Hello again, everyone! In the midst of the wide-spread COVID-19 crisis that has temporarily closed all temples, the temple construction program of the Church continues to make strides. One such development was nanounced today by the First Presidency. Regardless of when it reopens following the COVID-19 crisis, a renovation process will begin on the Columbus Ohio Temple on Saturday August 15, 2020, and is anticipated to reopen in late 2022.
The temple, which was originally dedicated by Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in early September 1999, will likely be given a similar exterior overhaul that was done to the Memphis Tennessee, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Raleigh North Carolina, and Baton Rouge Louisiana Temples, and thus have its' square footage increased from its' current 10,700 square feet to 10,890 square feet. But that will be subject to confirmation or denial by the First Presidency.
Either way, this announcement means that temple will be removed from my list of those that could be renovated, since the renovation announcement is now official. And based on this announcement, I am assuming that the Columbus Ohio may be the first of a few other temples for which a full--scale renovation closure may be announced. I will keep my eyes opnn for all such updates and will be sure to pass those along to you all as I become aware of such news.
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.
Friday, March 27, 2020
BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Columbus Ohio Temple Will Close for Renovation
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.
11 comments:
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! This just in from KSL: Utah Governor Gary Herbert, in a news conference that is currently airing, has issued a "Stay Home, Stay Safe" order for the citizens of Utah. Based on the accompanying recommendations, that may have some degree of impact on the plans for General Conference as scheduled, as Church leaders just recently highlighted how much they are looking to medical professionals and governmental leaders to inform the process that will gauge the Church's response in such situations. Based on what I am hearing, I assume that we may have more information forthcoming from the First Presidency within the next few hours. It could be that the Church has been or will be implementing soical distancing specifically to General Conference, but time will tell. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteHello again, everyone! Insofar as I am aware, the Church has not changed the current plans for General Conference since the last adjustment, as a result of which I am assuming that will proceed as arranged. Above and beyond that, however, the Church News and the Newsroom have shared the following additional reports:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-03-27/lds-temple-columbus-ohio-closed-renovation-178703
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-27/coronavirus-covid-19-temples-weddings-sealings-178180
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-03-27/covid-19-pandemic-coronavirus-wedding-planning-temples-closed-what-i-know-now-178474
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-03-27/boyd-matheson-coronavirus-covid-19-nelson-prophets-preparation-church-jesus-christ-178510
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-03-27/byu-pathway-returned-missionary-scholarship-program-coronavirus-178557
In addition to these Church News stories, the Newsroom has shared the latest edition of "Latter-day Saints Around the World":
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world-country-newsroom-websites-march-27-2020
Featured in that latest edition are articles originating from the following locations: Guatemala (about which two articles were featured, with that nation becoming the 16th to receive assistance from the Church in response to COVID-19), Chile, Australia (from which two stories were featured as well), Nepal, and New Zealand.
My thanks once again to you all.
And the Newsro om has also provided an update on Church Distribution Centers:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#distribution-stores
Thanks again, everyone!
The Church News, which reported a few days ago that no missionaries of the Church had been impacted by the COVID-19 problem, now reports that a missionary from Guatemala who is serving in Mexico City is the first of our missionaries to be diagnosed with COVID-19:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-27/lds-missionary-mexico-city-tests-positive-for-covid-19-coronavirus-178753
I am sure the Church will be even more committed than ever now to enact measures that will curb the spread of this virus. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
There does not appear to be a lot of space to expand the Columbus Ohio temple unless they move the stake center, build up (or down like they did with Provo City center). Or a tight squeeze north
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris! Thanks for stopping by to comment on this. I am not familiar at all with the current design of the Columbus temple, nor with the layout on its' current plot of land. As you say, building up might be a prospect, as would a demolition and relocation of the current adjacent stake center. I'd assume that any decisions to expand the area of the temple would also depend on how soon another Ohio temple is able to be announced, constructed, and dedicated.
DeleteEither way, it will be interesting to see what happens there as the work of renovation unfolds. Thanks, as always, Chris, for taking time to comment.
