Hello again, everyone! Some additional news has been reported from Rome Italy as the dedication of that temple continues. All living apostles gathered in Rome for the dedicatory events gathered for a set of historic photographs. Two of those photos show the entire First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve, one in their white temple suits, and the other in their "street clothes". As some of you may be aware, it has been a tradition of sorts for the Church to feature new separate photographs for the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles anytime there is a change in either of those leading Quorums of the Church. But this is the first time in around 2 decades or so where a photo was taken with all of the apostles together.
There is even more significance in this development, however. For the first time of which I am aware, a group photograph was also taken featuring almost all of the wives of the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The only one missing from that photo was Sister Kathleen J. Eyring, wife of President Henry B. Eyring. As President Eyring mentioned in his address during the last General Conference, his wife is dealing with some significant health issues incident to her age, so she has not been actively able to accompany him to such occasions and assignments for the last several years.
But there is even more significance involved in these developments: In this article from the Church News, a quote from President Nelson emphasizes that the Lord inspired him to gather all of his apostolic colleagues in Rome for this dedication, and he apparently met with each of them individually to extend that invitation personally. It is very wonderful to know that we have a prophet who is not hesitant at all to highlight exactly how much of his actions and decisions have been inspired by the Lord.
As BYU students were told in 1980 by then-Elder Ezra Taft Benson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, one of Fourteen Fundamentals relating to following the prophet is that the prophet does not need to say "thus saith the Lord" to give us modern scripture or instructions that the Lord has inspired him to give. But we have a prophet who is absolutely fearless in declaring how much of what he does in his ministry has been directed by the Lord.
All of the articles I have cited so far are well worthy of your time. But in addition to that, President Nelson's wife, Sister Wendy W. Nelson, took time while in Rome with her husband to share her testimony and firsthand witness of the foreordination and divinely-inspired calling of her husband as the Prophet of the Lord and President of the Church. One thing she mentioned is that her husband's practice of writing down many instructions from the Lord has accelerated and not slowed at all in the last year. She also again referred to his willingness to be innovative, and to do things differently, in view of the ultimate goal is making the Church run more effectively in every way.
And so history continues to be made in Rome, most notably because today marked the first time in around a decade or so that a temple dedication has been scheduled to be longer than a single day. Dedicatory services will have wrapped up by this time tomorrow in Utah time. And more reports will be provided about this temple's dedication within the next 36 hours or so. I will monitor such developments and pass word of them along to you all as I receive it.
In the meantime, I wanted to pass along a couple more new temple updates before I conclude here. First, with the time in Kinshasa now being just after 8:30 PM, the Church has wrapped up VIP/Media tours for the first temple in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In around 12-13 hours, that temple will be open to the public for an 18-day period, until March 30, with the exclusion of the relevant Sundays. As previously mentioned, that temple will be dedicated the Sunday following General Conference, and I anticipate that event could somehow coincide with another leg of President Nelson's ongoing Global Ministry Tour.
Another update has been reported relating to the Durban South Africa Temple, where efforts are underway to clad the baptismal font in marble, and where ceiling and tiling work continues. On the grounds of the temple, walkways are being poured, and the walls of the water feature are being prepared for their installation. Meanwhile, at the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, stone cladding has been completed.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. 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.
Monday, March 11, 2019
Additional News Reported Relating to the Rome Italy Temple Dedication
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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One fact also came out today, Newsroom reported the Kinshasa temple as only being 12k square feet, only slightly larger than the smaller ones being renovated. That heightens the possibility of temples elsewhere in the country, maybe not immediately but maybe not many years away.
ReplyDeleteKinshasa has 10 stakes now, so that area alone could fill it on a regular basis, not sure how they will schedule things and we won't see that until April. But beyond that we still have to look for another temple in one of the other areas.
Hello, James Anderson. Thanks for taking time to comment. I always appreciate your insights. With Kinshasa being over 12,000 square feet in area, and with Memphis at 10,890, they are almost equivalent in size, and might incorporate a similar (but still slightly different) floor plan.
ReplyDeleteThe VIP/Media tours held today for that temple were unique in nature as well. Typically, the Church has sent out one or more apostles to help lead those tours, and generally at least one of the apostles so sent serves on the Temple and Family History Executive Council. But given that Elders Bednar, Stevenson, and Renlund are with the other 12 living apostles in Rome as a result of the direct and personal invitation from our prophet, members of the Africa Southeast Area presidency led the first of those tours instead. And that is perfectly in line with the scriptural instruction that the apostles are to call on the seventy "instead of any others" to assist them in their assignments.
I have been doing some research on that subject, and am particularly doing some work to try and ascertain more specific information on the assignments of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve, and also those serving in the Presidency of the Seventy. The problem I am running into currently is that, with all that has been announced, clarified, corrected, altered, and implemented in the 14 months of President Nelson's prophetic administration, some Church resources (and primarily the Church's biographies for the Presidency of the Seventy and all other General Authority Seventies) are not as current or accurate in listing relevant assignments as they probably would be if so many other changes weren't in the process of being made. I understand that in a way, but it does make my personal search for information in that regard more of a challenge.
