Hello again, everyone! As first reported by the Newsroom and corroborated by the Church News, the Church was able to use a mix of in-person attendance at the Church Office Building Auditorium and remote participation through technology in order to hold General Conference Leadership Sessions for the first time since April 2019. Key counsel was provided to general Church leaders by the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The counsel is highlighted and summarized in the articles to which I linked above, and that information is well worthy of your time and attention.
But I'm focusing this post on a new standard protocol the Church will use, effective immediately, going forward, pertaining to the sustaining of Church officers. During the leadership meeting, Elder D. Todd Christofferson read a list of 77 new area seventies who have been called to serve. Following that, President Russell M. Nelson stood up and called for a sustaining vote of those named. The vote was unanimous in the affirmative. So this is a major change in the way that area seventy sustainings will take place. The Church announcement today notes that, once the list of names have been presented and unanimously sustained in the General Conference Leadership Session, during the regular Sustaining of Church Officers that is held in conjunction with General Conference weekend, Church members will be asked to sustain the new leaders as a previously-presented group.
This change is being made not only to save time in the Saturday Afternoon Session, but also to be more consistent with scripture. The Church will be releasing information about new area seventies earlier so that, as they are sustained in General Conference as a group, Church members will have some familiarity with their names, even if they don't know the individuals behind the names.
The Church has also made the new list available according to the Quorums under which each area seventy falls, which will simplify the organization of lists for those of us keeping track of that information. So with these 77 new area seventies sustained, it appears that those who are released will be the only ones mentioned by name during the usual Saturday afternoon sustaining vote.
So already in the first General Conference Leadership Session in two years, the Church has hit the ground running and announced a major change. I am not quite sure why it was Elder Christofferson who read the list and President Nelson who called for the sustaining vote, but we may find out more about that this weekend. In the meantime, this action probably takes some pressure off of Presidents Oaks and Eyring, who will no longer have to worry about potentially mispronouncing the names on the list every six months.
I am grateful to have been able to learn about this development and to pass word of it along to you all. If the General Conference Leadership Sessions yield any other major news, I will be sure to pass that information along to you all here. In the meantime, there may or may not be other major news between now and General Conference weekend, which I will pass along to you all here as I become aware of such reports.
The commenting period for my General Conference predictions will conclude at 10:00 PM tonight, so I welcome any additional feedback on those before that window closes. I have a feeling we are just seeing the beginning of signficant developments which will be reported in the coming weekend. Stay tuned for more information and analysis as I can make that happen.
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.
Hello again, everyone! I wanted to note here as well that the Church News has also provided coverage on the counsel given by top Church leaders during today's General Conference Leadership Sessions:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-04-01/church-leaders-teach-about-faith-revelation-single-adults-leadership-session-208438
My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has provided the following additional reports as well:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-04-01/general-authority-area-seventy-general-officer-area-presidency-church-organization-184814
https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-04-01/easter-general-conference-church-members-testify-savior-208245
Also, a photograph in the Newsroom coverage of the leadership sessions today has clarified that those near headquarters attended in person, and those who were further away, whether in the United States, or throughout the rest of the world, tuned in virtually.
My thanks once again to you all.
Updates have been provided on the status of the Moses Lake Washington and Red Cliffs Utah Temples:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/red-cliffs-utah-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
Hello again, everyone! The Church News has provided the following additional reports:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-04-02/general-conference-april-2021-send-your-photos-179560
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-04-02/90-years-of-church-news-editors-avant-weaver-van-orden-207928
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-04-02/church-news-90th-anniversary-timeline-208460
https://www.thechurchnews.com/callings/2021-04-02/new-mission-presidents-companions-japan-norway-layton-utah-208064
In reference to that final report, the newest mission leaders have offered extensive Church service, both separately and together. Of particular note about the new mission presidents is that 1 is a current stake president; 1 is a stake presidency counselor; and 1 formerly served as a stake presidency counselor.
My thanks once again to you all.
On this day before General Conference, updates on temple construction are available at the following web addresses:
Deletehttps://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/quito-ecuador-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/bentonville-arkansas-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/moses-lake-washington-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/puebla-mexico-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/red-cliffs-utah-temple/
My thanks once again to you all.
And the latest edition of "This Week on Social" has been published, with a focus on Easter, General Conference, and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and associated circumstances:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-04-02/social-media-easter-general-conference-jesus-christ-208511
The most recent installment in that ongoing series featured posts from the following apostles and general officers of the Church: Church President Russell M. Nelson; Elders Jeffrey R. Holland, David A. Bednar, and Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; Relief Society President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her respective First and Second Counselors, Sisters Sharon Eubank (from the latter of whom two posts were shared) and Reyna I. Aburto; Young Women General President Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First Counselor, Sister Michelle D. Craig (from the latter of whom two posts were shared); and of course, the entire Young Men General Presidency (General President Brother Steven J. Lund and his respective First and Second Counselors, Brothers Ahmad Corbitt and Bradley R. (Brad) Wilcox), who only recently joined social media platforms with official accounts for their callings.
My thanks once again to you all.
Since posting my comment about temple construction updates at 1:47
DeletePM today, additional temple updates have come to light. Those updates can be found at the following web addresses:
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/yigo-guam-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/pocatello-idaho-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/praia-cabo-verde-temple/
https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/orem-utah-temple/
With reference to the updates on the Pocatello and Praia temples, I'd like to note that the key update for both is that the former has now moved ahead of the latter. The estimate of late 2021 for the completion of the Pocatello temple is still in effect. However, in view of a few factors, the Praia temple's estimate has been pushed back to late 2021-early 2022, in front of but with the same window as both the San Juan Puerto Rico and Belem Brazil Temples. So that is a significant update I wanted to particularly mention here. My thanks once again to you all.