Hello again, everyone! On the heels of yesterday's official confrimation from the Newsroom about known details of the new global "Children and Youth" program which will replace Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Personal Progress, Duty to God, Faith in God, and Achievement Days as they currently exist, the Church further announced today that an extension of the international youth conference gathering "For the Strength of Youth" (FSY) will expand its' reach Church-wide. When word of the original announcement came to my attention, I had thought about focusing a new blog post on that subject, but something else told me to wait. And now I know why that wait was necessary.
With these two announcements, published on the Newsroom a day apart, we are now able to fill in some blanks in the more general information the Church originally released about the new initiative. The unique thing about the FSY program, as it has served youth outside the US and Canada, is that adult leaders of youth are not involved therewith. Rather, the FSY program allows young adults to mentor youth. The new FSY program here in the US (and by extension, in Canada), will be fully implemented by 2021 and/or 2022, depending on the way those gatherings are scheduled. In the meantime, only selected stakes will be participating in FSY next year/
As noted, additional details of the new "Children and Youth" Initiative will be shared in a special Fifth-Sunday Presentation in late September via video clips from President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That, in turn, will be followed by the release of more details through a Face-to-Face Event for Children and Youth, which will be held in mid-November, and through which Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in company with the entire General Presidencies of the Primary, Young Men, and Young Women organizations.
At this point, what is abundantly clear to me is that this new initiative will be an immeasurable benefit to the children and the youth. And given that both announcements have also amply illustrated that the program's intent will be to unify the children and youth on a global scale, what we know so far has provided insight into how all of that will be accomplished. And although the goal is for global uniformity, it is nice to see there will also be a degree of flexibility in implementation in various areas of the world. And those involved in the "pilot programs" for these changes have all reported that the new initiative works, provides opportunities for congregational growth, creates more chances for the youth and children to take a more active role in the planning process, and so much more.
With all of that in mind, it will be interesting indeed to see what happens as a result of President Ballard's message in September, and the Face-to-Face event held in mid-November. The details of the new initiative, and its' associated programs and practices, are taking shape, and this new initative will no doubt bless the children and youth of the Church on a global scale in ways we have not heretofore seen. For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will bring word of those to you all as I receive it.
That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such feedback is in compliance with the established guidelines. 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.
Friday, July 19, 2019
Some Thoughts on Recent Announcements Made About the New "Children and Youth" Initiative, Which Kicks Off in 2020
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.
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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Hello again, everyone! The latest edition in the Church News article series "This Week on Social" has been published, and the featured posts cover a wide variety of subjects. The Church leaders featured in this week's edition include the following:
ReplyDeleteChurch President Russell M. Nelson, and his First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks (from whom 2 different posts were featured); Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Quentin L. Cook, D. Todd Christofferson, and Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Sisters Lisa L. Harkness (First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency); Bonnie H. Cordon (Young Women General President) and her First Counselor, Michelle D. Craig.
You can find the summaries of those posts, and links to the posts themselves, in the following article:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-19/this-week-on-social-elder-soares-september-face-to-face-50351
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Although I have published another post since posting my last comment here, I wanted to keep the threads of that other post open for discussion on the list of candidate cities for which a temple may be announced in October. So I wanted to share some Church news stories here.
ReplyDeleteFirst, there has been some coverage leading up to Pioneer Day 2019, which is set to be observed here in Utah this upcoming Wednesday. The Pioneer Day Concert, featuring special guest Sissel, a renowned Norwegian soprano, who has previously performed with the Tabernacle Choir. The Choir's first concert was held last night, and the second will be held this evening. For those unable to attend the concert personally, it is available through television and various internet outlets as well through this weekend. Both the Church News and the Newsroom shared coverage of the concert:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-20/disney-frozen-sissel-tabernacle-choir-pioneer-concert-50355
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/sissel-joins-tabernacle-choir-pioneer-day-performances
The Choir's weekly broadcast tomorrow will also feature Sissel as a guest artist, will focus on the theme of pioneers, and, as a result of that, the Spoken Word message will focus on the legacy of pioneers, and on how persevering in our own lives despite the trials and challenges we may face gives each of us a chance to leave our won pioneer legacy:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-20/tabernacle-choir-music-and-the-spoken-word-pioneers-50350
Earlier this afternoon, the Newsroom also reported on the dedication of a monument honoring pioneer children who, in the course of their trek west, lost their lives due to the conditions they faced. Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided at that monument's dedication, and the article also shares remarks about this monument which were made by Elder Craig C. Christensen, who serves as President of the Utah Area of the Church. Also in attendance were other senior leaders, most notably Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Gerrit W. Gong, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. That coverage can be found in the following article:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/pioneer-children-memorial-utah
Just by way of reminder, President Nelson has headed to Detroit, where he will speak tomorrow at the 2019 NAACP convention. The Newsroom has promised coverage of that, and I will provide some analysis on those reports when they are published.
