Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, the groundbreaking for the Alabang Philippines Temple was originally scheduled to occur on Saturday May 2, with Elder D. Todd Christofferson presiding thereat. But COVID-19 put the kibosh on that, and the Church of Jesus Christ Temples page for that temple, along with comments on the Philippines Area Facebook page, announced the postponement of that groundbreaking until early June on the recommendation of the First Presidency based on governmental direction. A tentative date for that groundbreaking was announced as being today (Saturday June 6), though that date was tentative, and it was unclear who would preside at that groundbreaking.
That was primarily because it seemed unlikely that Elder Christofferson would be sent while governmental restrictions impacted travel regulations from Salt Lake City to the Philippines. In the interim, the First Presidency had also announced the 2020 area leadership assignments, and among the changes that were announced was, that Elder Evan A. Schmutz would be released as the area president, along with resulting changes in that presidency. With those changes in mind, I offered my theory that outgoing president Evan A. Schmutz might be the one to preside at the groundbreaking for the Alabang Philippines, as one of his final actions (if not indeed the final major one) before he left that assignment.
Anyways, fast forward to today. The Church of Jesus Christ Temples page for this temple reported that the groundbreaking had taken place in early June, but not this morning. Instead, it took place on Thursday June 4. And instead of Elder Schmutz as the outgoing president of the area overseeing the groundbreaking, his current First Counselor, who will take over as president in August of this year, oversaw that groundbreaking on Thursday. The temple is anticipated to have its' construction wrap up sometime in 2023. So that leaves only two questions:
How soon will full-scale construction be able to begin? And will the same governmental restrictions currently impacting the construction of the Urdaneta Philippines Temple have a similar impact on the construction process for this temple? Either way, the groundbreaking for the Alabang Temple marks the first time ever the Church has had two temples in the Philippines simultaneously under construction, something that will continue to be true through at least 2022. That said, I am hopeful that at least one or two of the other three temples for the Philippines (which have all been announced by President Nelson) might have a groundbreaking within that time, leaving the trend to continue for a longer term. I continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things.
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.
Saturday, June 6, 2020
BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Alabang Philippines Temple Groundbreaking Occurs Later Than Scheduled But Earlier Than Its' Rescheduled Plans
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.
15 comments:
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Just noticed something interesting on the Church Events page (now accessible through the Newsroom):
ReplyDeletehttps://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!
Hello again, everyone! New information from the Church of Jesus Christ Temples site appears to indicate that outgoing Philippines Area president Evan A. Schmutz actually was in attendance and presided over the groundbreaking for the Alabang Philippines Temple:
ReplyDeleteThat is a correction from information I provided in my post above. My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency announced this morning that 12 more temples will open under phase 1 next Monday, which will bring the total number of temples open under phase 1 to 89 of the Church's 168 temples:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-06-08/lds-temples-open-worldwide-phased-reopening-183918
The Newsroom has continued to provide a week-by-week breakdown of the temples that are reopening:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/first-presidency-limited-reopening-temples
Among the latest set to open next week are the two in South Africa (Johannesburg and Durban), Hawaii's 2 temples (Kona and Laie), the two in Oregon (Medford and Portland), the first in Brazil (Curitiba), the first in the Philippines (Manila), the only currently-operating temple in Tonga (Nuku'alofa), the only temples in Michigan and Connecticut (Detroit and Hartford respectively), and the temple in Palmyra New York. I am grateful to see the Church continue a cautiously- and carefully-coordinated reopening of temples. I will continue to report on those developments as I receive word of them.
In the meantime, President Nelson built yet again upon the relationship with several leaders in the NAACAP, by recently coauthoring with many of them an op-ed article about racial reform and a need for greater kindness worldwide:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-08/president-nelson-naacp-leaders-racial-reform-solutions-open-hearts-medium-op-ed-186115
And with FamilySearch expanding their efforts with virtual gatherings, the Church News has also provided a look at how those living in Brazil served as "pioneers" for that process:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-08/familysearch-brazil-live-social-media-events-185980
I continue to monitor all such developments and will do my level best to bring word of those to you all as I become aware of such things. Thanks again, everyone!
