Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced updates on three temples: the opening arrangements for the Bacolod Philippines Temple, a namecahange for the San Jose California Temple, (which will now be known as the Sunnyvale California Temple), and that preliminary infrastructure work is set to getunderway soon on the Fairview Texas Temple. The latter two updates are self-explnatory, so let me get into the details about the Bacolod Philippines Temple dedication,then share some concluding observations about the other two temples.
I was stunned by the announced opening arrangements for the Bacolod Philippines Temple because, prior to today's announcement, that temple was only expected to have major construction wrap up in the early months of next year. As a result, not only did this announcemnent surprise me, but I was further stunned by the timing involved: the media day will be held on Monday, April 13, with invited guests touring the temple for a couple of days after that. The public open house will run from Thursday, April 16, to Saturday, May 2, excluding the Sundays of April 19 and 26.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will then preside at the dedication of that temple on Sunday, May 31, 2026, in a single session at 10:00 AM (with a rebroadcast planned at 2:00 PM). Both the dedicatory session and the rebroadcast will be carried to all units in the Bacolod Philippines Temple dstrict. This is a stunning announcement, and the Bacolod Philippines Temple dedication will follow that of the Davao Philippines Temple by just 4 weeks. So the Church now has 3 temple dedications in May,
Another thing that surprised me is that this dedication was announced before the first temple leaders were announced for this temple. And if a temple that, up through yesterday, was anticipated to be completed in early next year can have a May dedication set, then that suggests that other temple dedications could happen sooner than I expect. As of yesterday, I had put my personal estimate for this tmeple's dedication as unlikely tto occuruntil sometime in 2027, so my estimates and projections were way off, and I will have to rethink some things as a result. This will be the third Philippines Temple dedicated next year, which is another good sign.
We move on now to some thoughts about the other two updates mentioned. The former San Jose California Temple is being built in the city of Sunnyvale, so the name change makes sense. And for the Fairview Texas Temple, as I noted in this comment earlier today, the plans are currently before the Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation, so the fact that approvals are being sought for preliminary infrastructure work is encouraging, given the efforts of the neighborhood group of residents that continues to try and stop construction from moving forward.
As I noted in previous posts and YouTube videos, there is nationwide group of opponents to temple construction here in the United States that aims to hinder, delay, or stop construction of temples here in the United States, and that group seems to spur on the comparatively small groups of locals opposed to such projects. We see the fruitsthereof in relationtothe Coy Wyoming, HeberValley Utah, and Fairview TexasTemples at minimum, and there may be other temples impacted by the overarching work of the nationwisde group,
But as we know, the Prophet Joseph Smith state that no unhallowe hand can stop the work from progressing, and there are thankfully apparently more supporters than opponents of these projects on a local level, so hopefully that makes a difference. I repeat President Nelson 's plea for all of us to pray for the temples in any phase ofdevelopment, so thatwork make commence and continue and finish. We have the promise of the Lord that each temple dedicated thwarts the opposition of the advlersary and limits his power, so I hope that we will seriously pray for the temples in any phase of development.
I am somewhat isappointed thatwe didn't get any groundbreakings, site location confirmations, or exterior renderings this week, but i am grateful for the unexpected news of the Bacolod Philippines Temple dedication, and I look forward to seeing how many other temple dedications the Church may be able to squeeze in before the end of the first half of next year. If the current scheduling is any indicator, we are sure to see timelines shift dramatically in the days ahead.
I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe to receive the applicable updates. 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.
The Church News has covered today's updates in 3 reports: the Bacolod dedication, the renamed Sunnyvale California Temple, and the pre-groundbreaking work for the Fairview Texas Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Church News shared one other report that speaks for itself. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Tuesday, the Newsroom shares the latest updates to the General Handbook, while also prominently reporting on the updates regarding Bible translation usage gudelines and artificial intellegence gudelines. The Church News also reported on the updated counsel about Bible usage and updated guidelines on the usage of AI.
