Hello again, everyone! I have some breaking temple news to share right now. But first, I wanted to apologize to anyone who has made comments on any posts at any point today. I will be sure to address those ASAP, but I spent 6 hours this afternoon stuck in the Salt Lake Valley for a medical appointment, and things have just barely settled down enough for me to now check my blog for the first time today. That said, let's get to the breaking news report. As shared by the News page of the Church of Jesus Christ Temples website and confirmed on the Church's official Newsroom website, the artist's rendering has been released for the Richmond Virginia Temple, along with some interior and exterior renderings of various features for the temple property.
Although a groundbreaking will be announced at a later time, I am reasonably certain that the Richmond temple will be the very next one to have a groundbreaking, barring any unexpected surprises. And based on a quick analysis of the artist's rendering and specifications for the Richmond Temple which were described in the Newsroom release, I imagine a 2-3 year period of construction will be needed for this temple. So if a groundbreaking occurs anytime between early September and mid-October (perhaps just after the October 2019 General Conference), the Richmond Virginia Temple would potentially be completed during early-to-mid 2022.
So that means I will indeed have to rethink my previously-offered thoughts about temples which are announced or for which a groundbreaking is anticipated. If I am correct in my theory that Richmond will be the next one to have a groundbreaking, that will bump the Brasilia Brazil Temple down at least one spot on my "Groundbreaking anticipated" list. I have also, as previously noted, received some new information on other temples which I am in the process of analyzing to determine other changes I may need to make. Stay tuned for more on that.
In the meantime, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to 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 comments are made in accordance 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.
Wednesday, August 28, 2019
BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Artist's Rendering Released for the Richmond Virginia 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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Hello again, everyone! The Church's Newsroom has also published a report of President Nelson's ministry visit to the Saints in Argentina, which you can find at the following web address:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-argentina-2019
I was impacted by that article for a couple of reasons. First, although President Nelson has delivered a message with similar themes in each location he has spoken, each address in every venue was uniquely suited for the Saints in each nation. He is truly an inspired prophet for our time. The second thing which had an impact on me was the following quote from Elder Cook's address: "Despite the lack of righteousness in the world today, we live a sacred and holy time. Focus your goals on the temple. No prophet has been closer to temples than President Russell M. Nelson. The Lord has prepared Him through many years of assignments to preside over the Church when temples will truly dot the earth in unprecedented numbers. He began his service as our prophet by addressing us from the Salt Lake Temple. He counsels us to begin with the end in mind and made it clear that the ordinances of the temple and the covenant pathway should be our primary goal.”
So two takeaways from that quote: First of all, President Nelson having announced 27 new temples during his first 3 General Conferences as Church President is unprecedented in Church history. But Elder Cook's further statement that "temples will dot the earth in unprecedented numbers" aligns with what we have heard about President Nelson's temple construction plans (specifically, that the goal is a ten-fold increase).
As I have noted more than a few times on this blog, I believe that ten-fold increase will be the ultimate goal of President Nelson's prophetic administration, not the next stop on the way to something even bigger. And given the unprecedented number of temples he has announced since his ordination in January of last yeqar, it is plain he is taking a methodical and reasonable approach towards that expansion. Given that President Nelson is actively traveling as his 95th birthday draws ever closer, and given his general energy and vigor, I fully believe that we can expect him to be around for another decade or two, as his fellow apostles have said would likely be the case.
So if he has 1.5-2 decades left in his prophetic ministry, that should be more than sufficient time for the methodical, systematic, and reasonable increase of temples by ten-fold. I have no doubts he will be around that long, just as I fully believe that he will be contiuing for the moment to gradually increase the number of temples announced every April and October, which will result in the ultimate ten-fold increase within that same general period of time.
During the April 1998 General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley announced plans for the Church to have 100 temples in operation by the end of the year 2000, a goal which was both accomplished and exceded. And during General Conference last October, the 12 temples announced by President Nelson put the number of temples in any phase above 200. It took less than 20 years for the Church to accomplish that, thanks in no small part to President Hinckley's original announcement, and Presidents Monson and Nelson have added their own contributions thereunto.
