Hello again, everyone! Just after 8:00 AM Utah time this morning, as anticipated, the open house and rededication dates were announced for the Washington D.C. Temple. I was blessed to have been able to read about these details not long after they were reported, but I was not able to post my analysis on this announcement until now. Right out of the gate, I will say that some elements of the announcement were unexpectted to me. First of all, by all reports, the open house was going to be on the more lengthy side, lasting at least a month or two, with the rededication anticipated over a few days or perhaps even as long as a week. So I had anticipated that being the case. What I didn't anticipate is that the open house would be held from September 24-October 31 (with the exception of September 27, October 3-4 (General Conference weekend), and October 11, 18, and 25, spanning roughly 4 weeks in total (when the days on which tours will not be available are not included in that count).
Next, I wanted to note that it does make sense to me that, following the conclusion of the open house tours, the Church would need sufficient time to do a final clethaning process on that larger temple before its' rededication. So the fact that there will be more than a month between the end of the open house and its' rededication is not too surprising. But another surprise to me was the fact that the rededication itself would only involve 3 sessions on a single day, Sunday December 13. I had been sure that the rededication would span at least 3 days, and that at least 8 sessions would be held. The release also noted that a media tour day would be available on September 15, with VIP tours taking place September 16-23. Additional details will, according to the release, be shared closer to the time of this temple's open house and rededication.
I am assuming that those details will involve information about a youth devotional, among other developments. I don't know who might be sent to rededicate that temple, but I imagine that it could be President Nelson, or perhaps Elder D. Todd Christofferson, who has ties to DC, having been the law clerk to John J. Sirica, the judge who presided over the Watergate trials that eventually led to the resignation of US President Richard Nixon. I will also be interested to see how the timing of this temple's open house and dedication might impact the timing of the dedication of the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple, and also the possible windows within which the Tokyo Japan and Mesa Arizona Temples might be rededicated. It appears that the window for the former is still anticipated to be late 2020, while the window for the latter two has shifted to late 2020-early 2021. I will have to reevaluate my estimates for known temple estimates yet again.
In the meantime, given yesterday's announcement of the rendering for the Brasilia Brazil Temple, I am hopeful more official information may be coming down the pike soon for the Nairobi Kenya and Harare Zimbabwe Temples. And given what I know currently, I believe more information may also be forthcoming on the San Pedro Sula Honduras, Coban Guatemala, Managua Nicaragua, and Orem Utah Temples, among others. On an ongoing basis, I am also monitoring all major Church news and other temple developments, and will do my level best to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware of such things. As time and circumstances allow, I am also working as quickly as I can on the revisions to my April 2020 General Conference predictions, and I hope to have something published in relation to those predictions by no later than Monday.
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 TEMPLE NEWS: Open House and Dediation Dates Announced for the Washington D.C. 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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The Church News also covered this development, and the article published there did note that a youth devotional will be held the night before this temple's rededication:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-02-27/lds-washington-dc-temple-open-house-dedication-175501
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News also provided coverage today of yesterday's announcement about the rendering for the Brasilia Brazil Temple:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-02-27/lds-washington-dc-temple-open-house-dedication-175501
And leaders of the Young Men and Young Women organizations of the Church joined youth as they participated in family history activities during RootsTech:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-02-27/rootstech-youth-night-young-women-young-men-175548
Thanks again, everyone!
This is great for the area and will be a great missionary opportunity. My family look forward to going across the country for the open house.
ReplyDeleteHello, Nathanial, and thanks for stopping by to comment. I know that the open house for the Washington D.C. Temple will likely generate lots of wide-spread interest. I was curious, so I ran the actual count of the exact number of days for which tours will be offered, and it turns out the actual number is 31, not 28, which is a rough total of either exactly a month or 4.5 weeks (whichever your preference might be).
DeleteAs I also noted, I am more than slightly surprised that the rededication of this temple will only involve 3 sessions, and only be held over one day, and that the rededication of this temple will not take place until the second Sunday in December.
It will be interesting to see how or if protocol for that temple's dedication changes from what it has traditionally been, depending on what happens with the coronavirus here in the United States between now and then. In the meantime, Nathanial, thanks so much for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.
I am willing to bet that it will be broadcasted in the region. I don't know though. The strength of the members in that area is amazing. If I could afford to live there, I would have stayed longer than I did.
ReplyDeleteNathanial, it appears upon a more close examination of the information released about the open house and rededication today that it will be broadcast to all stakes in the current temple district, which, if my information is correct, includes 36 stakes in Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and West Virginia. It has been common for the Church in recent years to only broadcast temple dedications to the stakes in the districts that are served thereby, so it's not surprising that will be the case for this rededication.
DeleteBut I do think that the eventual rededication of each of the pioneer-era temples will be more widely broadcast than just to those stakes and districts assigned to each such temple district. That's just a guess for now, of course. Thanks again, Nathanial, for taking time to comment.