as a result of President Nelson's statement, it may take some time for many people to get used to this change, but it makes sense to me because it now stylistically matches the name of the Orchestra and Bells.
But it may be easier for people to adjust to this than it might seem. The new name will, as noted, be referenced in every broadcast of "Music & the Spoken Word" from now on, so for those who watch it weekly (as I try to do), the name will thus be ingrained in our minds more easily. At least, that's my opinion. I have other news developments to share on this blog, which should be posted later today. Stay tuned for those, and thanks again, Chris, for taking time to comment.
Area Seventy are called at April conference and released at October conference. But, de facto they are not given any assignments after 1 August. If they have been called to be a mission president they are released of all of their responsibilities by about 1 May. They are officially released by name at October conference.
ReplyDeleteHello, and thank you for commenting. Last October, a massive number of changes in Area Seventies were announced. And last April, only a few area seventies were released while a massive number of new leaders were sustained. Although it had been customary from the time area seventies were first sustained as such (in April 1997) for most of the new ones to be called in April while most releases occurred in October, that has changed in recent years. Particularly over the last two Octobers, at least 3 new area seventies began their service, while a bunch were released in both April and October.
ReplyDeleteParticularly, if a current area seventy is called as a General Authority, he is released from the former assignment when sustained to the latter one. And the only hard and fast rules about area seventy tenures now are either the discretion of the Church President as inspired by God, whether they are called as temple or mission presidents, or if they have served for a 7-10 year period.
And there have also been cases in recent years where an area seventy called as a mission president serves for 1-3 General Conferences after assuming his role in presiding over a mission. I would need to get examples of that for verification, but I vividly remember that happening on at least two occasions.
That said, it makes sense that the Church would relieve individuals of responsibilities after August 1 if their release is anticipated for the following October.
when it comes right down to it, the Lord's inspiration trumps any mortal reasoning anyways. So while I have assembled my list of those who might be released given the considerations I mentioned above, I will gladly embrace any changes in Church leadership, whether or not they are on my list. Thank you again for taking time to comment.
Hello again. I am back with some numbers I pulled from recent General Conferences. In April 2018, 55 new Area Seventies were sustained, while 7 were released (all but 1 of whom were sustained as General Authority Seventies; another former Area Seventy was also sustained as a General Authority.)
ReplyDeleteIn October 2017, one new area seventy (a Torben Engbjerg) was sustained, and 32 others were released. In April 2017, most of the newly-called General Authorities were either current or former area seventies. 36 new Brethren were sustained as area seventies, while 2 area seventies called as General Authorities were released.
In October 2016, only one area seventy was released while the calls of 2 new ones were announced. The previous April, 51 area seventies (which included several subsequently called as General Authorities) were released, and 61 others were sustained.
All of the data I provided here can be verified by a thorough check of the resources on the Church website. Although the pattern used to be to have most changes occur in April, with just a few the following October. In recent years, the patterns have been less hard and fast. The Lord and His prophet ultimately decide when, under what circumstances, and to what extent any releases or sustainings take place every six months, and I have full trust in that process, whether or not all (or even any) of the changes I have suggested wind up being correct. Hope this additional information is helpful to you, and if you need further clarification, please let me know. Thanks again.