And finally, yesterday, when I shared the latest edition of "This Week on Social", one of the featured posts was from Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve, which was an invitation to young adults regarding the September 15 Face-to-Face event at which he and Elder Craig C. Christensen will answer questions from young adults. An article published on the News & Events page of the Church's official website shares a separate article highlighting the invitation video from Elders Soares and Christensen for that evnet:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/elder-soares-asks-young-adults-to-share-why-living-the-gospel-brings-them-hope?lang=eng
As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will be sure to pass word of such things along to you all as I become aware of them. In the meantime, my continued thanks for your ongoing interest and support.
The Church News within the last half-hour has published two additional articles relating to Pioneer Day observances here in Utah. The fist focuses on the afore-mentioned monument to pioneer children, in conjunction with today's dedication of that monument by President M. Russell Ballard:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-20/president-ballard-dedicates-pioneer-childrens-memorial-at-this-is-the-place-heritage-park-50359
And FamilySearch has provided a new interactive online experience, through which FamilySearch users are linked to pioneer children:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-20/new-familysearchs-interactive-online-experience-quiz-links-users-with-pioneer-children-50357
Once again, my thanks to you all.
Just now realized I had forgotten to mention a temple update which crossed my radar earlier this afternoon. At the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple site, final landscaping is underway, and work on the water feature for the tmeple grounds is nearing completion as well.\
ReplyDeleteIn view of this status update on Brazil's next temple, I continue to stand by my theory that information about the arrangements for its' open house and dedication will be released before the end of this month, and I would similarly anticipate that the confirmation of the groundbreaking arrangements for the Belem Brazil Temple, along with an artist's rendering and anticipated construction time-frame, will be shared in that same announcement.
It seems more than slightly unusual to me that, with the 8 temples which had a groundbreaking occur during the first half of this year, the announcement about those arrangements was made more than a month in advance, and that, by contrast, we are now exactly 4 weeks away from that groundbreaking, and that there has been no official acknowledgement or confirmation of any kind from the Church's main Newsroom on this matter. I suppose it could be a smiliar scenario to what happened with the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, for which we heard about a groundbreaking 2.5 weeks before it actually occured, in which case, the arrangements for Belem could be confirmed before the end of this month. Time will tell. For now, thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The official Newsroom for the Church has published coverage of an op-ed co=written by Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, and Karen Boykin-Towns, who currently serves as Vice Chair of the NAACP Board of Directors. The Newsroom coverage of that op-ed article, along with a link to the article itself, can be found at the following web addres:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/op-ed-naacp-church-leaders-stand-in-solidarity
And since President Nelson's address in Detroit occurred earlier this afternoon, the Newsrom has reported on that as well:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/naacp-national-convention-detroit-president-nelson
That same release also included the following link to the transcription of his full remarks:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-naacp-convention-remarks
And the Church News provided additional coverage on these developments. Since much of the coverage there is overlapped in the coverage I have provided as reported by the Newsroom, the Church News website can be consulted by any who particularly wish to look over any of that additional coverage for more context:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/
Also included in the latest CHurch News coverage is an opinion piece penned by Boyd Matheson which focuses on how "Come, Follow Me" is more than a curriculum: it is an invitation:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-21/boyd-matheson-come-follow-me-50341
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to keep passing word of those along to you all as I become aware of it. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! Three additional Church News articles have been published today. The first introduces Brother Milton de Rocha Camargo, who is the new First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, and also is the son of Elder Helio da Rocha Camargo, who was the first native Brazilian to be called as a General Authority:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-22/sunday-school-brother-milton-da-rocha-camargo-50343
As a result of that article's publication, the only new general Church leader called during last April's General Conference who has not been so featured is the new Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, Brother Jan E. Newman.
With that said, the Church News also released two additional articles in conjunction with President Nelson's address given yesterday to the NAACP. The first described how the unique partnership between that organization and the Church has blessed the entire world, and the second is a video featuring President Nelson and NAACP leaders discussing the significance of the partnership between the two organizations:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-07-22/naacp-president-russell-m-neleson-church-partnership-50368
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-07-22/video-naacp-president-russell-m-nelson-church-of-jesus-christ-50369
Having noted these reports, if any additional Church news or temple developments cross my radar, I will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here. In the meantime, my continued thanks for your ongoing interest and support.
At the stadium for the Los Angeles Dodgers' Family Night last Friday, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles threw out the ceremonial first pitch, which was caught by area seventy Elder Gary K. Wilde. The Newsroom shared the following report on that:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/apostle-throws-first-pitch-dodgers
It was good to read about that. I will be sure to continue to pass along other developments as I receive word about them. Thank you.