ReplyDeleteAt any rate, getting back to the subject at hand, I wanted to share here the web address for the article published earlier today that marked the opening of the Kinshasa DR Congo Temple:
https://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/kinshasa-democratic-republic-of-the-congo-temple
In the meantime, I wanted to also reply regarding Church growth in the DR Congo. As we have seen in recent weeks and months from Matt's Church Growth blog, the DR Congo and surrounding nations have become strongholds for Church growth, and that has been true to such a significant degree that, as Matt also noted, the Church may opt to create a new area (perhaps calling it the Africa Central Area) with a separate area presidency headquartered in Kinshasa.
But whether or not that happens, I have two prospective cities in the DR Congo which seem likely to be the second and third DR Congo cities to get a temple, and I believe we could see temples in both locations within the next 5-10 years, especially if the current degree of growth remains the status quo.
The first of those, Lubumbashi, has been on my list of imminently-likely temple prospects for at least the last year, and the growth of the Church in that city and in surrounding regions, combined with the still-very-significant fact that the dedication of the Kinshasa Temple will leave the Lubumbashi Saints with a one-way journey of 1,470.9 miles. Once the temple announced for Harare is constructed and dedicated, that distance will be cut to 644.7 miles, which is still more than 3 times further than the 200-mile goal set by previous prophets.
The second candidate city I am watching is the one I have prioritized for now: Mbuji-Mayi. That city falls within the Kasai region of the DR Congo, and Elder Andersen publicly proposed a temple for that region roughly 3 years ago when he was in the DR Congo on multiple assignments, but particularly to preside over the groundbreaking for the temple in Kinshasa. Once the Kinshasa temple is dedicated, the Saints in Mbuji-Mayi will have a one-way journey of 839.6 miles. As far as I can tell, no other temples under construction or announced will be any closer than that. So a temple there makes sense as well.
After Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Mbuji-Mayi are the next most populous cities in the DR Congo, so temples could easily be announced for both cities within the next 5-10 years, if not sooner. And that is interesting to think about.
I am also certain that the level of activity at the Kinshasa temple will provide more insight into the imminence of temples in either city, unless one or both prospects are announced in General Conference next month, which would not be out of the question.
Just some additional thoughts on this, for what they may be worth to all who read them. Thanks again, James Anderson, for taking time to comment.
The Deseret News has provided more particular coverage on Sunday's dedication of the temple, in the following article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.deseretnews.com/article/900059684/president-nelson-refers-to-apostles-peter-paul-during-rome-temple-dedication-mormon-latter-day-saint.html
According to that article, the following apostles participated in the dedicatory services on Sunday: Presidents Russell M. Nelson and M. Russell Ballard, Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Ronald A. Rasband, and Dale G. Renlund.
That means that the following apostles have participated/will yet participate in the dedication Monday and Tuesday: Presidents Dallin H. Oaks and Henry B. Eyring, Elders David A. Bednar, Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, Neil L. Andersen, Gary E. Stevenson, Gerrit W. Gong and Ulisses Soares.
Hope this additional information is helpful to all who read it. Thanks again, everyone.
William P
ReplyDeleteHi,
A few questions but first on Africa I don't believe Africa will get any medium or large size temples in the future like are seen in the US. I think its more likely a good number of smaller temples similar to Kinshasa DRC temples design of simplicity yet beauty will fill Africa. I'd say this because 1. Africa's saints are spread over vast distances having a larger quantity of small temples to serve smaller areas makes sense. 2. Expect to see Africa with more simple planed temples such as Kinshasa as Africa's economic and cultural climate isn't presently appropriate to see a wealthy American church come and build mega, wealthy, brilliant architectural masterworks.
My questions on Rome open to anyone-
What exactly does a dedication entail? Why are more than one session needed? Is it a ceremony that takes place? Is it appropriate to mention outside the temple?
I've never been to a dedication, I thought it involved the dedicatory prayer then I saw that that happens at the cornerstone ceremony which opens a temple dedication.
I just had another question-why weren't the general women's leaders in attendance? 9 women oversee the Relief Society, Young Women's and Primary I thought it was a lost oppurtunity that none were invited.
The dedication is a ceremony that takes place inside the temple. The cornerstone ceremony is a precursor to the dedication. The dedication ceremony typically includes songs by a choir, a talk or two by a member of the Seventy or an Apostle. The dedicatory prayer is followed by a symbolic Hosanna shout. Usually ends with a song, most often The Spirit of God.
DeleteHello, William, and coachodeeps. I apologize for my delay in addressing your comments before now. I'm going through a bit of a rough time in terms of my present health situation, which has included the determination that I needed to start tapering off a fairly strong pain medication I have been on for years that might at this point be doing more harm than good, and I am also in the process of switching to a different medication for my ongoing anxiety and depression, while at the same time preparing myself in every possible way for another minor procedure I will be having in mid-April.
