Hello again, everyone! Yesterday, the First Presidency made their announcement about the phased return to worship services and other meetings. Subsequently, I provided some insight in the threads of another post into what that process will look like in my neck of the woods, as a result of guidance given by the Utah Area Presidency. In the day or so since that time, I have been led to revisit some of my previously-offered thoughts regarding if, how, and in what manner COVID-19 may impact business as usual for the October 2020 General Conference. The initial draft of those predictions was assembled with the assumption that that General Conference would be similar or identical to what we saw with the April 2020 General Confernce.
I subsequently began to reason through how I might arrange those predictions if the October 2020 General Conference were able to be more towards a normal status quo situation. After doing additional research, I set up an alternate projection for the potential speaker layout based on what I believe conference might look like should we be able to have a more normalized one. If anything more official is noted about that conference, that information will need to be factored in to any predictions I provide here. But for now, with what is and is not known, I wanted to provide a look at both projections and see if input from any of you can provide some perspective on which of those two scenarios may be more likely.
I'd just note here that for either predicted scenario, I will be using the exact same set of predictions for the changes in general Church leadership and the potential future locations for which I feel a temple could be announced this go-round, so I did not duplicate that information in both. Whichever speaking order is used will be attached to the other assembled predictions as detailed in the first document. And again, an open commenting period on these predictions remains effective anytime from now through 10:00 PM MDT on Thursday October 1. I look forward to your input.
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.
Wednesday, May 20, 2020
UPDATED: Two Different Speaking Order Scenarios for the October 2020 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.
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Hello again, everyone! When I posted the original version of my predictions for the next General Conference of the Church, then subsequently posted the two different speaking orders in the post above, my intention had been to leave this thread open solely for the purpose of discussing those predictions. But in light of the anticipated nature of some updates that will almost certainly be coming through the official Church website, the Church News, and the unofficial Church temples website within the next little while, I now believe that posting commments relating to some of those developments here may perhaps prove helpful during the flow of the thread that focuses on your feedback relating to these predictions.
ReplyDeleteWith that in mind, let's get right to the updates I have at this time. We start with the temple updates. With my having received a few more pieces of temple information during the last week or so, I have compiled that information onto my latest temple construction progress report, which is dated as being current today, and which I am passing along to you all through a shareable link:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_NjOQjruF_hn11NO04fVSNWAF-r2OuaSLMDTqQXWeXo/edit?usp=sharing
We next turn to additional reports which have been shared by the Newsroom. The first speaks for itself:
ReplyDeletehttps://news-nz.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/studying-scriptures-at-home-strengthens-individuals-and-families-during-pandemic
The second Newsroom article may require some context. In the latest edition of "Latter-day Saints Around the World", articles were featured which covered developments in the following locations: Davao Philippines; Hyattsville and Baltimore Maryland and Philadelphia Pennsylvania, United States of America; Lambaré and Ñeemby Paraguay; Santiago Chile; Northern Lima Peru; Alabel, Sarangani, Philippines; Kampala, Uganda; and College Station, Texas, United States of America. You can find links to the source pages in that update through the following article:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-around-the-world-country-newsroom-websites-may-22-2020
And the Church News has shared the following updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-05-22/byu-hawaii-students-enactus-rice-up-farmers-poverty-184472
Next, as some point prior to governmental restrictions going into effect in various parts of the world, as the leaders of the Church were preparing for the historic April 2020 General Conference, and as President Nelson had the text of the Restoration Proclamation ready to deliver, while preparing to journey to the Sacred Grove where the reading of the Proclamation would take place, he felt impressed to ask 2 of the 3 female General Presidents (Sisters Jean B. Bingham, who presides over the Relief Society, and Joy D. Jones, who has oversight for the Primary) to be in attendance with him in the Sacred Grove as he read the proclamation. With that fact in mind, it makes sense that the two women were also invited to speak in the April 2020 General Conference during which the video of the reading of that Proclamation was shared.
As we know, Sister Jones spoke in the Saturday Morning Session, where the focus of talks seemed to center on the First Vision itself, and Sister Bingham was asked to be the first woman to speak in the session held the Saturday Evening of the General Conference during an April General Conference. The focus of the talks in that evening session appeared to center on the priesthood. Their opportunities to speak when they did during the General Conference in light of their being among the few present when the proclamation was read takes on more significance when we remember that the proclamation discussed the First Vision and restoration of the Priesthoods. To again borrow an oft-used phrase from the Book of Mormon, "And thus we see" that there is a clear connection between the First Vision and the restoration of the Church, including the restoration of the Priesthoods. But above and beyond that, in light of the prophet's invitation for Sisters Bingham and Jones to be among the few selected to join him in the setting where the Proclamation was read, we also see just how highly President Nelson values women and their contributions to the work, and thus we see in addition just how much the work done by the women of the Church truly is a crucially important element in the work of those who operate with some of the keys of the priesthood in the fulfillment of such assignments.
I am beyond grateful for this gracious demonstration of President Nelson's high respect for women and for the way they are able to use priesthood keys in the fulfillment of assignments they are given such as the opportunity they had here. And I am likewise so grateful to hear the first-hand witness of Sisters Jones and Bingham that their presence in the Sacred Grove on this occasion impressed on their minds just how vibrant President Nelson is in his prophetic ministry, and reemphasized that revelation continues in the Lord's Church. You can read the article, which comes complete with a video sharing footage of the prophet in the grove and of the two female general officers testifying to what they witnessed, felt, and were impressed by through taking part in that gracious prophetic invitation to them personally:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-05-22/video-proclamation-restoration-sacred-grove-president-nelson-bingham-jones-184842
And the latest edition of "This Week on Social" was also published:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-05-22/social-media-loneliness-isolation-covid-restoration-single-adult-184841
This edition featured posts from the following leaders: Church President Russell M. Nelson and his Second Counselor, President Henry B. Eyring; the following members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, D. Todd Christofferson, Dale G. Renlund, and Gerrit W. Gong (from the last of whom 2 posts were shared); Sisters Michelle D. Craing (First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency). My thanks once again to you all.