Hello again, everyone! The October 2019 General Conference has just wrapped up, and more breaking news has been reported. First, President Nelson highlighted upcoming temple open houses, dedications, and rededications, urging the Church to use those as opportunities to teach our friends of other faiths about the importance of the work done in temples. He went on to further announce updates and revisions to the standard temple recommend questions, which clarify what is required to worthily enter the temple.
Above and beyond that, however, he noted that next year would be designated a bicentennial celebration year to mark the anniversaries of important milestones in the restoration of the Savior's Church. Among those milestones he mentioned that would be a focus are the First Vision, the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, the publication of the Book of Mormon, and the reestablishment of the Church. He went on to note that the April 2020 General Conference would be unlike any other the Church has ever seen before in its' history. So between these developments, there is a lot to which we as members of the Church can look forward.
While I don't know exactly what might make the April 2020 General Conference so unique, I have a few thoughts, which I will want to mull over before I share anything solid. There are, however, two things I can say with absolute certainty: first, per a letter from the Church Communication Department (which had been sent out on September 13 of this year), the April 2020 General Conference will convene on Saturday and Sunday April 4 and 5, 2020, and that I will be making the April 2020 General Conference predictions unique as a result of the anticipated uniqueness of that Conference to which President Nelson referred.
In fact, I already have more than a few ideas in that respect. But I will be taking my time putting those together. Meanwhile, I will also be monitoring all Church news and temple updates. I am anticipating that at least 3 items of temple news will be coming down the pike over the next several weeks, given what President Nelson noted during his concluding remarks about temple construction, open houses, dedications, and renovations. Stay tuned for more on those developments as well as I learn more about them.
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.
Sunday, October 6, 2019
BREAKING NEWS: President Nelson Announces Changes In Temple Recommend Interview Questions; Designates 2020 as a Bicentennial Celebration Year 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.
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Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post a comment now to mention some preliminary thoughts I have about the April 2020 General Conference. First of all, I consider it a somewhat safe bet to assume that a good portion of that General Conference will originate from around the area of the Priesthood Restoration site, with parts originating from the Conference Center in Salt Lake as usual. Secondly, it would not surprise me if, given the bicentennial anniversary, the conference consisted of two sessions (the Priesthood and one other) saw the entire First Presidency speak. And whichever of the other four sessions in which the entire First Presidency speaks (which I am thinking will occur on Saturday or Sunday Morning), I would not be shocked if no members of the Quorum of the Twelve were to speak during that session.
ReplyDeleteWith the Priesthood Session coinciding with this bicentennial, I would also not be shocked if two apostles spoke during that session. And given that the October General Conference which has just concluded was the first one in 4 years to not include any speakers from the Presiding Bishopric, and that those men preside over the Aaronic Priesthood holders in the entire Church, each member thereof may speak at some point during that conference. Also, we have two known living descendents of the Smith family in Church leadership at the moment: Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Brother Jan E. Newman, Second Counselor in the Sunday General Presidency. So having President Ballard speak during the Priesthood Session and Brother Newman speaking in another does not seem out of the question. I also think that at least one member of the Young Men Presidency will speak at some point as well, but we could hear from two or all three members, given that that conference will mark when they will likely be released.
These are my initial thoughts about what might be coming next General Conference. In the coming days and weeks, I will try to formulate the initial draft of my predictions for that General Conference. In the meantime, stay tuned. My thanks again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
How about a few members of the Twelve scattered to speak from locations such as London, Paris, Rome, Mexico City, Tokyo? They could give their talks via satellite from a large stake center with members of those locations (some might be late in the evening or early morning hours). What about previously selected youth speakers from different parts of the world. Patzicia.
