Hello again, everyone! Tomorrow will mark two milestones in the Church. First, the Tabernacle Choir broadcast that airs will be focused on the 90th anniversary of "Music and the Spoken Word". With the first brodcast thereof having aired on July 15, 1929, this Sunday will mark the closest broadcast date to that anniversary. Over the course of the last 9 decades, the Choir and its' associated personnel have very aptly and capably filled their roles as emissaries for the Church. The Spoken Word which will be provided tomorrow in conjunction with that anniversary will pay tribute to all those who made the milestone possible, from those on camera or microphone to those behind the scenes, to the music directors and the organist, to the many people who have offered the "Spoken Word" messages.
But it will also allow those currently involved in the brodcast to pay tribute to the many who have listened to or watched the brodacast over the years. The Church News has shared the Spoken Word message that will be offered tomorrow. And from the Tabernacle Choir's website, a page sharing the highlights of the broadcast, including the musical selections which will be featued in tomorrow's broadcast, has been provided. Additionally, from time-to-time, the Tabernacle Choir has made a live stream of the Choir broadcast available each Sunday, which remains available for a few hours following the broadcast's original airing.
That will be the case for the live stream of the broadcast tomorrow, for any of you who may not have TV or radio access to it. If this milestone broadcast is not reason enough for us to rejoice, tomorrow also marks the day on which President Nelson will be observing 1.5 years as Church President. Within that time alone, the Church as we know it now has been transformed in all sorts of significant ways, from the many temple milestones which have been observed, to the calling of the first Asian-American and Latin American apostles, to changing the status quo of tradition in programs, policies, procedures and practice as they have been observed for decades, to extensive travel, to so many "firsts", including one yet-to-be observed in September, when President Nelson's first milestone birthday as Church President will be his 95th.
And such developments show no sign of stopping. President Nelson has observed that we, as Church members, have gotten used to things being done in a certain way, where tradition has become more observed than intent. So much of what has been done during this time has been with a view to both reduce and simplify the work of the Church, and to unfy and streamline Church practices, programs, and resources on a more global scale. When we look at where the Church was at at the time of President Thomas S. Monson's passing on January 2, 2018 in comparision to where things are now, the Church has been indelibly and most postively changed in the last 1.5 years alone. If the words of President Nelson, his wife, and all of his apostolic colleagues is to be believed, such developments will continue to shake up the status quo and defy prior traditions and expectations.
Although all prophets have been as clear as they are able to be regarding how much their actions have been inspired and directed by the Lord, President Nelson is making that far more plain, transparent, and clear than it ever has been. What may be coming in the next 1.5 years remains to be seen, but if there will be an accelerated pace for everything in the Church now, then the unprecedented territory which has been marked from January 14, 2018 to now will almost definitely be overshadowed and outpaced by what will come in the next 1.5 years between tomorrow and the third anniversary of his prophetic administration (which will occur on January 14, 2021). President Nelson clearly wasn't kidding when he offered his physician's presription: "Eat your vitamin pills. Get your rest. It's going to be exciting."
For my part, I am grateful to have been able to acknowledge both of the significant milestones covered herein. I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep doing my level best to bring you word of such things as I become aware of them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as
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Saturday, July 13, 2019
July 14, 2019 Marks Two Significant Milestones for the Church
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.
6 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.
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I was just reminded of something I had neglected to pass along. 2-3 days ago, an update was reported on the renovation process for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple, where work on that temple's exterior and grounds has nearly been completed. With the open house for that temple coming up in just over two months, it is good to see that its' renovation is nearing completion. I will continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I receive it.
ReplyDeleteIn the meantime, I also wanted to note that I am still working as frequently and quickly as I can on the finishing touches for my updated list of locations in which a temple may be announced in the upcoming October 2019 General Conference. I had hoped to have it published by now, but have had to take time to deal with some ongoing health issues which, for the moment, have hindered my usual ability to work on such projects. That also is the reason why I have confined myself for the better part of the last two weeks to providing new Church news and temple updates through comments on existing posts rather than on new ones. If all goes well, within the next couple of weeks, I should be feeling substantially better, which will remove any further obstacles from my normal reports here. In the meantime, as I am able to, I will do my best to keep working on the updates to that list of locations, and I will hopefully be able to post that here at some point before the end of this month, when things will really kick up in terms of updates that will needed to be posted. For now, my thanks once again to you all for your ongoing interest and support. Knowing that you all have an interest in things I share here gives me motivation to get projects completed and posted here, and I thank you all for that.
