Stokes Sounds Off: 12/19/22

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Monday, December 19, 2022

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Church Confirms Site Locations for 3 Temples; Releases Renderings for 4 Others

Note: An original version of this post was published at 2:05 PM, with additional details, analysis, and context added from 3-5 PM.

Hello again, everyone! Another Monday afternoon has come, and, as has been customary, the latest major temple construction update was provided this afternoon. Because I have other obligations, I will have complete analysis of today's update later today. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

I am back as promised. Today's announcement involves the confirmation of initial information for 3 temples and the official release of exterior renderings for 4 others. Let's get right into the details. The site locations and initial details have been released for the Santiago West Chile Temple (first announced in October 2021), and the Cleveland Ohio and Austin Texas Temples (first announced in April of this year).

Although we are still awaiting an official name for the Santiago West Chile Temple, the Church has indicated that the single-story 12,500-square-foot temple will be constructed in Comuna de Maipu, a suburb of Santiago, at Primo de Rivera 1551. It occurred to me to wonder if the temple could be named the Santiago Chile Maipu Temple or the Santiago Chile Comuna de Maipu Temple, or simply the Comuna de Maipu Chile Temple. I look forward to finding out.

In the meantime, the Cleveland Ohio Temple will not be built in Cleveland proper. Instead, the 9,900 square-foot single-story edifice will rise at Brecksville Rd., south of Longano Dr., Independence, Cuyahoga County, Ohio 44131. And the Austin Texas Temple will also not be built in Austin proper either. Adjacent to the existing meetinghouse at 1801 E. Park Street in Cedar Park Texas is a 10.6-acre site upon which the Church will build a 30,000-square-foot single-story edifice.

Having discussed the specifics of the 3 site locations, I am also pleased to report that exterior renderings have been provided for the Kaohsiung Taiwan Temple (for which the site was confirmed on November 28), the Knoxville Tennessee Temple (for which the site was confirmed on October 31) and the Singapore and Modesto California Temples (for which the sites were confirmed on October 10), 

As a result of today's announcements, the status of the announced temples in the Church now stands as follows: With a total of 69 temples, 1 has a groundbreaking scheduled. And of the remaining 68, initial details have been provided for 28. That means the Church has not yet released any information about 40 temples, which includes 2 originally announced in April 2018, 1 each from the following October and April, 3 from April 2020, 5 from April 2021, 7 apiece from October of last year and April of this year, and the remaining 14 from April of this year. I continue to monitor those 40 temples.

And today's announcement means there are now a total of 27 temples awaiting a groundbreaking announcement, almost all of which could have that set for next year. There are now 6 temples in the US that were announced in October of last year and April and October of this year, and most if not all of those could have some information confirmed in the coming weeks. I am also keeping my eyes open for information on 4 other temples outside the United States. That leaves a total of 31 other announced temples.

We know that the Church is regularly releasing information about announced temples. It will be interesting to see the timing for future temple groundbreakings. If I might also add another thought, we did not hear this week about any opening arrangements for other temples currently in the construction queue. We know that major construction has been completed for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple, and that construction is nearing completion on the Bangkok Thailand, Feather River California, Brasilia Brazil, and Moses Lake Washington Temples.

And of course, with Christmas Day coming up on Sunday, only time may tell whether or not any temple updates will be announced by the Church on Monday of next week. Regardless of what happens on that date, it seems highly likely that the early weeks of next year will be chock full of temple announcements. I look forward to seeing what's ahead there. I continue to monitor all other temple construction and Church news updates and remain committed to bringing word of those to you all here as time and circumstances allow.

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. I hope any of you who would like to share anything will take your opportunity to “sound off” in the comments below. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly-added posts and comments. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.