ReplyDeletePatzicia, thank you for taking time to share your thoughts on this. I had read a while ago an article suggesting that at some point, the Church could convene an entire General Conference in a single location outside of Salt Lake. As far as the apostles being scattered throughout different locations worldwide, I doubt that would happen. Aside from the Church encountering a bit of a headache trying to coordinate parts of the Conference originating from multiple and various time zones, the very essence of General Conference as specified by the relevant revleations in the Doctrine and Covenants requires a scripturally-mandated majority of the leading Quorums to be located in one place. I did some digging and found a lesson from the Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual which discusses section 44. That revelation was received at around the time the Church convened its' fourth ever General Conference, and the first one originating from Ohio. The major teachings in that lesson are illustrative. You can look over what it says at the following web address:
Deletehttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-44-the-fourth-general-church-conference?lang=eng
An additional thought, if I may offer it. Up through the presidencies of Spencer W. Kimball and Ezra Taft Benson, it was not all that uncommon for the Brethren to call upon mission presidents, Church university presidents, or other prominent Church members, to speak during General Conference. The most recent time someone outside the general leadership of the Church was called upon to speak in General Conference was during the General Young Women Meeting held the week prior to the rest of the April 1995 General Conference. At that time, the young women called upon to speak were asked to do so for very specific reasons, which you can learn more about through reading their addresses at the following web address:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/manual/doctrine-and-covenants-student-manual/section-44-the-fourth-general-church-conference?lang=eng
It has been almost a quarter-century since that General Conference, and within that time, no other conferences have featured any speakers from outside the ranks of the general Church leadership. That to me is a pretty solid indication that, whatever may actually occur next April, it will not involve the apostles being scattered throughout the world, and it will likely not involve any speakers outside the ranks of the general Church leadership.
But I do know one thing: the prevalent typical patterns of the General Conference speaking order throughout most of the last two decades have largely been thrown out by President Nelson in each of the 4 General Conferences of the Church over which he has presided thus far. So it would not shock me if part or all of that conference saw a minority of the apostles and a few other leaders participating from Pennsylvani8a,the place where the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods were restored, and for the speaker lineup of general leaders to be unlike anything we have ever seen before. But these theories are no more and no less than my own, and as such, are subject to confirmation or denial by the First Presidency closer to the time, assuming we do indeed learn more about what will make the conference so unique prior to its' actual occurence. Hope these thoughts, such as they are, are helpful in this case, and thanks again, Patzicia, for taking time to comment.
Hello again, everyone! As President Nelson indicated would be the case yesterday, this morning, Church leaders sent out a letter to all members of the Church highlighting the updated temple recommend intervie questions. You can find copies thereof online at the following web address (you will need to be registed for an account on the Church website to view it there):
ReplyDeletehttps://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/letters?lang=eng
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
And the Church News has shared a couple of additional articles:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-10-06/boyd-matheson-wow-moments-must-be-followed-by-inspired-action-and-forward-movement-163589
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2019-10-07/genral-conference-october-2019-pdf-talk-summaries-163601
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Thanks!!!! I really look forward to reading your thoughts over the next 6 months until general conference. Exciting times! You got a lot of exciting things to report lately and I'm glad you blog it for us!
ReplyDeleteMy thanks for your thanks. I have had a life-long love for Church news, temple developments, General Conference, and the current and ongoing ministry of our apostles. I have had files full of facts and miscellaneous information related to these subjects on my various PCs since my early teenage years, so a majority of what I publish here is merely an extension of what I do extensively on a personal level anyways. And it's an honor and privilege to bring word of such developments to you all here. Unless I miss my guess, we will have a number of unprecedented developments reported between now and the April 2020 General Conference, and based on what President Nelson said about that conference this last weekend, it too will be unprecedented. Thank you, Butterfly and Bones, for taking time to comment here. I appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteHello again, everyone! I almost forgot to mention this: Earlier today (from 12:00 PM-8:00 PM Asuncion time), special tours of the Asuncion Paraguay Temple were offered to Paraguayan youth prior to the one-week public open house for that temple, which begins this upcoming Saturday. Given the time difference, those tours wrapped up around 3.5 hours ago. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass along word of those as I become aware of them. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDelete