Hello again, everyone! With only one exception in recent weeks, Tuesday has been the designated day on which the Church has announced the latest temple reopening updates. Those releases have been shared in the Newsroom and through updates in the Church News (including the weekly status tracker).
I am pleased to be able to report the following updates related to the Church's efforts to reopen temples: 2 South American temples (Arequipa Peru and Bogota Colombia) will transition from phase 2-B (allowing all living ordinances and proxy baptisms) to phase 3 (which allows all living and proxy ordinances) as early as one week from today (Tuesday November 23). Meanwhile, as early as that same date, both the Barranquilla Comobia and Seoul Korea Temples will transition from phase 2 (allowing all living ordinances) to phase 2-B (allowing all living ordinances in priority order in addition to proxy baptisms).
And in an unexpected but welcome development, the Church also noted today that the Cebu City Philippines Temple, which had been downgraded to phase 1 due to local pandemic conditions and restrictions, has transitioned to phase 2-B. The Church News also noted today that, as a result of these latest changes, 161 of the Church's 170 total temples (94.7%) are now (or will soon be) offering all living and proxy ordinances by appointment. With 5 additional temples now operating (or those that will soon be operating) in phase 2-B, allowing proxy baptisms by appointment, 166 of the Church's total 170 operating temples (97.6% of all temples worldwide) will be offering some degree of proxy work in addition to living ordinances, as early as next week.
The Church News also reiterated again that the Medford Oregon Temple, originally anticipated to transition to phase 3 sometime in August, has still not been able to make that change. Since no specific reason has been given for the 3-month delay, I am not sure why that has been delayed. But as I've noted in just about every temple reopening update in the last several weeks, I am grateful for the carefully-planned cautiously-coordinated reopening of temples around the world, and for the revelatory process that drives those announcements every week. Although no temples anywhere have reached phase 4 (a return to full normal operations), it is wonderful the Church has been prudent and wise in the announcements of changes each week.
I believe I have mentioned this in the recent past as well, but with the Brethren having to restrict travel from Church headquarters to some parts of the world where they might otherwise have assignments, the apostles have been able to ascertain information about COVID-19 and any related restrictions or other factors that would play into the process of the phased reopening of temples. And the usage of technology for that purpose has also apparently led the Brethren to conclude that, in some cases, tramsacting Church business by technology rather than in-person will be more effective. It will be interesting to see how the ministry of the apostles and other leaders changes going forward with an increased use of technology vs. in-person visits.
It seems as though COVID-19 has had a major role in reshaping how top leaders see their capacities to minister worldwide to the growing Church. And it's definitely not surprising to me that an increased usage of technology has come about during the prophetic adminnistration of President Russell M. Nelson, who appears to be the most technologically savvy prophet the Church has had since the world has more fully utlized modern technology. I anticipate that will continue to be true.
Having acknowledged that, I wanted to wrap up my coverage of the latest temple reopening adjustments with a breakdown of how many temples will be in each phase of reopening. First, it's worth noting that today's announcement leaves just 4 temples for which no proxy ordinances are being scheduled. Of those 4 temples, 2 (Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan) are closed for renovation. But by contrast to the other 7 temples closed for renovation, the two Asian temples have not been granted any phase reopening designation.
With the other 7 temples being granted phase 3 designation (which allows patrons in those districts to schedule living and proxy work at nearby temples in phase 3), 2 other temples remain "paused" in their reopenings after being transitioned to phase 3. The Church is also now down to 1 temple aach that are in phases 1 or 2, 5 others in phase 2-B, and the remaining 152 temples in phase 3.
That concludes my analysis of today's temple reopening announcements. As always, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and remain committed to bringing you all word of those updates as I become aware thereof. With just under 6.5 weeks remaining in 2021, I am not sure whether any other temple open houses and dedications or rededications might be announced before the end of the year, but am hopeful that those arrangements for the Yigo Guam, Quito Ecuador, Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zealand Temples will soon be announced as well.
It's also worth reiterating that, aside from the Bacolod Philippines Temple groundbreaking (which was announced on October 6 and will take place on December 11), the Church has not yet scheduled any thother temple groundbreakings. Although I have just recently offered my opinion that groundbreakings that have not yet been announced could take place, with the confirmation thereof occurring after the fact, I'm not as convinced as I previously was that the Church would conduct any temple groundbreakings without noting the plans thereof before they occur. So although it appeared likely in the relatively recent past that in 2021, the Church could exceed the 21 groundbreakings that occurred last year, it's possible that no other groundbreakings will occur prior to that of the Bacolod Philippines Temple, or throughout the remainder of the year following that December 11 groundbreaking.
Instead, it seems more likely that arrangements for the groundbreakings of up to 17 temples could be announced in the next 2 months and set to occur in the first several months of 2022.I will be closely monitoring all of that and will bring you all word thereof as I become aware of such reports.
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.