But the Church is not done yet. If there will be a ten-fold increase in the number of temples within the next 2 decades, at some point, there will be another surge and a mass of new temples announced. But I do not now believe that surge will be imminent, at least not for the next couple of years or so. I have been wrong before, but that is my assessment for now. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Thank you, James, as always for your blog. The time and effort you put into it is a blessing to us who read it.
DeleteI just have to chuckle at how casually it seems you say that you expect President Nelson to be around for "1.5-2 decades" given that the world would laugh at such a comment. 2 decades would make him 115. But this is the Lord's church, and the Lord is in command, so if He wants President Nelson to preside that long, it will happen. :)
So excited for the dedication of the Port-au-Prince Temple this weekend. Wish I could be there!
Michael
Michael, thank you for taking time to comment. It is my pleasure to provide such information here, and I always appreciate hearing that my efforts in that respect are paying off. Always glad to give someone something to chuckle about as well. Full disclosure here: If anyone had told me 20 years ago that a 90-plus-year-old man would be the second oldest individual in Church history to ever become prophet, and that the announcements made before he'd been Church president two full years would transform and change the Church, I too would likely have laughed, shrugged it off, and dismissed it as completely impossible.
DeleteThat said, if I ever gave the impression that my thoughts in this respect were given casually, let me now set the record straight. Towards the end of President Monson's prophetic administration, the deaths of President Packer and Elder Perry left then-Elder Nelson as the second most senior apostle in 2015. At the time of his setting apart as Quorum President, I wouldn't have been shocked if the new President Nelson passed away before President Monson did. It seemed to be an unlikely, but still possible, scenario.
We all saw how frail and gaunt President Nelson looked at President Monson's funeral last year, which led some to speculate about his health. But the following Tuesday, President Nelson stood to speak to the Church for the first time as its' prophet, and I could see the prophetic mantle had settled on him. Starting with the April 2018 General Conference, his fellow apostles began to comment on his health. When Elder Andersen originally expressed his hope that President Nelson would be around for the next decade or two, many laughed that off as just a joke, or nothing more than an idle hope.
But subsequently, every one of his apostolic colleagues, down through Elder Soares, have been quoted at various times and in several different settings as saying they cannot keep up with our prophet, who moves at a brisk pace physically, but also in boldly declaring the word of the Lord and being out among the people. And our prophet's wife Wendy W. Nelson has spoken on several occasions about how she cannot get him to act his age, about how the man she greets at the end of each day is more vigorous and vibrant than the man who left their home that morning, and that, as he is out among the people, he appears as one who is 20-30 years younger than his biological age of almost 95. And she has credited that to the fact that he is finally doing what he was sent here to do.
DeleteIn no small part, his gospel-based understanding of prudent and wise health practices have enabled him to literally take to heart what he has practiced in how to ensure a human heart stays healthy, so there is that aspect to consider as well. If I was basing my assessment solely on Elder Andersen's remark during President Nelson's first General Conference as prophet, or on the way the world measures life expectancy, then 1-2 more decades of life for our prophet (who was the second-oldest man in Church history to ever be so ordained) would likely be laughable indeed to me personally as well.
But nothing I have read about President Nelson's ministry, including comments from his Brethren and his wife, who is around him more frequently than anyone else, suggests anything but that he will likely be around at least another decade or two. And that may indeed turn out to be a low-ball estimate. I think that many people who assess his likely longevity are too quick to discount such reports, because it would be unprecedented.
Another thing to consider is that 20 years ago, not all that many people were living long enough or were healthy enough to become centenarians, let alone becoming supercentenarians (those 110 or older). However, more people both inside and out of the Church have become centenarians, and given President Nelson's continued vigor as his 95th birthday draws ever closer, he could very well become one of them. But you are correct in what you said: The Lord governs the longevity of the life of each prophet and apostle. So if He wants President Nelson to continue leading the Church that long, it will happen, and the same is true for any other of our current apostles.
