Hello again, everyone! Far later than I had anticipated, I wanted to publish here the latest fully-annotated edition of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference. The content and notes largely speak for themselves, and anyone with the link should be able to view them. The open commenting period, which began with the first posted version of these predictions, remains in effect for the next three weeks.,at which point I will take the 36 hours between that time and Saturday morning of General Conference to do any fine-tuning or make any adjustments.
As usual for an April General Conference, the predicsions are split into four sub-categories, the speaking order predictions, the possible changes in general Church leadership, the statistical report (for which the numbers are estimated), and potential locations in which a new temple may be announced. And it is in that latter section that I'll really need good feedback. There are several nations or states where I could not narrow the likely prospects down to the top one for each. So if any of you have any insight that helps me thin out the proverbial herd, I'd appreciate it.
Other than these notes, the rest speaks for itself. That does it for now. I look forward to your feedback, any or all of which is always welcome and appreciated, as long as it is offered 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, March 19, 2020
Third Edition: April 2020 General Conference Predictions
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.
24 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.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
One thing that I was thinking about is how the sustaining will be. This is almost certainly the first conference of any sort in which the vote will not be observed by anyone. We will all vote in our own homes so if there is a negative vote it won't be noted. I can imagine those people who love to disrupt the spiritual nature of conference yelling no at there tv. It is definitely a unique and unprecedented conference.
ReplyDeleteHey, Scott! I see your point, in that none of the Church leaders in attendance for the session where the sustaining occurs would vote in the negative. At the same time, however, whenever anyone is watching General Conference at home, it continues to be the responsibility of each family patriarch (or matriarch) to note the votes in their own homes, and it remains so. With no gatherings held at Church meetinghouses to watch General Conference, the patriarch or matriarch in each family would advise local leaders of the negative vote, who would then pass that up the line.
DeleteSo the invitation for those who oppose any of the proposals to contact their stake presidents remains in effect. But since a question about sustaining local and general leaders is still among the temple recommend questions, local leaders should already have some indication of who among their congregations are casting a negative vote.
But I also agree that that is one of many elements that will make this General Conference unique. Hope the insights I have shared here are helpful. Thanks for taking time to comment, Scott! I always appreciate hearing from you.
Hello again, everyone! A short while ago, I felt impressed to check the Church News website again, and I wanted to share that the Church has announced additional adjustments to missionary work around the world, which will focus on the likely return of missionaries from their current fields of labor to their home nations, where they will be reassigned. Both the Church News and the Newsroom reference an official letter from the First Presidency and Quorum of the twelve Apostles outlining these additional adjustments. Those articles speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-03-20/lds-missionaries-coronavirus-announcement-177932
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/covid-19-further-adjustments-missionary-work
In the meantime, with the Relief Society organization celebrating another anniversary, the Newsroom has also published the first in a new series of planned articles entitled "Relief Society in Action", which highlights the good that is being done through the efforts of the Relief Society worldwide:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/relief-society-in-action-march-20-2020
This new series is further evidence of how fully the Brethren value the contributions being made locally and globally by the sisters serving throughout the Church, which is wonderful to see. My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! I meant to publish a new comment yesterday covering some more Church news updates, but forgot to do so, so this comment will share those reports, one other of which I became aware earlier today, and soem thoughts I am having about the unfolding developments relating to COVID-19. All of that follows below:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-20/earthquake-utah-salt-lake-city-damage-church-facilities-177899
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#distribution-stores
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#temple
The latest edition of “This Week on Social” was also published:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-03-20/social-media-coronavirus-covid-19-peace-ministering-177971
This week, posts from the following leaders were featured: Elders David A. Bednar, Ronald A. Rasband, Dale G. Renlund, and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; the entire Young Women General Presidency (General President Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First and Second Counselors, Sisters Michelle D. Craig and Becky Craven, respectively); and the entire Relief Society General Presidency (General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her First and Second Counselors, Sisters Sharon Eubank and Reyna I. Aburto, respectively).
The newest crop of new mission leaders have been introduced by the Church News as well:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2020-03-22/get-to-know-these-8-new-mission-presidents-and-companions-177443
Among the significant notes about these latest 8, aside from extensive service in a variety of callings at the ward and stake level are that one is a former area seventy (David Thomson), and another is a current stake president (in Draper Utah). With the unusual times in which we live, it will be interesting to see if the seminar for new mission leaders is held remotely by technology or postponed, and if there is any delay to the typical changes going into effect on July 1.