ReplyDeleteWhile I don't desire to downplay the significance of those highlighted updates, I wanted to mention a couple other takeaways from the latest updates to the handbook. The articles about the Bible translations note that Elder Dale G. Renlund is now the Chairman of the Scriptures Committee, a role previously held by Elder Gong following his apostolic call. But above and beyond that, some of the other updates to the Handbook caught my particular attention. In talking of succession in the presidency of the Church, it is now noted that the senior apostle is always the new Church President, that the chosen counselors in the First Presidency are always apostles, and that apostles serve for the rest of their lives. Those points of prophetic succession were not always that clearly stated. It used to be understood that the Church President can call any high priest as a counselor, though that has not happened since the original call of J. Reuben Clark, and later Alvin R. Dyer and Thorpe B. Isaacson to the First Presidency. It is nice to have these clarifications on succession in the Church presidency.
Other than these notes, I will let the changes speak for themselves. My thanks once again to you all.
New updates on flexibility of using different Holy Bible translations. https://www.thechurchnews.com/members/2025/12/16/update-to-general-handbook-outlines-more-flexibility-in-bible-usage-home-church/
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris! Thanks for sharing this.I thought I had shared the Handbook updates in a comment above yours, but I might be mistaken, Thanks for making sure we were all aware of this. I always appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteAside from the aforementioned Handbook updates in my comments and the comment above from L. Chris Jones, the Church News has shared a few additional new updates today: There is a new video from the Bonner family featuring the new (to our hymnbook) Christmas song "Go, Tell It On the Mountain"; 8 resources for studying the Old Testament next year; and an Olympic medalist is the featured guest for this week's edition of the Church News podcast.. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Broadway couple who were the featured guests for the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's Christmas Concert are the subject of a new Church News video. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Wednesday., the Newsroom reports on Church-sponsored efforts to help the Shoshone Nation to .
DeleteAnd from the Church News comes reports of Christmase displays on temple grounds worldwide; new leaders for the Missouri Historic sites; a new theme and the introduction of the global emcees for RootsTech 2026, which is now just a few short months away; and how a "Bethlehem walk" in Southern California brought a community together.
I just wanted to further note a few things. First, the Church's Newsroom has now shared that President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will present a special message for youth in January. Second, as I had predicted, Elder Patrick and Sister Jennifer Kearon will be the featured speakers at the Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults in early February. Third, an unnamed number of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will be featured in the early March Temple and Family History Leadership Instruction.
Regarding the latter event, I have a personal theory: the list of the Church Board of Education and Boards of Trustees has been updated to show that Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Dale G. Renlund, and Gerrit W.Gong are on the list of members of both the Board and the Executive Comittee.So if three apostles now serve on theBoard and on the Executive Committee, it would also make sense if three apostles serve on the Temple and Family History Executive Council. We know from last year that Elders Neil L. ANdersen and Patrick Kearon served on the Temple and Family History Executive Council. So it would make sense to me if Elder Gérald Caussé has now joined that Executive Council as its' third member.
We will know for sure in March if that theory proves correct. I further theorize that President Dallin H. Oaks may dedicate the Burley Idaho Temple in January and that either he or President Christofferson might dedicate the Lindon Utah Temple in May, since those dedications are currently unassigned for unknown reasons. Just some other thoughts I've had, based on my knowledge of the apostles' connections to parts of the world and on what has been par for the course with apostolic assignments lately. Hope these musings, such as they are, are helpful to all who read them. My thanks once again to you all.
It is about the latter item
Sorry. My first sentence above was incomplete: the Church has helped the Shoshone Nation to preserve sacred petroglyphs.