I thought I remembered you talking about your ties to Haiti. I am glad to hear that you have that connection. It has been confirmed by the Church Temples site today that Elder David A. Bednar will preside over the youth devotional on Saturday evening, but I guess time will tell whether or not he is the one that will actually dedicate it the following day. That appears to be the case for now, but I am only basing that on information from somone else who commented here to that effect a few days ago. I look forward to seeing the reports which will be released on that. In the meantime, Michael, thank you for taking time time comment. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
I am back now with a few more Church news stories which have been reported. For any of you that would like to review anything from President Nelson's current ministry tour, you can find those articles via the Church News:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/category/ministry-tour
The Newsroom also has a special section for summaries of the Ministry Tour:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-russell-m-nelson-2019-latin-america-ministry
Here is another article about BYU's Education Week:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2019-08-26/byu-education-week-temple-atonement-jesus-christ-157911
The members of the Sunday School General Presidency who were released in April of this year talked about their approach in helping to develop the "Come Follow Me" curriculum:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-08-28/what-you-probably-didnt-know-about-the-development-of-the-come-follow-me-curriculum-157138
And the United Nations held their annual conference in Salt Lake City this year, for which coverage was provided by both the Church News and the Newsroom:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2019-08-28/un-salt-lake-city-church-of-jesus-christ-158099
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-08-28/bishop-causse-un-civil-society-conference-sacrifice-158103
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/church-hosts-events-united-nations-conference-salt-lake-city
I will be back again shortly with some additional temple updates. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all.
I am back again with the temple updates I promised. With the dedication of the Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple coming up this weekend, a comment on an earlier thread of this blog mentioned that Elder David A. Bednar would likely be presiding at that event. I hope to have an official source to confirm that soon. Meanwhile, the open house for the Lisbon Portugal Temple is heading into its' final days, and will conclude on Saturday.
ReplyDeleteAt the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple site, the monument sign inscription stone has been installed, and both landscaping and interior finish work are progressing. According to the Church Temples site, construction on that temple is anticipated to wrap up in the early months of 2020. So I may need to adjust my previously-offered estimate for that temple's dedication, although I still anticipate that the open house and dedication information may be announced either before or not long after the October General Conference.
Meanwhile, at the Pocatello Idaho Temple site, foundation work continues, structural steel framing has begun, the maintenance building foundation has been poured. and the work of pouring the parking lot curbing has also begun. Next, with construction having wrapped up on both the Raleigh North Carolina and Frankfurt Germany Temples, both are being prepared for their open houses. And at the Tokyo Japan Temple, it has again been noted that interior and exterior renovations are underway.
I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, if I have, by any chance, missed any coverage of Church news stories, you can find those missing articles at the following web addresses:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news?lang=eng
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/
Once again, my thanks to you all.
The Church News has shared a more detailed report on President Nelson's visit to Buenos Aires:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-08-29/president-nelson-argentina-wheelchairs-latam-158343
And a couple of additional temple updates have been reported as well. At the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, walls have been attached to the tower framework, a structural frame for the entrance window has been installed; and framing for the baptismal font is underway. At the Abidjan Côte d'Ivoire Temple, the walls for the main floor and tower are now being poured. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all here as I become aware of it. In the meantime, my thanks again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! In an interesting and unexpected turn of events, at some point within the last few hours, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site noted that the groundbreaking for the Richmond Virginia Temple is anticipated at some point in mid-to-late 2020. I am hoping that information is a misprint and that the actual anticipted window is mid-to-late 2019, but if not, it might be another year before that temple has a groundbreaking.
ReplyDeleteThat aside, the following Church news stories have been published as well:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-08-29/president-nelson-latam-cilsa-charities-video-158731
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2019-08-29/pacific-northwest-safeco-field-president-nelson-157309
Once again, my thanks to you all.