Hello again, everyone! Although we are still waiting on official announcements for quite a few temples, an article from a newspaper that has no ties to the Church has used the now-discouraged terminology of "Mormon" in the article title before sharing the correct name of the Church in the article. The article, published in September, related to the site location, rendering, and name being released for Oregon's newest temple, features the following intriguing sentence: "A private groundbreaking ceremony will be announced at a later time, according to communicatiodn director and temple media liaison Jeff Robinson." (bold text highlighted by me to undercore a point).
We have seen the Church being able to broadcast temple groundbreakings on the same day or within a week after a temple groundbreaking takes place. That has allowed a limited number of invited guests to attend each of the 11 groundbreakings held this year while allowing others to view the ceremonies after the fact. Each of those 11 groundbreakings were announced in advance for specific dates as well. And for each of those 11, coverage was made available a few hours after those events took place.
But temple groundbreakings, even with limited invitied guests, can be informally attended by those nearest to the temple who know when those groundbreakings take place. And given the fact that some parts of the US and elsewhere in the world are struggling with COVID-19 to a much higher degree than those in the "Mormon corridor", it did occur to me to wonder, as I've often mused in the past, whether it would be possible for the Church to hold private temple groundbreakings without an advanced announcement that would be followed by an official Church acknowledgement that it has taken place.
Given the fact that there will be 6 weeks between the October 30 groundbreaking for the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple and the December 11 groundbreaking for the Bacolod Philippines Temple, I'd be very shocked if no other temples had a groundbreaking in the 5 Saturdays between the two dates. Maybe I'm mistaken in all of this, and the Church might just opt to hold off on any other US temple groundbreakings until next year, but I'm hard-pressed to believe that.
For my part, I will be diligent in checking for any such acknowledgements, and I will be sure to provide anything that is reported in that respect here. Just wanted to mention the possibility, given the wording of the article. In the meantime, 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! The Church News has shared the following additional reports, which largely speak for themselves:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2021-11-03/gospel-library-app-update-new-features-231864
https://www.thechurchnews.com/living-faith/2021-11-03/marcia-nielson-ensign-college-devotional-hear-him-hearing-aids-231887
https://www.thechurchnews.com/history-revisited/2021-11-03/eliza-r-snow-discourses-to-relief-society-primary-traveled-church-historians-press-231884
https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-11-03/winnipeg-manitoba-temple-dedicatory-prayer-elder-gong-pandemic-231957
That last link, which shares the text of the dedicatory prayer offered by Elder Gerrit W. Gong was written by Elder Gong and approved by President Nelson.
Above and beyond that, however, as I read that prayer, the Spirit confirmed to me that it was inspired. I pass that witness along to you all in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
There have also been two temples (Paris France and Tokyo Japan) that never had a groundbreaking ceremony (at least formally). Could other temples follow?
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris. Seeing your commment prompted me to double-check something. I had thought I remembered something about a groundbreaking being confirmed for the Paris France Temple in the coverage of its' dedication, and I found this article:
Deletehttps://www.deseret.com/2017/4/7/20610039/no-spire-or-moroni-statue-for-paris-temple-no-it-s-french-and-it-s-fine#an-instruction-room-in-the-paris-france-temple
The relevant text from that article is as follows: "Announced in October 2011 and started with its groundbreaking in August 2012". So although there may not have been a typical groundbreaking, it would appear that something was done to formally mark the beginning of construction in August 2012.
That being said, it appears that local or national governmental restrictions were the main factor preventing a groundbreaking from being formally held for the Tokyo Japan Temple. Aside from the Shanghai and Russia Temples, I don't think any others would be prohibited from conducting a groundbreaking, But the Lord could prove me wrong there. He's done so often enough in the past that I can't rule it out as a possibility. In either case, Chris, thanks for weighing in with your thoughts. I appreciate you!