DeleteAnd my last sentence in the lengthy comment above was an unnecessary duplication of the paragraphs I shared about apostolic assignments.My apologies for the errors, and my thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared two additional new reports. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd apparently I missed that the Newsroom had originally reported on RootsTech 2026's keynote speakers. Sorry for that omossion. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared this new report that features Chrismast posts from members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the twelve Apostles. Those with social media content featured include President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Couunselor in the First Presidency, and Elders Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Dale G. Renlund, Ulisses Soares, and Gérald Caussé . My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd there have been some movevements in the temple construction queue: for the temples estimated to be completed in early 2026, the Managua Nicaragua Temple has moved ahead of the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple, and the Neiafu Tonga Temple has joined the Torreon Mexico & Wichita Kansas Temples in having a completion Estimates of early-to-mid 2026 (leaving the Fort Worth Texas and Cody Wyoming Temples as the only temples now estimated to be completed in mid-2026). My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe First Presidency and Presiding Bishopric recently touredportions of the Salt Lake Temple, which draws closer to its completion late next year or in the early months of 2027. As previously announced by President Nelson, the temple open housecelebration will be held between April and October 2027, with the dedication date yet to be arranged. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News also covered yesterday's Newsroom report to about the petroglyphs, and provided further coverage of the faith journey of Olympian Noelle Pikus Pace. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteMeanwhile, the Newsroom shares more details about the January 2026 youth devotional featuring President D. Todd Christofferson, Second Counselor in the First Presidency. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Friday, the Church News has shared how various Church organizations are helping to "#LighttheWorld" this Christmas, and how ward leaders can help children & youth prepare for age group progressions after the first of the year. And thel latest edition of<"This Week on Social" features posts from the following general Church leaders:
DeletePresident D. Todd Christofferson, Second Cuonselor in the First Presidency; Elders Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen, Ronald A. Rasband, Dale G. Renlund, Ulisses Soares, and Gérald Caussé of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles; the Relief Society General Presidency (President Camille N. Johnson and Sisters J. Anette Dennis and Kristin M. Yee), who jointly posted via Relief Society Worldwide; Sister Tamara W. Runia, First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency; Sisters Amy A. Wright and Tracy Y. Browning, the respective FIrst and Second Counselors in the Primary General Presidency; and Young Men General President Timothy J. Farnes.
My thanks once again to you all.
Within the last two days, the Church Templess site has noted significant changes in the queue of temples anticipated to be completed between now and mid-2026. On December 17, that queue was asf ollows:
DeleteLate 2025-early 2026: Cleveland Ohio, San Luis Potosí Mexico, & Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples
Early 2026: Managua Nicaragua, Pago Pago American Samoa, Montpelier Idaho, & Belo Horizonte Brazil Temples
Early-to-mid 2026: Torreón Mexico, Wichita Kansas, & Neiafu Tonga Temples
Mid-2026: Fort Worth Texas & Cody Wyoming Temples
That queue now stands as follows:
Late 2025-early 2026: Cleveland Ohio, San Luis Potosí Mexico, & Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples
Early 2026: Managua Nicaragua, Montpelier Idaho, Belo Horizonte Brazil, & Pago Pago American Samoa Temples
Early-to-mid 2026: Neiafu Tonga, Torreón Mexico, Wichita Kansas, & Cody Wyoming Temples
Mid-2026: Fort Worth Texas Temple
Above and beyond tthe changes in theq ueue, construction status updates were posted for the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, Managua Nicaragua, Montpelier Idaho, Belo Horizonte Brazil, Pago Pago American Samoa, Neiafu Tonga, and Cody Wyoming Temples. My thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom has shared this new report, which has been added to the Newsroom's homepage for "#LighttheWorld" coverage. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteYoung Men General President Timothy L. Farnes, who is also a member of the Church Board of Education spoke to BYU-Idaho graduates about becoming "second-mile disciples" of Jesus Christ. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteA templeconstruction status update has also been noted on the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Saturday thus far, only one update has been shared by the Church News: Church News editor Jon Ryan Jensen shares his perspective on studying different version of the Bible as is now encouraged by the Church Handbook. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteWhen the new hymnbook was announced, the First Presidency noted that some existing songs in the hymnbook and children's songbook would be updated for doctrinal clarity or other reasons. Today, the Newsroom noted such an update to the second verse of the children's song "When I Am Baptized". My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Church News has also covered the lyric change of the second verse of "When I Am Baptized." My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has shared the text of the message that Derrick Porter will share during tomorrow's 5,023rd episode of "Music & the Spoken Word". My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThere are now available options to stream the Tabernacle Choir's 2022 concert, which featured Lea Salonga and Sir David Suchet. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Sabbath Day, the Church News shares the inspiring story of a service missionary who lost both legs. The Church News also took a look back at the prophetic tranisition and landmark adjustments in the Church under the direction of two inspired prophets of the Lord, Presidents Russell M. Nelson and Dallin H. Oaks. The latest edition of "In Case You Missed It: Week in Review<"/a> took a look at the top 9 developments covered by the Church News this past week.
