Hello again, everyone! As I observed in one of my comments posted yesterday on the previous thread, information I found appears to indicate that resurgences of COVID-19 in Tokyo Japan (especially after the recently-concluded 2020 Summer Olympic and Paralympic Games), Hamilton New Zealand, Yigo Guam, and Quito Ecuador have led to some limits on gatherings in general, but on large gatherings in particular.
Given the fact that the Church tries to encourage its' members and friends all over the world to be good global citizens, I'm reasonably certain that might lead to a slight delay in the next few months before any of those temples can have opening or reopening arrangements announced. With that in mind, I'm thinking that we might not see the number of temple dedications or rededications going up significantly until after next year's annual July recess for General Authorities has concluded.
I'd love to be proven wrong on that, but until further evidence suggests otherwise, I'm sure the Church will probably want to be safe rather than sorry. Having acknowledged that, it's also worth noting that, despite the COVID-19 variants in various parts of the world, the Church remains committed to a cautiously-coordinated and carefully-planned reopening of temples worldwide, and that has been again proven correct with the latest adjustments which have been aannounced in the last little while here.
As has been the case for the last 1.5 years or so in wihch the Church has announced weekly reopening updates. thoae latest adjustments have been detailed in the updated official Newsroom release, the customary Church News update, and the updated temple reopening status tracker. Having provided that overview, let's now look at the specific adjustments that have been noted today.
First up is an announcement that I was not necessarily expecting, but probably should have anticipated. Given COVID-19 conditions in Idaho, once the Pocatello Idaho Temple is dedicated, the Church will have it operating in phase 3 right from the start. That temple's dedication is set for the first Sunday of November, so following its' dedication, the temple will be able to start off in phase 3, offering all living ordinances in priority order, along with limited proxy work as scheduled. It has additionally been noted that the Curitiba Brazil Temple will transition to phase 3 as early as September 21 (next Tuesday). And as has been the case the last several weeks, it's again been noted that the Medford Oregon Temple will reopen in phase 3 at some point when it is safe to do so. The original plan was to reopen that temple in that phase by the end of last month, but, again, the Church has adjusted plans due to COVID-19 conditions and restrictions.
The Church News also again recapped the nine temples still in phase 1 or phase 2 (not yet allowing any proxy work), and again noted that the Tokyo Japan and Hong Kong China Temples, currently closed for renovation, have not yet been granted any phased reopening designations. With the updates announced today, by next Tuesday (September 21), the 168 operating temples of the Church will break down as follows: 8 closed for major renovations, all but 2 of which have been granted phase 3 designations for the members in their districts; 5 temples currently paused. of which 4 had reached phase 3, and the remaining 1 was in phase 2 at the time the pauses went into effect; just 2 temples will remain in phase 1, with 6 each in phases 2 and 2-B; with the remaining 141 temples of the Church now in phase 3, offering living ordinances in priority order and limited proxy work as scheduled.
If anyone anywhere has any questions about whether prophets and apostles are inspired for our day, they only need to look at the methodical week-by-week adjustments that have been made, and how that has been done by always keeping the well-being of Church members in mind. I am grateful to have been able to pass along these updates to you all. I continue to also monitor all other Church news updates and reported developments and remain committed to bringing those to you all here 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.
Hello again, everyone! I wanted to note here as well that the Church News has released the latest episode of the Church News podcast. This week, Church News editor Sister Sarah Jane Weaver, speaks to Sister Julianne Holt-Lunstad, a BYU professor, about the "loneliness epidemic" and the power of personal connection in the lives of Church members, especially within the context of the gospel:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/podcast/2021-09-14/episode-48-byu-julianne-holt-lunstad-loneliness-epidemic-power-of-connection-225431
Meanwhile, two new reports have been shared by the Newsroom, both of which provide updates on the latest minnistry efforts of our apostles. Elder Dale G. Renlund was the featured speaker at this morning's BYU devotional, sharing some thoughts on how any individual can achieve life-long conversion to Christ:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/elder-renlund-byu-devotional-september-2021
The second report shares a summary of remarks offered by Elder Ronald A. Rasband, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and Sister Sharon Eubank, First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency, at the 2021 G20 Interfaith Forum, which was recently held in Italy:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/g20-interfaith-forum-italy
While that does it for new reports, I also wanted to mention something that was just brought to my attention this morning. Yesterday, when the Newsroom reported that the Pocatello Idaho Temple was beginning VIP/Media tours in advance of the public open house (which will begin later this week), one thing I apparently overlooked somehow was information about the Church leaders that were leading those initial tours. So here again is the news release:
Deletehttps://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/open-house-begins-pocatello-idaho-temple
That article mentions specifically that Elder Gary E. Stevenson was the only member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in attendance for those initial tours. Also leading tours were the full presidency of the North America Central Area (Elders S. Gifford Nielsen, Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, and Arnulfo Valenzuela); Elder Gary B. Sabin, another GA Seventy currently serving as an Assistant Executive Director of the Church's Temple Department; and Sister Camille N. Johnson, Primary General President.
