Hello again, everyone! Just under an hour ago, the First Presidency announced that the October 2020 General Conference will follow the same health parameters of the April 2020 General Conference, with the conference originating from a small auditorium on Temple Square, and only those speaking or praying invited to attend each session. This is being done out of an abudance of caution as COVID-19 conditions continue to widely impact the world. Additional details will be announced at at later date.
There are at this point a few unknowns in that respect. First, the First Presidency earlier this year had announced the six-month postponement of General Conference Leadership meetings, usually held before the April General Conference each year. I am assuming this announcement will delay those meetings another six months, or that the information may be disseminated in pre-recordedmay take material. I am also assuming that the music will be prerecorded from prior performances, and that leaders serving outside the United States would again be excused from coming.
But perhaps the biggest unknown in all of this is whether another adult session held on Saturday evening will replace the traditional Women's Session. If that happens, then we could be looking at an entirely different format from either of the scenarios I have previously presented. I assume here as well that the intent was to put the information out there with what could be announced at this time, with other announcements in the coming days clarifying more on that. And if this announcement is being made 4 months prior to General Conference, that suggests to me that there may be quite a bit more information forthcoming about that, but it also suggests that most of the traditional training sessions, usually held later this year, for mission and temple leadership, among others, may similarly take a small-scale virtual format. So these are just a few of the thoughts I had at the time I read the announcement.
As I wind down on my coverage of this development, I wanted to thank regular commenter Nigel for sharing this news in the threads of another post. Nigel, your comment was made not long after I got the information from a Church News alert on my phone, so I appreciate you sharing that there. Just a quick update from me as well about ongoing comment moderation: It appears that that process has, for the moment, put a stop to the frequent spam comments that had been coming in. But I don't feel at this point as though pausiing or discontinuing comment moderation would be a wise move until I am sure there will be no further problems. With that in mind, my thanks to all of you for your patience in terms of giving me time to find and approve the genuine comments, especially those from my regular readers who comment frequently. I wish I could pull the plug on moderation now for the time being, but want to be cautious with it and ensure that there will be no opportunity for the same kind of spam comments I was getting en masse before I determined to enable that moderation.
I will, of course, be monitoring any and all Church news and temple updates and will bring you all word of such developments as I learn about them. 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, June 4, 2020
BREAKING NEWS: First Presidency Announces Preliminary Changes to 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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Hello again, everyone! Updates have been provided on the following temples:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/winnipeg-manitoba-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/auckland-new-zealand-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/mesa-arizona-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tokyo-japan-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/hamilton-new-zealand-temple/
My thanks again to you all.
And the following additional Church News stories have been published as well:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-04/october-2020-general-conference-closed-to-public-first-presidency-letter-185941
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-04/new-general-authority-elder-ciro-schmeil-brazil-april-2020-185841
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-04/elder-rasband-missionary-devotional-9-truths-bicentennial-proclamation-185637
Thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the following additional report:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-04/ashley-hatch-pro-soccer-player-covid-19-185850
Aside from that, I wanted to post a thought here for consideration: With today's announcement about the October 2020 General Conference (that only those invited to speak and to pray would attend each session, aside from the members of the First Presidency), as I noted above, that suggests to me that the music will again be prerecorded. That in turn leads me to believe that the traditional Women's Session which would otherwise be held on the Saturday evening of General Conference weekend in October might also be replaced by another general session for all members 11 years and older. If that happens, then that might necessitate yet another tweak or adjustment to my predictions. What are your thoughts with respect to that theory? Feel free to take your chance to "sound off" in the comments below. For my part, I will do my level best to moderate those comments ASAP after I learn about them. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
As far as I could see there was nothing in the announcement that said only those speaking would be present or that general authorities serving outside the US won't attend. The only thing stated was that conference would be closed to the public and will be virtual only. Other information will be announced later.
ReplyDeleteScott, thanks for taking time to comment. I again apologize for my delay in getting your comment approved. Hopefully within the next week or two (if not sooner), the need to moderate comments will have been negated. That being said, I was basing my musings from my last comment on the following statements from the letter, which I quote: "we have decided that the October 2020 general conference will follow the same pattern as the conference held in April of this year." The letter continues: "Additional details about general conference, scheduled for October 3 and 4, 2020, will be shared as they are finalized." What was "the same pattern as the conference held in April"? Namely that only those speaking or praying, along with the First Presidency, were in attendance, and that a Saturday evening session for all members 11 and older would attend a special session Saturday evening, and that all conference music was prerecorded.
DeleteHere's the thing: Maybe soical distancing won't be necessary, and maybe all General Authorities and General Officers will be able to attend, but it may be that social distancing will still have to be observed, or that other adaptations will be neccessary. And if the "additional details" are not related to a session change and/or the determination to use prerecorded music, what else might qualify as details that "will be announced at a later date"? I just presented those theories because it seems most likely to be that than anything else. But I'm curious as to your further thoughts on that, Scott. Thanks again for weighing in here. A major part of me does hope you are correct in that respect.
Hey, Scott! I've been thinking about my above response, and I apologize if it came acorss as too harsh. It was not intended that way at all. My hope was to convey the point that the adjustments to the April General Conference came more gradually, while the First Presidency made this announcement relative to General Conference right out of the gate, and with more than 4 months remaining before that conference in question takes place. I apologize again if the tone and substance of my previous response to you failed to convey that. Thanks again for your earnest feedback. I hope you know how much I respect your opinions and insights.
DeleteJust noticed something interesting on the Church Events page (now accessible through the Newsroom):
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/event/october-2020-general-conference
After providing the dates of the conference (which are incorrectly listed as those during which the April 2020 General Conference occurred), the Newsroom page goes on to say that "[t]he evening session on Saturday, April 4, at 6:00 p.m. will be for all members and friends of the Church." If we assume that the information, aside from the obvious issue of listing the wrong dates, is correct, then that Saturday evening session will be for all members and friends of the Church, not just those 11 and older. Something to think about and to monitor for further information and clarification, to be sure. Thanks again, everyone!