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has shared the following additional reports:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-09/women-priesthood-covenant-sister-harkness-blessings-covenants-183088
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-09/brief-theological-introductions-maxwell-institute-scholars-book-of-mormon-185544
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has also shared this article:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-09/saints-podcast-latter-day-saints-channel-deep-dive-church-history-186052
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Newsroom has shared the following additional article:
ReplyDeletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/tabernacle-choir-launch-streamed-organ-recitals
The Church News confirmed that information in another article:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-10/tabernacle-choir-at-temple-square-organ-recitals-online-186475
In addition, the Church News also shared the following articles:
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-10/covid-19-hotspots-new-york-city-navajo-nation-recovery-186419
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2020-06-10/sister-larae-wood-woolsey-wife-emeritus-general-authority-dies-94-186277
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-10/lds-church-naacp-partnership-racial-harmony-president-nelson-186441
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-08/church-news-video-president-nelson-reverend-brown-arm-in-arm-185667
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-10/seminary-institute-training-broadcast-2020-panelists-186395
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2020-06-10/elder-soares-seminaries-institutes-training-broadcast-2020-186432
It is likely that I will have some temple updates to pass along later today. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The following news items have been shared:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-11/elder-moises-villanueva-new-general-authority-seventy-april-2020-mexico-186011
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/reassigned-missionaries-travel-new-missions
https://news-ph.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/philippine-navy--pnp-cs--alagang-kapatid-recipients-of-ldsc-donations
Temple updates will follow shortly. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News also just shared an article providing a summary of counsel given by members of the Quorum of the twelve Apostles during this time when COVID-19 restricitions have impacted their day-to-day usual ministry efforts, some of which has been shared through earlier Church news articles, with other counsel shared in General Conference:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2020-06-11/covid-19-implications-twelve-apostles-counsel-messages-quotes-185574
Thanks again, everyone!
Here are some temple updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/winnipeg-manitoba-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/quito-ecuador-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/saratoga-springs-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/layton-utah-temple/
More temple updates will follow shortly.
More temple updates below:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/auckland-new-zealand-temple/
With respect to that temple, the delayed groundbreaking broadcast, occurring @ 6:00 PM NZST on Sunday June 14, will be broadcast at 12:00 AM early Sunday morning Utah time on the following pages:
https://pacific.churchofjesuschrist.org/auckland-temple-groundbreaking
https://m.facebook.com/ChurchofJesusChristPacific/
Just noticed something else about the Auckland New Zealand Temple groundbreaking details. The Pacfic Area page for that to which I shared the web address in my comment above, notes that the Auckland groundbreaking is set to take place at 11:00 AM on Saturday NZST, which would be 5:00 PM tomorrow (Friday) here in Utah. With that in mind, that temple groundbreaking will take place less than 16 hours from now. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAdditional temple updates:
ReplyDeletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tooele-valley-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/taylorsville-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bentonville-arkansas-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/st.-george-utah-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/salt-lake-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
I just posted on Matt's blog about a range fire really lighting up things close to the Tucson AZ Temple, most of what I have seen is on Facebook, the Bighorn Fire is how you might find things using that as a search term.
ReplyDeleteHello, Jim. I appreciate hearing from you. The Church of Jesus Christ Temples site provided a report on that earlier today:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/tucson-arizona-temple/news/
Included on that page is a link to local coverage on that development:
https://www.kgun9.com/news/local-news/tucson-lds-temple-placed-under-evacuation-order?fbclid=IwAR1UKNSwC-8lv1Oh3tNrpSxd_zGZQ3Ca0BzMYaEyf-OuX8XHOWKpA8hv6lY
I'm glad you mentioned that now. I had been waiting to see if anything further indicated how endangered that temple might be. It had occurred to me, however, that if there was ever such a thing as fortuitous timing for a temple to be possibly imperiled by a potential fire issue, now is such a time. Temple personnel involved in the scheduling of small live sealings can monitor fire conditions and adjust the scheduling accordingly as needed, and can do so more effectually than if the temple had full-fledged operations going. Hope that makes sense. Thanks again, Jim, for stopping by to comment.
Hello, Jim Anderson! Follow-up comment from me here: The Church News today covered the current danger to the Tucson Arizona posed by the fire:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2020-06-12/tucson-arizona-temple-under-evacuation-watch-bighorn-fire-186670
Thanks again.