DeleteMeanwhile, as reported in the Newsroom, in the lead-up to Christmas this year, most of our current apostles have posted Christmas messages on social media. Only two members of the Quorum of the Twelve do not currently have content featured on that page: Elders Gerrit W. Gong and Patrick Kearon, and that may change at some point between now and Christmas.
I wanted to note one other thing: the January 2026 Liahona is now available online, and the infobox reverts back to the practice of listing the First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and advisers as they were prior to President Nelson passing away in October. And insofar as I have been able to ascertain, there does not appear to be any supplements to the January magazines or any coverage of the new First Presidency. Maybe in February. My thanks once again to you all.
And with our "Come, Follow Me" study focused on the topic of Christmas (naturally and rightfully so), the Church News has shared what Church leaders have said on that topic. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteJust now realized that our study on the subject of Christmas this week will include studying "The Living Christ: The Testimony of the Apostles". With this last week focused on "The Family: A Proclamation to the World", and with our having previously studied The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ at the beginning of the year, I'm glad those three proclamations were included in our study of the Doctrine & Covenants and Church History this year.
DeleteI will just mention one other thing: Ordinarily, on the weeks of Christmas and New Year's Day, the Church doesn't make any major announcements due to Church headquarters being closed for those holidays. But with both holidays being later in the week, and with Church offices still open the next two Mondays, I think we may actually get one or ow additional temple-related announcements before the end of the year. My thanks once again to you all.
As a follow-up to the updates in the Church General Handbook, and more specifically those addressing the encouraged usage of different versions of the Bible , the Church News posted this advice about doing that at home and in church. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThere have been significant shifts in the temple construction queue, with those shifts impacting the order and timing for temples in the currren construction queue. This document shows where those estimates stood asof December 18, and this one represesnts the shifts that were effective in that queue as of Sunday evening.
DeleteThe latest updates include shifts at the top of the queue. Those estimates stood as follows as of December 18:
Late 2025-early 2026: Cleveland Ohio, San Luis Potosí Mexico, & Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples
Early 2026: Managua Nicaragua, Montpelier Idaho, Belo Horizonte Brazil, & Pago Pago American Samoa Temples
Early-to-mid 2026: Neiafu Tonga, Torreón Mexico, Wichita Kansas, & Cody Wyoming Temples
Mid-2026: Fort Worth Texas Temple
The estimatesa at the top ofthe queue now stand as follows:
Late 2025-early 2026: San Luis Potosí Mexico, Cleveland Ohio, & Torreón Mexico Temples
Early 2026: Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, Pago Pago American Samoa, Managua Nicaragua, Montpelier Idaho, & Belo Horizonte Brazil Temples
Early-to-mid 2026: Neiafu Tonga, Wichita Kansas, & Cody Wyoming Temples
Mid-2026: Fort Worth Texas Temple
Aside from those noted shifts, construction status updates have recently been provided for the following temples: San Luis Potosi Mexico, Clevelan Ohio, Torreon Mexico, Winchester Virgniia,, and Wellington New Zealand.
The updates on the latter two temples nowmean thatconstruction isofficially underway on those temples,which havebeen assigned general completion estimates of mid-to-late 2028, which puts them both behind the Vancouver Washington Temple, but also ahead of the Lone Mountain Nevada Temple. There are now 9 temples for which full-scale construction is currently pending, and I hope we see that number continue to go down.
It's also worth noting that the construction processes for the Bengaluru India andHeber Valley Utah Temples are currently stalled: the former by reported financial obstacles, and the latter by legal obstancles. Hopefully both of those temples can see full-scale construction resume in the relatively near term. I similarly hope for full-scale construction to start soon for each of the 9 temples for which full-scale construction is currently pending.
