Hello again, everyone! As the final minutes of the second quarter (and first half) of 2023 move toward their inevitable conclusion, I wanted to provide an overview of temple construction progress throughout the last six months. We begin with the document showing where temple construction stood as 2023 began, on the first day of the April 2023 General Conference, and where things stand at this mid-point of 2023.
The data largely speaks for itself. While I am not surprised at the high number of temples that have already been dedicated this year, I have been surprised by the slower pace the Church has taken in announcing subsequent dedications. Again, that seems to simply be the result of supply chain issues, which will not last forever. And the temples currently in the construction queue have moved a lot both forward and backward in terms of their completion orders and estimates.
Quite frankly, I was also surprised that the St. George Utah Temple will be rededicated before the end of this year. With Elder Holland having started to return to his apostolic duties, I believe he will either preside over or accompany whomever presides over both the rededication of the St. George Utah Temple and the dedication of the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.
And I'm cautiously optimistic that once the Saratoga Springs, Orem, Red Cliffs, Layton, and Taylorsville Utah Temples are dedicated, additional Utah temples could be announced.
I was similarly stunned that this first half of 2023 only had 4 temple groundbreakings. I'm cautiously optimistic that we could see over a dozen temple groundbreakings in this second half of 2023. And I'm sure we've got other site confirmations and exterior renderings coming down the pike in the near term, especially if the Church continues its' custom of sharing major temple construction news once a week. So I think we are in for a very busy second half of 2023.
To the best of my ability, I will be sure to track those developments, in addition to all updates from the Church News and the Newsroom, and will be sure to pass word thereof to you all here as they cross my radar. 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.
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