Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING NEWS: Solemn Assembly to Be Held During Sunday Morning Session

Search This Blog

Leaderboard

Saturday, April 4, 2020

BREAKING NEWS: Solemn Assembly to Be Held During Sunday Morning Session

Hello again, everyone! Less than a few minutes into this April 2020 General Conference, Church President Russell M. Nelson made the first of many major announcements for this conference. He announced that a Solemn Assembly of the Church would be held during the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference tomorrow. While other elements of that Solemn Assembly are unknown as of yet, what we do know is that, at the conclusion of the session, President Nelson will lead the Church in the traditional Hosanna Shout, which has traditionally been offered at temple dedications, at the dedication of the Conference Center in 2000, and at the rededication of the Tabernacle on Temple Square. That in turn will be followed by the Tabernacle Choir (whose members are indeed providing prerecorded or archived music for each session), joined by the congregation, will sing "The Spirit of God." I'd just note here that I dos not know if the traditional Sustaining of Church Officers will be part of that session, or might occur in any of the other 3 general sessions. But we'll soon find out.

I am grateful for this opportunity to have shared this development with you. I continue to monitor the events of this General Conference weekend and will bring you all the latest reports as that information becomes available. 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.

15 comments:

  1. The Newsroom released an article on this development a few short minutes ago. Among the insights from that article are that the sessions are convening from the auditorium at the Church Office Building, Additionally, it highlighted the fact that President Nelson noted that unique announcements (plural) would be made during this General Conference. And that article also noted that President Nelson will detail the specific purposes of the Solemn Assembly during his remarks on Sunday Morning. You can read that Newsroom report on this development at the following web address:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/solemn-assembly-hosanna-shout-april-2020

    My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.

    ReplyDelete
  2. The Hosanna Shout/Solemn Assembly is definitely something we could not have predicted. I am hoping that one of the unique announcements relates to your prediction of President Nelson revealing his temple building plans. I really would love to see The Proclamation on the Family & The Living Christ added to D&C or the Pearl of Great Price.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott, thanks for stopping by to share your thoughts on this first of what looks to be many developments that will be reported during this General Conference. You are correct. The Solemn Assembly (including the Hosanna Shout) is not something we could have predicted.

      I will be intrigued to see what the unique announcements are. A canonization of new scripture would be major, and it could happen. But I won't be surprised if it doesn't. The fact that the Family Proclamation and the Living Christ have been quoted so extensively by the Brethren is a clear indicator that the Brethren regard those as scripture, even if they had have not been formally presented and accepted as such.

      The notion of non-canonized scripture is actually supported in canonized scripture, wherein the Lord told us that anything spoken by the elders of the Church when they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost constitutes scripture. And I believe it was Elder Bruce R. McConkie who made a statement to the effect that the doctrine and practce of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scriptures.

      The scripture I mentioned and Elder McConkie's quote seems to support the notion that frequent quotation of the Family Proclamation and the Living Christ by the leaders of the Church essentially makes it scripture. And taking a broader interpretation of that concept, that means that any General Conference talk essentially joins the desiganted canon of scripture as soon as it is given over the pulpit.

      I don't want anyone reading my comment here to misunderstand what I am trying to say. I would be overjoyed if new scripture were formally added to the designated canon of scripture, especially for the Family Proclamation and the Living Christ to be so designated. Only 5 of the 15 apostles who released both documents are still living and actively serving, and a bicentennial General Conference would afford a precious and unique period in which to canonize new scripture. But whether the two are formally canonized or not, they are quoted enough that I personally regard them as scripture.

      I also feel certain that this bicentennial General Conference is a very appropriate time to hold a Solemn Assembly, whatever the purpose for it might be. I will be intrigued to see when the Sustaining of Church Officers takes place. If that doesn't happen at the top of this afternoon's session as per usual, then I'd assume it will be held over for the Solemn Assembly tomorrow morning.

      I remain optimistic that President Nelson may also use this conference to detail his temple expansion plans, with an assist from at least Elder Bednar, if not other leaders, and that a higher-than usual number of temples might be announced. Just looking at all that has been revealed thus far about his plans, I don't know what else there might be that needs to be done before such an explanation is given.

      And there will need to be an increase in the number of announced temples at some point to achieve that ten-fold increase. Smaller temples with multipurpose spaces seem to be the best way to accomplish that. Easieir approval process=quicker commencement of construction and an accelerated process for that=more dedications in a smaller window of time.

      Aside from what I have laid out in my notes on my predictions and what I have mentioned here, I have no idea what else to expect for this General Conference. It's wonderful to know the Lord can still surprise me, however. With that said, I have meandered through these rambling thoughts long enough. Thanks, Scott, for taking time to comment. I always appreciate hearing from you.

