Hello again, everyone! I posted a few different times in the last few days that I didn't know how or if General Conference would be impacted by the coronavirus. The Newsroom recently published guidelines and recommendations for the upcoming April 2020 General Conference. First and most notably, the leadership sessions for General Conference that have typically been held prior to each April's General Conference will now be postponed until the week before the October 2020 General Conference.
Further, General Authority Seventies and Area Seventies serving outside the United States are being formally excused from attending General Conference, which means that I will have to take that into account with my revised predictions for this General Conference. And for Church members outside the United States, the First Presidency is encouraging them to not travel to Utah for General Conference weekend. The statement specifically notes: "This postponement applies only to pre-conference leadership meetings. Present plans call for the general sessions of the April 2020 conference to be held as previously announced."
The First Presidency ends the announcement with this statement: "We are grateful that all members who do not travel to Salt Lake City will be able to view the proceedings of April general conference through technology. With great compassion, we pray for all whose lives have been affected by this illness." So this would seem to settle the question of General Conference: those who are here in the United n and who have not been impacted by the virus will attend General Conference, while any General Authorities, Area Seventies, or other Church leaders and members who are serving outside the United States will be excused from doing so.
So that's the latest official information on General Conference, which of course preempts any information, analysis, or reasoning I may have previously offered. The work truly is moving forward at an accelerated pace, and I am grateful to see that process continuing to unfold.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.
Thursday, February 27, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: Church Postpones April 2020 General Conference Leadership Meetings; Issues Guidelines for General Conference
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! In conjunction with the announcement I covered in the above post, the Newsroom released the following additional report on the situation, how it is impacting Church members and missionaries in the affected areas, and the guidelines that are being followed to keep all Church members, leaders, and missionaries healthy and safe:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update-february-27-2020
And the Church News has written an article about the aforementioned General Conference development and the associated recommendations as well:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-02-27/first-presidency-discourages-leaders-members-international-travels-april-conference-coronavirus-175593
Meanwhile, the Newsroom additionally highlighted yesterday the announcement that RootsTech would be returning to London later this year:
https://news-gb.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/rootstech-returns-to-london-in-2020
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
I wonder how many of the previously planned speakers this affects. Also, how many new General Authorities will not be there when they are sustained. The can be issued the call over a video call, but will now have to wait to be set apart.
ReplyDeleteThat's a great question, Scott. I'm not sure. But it does open the prospect that General Authorities who have not spoken for a while and are currently serving at Church headquarters would be able to fill those spots. I do kind of wonder to what extent the speaking layout was planned before this decision was made. For someone who plans ahead as thoroughly as President Nelson does, perhaps he made allowances for this eventuality from the get-go.
DeleteI don't quite know how newly-called Church leaders might be impacted by this development, but I do have some experience with not being physically present to be released, sustained, or set apart. A couple of examples from my own experience will suffice. When I heeded the Lord's direction to start attending the Singles' Ward in my stake in May of 2010, I was still serving as Second Counselor in my ward's Sunday School Presidency. My release from that assignment in my parents' ward coincided with my first week attending the Singles' Ward, as did my release from the Singles' Ward assignment of Assistant Ward Clerk for Finances and Membership, which was handled over the-pulpit the day after my marriage, and for which I was also not in attendance.
Fast forward to the last couple of weeks. Not last Sunday, but the Sunday before that, the EQ President paid my wife and me a visit, where he extended a call to serve as Ministering Secretary to one of his counselors. I had planned to be at Church the following Sunday to be sustained and set apart, but my wife overdid it on her first post-surgery errand day, so we were stuck at home. The EQ President visited me again this last Sunday, where he reported I had been unanimously sustained, and where he then set me apart in that new assignment.
I imagine something similar could be done for the newly-called leaders who are away from Church headquarters when they are sustained this April. And I also am sure that the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve might take action to ensure all of these new leaders are set apart not long after they are sustained in General Conference, assuming it is safe for them to travel.
We also have a different kind of example through one of our current apostles. When then-Brother Oaks' jusdicial responsibilities kept him from attending or speaking at the April 1984 General Conference when he was sustained to the apostleship, after he wrapped up his judicial obligations, he was able to be set apart and assume his new assignment on May 3, 1984.
So I am sure that these leaders will be able to be set apart in their new assignments, and that the Gneral Authorities serving outside the US will be able to return to Church HQ when the time is right.
Just some thoughts from me, based on personal experience and the research I have done on such matters. Thanks, Scott, for taking time to comment.
Here's something interesting: If I am correct about the GA Seventies who will speak to us, then none of the ones on my list for this go-round are serving abroad in any capacity. The one exception might be Elder Anthony D. Perkins, who presides over the Middle East/Africa North Area, but since he does so from headquarters, it should not be a problem. Just wanted to provide that additional note.
Delete@James, I'm glad to see that NOW you realize that precautions & schedule readjustments of Gen. Con. are not due to lack of faith or because we've given into fear -- it's for the physical welfare of the members and is the responsible thing to do. I am pleased you have come to terms with this now. I would appreciate it if you can admit this in Matt's blog where you condemned fear-mongering when no one did as such, and where you praised faith over science (which isn't a bad thing, but in that case, it was a bit inappropriate and not the place). You have a following and influence -- and I think you can help others come to terms with these changes too. Adjustments and preparations are not indicators of fear, lack of faith, but rather love for humanity. We need to break that stereotype. I think the Brethren are exercising excellent prudence and I'm thrilled to see that, as of now, the other sessions are not cancelled/postponed. I'm very excited for Gen. Con.!! Thanks, as always, for your pure heart.