But it will also be intriguing to see how the release of current stake presidents called as mission presidents might be handled if their stakes are unable to hold a regular conference for that purpose before their departure. Based on what is and is not known about COVID-19 and its’ likely spread, it sounds as though the earliest the Church could get back to weekly Church worship may be June or July, if that soon.
With that said, as I have observed elsewhere, we are very fortunate to have a prophet who, for whatever the reasoning may have been at the time, initiated home-centered and Church-supported worship 1.5 years prior to the current crisis. To borrow a Book of Mormon phrase, and thus we see yet another example of the Lord’s prophet preparing the Saints for a situation like this. May the Lord continue to bless and keep His prophets and apostles, and all of us as well in this ever-changing unique situation.
Do you know of any announcements that will be made? Or do you have any speculation?
ReplyDeleteThanks for stopping by to inquire about this. The Church does not generally put out any adviced notice on such changes, which is usually why adjustments, such as those we have seen recently announced, may be so surprising to so many people. For a conference that will mark the bicentennial of important events in the Restoration, I'm anticipating at least a few changes, which have been outlined and annotated in my predictions to which I shared the link in this post. Rather than using space in these comments to reiterate those potential changes, I'd refer you to those predictions and the accompanying notes, which are largely self-explanatory. After you review that content, if you have more specific questions on what I anticipate, I would be happy to then address those at that time. In the meantime, thanks for the great question.
DeleteThanks for responding. I did read over that doc but my question about announcements was more regarding administrative changes or general church directives (ie. two hour church, focus on the Church's name, changes to YM/Home Teaching, etc.).
DeleteI aplogize for misunderstanding your meaning. If I am interpreting the "administrative changes" definition correctly, there could be a few of those types of changes. Many of those I expect were detailed specifically in the "Predictions for Changes in General CHurch Leadership", which include one likely change in the Presidency of the Seventy that will be sustained in advance of its' taking effect on August 1, the announced calls of anywhere from 5-15 new GA Seventies, the release of a handful of area seventies and the announced callings of around 30-45 others, and the release of the current Young Men General Presidency with a new Young Men General Presidency called.
DeleteSo that would be all as far as leadership is concerned. Administrative announcements are harder to pin down the possibilities on, especially in a currently changing situation due to COVID-19. I anticipate that at some point, perhaps even during the General Conference weekend, the Church may announce a restructuring of the area seventies Quorums, whether that involves creating a new one, or redistributing the composition of the current Area Seventies Quorums for closer proximity in enabling meetings, which might be good for however long the current COVID-19 crisis lasts.
I have also heard rumors of a change coming to the missionary program, but such rumors have floated around prior to other General Conferences, and the announcements made by the Brethren in the last month or so that has significantly changed the missionary program as we know it means that each nation in which the Church is established will have to rely on native missionaries and Church members to carry on the work. But such changes have already been clarified and focused on through letters officially from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, so I don't know what more might need to be done or said in relation to tweaks there.
It may be almost impossible to gauge how likely other changes might be. Canonization of new scripture could be an option, though nothing new has been canonized by the Church in the last 3 decades or so. It is possible that COVID-19 may impact the normal transitionary periods for new mission leaders (typically done on July 1 of each year), new area leaders (typically done on August 1 of each year), and new temple leaders (typically done on or around November 1 of each year), but it is probable that COVID-19 won't have too much effect on any of that, as long as the incoming and outgoing leaders do not currently have the virus.
DeleteThat just leaves the one big announcement I anticipate being made. President Nelson has announced a record 35 new temples during his first 4 General Conferences as the Lord's prophet, with no signs of those announcements slowing down. With corroborating statements on his intentions having been made by himself, his wife, and his apostolic Brethren, his endgame ultimate goal is at least a ten-fold increase in the current number of temples, which is anticipated to come to fruition during whatever remains of his prophetic administration. By all reports, he will definitely be around at least the next 1-2 decades at minimum.
Additionally, with adjustments having been announced to temple ordinances, clothing, and recommend interview questions, we have also gleaned more insight into how his goal could be accomplished. Three of the temples he announced in October 2018 are currently under construction in Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico. All of them feature an innovative design that is smaller and more compact, and features multipurpose spaces. One example of how that will work is that the sealing room can, as needed, function as an endowment room on some kind of alternating rotation based on what is scheduled in those temples.