I usually look at the areal view (Google satelite) link on Rick's temple page. I can get an idea of the orientation of the land.
DeleteGood thinking on that, Chris! I'm the kind of person that keeps forgetting I have those kinds of tools at my disposal. THat's the marvel of modern technology at work for you, right there. Thanks again, Chris, for taking time to comment. Hope you are well.
DeleteHello again, everyone! The following additional articles have been shared by the Church News and the Newsroom:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-28/coronavirus-covid-19-byu-students-online-classes-178766
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-28/missionary-dies-dominican-republic-car-accident-178787
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/young-missionary-dies-dominican-republic
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the biographies of 8 more new mission presidents, and it appears as though the Church is not anticipating that COVID-19 will delay the standard service start date of July 1 for any new mission leaders this year. Here are those biographies:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-03-29/new-mission-presidents-companions-arizona-mexico-california-178174
Although each new mission leader couple have served individually and unitedly in a variety of callings and Church assignments, the following more specific notes may be illuminating for you all: Among those called are 2 former area seventies, 2 current stake presidents, 1 current stake presidency counselor, 1 former stake president, and 1 current bishop.
Above and beyond that, although there have not been any COVID-19 updates from the Church, I wanted to note something in relation to the temple construction program of the Church. As I mentioned in my post above, it does not appear as though construction efforts would need to be halted on any new temples or those undergoing renovation as a result of COVID-19. That could change in the future, but for now, any impact in that respect would likely be minimal, and not too far-reaching or all-encompassing.
Above and beyond that, however, yesterday I became aware of the fact that concept designs of the area in which the Tooele Valley Utah Temple is being built were available online. The Church of Jesus Christ Temples site confiremd that information today:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tooele-valley-utah-temple/news/
Further verification was specifically provided in the following article from a Tooele online newspaper:
http://tooeleonline.com/temple-area-subdivision-plan-revealed/
A few insights I wanted to pass along about that: The construction company representative mentioned by name in the article, Dale Bills, was a spokesman for the Church at one point, though I don't know if he is still doing that or just representing the construction company.
Secondly, although nothing official has been released about the design, in a meeting with Church leaders which was held in early February, representatives from the Church compared the floor plan and intended design of the Tooele Valley Utah Temple to the Pocatello Idaho Temple, which is currently under construction.
Above and beyond that, however, based on the details described in that article, the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site noted that a groundbreaking for the temple could occur as early as this fall.
Based on this new information, I have adjusted the content in the "Groundbreaking Anticipated" section of my temple construction progress report. As a result of what is and is not known presently, I am offering the following revised general time-frames for groundbreakings to occur on the following temples:
Mid-2020: Orem Utah, Taylorsville Utah, and Tooele Valley Utah Temples
Mid-to-late 2020: Brasilia Brazil, Feather River California, and San Pedro Sula Honduras
Late 2020: Coban Guatemala and Managua Nicaragua Temples
Late 2020-early 2021: Phnom Pehn Cambodia and Bengaluru India Temples
I would just provide another quick additional note by way of reminder: The timing whereby any temple has a groundbreaking, sees construction begin, or is dedicated, remains within the control of the Lord, His chosen leaders, and those assigned to oversee and carry out such projects. As a result, any of the temples I mentioned above could have the general estimates pushed forward or back, and there is every possibility that the general windows I listed bove could see ohter temples have their groundbreakings during each of those same general periods of time. Barring anything unexpected, I do not currently believe that there will be any delays or halts on temple construction projects which are now or may soon be underway, but that too may be subject to change depending on what happens over the next little while. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Not long after I posted my last comment above, the Church News published an article with an accompanying video, which featured President Nelson's voiceover in conjunction with video footage taken during his 2019 Latin American Ministry Tour. Although the video itself may have been originally released in conjunction with coverage of that tour, it has been released (or rereleased) today at the request of President Nelson, in conjunction with the ongoing difficulties being faced by the world right now as a result of COVID-19:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-03-29/video-president-nelson-teaches-ministry-joy-peace-178805
Thanks again, everyone!