      Delete
    2. Hey, Scott. As it turns out, you were right about Bishop Causse speaking, so I owe you an apology for not taking that consideration more seriously. Sorry about that. Thanks again for your always thoughtful and thorough feedback.

      Delete
  3. Hello again, everyone! The changes made in general Church leadership are noted here:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/leadership-changes-april-2020-general-conference

    I guess they determined not to do an advanced sustaining of the changes that will be effective in August of this year for the Presidency of the Seventy. There were also a few names I recognized among the newly-called leadership. Elder Matthew S. Holland is the son of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Unless I am mistaken, Steven J. Lund was formerly one of my seminary teachers, though it appears that he was not serving as such when called as Young Men General President. I am also familiar with Brad Wilcox, a well-known BYU professor and EFY speaker. And Clark S. Glibert is president of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, so apparently the Church has decided to call as area seventies all who are currently presiding over Church-owned universities.

    Additionally, I wanted to share the following web address where the 2019 Statistical Report was made available not long after the sustaining vote was cast:

    https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/2019-statistical-report

    My thanks once again to you all.

    ReplyDelete
  4. One of our new Area Seventies (Leonard D. Greer) previously served as an Area Seventy, which in and of itself is not unusual. The surprising thing is he was released last October.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Scott, that is odd. Perhaps they did not intend to release Elder Greer, or they released him so he could fill a short-term assignment elsewhere. Above and beyond that, I owe you another apology. I believe it was you who suggested that this General Conference could see some lay members of the Church could speak during this General Conference. President Oaks just announced two youth speakers, which I could not have anticipated either. Further evidence that this General Conference is unlike any other. And this is the first time ever two female speakers gave their addresses during a Saturday evening session of an April General Conference. Thanks again, Scott.

      Delete
  5. Do you anticipate the Solemn Assembly being "simply" to commemorate the First Vision and Restoration? Or do you think there will there will likely be an announcement of some sort?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I read your earlier comment but what do you think is more likely?

      Delete
    2. Well, if I am correct, and now is the time for President Nelson to present his temple expansion plans, with an assist from Elder Bednar in explaining how that will work, the Sunday Morning Session may be the best time to do that, whether or not that is part of why he wants a Solemn Assembly to be held.

      Given that there are 6 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles left to speak, it's my feeling that 3 will do so tomorrow morning, and the final 3 in the afternoon. The six apostles left are Holland, Uchtdorf, Bednar, Cook, Christofferson, and Rasband.

      Among those 6, 3 of them (Uchtdorf, Bednar, and Cook) chair an Executive Council of the Church (Missionary, Temple and Family History, and Priesthood and Family, respectively). Looking into this further, it appears most likely that Elders Holland, Bednar, and Rasband would be the 3 speakers in the morning session, making that a likely time for any temple-related announcement to be made, as I have suggested.

      That would leave Elders Uchtdorf, Cook, and Christofferson to speak in the Sunday Afternoon Session, and Elder Christofferson is another member of the Missionary Executive Council. So that would be the best session in which to announce anything missionary-related or that changes anything organizationally for the Church.

      Of course, the First Presidency could divide those 6 into a 4/2 or 2/4 split, in which case it would be trickier to surmise anything about what might happen during that session, but these are just my own thoughts.

      The Church News article I shared earlier specifically provided more details about occassions in the past for which a Solemn Assembly was planned and directed, so I'd refer you to that article for the answer to anything more specific that the Church might announce in the session tomorrow morning. Thanks for stopping by with this question.

      Delete
    3. Another thought just struck me. The hymn that will be sung tomorrow during the Solemn Assembly (The Spirit of God) specifically makes reference to temple worship, and was originally sung at the dedication of the Kirtland Temple, after which the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery had that vision of the heavenly visitors who restored major priesthood keys. With all of that in mind, I am even more convinced that, regardless of anything else that may happen, it will be a session marking some major announcement about the temple construction program of the Church, and also may perhaps have something to do with temple worship. Hope these additional thoughts help.

      Delete
    4. Thanks! I'll check the article out. Glad I found your blog.

      Delete
    5. No problem. Happy I could help. I'm honored to have you as a reader.

      Delete
  6. Wonderful conference so far! I sort of noticed an "overarching" theme during the three sessions today. Not all of the talks were about the same thing, but I noticed some similarities that all pertained to the Restoration theme:

    Saturday Morning: The First Vision itself

    Saturday Afternoon: The Book of Mormon

    Saturday Evening: Priesthood

    If that sort of thing continues tomorrow, a session theme on temples and missionary work would be very appropriate.

    Just some of my thoughts about the conference so far.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That's interesting. All of those themes relate to key concepts of the restoration, of which temples and missionary work are indeed major components. Thanks for that observation. It's really neat if that is what is being done, which I have no doubt is the case. Always wonderful to hear from you, Eric!

      Delete

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.