Having laid out all of this preliminary work while he, his wife, and his fellow apostles have also talked about his great desire to bring temples to the people, he approaches the bicentennial anniversary General Conference after mentioning during his concluding remarks last October that one focus of that bicentennial will be on the restoration of priesthood keys and the restoration of temple ordinances.
For that reason, I anticipate this General Conference will be the very best time for the prophet to mention the specific details and timing for his temple construction plans, and that that could be a major focus specifically during the Sunday Morning Session, with other Church leaders speaking after such an announcement to share details on how that is anticipated to occur, and what all will be involved.
Aside from these thoughts, I don't know of anything specifically that is likely to occur. I don't believe that the leadership hierarchy of wards and stakes need to be tweaked above and beyond what has already been done last October. There was one other rumor I heard that the Church could consider having indvidual congregations meet only once a month, with home Sacramnt Meetings done on each of the remaining Sundays of the month, but I don't see that as a reasonably possible prospect.
Of course, all of this is based on my own research and knowledge, which is subject to confirmation, correction, or denial from the leading Brethren of the Church. Hope these comments have answered your question well enough. Let me know if that is not the case, and thanks for dialouging about this.
The following additional Church news updates have been provided on the unfolding COVID-19 situation and the Church's response to that:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-03-22/coronavirus-covid-19-missionaries-philippines-reassignments-178025
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-22/coronavirus-covid-19-missionaries-return-home-2-178062
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-03-18/coronavirus-covid-19-temple-adjustments-lds-177787
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
And the Newsroom has also shared the important updates on missionary work and temples:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#temple
Thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! Last night, at around 10:00 PM MDT, the internet connection in our home abruptly stopped working, and we were only able to get it up and running again earlier this afternoon. As a result of that, I have missed covering some major developments, which I'd like to note here and now. The following updates mostly speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-03-23/coronavirus-missionaries-nonnative-return-10-mtcs-closing-178114
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2020-03-23/coronavirus-covid-19-missionaries-shortened-length-of-service-178159
And the following updates were shared on the Newsroom:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#distribution-stores
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
KSL provided a bit more context on the specific changes the Church has implemented in missionary service:
https://www.ksl.com/article/46733697/some-missionaries-serving-in-or-returning-to-the-us-canada-will-end-missions-early
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/self-isolation-guidelines-missionaries
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#temple
Among those temples now temporarily closed due to COVID-19 is the Bountiful Utah Temple, the first in this state to close due to COVID-19. As I mentioned in another comment a few days ago, KSL reported on the first Utahn to die from COVID-19 on the day it happened. It has since been confirmed by the Church that the deceased in question had attended the Bountiful Utah Temple following international travel, and that he was unaware he had it. He passed away a few days after attending the Bountiful Temple, so it makes sense that the Church has added that temple to the list of those closed. More information on that story can be found in the following article:
https://www.deseret.com/faith/2020/3/23/21191722/mormon-temple-covid-19-coronavirus-utah-death-bountiful-lds-church
Also, jst a reminder that comments are still welcome and appreciated on these predictions until Thursday April 2 at 10:00 PM MDT, at which point I will need to do the final adjustments to them before General Conference begins on Saturday April 4 at 10:00 AM MDT. I may also have some temple updates to pass along, which I will do ASAP. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! In the last 36 hours, many more Church news updates and temple developments have been reported:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-24/family-history-familysearch-explore-historical-images-178284
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-03-23/coronavirus-covid-19-temple-closures-worldwide-178191
Meanwhile, the Newsroom has shared the following updates:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#distribution-stores
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#temple
Temple updates will follow in a separate comment. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
I'm back with those temple updates. First, here is a complete updated list of the now-104 temples that are temporarily closed due to COVID-19:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/news/closures/
And it was brought to my attention a few days ago that the final three paragraphs of the dedicatory prayer for the Salt Lake Temple have direct bearing on and reference to the circumstances in which more of the membership of the Church now finds itself:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/salt-lake-temple/dedicatory-prayer/
New updates have been particularly reported on the Saratoga Springs Utah and Salt Lake Temples, which can be found in red text in the following document, to which all have reading access:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_NjOQjruF_hn11NO04fVSNWAF-r2OuaSLMDTqQXWeXo/edit?usp=sharing