Having noted the leaders in attendance, with Elder Stevenson being the only apostle there, that brings me to my explanation for mentioning the article again. For recent temple open houses, if one or more apostles have been there to lead initial tours for those temples, at least one of those apostles has been a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council.
We know from the Temple and Family History Leadership Session from RootsTech earlier this year that Elders David A. Bednar, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund were serving on the Temple and Family History Executive Council. In the interim, we also know there were changes earlier this year to the assignments for apostles serving on the Church Board of Education, the Missionary Executive Council, and the Priesthood and Family Executive Council. And more specifically, a report released at the end of July about the Book of Mormon filming project noted that Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf and Dale G. Renlund were now serving on the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, of which Elder Uchtdorf is now the Chair.\:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/jesus-christ-visits-ancient-inhabitants-of-the-americas-in-season-4-of-the-book-of-mormon-videos-series
Although Elder Renlund had been serving as the junior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on both the Church Board of Education and the Temple and Family History Executive Council, usually, each Quorum member only serves on one of the Executive Councils at a time.
So we know that Elders Uchtdorf and Cook switched Executive Council assignments, and that Elder Renlund now serving on the Priesthood and Family Executive Council means he probably has been released from his assignment as a member of the Temple and Family History Executive Council.
While it's not been verified that Elder David A. Bednar continues to serve as the Chairman of the Temple and Family History Executive Council, the fact that Elder Stevenson was the only member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles who was leading these tours does perhaps point to the conclusion that he (Elder Stevenson) is still a member of that Executive Council/
Sorry for that lengthy explanation. I may have temple construction updates to pass along shortly. My thanks once again to you all in the meantime.
Keep up the good posts. With conference coming up and potent temple announcements, it's anybody's guess. We are having more surprise announcements than ever before and the many of the most common guesses seem be waiting.
ReplyDeleteThe year with h the most temple announcements (by name) was 1988 with 27 (although a plan was announced for 30 changed 32 in April of that year). With 21 announced so far this year we only need 7 more to beat that number or 12 to beat the 32 plan that year to increase the number of temples dedicated by the end of the year 2000 to be 100. We ended that year with 102 dedicated temples. Would it be wonderful to have a goal for 300 by 2030 the 200 anniversary of the church?
ReplyDeleteCorrection 1998 not 1988.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris. Thanks for stopping by and sharing these thoughts here. I always appreciate hearing from you. In a comment I posted earlier this afternoon on the Church Growth Blog (where moderation is now disabled), I provided information I had that pointed to the notion that, because the Church will likely break ground for more temples this year than they did last year, given the fact that the current queue of announced temples could be down by at least 20 by the end of the year, it wouldn't be far-fetched in my opinion to believe that the number of temples announced next month might be any double-digit number between the high of 20 (as were announced last April) and the low of 12 (which were the number announced in October 2018 when word about President Nelson's plans started gaining traction). If we split the difference, that would average out to 16 for this conference.
DeleteThat being said, it's possible (not necessarily probable) that another 20 or more could be announced. As I also observed on the Church Growth Blog in my most recent comments, one element of President Nelson's plans that often gets overlooked is the statement I heard somewhere that he wants to keep the queue of announced temples (which are awaiting official information of any kind) at around 35. Thanks also for the reminder about when the most temples were announced in years past. I believe President Nelson has 2 of the 3 numbers of anounced temples that are the top 3 in Church history, and if the lack of a specific location for some temples announced initially in the late 1990s is considered, then it's fair to say that President Nelson has and will likely continue to have the highest numbers of specifically-located temples in one announcement than any prior Church President.
Chris, I'm sure you also saw the recent comment that indicated President Nelson wants to have 70 more temple dedications within the next 5 year or sooner. With the number of temples currently operating sitting at 168, if we add 70 temples to that, that's 239 temples by sometime in 2026. And if there are more temples than that dedicated by this time in 2026, then I think it could be a real possiblity for the Church to have 300 operating temples by the 200th anniversary of the Church. I'm going to have to do more research on that question when I can. If the Church keeps the current progress going, we know that 200 operating temples will actually occur at some point during 2024, which will be the same year President Nelson becomes the first centenarian apostle and prophet, so I don't think it's a stretch to conclude that 300 temples could be operating by the April 6, 2030 date, which will likely also mark the first day of the April 2030 General Conference.
Thanks again for taking time to share your thoughts, Chris. Always a pleasure to hear from you.