I should also reiterate that, as I noted above, my hope is that the regular Monday 2:00 PM announcement relating to major temple construction efforts will occur today and next Monday, since both Mondays occur more than two days before major holidays (Christmas and New Year's Day). Within the last two years, such announcements did not occur on the weeks when those two holidays occurred.
I likewise just want to reiterate the guidelines for commenting on this blog, which are outlined in the paragraphs at the bottom of each page of this blog. Any comments that violate those guidelines will not be tolerated, and if such comments continue, moderation of some kind may be deemed necessary. My thanks to all of you who comment in accordance with those guidelines.
On this Monday morning, we are roughly 3 hours away from finding out whether or not there will be a major temple construction announcement today. If there is one, you can count on my covering it here. In the interim, the Churc News has published a a new video of guests of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square's Christmas concerts who have read the Christmas story in Luke 2. That video has been updated to include the first set of guests who are also a married couple and who both performed with the Choir this year. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News recently shared this additional report, which speaks for itself. I am keeping my eyes open for any temple news. Stay tuned here in the next hour for any analysis. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteClearly, I was mistaken in my belief that there would be major temple construction news announced today. It makes sense that would be the case the week of Christmas. I still think it is likely that something could be announced next week,whether that is another new temple or something related to the current queue.
DeleteAnd speaking of the current queue, there have been additional adjustments noted to that. This document shows where things stood yesterday, and this one shows the latest updates. For those more interested in my analysis than the documents, let me outline the relevant changes:
The Smithfield Utah Temple has been moved up to join the Fort Worth Texas Temple with a mid-2026 completion estimate; likewise, the Knoxville Tennessee Temple now joins the Modesto California Temple with an estimate of mid0to-late 2026. The Queretaro Mexico Temple (most recently listed as the FirstTemple estimatedto be completed in early 2027) now leapfrogs up to join the Port Vila Vanuatu Temple with a completion estimate of late 2026. The Freetown Sierra Leone, Riberao Preto Brazil, & Londrina Brazil Temples retain their estimated completion of late 2026-early 2027.
This leaves only the Santa Cruz Bolivia and SantiagoWest Chile Temples with a completion estimate of early 2027. The temples estimated to be completed in early to mid-2027 and mid-2027 remain unchanged as well. The Cali Colombia Temple has now joined the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple with a completion estimate of mid-to-late 2027. The Teton River Idaho Temple has leapfrogged the Bengaluru India Temple and now joins the Cagayan de Oro Philippines Temple with a completion estimate of late 2027. Construction on the Bengaluru India Temple is still stalled.
That is a very brief overview of what has changed. Thanks to all who took an interest in this analysis, or even in the altered document itself.
And just like that, the temple construction queue has shifted yet again, most notably the temples anticipated to be completed in the next year, if not sooner. Major construction has now wrapped up on the San Luis Potosí Mexico Temple, which now joins 4 other temples awaiting the announcement of its opening arrangements. And if there is also no major temple construction news announced next week, then we are likely looking at those 5 getting dedicated at some point after the 2026 July recess for the general authorities.
DeleteMeanwhile, the Cleveland Ohio, Torreón Mexico, Port Moresby Papua New Guinea, & Pago Pago American Samoa Temples are all anticipated to be completed in early 2026, with the Managua Nicaragua, Montpelier Idaho, Belo Horizonte Brazil, & Neiafu Tonga Temples in early to mid-2026, the Wichita Kansas, Cody Wyoming, & Fort Worth Texas Temples in mid-2026, and the Smithfield Utah, Modesto California, and Knoxville Tennessee Temples now estimated to be completed in mid-to-late 2026.
I am hoping that the final 5 months of 2026 can be jam-packed as far as temple dedications go, but I don't know how feasible that might be. Either way, we are likely to see temple construction announcements pick up again once we hit 2026. Stay tuned here for my coverage of all that transpires theeabouts.
My thanks once again to all who are interested in this analysis.
The Church News has shared two other reports that speak for themselves. My thanks once again to all who are interested in these updates.
Delete