It is also worth noting that, one week from today, I will have my first-quarter 2020 temple construction update published to this blog. And the same weekend that General Conference airs will also see the psoting of the latest updated apostolic statistics. In the meantime, I continue to welcome comments on my predictions as found in the document to which I linked in my post above, with that commenting period running through Thursday April 2 @ 10:00 PM MDT. With all of that said, thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has also shared the fourth in an ongoing series of articles highlighting more experiences shared by Church members in response to a recent earlier article by Sheri L. Dew on the COVID-19 crisis:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-24/coronavirus-covid-19-compensatory-blessings-family-service-joy-178237
And with global Church travel being impossible for the top leadership of the Church right now as a result of COVID-19, since the publication of the latest edition of “This Week on Social”, many of our current apostles, along with more of the current general officers of the Church, have shared additional messages on social media, which has led the Church News to publish an offshoot article entitled: “This Weekend on Social”. That can be found at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-03-24/this-weekend-on-social-global-pandemic-church-leaders-finding-inspiration-solace-178342
The following general leaders were featured in this edition: President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency; Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Neil L. Andersen, Dale G. Renlund, all of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; the entire Primary General Presidency (General President Sister Joy D. Jones and her First and Second Counselors, Sisters Lisa L. Harkness and Cristina B. Franco, respectively); and Sister Becky Craven, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
And further adjustments have been made to missionary work as a result of COVID-19’s continued global impact:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! A couple new Church News reports have been shared, along with another article unique to the News & Events page of the official Church website, and updates on missionary work and temple worship from the Newsroom. Those articles speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-25/coronavirus-latter-day-saints-ministering-worldwide-178275
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-03-23/coronavirus-covid-19-temple-closures-worldwide-178191
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/church/news/5-ways-you-can-watch-april-2020-general-conference-from-anywhere?lang=eng
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#missionary-work
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/coronavirus-update#temple
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
All temples will be closed as of tonight.
ReplyDeleteHey, Scott! At the same exact minute you made this comment, I published my coverage of it, as I found the official release on this not long after that development was published on the Church News and the Newsroom. Thanks for mentioning it here.
DeleteFor those curious about the source verification, the Newsroom release is linked to in the post I just published, and any of you can find more details on the Church News website, at the following web address:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-03-25/coronavirus-covid-19-temples-closed-worldwide-lds-178450
My thanks again to you, ScottS, and to all the rest of you for your continued interest and ongoing support.
Breaking news has again been reported by the Church. For the first time in its' history, the Lord's prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has publicly issued a worldwide invitation calling for a global fast regarding the current COVID-19 situation. In the video, he talks about his experiences as a physician and as a man of faith who has observed the ongoing crisis, and he extends a prophetic promise in connection to this invitation:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-03-26/coronavirus-covid-19-president-nelson-worldwide-fast-178604
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/president-nelson-fast-pray-relief-covid-19
My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.
The Church News also provided insights on how a few congregations in various locales are providing an atypical welcome home for the missionaries who have recentluy and unexpectedly returned home and are now in self-quarantine situations:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-03-26/coronavirus-missionary-drive-by-homecomings-178627
Thanks again, everyone!
James, just a minor correction for you. Perhaps you already noticed. You indicated that Silvia Allred would be speaking in one of the sessions of conference. She is a former counselor in the General Relief Society presidency and has since been released. She is a marvelous woman and I would enjoy hearing from her again, but I know you meant someone else. Patzicia.
ReplyDeletePatzicia, excellent catch. During the same time I was finalizing my General Conference predictions, I was also dealing with symptoms relating to a severe migraine and allergy season. The mistake to which you referred was likely a result of that. The individual who should actually be in that slot is Reyna I. Aburto, the current Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, who has not spoken for a while. I probably got the two confused in this particular case because they both happen to be from South American nations. I have corrected this error in my predictions as a result.
DeleteOut of curiosity, Patzicia, have you been made aware of any updates on the 3 Central American temples which you might be able to pass along? I know last time I asked about that, you said at that point that you'd wait for official announcements, but I did want to check in on that while I am replying to your comment here? If you have nothing further to add for now, that's not problematic, but I tought I'd ask either way. Thanks.
Nothing new at this time. The most likely ground breaking sequence still seems to be San Pedro Sula Honduras; Coban Guatemala; and then Managua Nicaragua. The COVID-19 may change everything. The next most likely temple to be announced would be just outside Guatemala City in the Southwest area towards Villa Nueva or Mixco. Stay safe. Patzicia.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Patzicia! Please keep me posted on that as you learn anything. I am hoping that something might be said in General Conference about President Nelson's plans, which could involve outlining future groundbreaking for currently-announced temples. But I can see how COVID-19 might change things in that respect. Thanks again, Patzicia, for taking time to comment.
Delete