ReplyDeletePills & Pillows, thanks for weighing in here. My main motivation and thought process for those previous assertions was the fact that there had been no official announcement from the First Presidency of any change, and, as recently as last night, KSL (my main source for news here in Utah), indicated in their newscasts that no changes had been made at that time to the planned arrangements for General Conference. That statement was made point-blank by the reporter on the story.
DeleteOf course, times change, information changes, and I change with the times. Different scenario now, because there is an official statement from the Brethren about how and in what manner the cornavirus will impact the usual schedule and attendance for General Conference.
In light of that, I would be happy to revisit the conversation in question and offer a more complete explanation for my assertions and offered opinions on the matter, as well as my perspective on the changes themselves. And I would be hapy to retract anything I previously said that was offered based on the incomplete information I had at the time I said it.
I will, however, need to take time to go over the latest added comments to that thread and decide how best to do so. And in between my last comment there on that matter and now, I have unfortunately been swamped, not only by the additional reports I have shared here, but by a variety of personal and familial matters, both medical and circumstantial, which have eaten away at a majority of my focus the last couple of days and has delayed my ability to keep up with the latest comments on that blog.
I will comment on the matter ASAP to clarify all of this, but appreciate your kindness and understanding if, while trying to deal with some of those other matters, my weighing in further on the Church Growth blog may be delayed the next day or two. I apologize about my delay in taking action on this, but am willing to do something about this as soon as I get one or two other major issues in my situation handled a little better. In the meantime, thanks for reaching out to me here, and, as I said in the most recent comment I was able to post on the Church Growth blog a couple of days ago, I apologize for any unintentional offense I may have given on this issue.
James, after re-reading what I've written, I realize that I may have come across as condescending or snarky, and I wanted to apologize if I came across that way. No excuses. I suppose I was frustrated that people (not just you) weren't taking my warnings seriously, but I now realize that there is a period of adjustment and just because I had already come to terms with what might happen, doesn't mean everyone else was on the same page. It was a confusing time and I'm sorry if I was a bit critical/impatient. ☹️ I'm a huge fan of yours and didn't mean to upset you. I went about my warning in the wrong way. Will you forgive me? I've should of handled this more carefully because I respect you so much. I guess my concern/care for people manifested itself in anger when others weren't on board with my predictions. I shouldn't have asked for an apology. Golly, I'm so sorry. Thank you for your pure ��. You're doing excellent work here and I'm grateful to have discovered your blog.
DeletePills and Pillows, no apology necessary. The Church has always gone through periods where adjustments due to global issues involved assessment, deliberation, ascertaining and announcing the Lord's will on this, including readjusting past recommendations as new information and worldly recommendations change in cases like this.
DeleteShort of official announcements from Church leaders, most of us, including yourself and myself, were led to respond to what was and wasn't known based on personal experience, where our study on the matter took us, and knowledge we obtained elsewhere. When that happened, opinions were bound to clash due to different areas of focus. All any of us can do in such situations is our best, which may, on reflection, not have happened for either of us in this case. I bear you no ill will on this matter and thank you for your kind follow-up comment. And, as Pahoran said to Captain Moroni, I rejoice in the greatness of your heart on this whole matter. May the Lord bless you and all physicians dealing with this complex issue at this time.
Helllo again, everyone! The Church's official Newsroom has published a report on Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who, while currently on assignment in New York, represented the Church in a variety of ways:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/in-new-york-elder-christofferson-praises-people-of-faith-for-their-leavening-influence
The following additional Church news stories, which largely speak for themselves, have also been reported:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-02-28/lds-missionary-christ-atonement-forgiveness-drunk-driver-antidote-anger-174117
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-02-27/changes-wont-affect-christ-centered-mission-newly-named-ensign-college-175577
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-02-27/rootstech-the-blind-side-family-history-leigh-anne-tuohy-175564
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
And the Church News and the Newsroom have shared the following additional articles:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-02-28/mayflower-rootstech-familysearch-american-ancestors-david-kennerly-175680
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-02-28/temple-family-history-work-minister-emphasis-members-175650
The latest edition of “This Week on Social” has been published, and this week, it included posts solely from members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, specifically, the following individuals:
Church President Russell M. Nelson; his First Counselor, President Dallin H. Oaks; and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, Dieter F. Uchtdorf (from whom 2 posts were shared), Quentin L. Cook, and Gary E. Stevenson (from whom two posts were shared) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
You can find those posts on the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-02-28/nelson-restoration-uchtdorf-rootstech-stevenson-rome-italy-holland-book-of-mormon-175717
The latest edition of “Latter-day Saints Around the World” has also been published, and features articles from the following locations: Adelaide, Australia; Lopez de Micay, Cauca, Colombia; Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic; Prey Veng Province, Cambodia; Tamavua Fiji; Walla Walla, Washington, USA;
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world-february-28-2020
Thanks again, everyone!