Hello again, everyone! During this unprecedented season of temple developments, it's almost impossible to gauge the likely course of events. At this time yesterday, 14 of the 16 groundbreakings to which Elder Bednar made reference in April had been scheduled, and it was unknown whether any others would take place. In the interim, I had offered the theory (which I couldn't substantiate) that the Lord, in seeing the diligence of the Church in working towards that goal, could open a way for that number to not only be met but exceeded.
A few minutes ago, breaking news was reported by the Church. Three more temples will have their groundbreakings before the end of this year, which, if no others are postponed, will bring the year-end total to 19, 1 above the 18 referenced by Elder Bednar. Let's get down to details. The three in question are in Bengaluru India, Davao Philippines, and Harare Zimbabwe. As part of today's announcement, the Church has also released an official rendering for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple.
Let's now get into details. The first in that group to have a groundbreaking will be the Davao Philippines Temple. That will take place in November 2020 (exact date not specified), which brings the total number of temple groundbreakings announced to occur sometime in November to 6. Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, president of the Philippines Area, will preside over that event.
That temple, originally announced in October 2018, saw its' location confirmed and rendering released less than one month ago. Not since early last year, when the initial details were announced for the Yigo Guam, Praia Cabo Verde, and San Juan Puerto Rico Temples shortly before each of their groundbreakings were announced, has the Church had such a small period of time between releasing the first information about a temple and announcing its' groundbreak9ing arrangements.
Meanwhile, ground will be broken for both the Bengaluru India and Harare Zimbabwe Temples in December 2020. Elder Robert K. William, an area seventy whose location is identified as Bangalore India (that city was renamed Bengaluru in 2014), will preside at the groundbreaking for the temple in his home city. The site location and rendering for that temple were both released earlier this year (on January 15).
As some of you might recall, in April 2018, the Bengaluru India Temple was among the first President Nelson announced during his first General Conference as prophet of the Church. As he later shared with the Saints in India, his intention was to only announce six new temples that weekend. But on the evening before General Conference began, he reported that the Lord instructed him to announce a temple in India, which is why he did so.
That brings me to the final temple. With the Harare Zimbabwe Temple set to have a groundbreaking in December 2020, as previously mentioned, that is the third of the four temples originally announced by President Monson to have a groundbreaking occur this year, and it leaves the Nairobi Kenya Temple as the last remaining temple announced by President Monson.
It seems feasible that some action could be taken on Kenya's first temple soon as well, especially with a native Kenyan serving as president of the Africa Central Area. But speaking of individuals native to regions in which temples will be built, the groundbreaking for Zimbabwe's first temple is set to be presided over by native Zimbabwean General Authority Elder Edward Dube, who became the First Counselor in the Africa South Area Presidency just two months ago in August of this year.
Some thoughts about the size and design of that temple. If I am evaluating that correctly, the temple is set to be a single-story edifice, with an approximate area of 17,250 square feet. Unlke the other two temples mentioned in today's announcement, it does not appear that any other buildings will be part of the temple project in Zimbabwe. The temple will rise at 65 Enterprise Road Highlands in Zimbabwe's capital city.
I have not yet been able to ascertain whether the location confirmed today was one of those visited by President Nelson during his first Global Ministry Tour in April 2018. Meanwhile, the specific details for the other two temples were provided in the original announcements about their locations and renderings. And that brings the total number of temple groundbreakings in the current queue to 11. Once all of those take place, that will leave 24 others (that we know about so far) remaining in the queue of those announced.
In view of that fact, and because it has previously been noted that President Nelson likes to keep the queue of announced temples at or around 35, I am reasonbly certain that he could and will announce either the standard number of at least 8 new temples this weekend in General Conference (as has been the case every six months since April of last year), or perhaps up to 12, similar to what we saw him do in October General Conference in 2018. I am not, however, ruling out th prospect that he could easily announce any other number of temples, if he feels impressed to do so.
This means that there is now even more of a reason for me to reevaluate my previously-offered thoughts as contained in my temple files. Also, based on my research, there may be a chance, however slim, that other temples could have groundbreakings set to occur prior to the end of this year, whether or not full-scale construction efforts formally begin on the last of those before the end of the year. There is also an outside possibility, however remote, that any temple groundbreakings set for November currently could take place in late October, with any set for December potentially taking place in November, if the circumstances are right for that to occur.
The general rather than specific windows for each event offers a degree of probable flexibility in that respect. And in any case, it looks as though 2021 and the years that follow are going to be even busier than we thought in terms of temple events. I am, of course, monitorng all such developments as closeely as I am able to do so, and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such things. In the meantime, I first learned of this news through a breaking news alert on the Church News mobile app, and can recemmend that article to you all as well.
In conclusion, I know that what was breaking news when I began working on this post may have been reported by multiple sources in the meantime, but I wanted to take time to provide context and insight into this latest announcement, so I am still using the "Breaking News" label for this post. Based on today's surprise announcement, I can only imagine what may be coming down the pike for General Conference weekend. I may have some thoughts to pass along on what we can exxpect in that regard, which, if I do post them here, will be up for your enjoyment within the next 24 hours or less.
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.
Two more came this morning, Antofagasta Chile and Mendoza Argentina. Because of a common screwup at the Newsroom page the Mendoza rendering appeared twice but the Antofagasta rendering did twice. The Church News, however, has the correct rendering for Antofagasta.
ReplyDeleteThis throws things wide open as to where things could go this weekend, as if we had seen Tooele Valley announced for groundbreaking, which was apparently planned for before thy had to scrap the initial development plans around it, we would have seen 21 temples with groundbreakings this year. But we still got 20 although I could still see them sneaking in another one or two.
Jim, with the 2 announced today it does put us at 21 on the year. It makes me even more excited at the possibility of temple announcements.
DeleteJim Anderson and ScottS, thanks for stopping by to comment on this. I am currently dealing with a minor infection not related in any way to COVID-19, so I'm just now waking up to this news. I will have some thoughts on it by way of a new post later this afternoon. In the interim, that brings the total number of temple groundbreakings in November to 7, which opens up the real prospect that any two or more of those scheduled could have groundbreakings on the same day. Particularly, with two different members of the South America South Area Presidency presiding at the two groundbreakings in Argentina, they could be planning to dispatch two different teams of Church leaders to take care of those on the same date.
DeleteEither way, this news shapes up the queue nicely for the rest of the year, and also suggests that something big is planned to come down the pike for General Conference as far as temples are concerned. That will be something to look forward to for sure. In the meantime, thanks again to you both.
James, In the Harare Zimbabwe render, if you look to the left and right edges of the image, you can see the roofs of support buildings. Additionally, at this website: https://www.scottallreddesign.com/harare-zimbabwe-temple-site
ReplyDeleteYou can see an early design for the temple. Comparing the render to the early design, the temple has changed, but the support buildings are still in the same place. The grounds will feature a chapel, already existing on the site, a presidents residence(behind the chapel) and 2 support buildings in between the temple and the road.
It appears that Scott Alldred is a landscape architect. I think he designed the site and grounds rather than the temple itself. It looks great.
DeleteBrian and L. Chris Jones, my thanks to you both for taking time to comment on this today. I'willd assume (based on recent trends as observed throughout this year) that existing buildings in Harare will be razed to make way for the temple lot, which may include changing the position/size/location of some of the facilities currently on site. It will be interesting to find out more about that as this process moves forward. In the meantime, my thanks to you both for taking time to comment.
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