THe Deseret News has provided a more in-depth look at the upcoming 90th anniversary of Music and the Spoken Word, including providing historical context into the extended reach of the broadcast, and into significant moments in the history of that broadcast which have occurred over the last 90 years. That article can be found at the web address below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.deseretnews.com/article/900079334/how-music-and-the-spoken-word-has-been-a-voice-of-america-for-90-years.html?utm_source=ksl&utm_medium=referrer
And again, my thanks goes out to you all for your continued interest and support.
Hello again, everyone! Four new Church News stories have been published. The Church News editor shares a lesson she learned from her daughter's friend who had a severe health condition; the family of apostle (and prolific writer and speaker) Elder John A. Widtsoe are making a complete collection of his written works and public discourses digitally available online; a "History Revisited" article looks back on a candid personal interview with then-Elder Howard W. Hunter of the Council of the Twelve Apostles (in an era when "Council" was more commonly used than "Quorum" in reference to the Twelve);and a new article provides more insight & perspective into the 90th anniversary of "Music and the Spoken Word" from a historical perspective through an interactive timeline.
ReplyDeleteI will share the URLs for each article below, but wanted to first note that in one slide of the aforementioned interactive timeline, reference was made to Gordon B. Hinckley's personal participation in the broadcast.
The slide in question notes that, at the time, he was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But unless I am mistaken, on the date noted, he was actually serving in the First Presidency.
With that noted, the URLs for these articles follow. My thanks again to you all.
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-14/sarah-jane-weaver-what-i-know-now-high-dive-50308
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-07-13/elder-john-widtsoe-latter-day-saints-scholars-archive-50296
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2019-07-14/president-howard-w-hunter-musician-50299
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-14/tabernacle-choir-music-and-the-spoken-word-90-years-broadcast-50317
Also, with just over a month remaining until the groundbreaking occurs for the Belem Brazil Temple (the exact
ReplyDeletedate thereof is Saturday August 17), I am reasonably certain that within the next 10-14 days or less, there will be some acknowledgement in some form by the Church regarding those arrangements, which will also include an artist's rendering and potential time-frame for construction. As I mentioned before, I am reasonably certain the temple will be a smaller one, with its' construction time-frame likely to last 2-3 years or so.
As I also previously mentioned, I am similarly anticipating that it may not be long until the open house and dedication information are released for the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple, which I anticipate will occur before the end of this month. What would be really awesome is if, in a single announcement, the First Presidency were to share the arrangements for the opening of the Rio temple and the groundbreakings for 1 or 2 other temples, including Belem.
The one thing I am not as sure about is how soon full-scale efforts might begin for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples. It could be that the Brethren may be holding off on an official announcement of groundbreakings for other temples until all of those which previously had a groundbreaking have construction begin. in a way, I could see President Nelson wanting to avoid another Winnipeg situation, where work began over a year after that temple's groundbreaking. But having noted that, with a record-breaking 8 temples having had their groundbreaking ceremonies during the first half of this year, and with the second half of this year anticipated to be just as busy in that respect, if not more so, I would certainly hope groundbreaking arrangements for other temples being announced would just be a matter of time, and that if any number of groundbreakings are planned for August and September that there would not be a delay in such announcements.
I hope that made sense. It did when I wrote it, but I am not at my best at the moment. Either way, just rest assured I am moitoring several resources for such news, and will do my best to pass those developments along as I become aware of them. In the meantime, as always, my thanks to you all for your ongoing interest and support.
Layton Temple location announced.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-07-15/layton-utah-temple-lds-location-50320
coachodeeps, thank you for taking time to mention that here. I had actually become aware of that announcement around an hour ago, and was working on a new blog post to share that here right around the time that you published your comment in this post. The new post covering that and other developments is now published, and for any interested in my analysis on this development, you can find it at the following web address:
Deletehttps://stokessoundsoff.blogspot.com/2019/07/the-announcement-of-layton-utah-temple.html
Based on this development and some additional developments (or a lack thereof) relating to other temples, I will have to now revisit yet again the sections of my temple construction progress report covering temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated, or which are announced, and will hope to post my revisited thoughts in that respect within the next 36 hours or less.
In the meantime, thanks again, coachodeeps, for mentioning that here. Always a pleasure to hear from you.