Stokes Sounds Off: BREAKING NEWS: Elder Clark G. Gilbert To Serve as New Commissioner of Church Education

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Saturday, May 8, 2021

BREAKING NEWS: Elder Clark G. Gilbert To Serve as New Commissioner of Church Education

 Hello again, everyone! As some of you might be aware, when the Church announced changes in the Presidency of the Seventy that would be effective August 1, the first new member of that Presidency who was announced was Elder Paul V. Johnson, who currently serves as Commissioner of Church Education. Although it has been customary for a member of the Presidency of the Seventy to serve on the Church Board of Education (with Elder Robert/ C. Gay currently filling that assignment, and Elder Johnson likely to succeed him in doing so in August), generally, a call to the Presidency of the Seventy makes necessary a release from assignments like the Comissioner of Church Education.

So I had privately theorized that Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a new General Authority Seventy currently serving as president of BYU--Pathway Worldwide, might succeed Elder Johnson as the Comissioner of Church Education. A new biographical article on Elder Gilbert through the Church News confirms that theory: Elder Clark G. Gilbert will begin serving as the new Comissioner of Church Education, effective August 1. I imagine this in turn will necessitate a change in the presidency of BYU-Pathway Worldwide, but the Commissioner of Church Education usually plays a role in recommending a change in the presidency of any Church schools, so no doubt Elder Gilbert is qualified to know who his best successor may be.

I am grateful to have learned of this news and to be able to pass it along to you all. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. 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.

10 comments:

  1. Hello again, everyone! I previously mentioned this, but it does bear repeating: Based on the latest update on the Deseret Pak Utah Temple, I've theorized the groundbreaking for it might take place at some point today. If nothing along that line is reported at any point today, then that temple's groundbrdeaking could occur sometime in the next week or one week from today. Insofar as I am aware, the one-year delay of the groundbreaking for that temple should not change the plans for an accelerated construction process on it, which means that the Deseret Peak Utah Temple could be dedicated within 2 years or less of whenever construction might begin. Stay tuned for more on that as I learn about it. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.

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    1. The Church News has shared the following two reports:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-05-08/temple-square-assembly-hall-pioneer-latter-day-saint-art-symbols-history-preservation-renovation-212393

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-05-08/music-the-spoken-word-ill-always-be-with-you-212692

      My thanks once again to you all.

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    2. The groundbreaking for Deseret Peak will be next week per info I heard from some people in that area.

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    3. Thanks for that, Eric. When there wasn't any word on that having happened by this evening, I figured out it likely wouldn't occur until next week at earliest. So we'll look for a report on that at that time. Thanks again. Great to hear from you.

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  2. Hello again, everyone! On this Sabbath morning, the Church News has shared 3 additional reports. First up, as always, on Sunday, a look back on the top 9 developments previously covered in the Church News throughout this week in the latest installment of "In Case You Missed It":

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders-and-ministry/2021-05-09/in-case-you-missed-president-nelson-video-elder-stevenson-devotional-212827

    One of the developments reported in that article was the social media posts provided by President Nelson and 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the National Day of Prayer. With those being posted a few days ago, I had wondered if perhaps the latest edition of "This Week on Social" might be pushed to today, in honor of Mother's Day. That turned out to be correct:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-05-09/social-media-church-leaders-national-prayer-trojan-212865

    Posts were highlighted on a variety of subjects from the following apostles: Church President Russell M. Nelson (from whom two posts were highlighted, the second of which underscored that the inspiration for the new temple in Ephraim came first, followed by further inspiration on changes to the original plans for the Manti Temple renovation); Acting President M. Russell Ballard and Elders Jeffrey R. Holland and D. Todd Christofferson. The four apostles provided their thoughts on the National Day of Prayer.

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    1. We then had posts from Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham and her First Counselor, Sister Sharon Eubank, who invited Single Adults throughout the Church to participate in the first Face-to-Face event specifically targeted to unmarried Church members who are 31 or older. Brother Milton Camargo, First Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency, shared insights related to the “Come Follow Me” lessons that have been or will soon be taught in Sunday School.

      Sister Amy A. Wright, who serves as Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency, described the premonition she had about being called to her new assignment, and how, en route with her husband to meet with Elder Cook (during which time that call was extended), she had dealt with feelings of inadequacy, which were soon replaced with confidence that the Lord inspired the call and would bless her in her efforts to fill the assignment.

      Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared his experience with participating in the BYU Women’s Conference for the first time, as did newly-sustained Primary General President Sister Camille N. Johnson. Sister Michelle D. Craig, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, also shared some insights about Women’s Conference. President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, shared his thoughts on temple worship, while Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles followed up on what has been learned by Church members as they have reviewed the talks from General Conference last month, and his seatmate, Elder Quentin L. Cook, looked back on one of his young men leaders, whose example influenced the service of other future young men leaders.

      Sister Becky Craven, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, compared the Trojan horse to the disguises used by the adversary, while Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles looked back at his recently-offered counsel to young adults during last week’s devotional. And another post from Elder Neil L. Andersen shared his recent experience with temple worship.

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    2. Meanwhile, in honor of Mothers’ Day today, the Church News took a look at 9 stalwart women in Church history, and what their examples teach Church members today:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-05-09/women-9-church-history-challenges-photos-amanda-barnes-smith-ellis-shipp-eliza-carter-snow-212444

      And although the main edition of “This Week on Social’ was posted today, another edition, “This Mothers’ Day on Social” highlighted posts from general Church leaders specifically on that subject:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-05-09/mothers-day-love-gratitude-new-mother-social-nelson-bingham-cordon-uchtdorf-rasband-craig-wright-212933

      Among those featured in the special edition were the following apostles: Church President Russell M. Nelson; Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, David A. Bednar, and Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; and the following female General Officers of the Church: Relief Society General President Sister Jean B. Bingham; Young Women General President Sister Bonnie H. Cordon and her First Counselor, Sister Michelle D. Craig; and Sister Amy A. Wright, Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency.

      “This Mother’s Day on Social” was also prominently featured by the Newsroom, sharing the same posts from the same leaders mentioned above:

      https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/leaders-celebrate-mother-rsquo-s-day--ldquo-with-a-mother-rsquo-s-wisdom-more-helpful-than-google-rdquo-

      My thanks once again to you all for your continued interest and ongoing support.

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  3. Hello again, everyone! The Church News reported today that weekly temple reopening updates, which have been published every Monday, will now be announced on Tuesdays:

    https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-05-10/weekly-announcements-temple-reopenings-tuesdays-212949

    So we'll look for the latest temple updates tomorrow. My thanks once again to you all.

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    1. Meanwhile, a new Church News report shares how youth and young adults in Southern Utah came together to complete a massive service project:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-05-10/st-george-utah-clean-up-youth-service-project-212953

      My thanks once again to you all.

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    2. And another new Church News article references an article covered by the Middle East version of the Newsroom. I thought I had mentioned the original report from the Newsroom here on this blog, but if I did, I can't find it for now. So here is the original news release:

      https://news-middleeast.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/latter-day-saints-share-their-respect-for-ramadan-celebration

      And here is the the Church News report based on that release:

      https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2021-05-10/church-muslim-devotion-service-ramadan-dubai-213034

      My thanks once again to you all.

      Delete

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