DeleteWilliam P., I mostly agree with your assessment on Africa. But the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple is being built as a larger regional one, which makes it possible that temples that have been or will yet be announced for Africa to be various sizes. I know that Nairobi and Harare are planned to be on the smaller size, but haven't heard anything on the likely size of the temple announced for Lagos.
There seems to be a lot that goes in to the decision to build temples of various sizes in various places. And I am not an expert in those factors, by any means. But with all that has been heard and said about President Nelson's temple expansion plans, I believe that part (if not most or all) of those plans will involve the announcement of temples that will be built on the smaller side and could thus be built and dedicated within a matter of 2 years or less, which would surely be an easy way to increase the number of temples quite rapidly, and fill an immediate need in many world areas.
coachodeeps has perfectly explained what happens with a temple dedication. I would just add that the cornerstone ceremony as described is only held at the top of the first session. Once a cornerstone ceremony has been held, that does not need to be done again, unless and until that temple is renovated and going to be rededicated.
DeleteA variety of Church leaders speak at a temple dedication. The usual tradition is to have one member of the First Presidency presiding at, conducting, and reading the dedicatory prayer, at least for the first session. In subsequent sessions, the prayer could, at the direct invitation of the presiding leader, be read by the accompanying apostolic companion. Talks during each dedicatory session usually feature remarks from the presiding apostles, other general authorities and general officers (especially those currently serving with the Temple Department or on the Temple and Family History Executive Council), and brief remarks from the president and matron of the new temple.
That said, the Rome dedication was not typical, in that it was held over a three-day period, had more than three sessions, and was presided over by all currently-living apostles. But because of the higher degree of apostolic participation, not many other general authorities or officers were in attendance.
If there are ever any temples that have a special connection to any living apostles, those Brethren are usually asked to preside. We saw that with President Eyring dedicating the Paris France Temple in 2016, and when he was asked to rededicate the Jordan River Utah Temple last year. Another recent example was when Elder David A. Bednar was assigned to preside at the Star Valley Wyoming Temple dedication, due to his wife's personal and familial connection to the area. Incidentally, Elder Bednar is the least-senior of the most senior apostles who has been asked to preside at such an event, so for that reason, I have surmised that the Church will likely not tap anyone junior to Elder Bednar to preside at a temple dedication, at least not until more changes are made in apostolic seniority.
The tradition of late has been a one-day three-session dedication, generally due to the Church wanting to allow all those interested a chance to participate, since such events are broadcast to designated meetinghouses, which, for those events, are considered essentially as extensions of the temple being dedicated.
But the Rome Italy Temple, due to being built in an iconic city of Christian history, gained more widespread interest, so an extended dedication was needed in this case. All living apostles participating in such a dedication is something we have not seen since the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was rebuilt and dedicated anew in 2002. So that makes the Rome dedication very historically significant for that reason as well. Thank you, William and coachodeeps, for taking time to comment.
James,
ReplyDeleteLast night on KSL, they did a story on the Rome Temple dedication. In it, President Nelson made the following comment (at 1:30 of the video linked below):
"...this is a hinge point in the history of the church, things are going to move forward at an accelerated pace of which this is a part..."
I found it extremely fascinating - accelerating even more!
https://www.ksl.com/article/46509111/latter-day-saint-church-leaders-celebrate-rome-temple-dedication-with-historic-photo
Hello, Michael, and thank you for commenting. I have been watching the KSL coverage with great interest. President Nelson has been saying more and more about what's ahead for the Church. He said last year: "If you think the Church has been fully restored [since that process is still occuring], wait till next year, and the next, and the next. Take your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting."
ReplyDeleteI have referenced before the anecdote mentioned by someone who heard from someone who overheard Presidents Oaks and Eyring's remarks to each other following a First Presidency meeting. The gist of the remarks reportedly overheard was that the two counselors to President Nelson were marveling at the fact that he [President Nelson] had just detailed the extent and timing developments he was anticipating acting on under the direction of the Lord for the next 2-3 years. Now, that is just anecdotal, and may be an exaggerated account.
But what I know is that President Nelson has been, is, and likely always will be ahead of the curve. His energy and enthusiasm belies his 94 years of life, as those who know him report he has the energy, focus, and mental clarity of men 20-30 years younger than he is.
Elder Andersen noted in General Conference in April 2018 that he and his other apostolic Brethren have to move fast to keep up with President Nelson, which seems to be the general consensus, and he [Elder Andersen] expressed the hope that President Nelson would be around for the next decade or two. I have an increasingly-growing suspicion that hope may be an underestimate, but time will tell.
For now, we know that President Nelson is receiving much revelation from the Lord on a regular and consistent basis, and we'd therefore be wise to fasten our seatbelts for the wild ride ahead, which will surely involve many developments we cannot now anticipate. Thank you, Michael, for taking time to comment.