Stokes Sounds Off: First Presidency Announces Adjustments to Temple Ceremonial Clothing

Search This Blog

Leaderboard

Friday, January 17, 2020

First Presidency Announces Adjustments to Temple Ceremonial Clothing

Hello again, everyone! Although this is not necessarily breaking news (since it was first reported a couple of hours ago), I wanted to share here some news affecting temple worship for members of the Church. The First Presdiency today announced some minor adjustments to the clothing worn by members of the Church during the endowment ceremony. An official letter from the First Presidency announcing these adjustments is accompanied by a list of common questions Church members may have, which are largely self-explanatory. As I read about these changes, I saw them as yet another way that our Church leaders, under the direction of President Nelson, are making to reduce and simplify things for members of the Church. And I love that the statement made it clear that the adjustments to the temple clothing do not change the sanctity of the work done, and that they were also clear, as was the case when the scriptures were updated a few years ago, that buying the new version is not necessary until the currently-used material needs to be replaced. I am grateful to have been able to read about this development, and to pass it along to you all here.

I continue to monitor all Church news reports and temple updates, and will endeavor to keep passing word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things. 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.

9 comments:

  1. Hello again, everyone! The Church's official Newsroom has published a final summary of Elder Cook's week-long ministry to the Philippines:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-cook-completes-philippine-ministry

    And the Church News has reported on how an octagenarian recently celebrated that milestone birthday:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-01-17/puerto-rico-earthquake-service-80th-birthday-172245

    I continue to monitor all such developments, including temple updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here I become aware of them. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hello again, everyone! The latest edition of “This Week on Social” featured posts exclusively from the apostles of the Church, including the following Brethren: President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First President, and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, and D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The summaries and links to those posts can be found at the following web address:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-01-17/social-apostles-philippines-testimony-gods-plan-pray-cook-christofferson-oaks-uchtdorf-172271

    The Church also held the 2020 Seminar for New MTC Leadership, which brought together the couples that will lead six or seven of the Church’s remaining MTCs and managers of operations for each such facility That seminar has typically also been attended by those asked to serve as new Visitor’s Center Directors, but last year, responsibility to train those couples was transferred to the Church History Department. You can read more on this at the following web address:

    https://thechurchnews.com/members/2020-01-17/new-mtc-leaders-learn-how-their-focused-roles-differ-from-having-presided-over-a-mission-172077

    And a few temple updates have been reported as well. At the Quito Ecuador Temple, crews are preparing to pour walls for the base of the tower.Meanwhile, new information from the Church temples site notes that monuments were being moved and that trees and concrete are being removed from the South Visitor's Center at the Salt Lake Temple.

    Above and beyond that, however, the Church's official Newsroom has published information noting that construction crews are busy demolishing the South Visitor's Center:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/crews-prepare-salt-lake-temple-excavation

    And again, any of us who want to keep up on the latest information about the Salt Lake Temple renovation can be found at the following web address:

    https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/templesquare

    I continu to monitor all such developments and will continue to pass them along here. Thanks again, everyone!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The Church News also reported on the Salt Lake Temple renovation progress:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-01-17/renovation-update-salt-lake-temple-excavation-visitors-center-172305

      Thanks again, everyone!

      Delete
  3. Hello again, everyone! The Church News published an article written by Elder Tad R. Callister, an emeritus general authority seventy who served as the Sunday School General President from 2014-2019. The article focuses on evidence that verifies that the Book of Mormon is God-given, rather than man-made:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-01-19/book-of-mormon-man-made-or-god-given-callister-joseph-smith-172006

    The Church News also released biographical sketches for 16 new mission leaders, whose calls were previously announced. Among those featured this first time in 2020 are 3 current area seventies, 1 former area seventy, and several who have served in mission, stake, or district presidencies. You can find those biographical sketches at the following web address:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-01-19/new-mission-presidents-july-2020-171831

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. And the Church News also just recently published an article on how President Nelson, in his two years as Church President thus far, has relied extensively on his fellow apostles to both accompany him in his global ministry, and to extend the reach of it as they fill their own assignments given by him:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-01-19/president-nelson-apostles-worldwide-church-temples-travel-171772

      It was wonderful to read that summary. My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete
  4. Hello again, everyone! Early this morning, the Newsroom released an article in advance of the Durban South Africa Temple's public open house, which will formally begin on Wednesday, running every day (except Sunday January 26) through Saturday February 1. A youth devotional will be held two weeks later, with the dedication following the next day in three sessions. Here is the article in question:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/durban-south-africa-temple-open-house

    No word yet on who might preside at the temple dedication, but it could be any of the apostles, especially those who have had any previous role of oversight for the Africa Southeast Area (which includes Elders Dale G. Renlund and Ulisses Soares). But I am not ruling out the prospect that a more senior apostle, particularly any member of the First Presidency, could do so, with either or both of the previously-named apostles. It will be interesting to see what happens there. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In conjunction with that article, I also wanted to share that VIP/Media tours are underway for this temple, prior to the aforementioned open house beginning on Wednesday. Thanks again, everyone!

      Delete
  5. Hello again, everyone! I have a couple of additional temple construction updates to pass along to you all now. First of all, at the Quito Ecuador Temple, while crews continue to prepare to pour the tower walls, they are also in the process of pouring parapet walls.

    And I have some big news that will impact the future timing of temple events this year. A new report on the second Manila Philippines Temple indicates that preparations are underway for the groundbreaking ceremony, that the groundbreaking committee was set apart on January 12, 2020, that choir rehearsals for that ceremony are underway, and that an announcement of the official name, location, and groundbreaking arrangements is anticipated to occur very soon. It is wonderful to have my previously-offered theory (that part of Elder Quentin L. Cook's recent visit to the Greater Manila area was to check and see how soon a groundbreaking might be held) has proven to be correct. He might even have had a hand in setting apart the groundbreaking committee.

    As a result, the Greater Manila Philippines Temple (placeholder name) has now catapaulted to the top of my list of temples for which a groundbreaking is anticipated, and given this new information, that groundbreaking is likely to occur either before that of the Auckland New Zealand Temple, or else with the two on the same date. Given this new information, it would not shock me to see more official details announced at some point within the next week or two for one or both temples, which would enable groundbreakings to follow in February or March.

    This brings the number of temples for which I anticipate a groundbreaking will occur at some point this year to 7, with preliminary details having been confirmed for 6 others, and the announcement of official details pending for 6 more.

    And based on what has developed thus far this year in that respect, I have no doubts that other temples aside from those 19 will have something more official anno8unced this year as well. I continue to monitor all such developments, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all, along with all Church news updates, as I receive word of them. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hello again, everyone! On this day in the United States that honors civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., another milestone in the relationship between the Church and the NAACP has been observed. Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave a keynote address during a meeting held by the Salt Lake branch of the NAACP to honor Dr. King. The luncheon gathering was held at the Little American Hotel this afternoon:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-stevenson-naacp-martin-luther-king-memorial-luncheon

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete

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.