Hello again, everyone! Breaking news has been announced by the First Presidency this morning. For years, at the end of each year, members have been invited to meet with the bishops of their congregations yearly to declare their tithe-paying status. These interviews have been known as "Tithing Settlement". But in a continued effort to differentiate between doctrinally-defined practices and traditions, that term will now be retired.
Instead, members will be invited to meet with bishops, and may begin doing so as early as September of every year, for a "Tithing Declaration" interview. The rationale offered for the change in terminology is that those interviews are not meant to "settle" anything, but instead are intended to enable each Church member once a year to declare the degree to which they have followed the doctrinal practice of paying tithes and offerings.
I originally became aware of this update courtesy of a Church News report to which I was alerted on my phone. This change makes perfect sense to me, and it of course follows the other recent announcement about the simplification of the categories for other offerings. This change makes perfect sense to me, and I'm grateful to have been able to learn of it and pass it along to you all here.
I continue to monitor all Church News, Newsroom, and temple construction updates, and will do my best to pass those along here as I become aware thereof. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as the offered feedback is made per the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time.
I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. 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 provided one additional report thus far today:
ReplyDeletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2022/8/11/23301601/video-president-oaks-understanding-religious-freedom-middle-ground
And the Newsroom has shared the following additional report as well:
https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/amos-c-brown-fellowship-ghana-concludes
Last night, I promised to bring word of any new temple updates before I went to bed or ASAP this morning. I did check last night, and there were no updates to report. If there are any today, I will be sure to pass them along once I've determined what they are. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
Here are three new Church News reports, which speak for themselves:
Deletehttps://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2022/8/11/23299075/new-billboards-hamilton-new-zealand-temple-open-house
https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2022/8/11/23297162/in-honor-of-his-90th-birthday-president-oaks-shares-12-lessons-learned-through-the-decades-byu
https://www.thechurchnews.com/global/2022/8/11/23294136/church-donation-hidalgo-mexico-rainwater-harvesting-system-backyard-gardens-chicken-coops
My thanks once again to you all.
We had a lot of changes in terminology the last few years.
ReplyDeleteIndeed we have, Chris! I've very much appreciated President Nelson's willingness to more clearly deliniate between doctrine and tradition. And the reasoning in this case makes particular sense: Church members aren't "settling" something that hasn't been right in their lives, they are instead declaring their tithe-paying status. This was another change I looked at and thought, "Why hasn't this been changed before now?"
DeleteI also appreciate the fact that, despite the "primary focus" the bishops are to give to the youth, the Church is emphasizing the importance of a regular yearly interview with the bishop for all Church members. Bishops now having the flexibility to start those interviews earlier in the year means they will be able to be more spread out through the final third of the year, and that each interview may, as needed, be allotted more time as a result.
All around, a wonderful change, and I'm glad the Church has made it. Thanks, Chris, as always, for taking time to comment. It's always a pleasure to hear from you.
James, last year the Church released a bunch of Area Seventies as of August 1st. Any idea why a bunch were not released this year on August 1st or have not yet been announced? Maybe the announcement will come in October along with the announcement of Emeritis Seventy releasings?
ReplyDeleteThanks for that great question. I commented earlier on the matter in one of the threads here. But since I can't recall which thread that was, I will recap that comment. Last year's late July announcement from President Ballard noted that those area seventies would be released on August 1 every year thereafter, coinciding with both the day of rotation for GA Seventies to any new assignment, which, as announced in April by President Oaks', will also mark the day when new General Officers of the Church will begin their service as well.
DeleteSince it is now almost 2 weeks beyond August 1 and no changes were noted, I think we can assume there are none this go-round. And it's been my understanding that changes in practice do not generally get reversed or abandoned just one year after they are altered. Could we see a few releases or sustainings of area seventies in October? Sure.
Although a bunch of new area seventies were sustained in last April's General Conference, the Church held off on presenting the releases of a few area seventies until Saturday Afternoon so those who were released to become GA Seventies required, per doctrinal directive, the presenting of such changes to the body of the Church, not just to the leadership thereof.
But aside from possibly seeing a few area seventies released, I don't think we will see the usual mass of releases we typically do, because if that was planned to occur, we would have heard about it either before or on August 1. Thanks again for the question. To whom might I offer thanks for it?