Hello again, everyone! As the final moments of 2025 turn into the first moments of 2026, it is my honor to now provide a final overview of temple construction progress during this momentous year. For reference, this Newsroom report shares the rundown of most temple-related announcements made this year, though for some reason, it omits the mention of the announcement of the Portland Maine Temple and of the most recent First Presidency tour of the Salt Lake Temple. The Church News has also covered temple news throughout the year.
As for myself, I have continued to track temple construction on my end throughout the year. This document shows temple dedications & rededictions in 2025, with this documents showing a side-by-side comparison of temple groundbreakings in 2024 vs. 2025, and this one shows the same data for 2025 vs. 2026. This document shows current apostles' temple dedications & rededications during President Nelson's prophetic tenure, and this one shows the same data during President Oaks' prophetic tenure. And this one shows thea nnounced temples for which no information has been officially confirmed yet .
Pertaining to the actual progression of the temple construction queue, this document shows where things stood as 2025 began, this one shows wheret things stood a few days before the April 2025 General Conference, this one shows progress at the mid-point of this year, this one shows where things stood a few days prior to the October 2025 General Conference, and this one showing where things stand as 2025 is becoming 2026.
There is a lot more data to get through this year, but I hope the extra documents are helpful. There are others I could have included, but these are sufficient for my purposes today. As these documents and sources reflect, a lot has happened with the temple construction queue in 2025, and we are almost certain to see a significant increase of such developments in 2026.
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.
Hello again, everyone, and Happy New Year 2026! The Church News posted 4 charts showing temple growth over the last 50 years, and another article from another Professor of Ancient Scripture at BYU who provided his thoughts on studying the Old Testament this year. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThis evening, the Newsroom provided this report on the graveside services for President Holland, who was laid to rest in his native St. George, alongside his wife. His son, David F. Holland, conducted the graveside service, his daughter, Mary McCann offered brief remarks, and his oldest son, Elder Matthew S. Holland, formally dedicated the grave.
DeleteSurprisingly, several top Church leaders were personally in attendance, including Church President Dallin H. Oaks, both of his counselors, Presidents Henry B. Eyring and D. Todd Christofferson, and Elders Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Quentin L. Cook, Neil L. Andersen, Gary E. Stevenson, and Patrick Kearon were all in attendance, as were each of their wives (with the exception of Sister Eyring, who is, of course, deceased). I am not sure why some apostles made the trip while some didn't, but I'm glad that the entire First Presidency and the 5 members of the Quorum of the Twelve, including President Holland's apostolic seatmates, were able to be there.
And now that President Holland has been laid to rest, hopefully we will hear early next week that President Eyring and now-President Uchtdorf have been set apart in their new roles to lead the Quorum of the Twelve. And I would anticipate the announcement of a new apostle will come in the next week or two. Stay tuned here for my coverage of these developments and all other updates that the new year will bring. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News has also reported on President Holland's burial. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe report from the newsroom does include the Portland Maine temple. It is the second most recent announcement.
ReplyDeleteWhat report from the Newsroom, Scott? And what is the most recent announcement? Did I miss something?
DeleteThe newsroom report of temple announcements for the year. It is the first link you shared in this post. The most recent announcement was on December 15th (Bacolod, Sunnyvale, Fairview). The next was December 14th (Portland)
DeleteThanks for that clarification. I understand what you are saying now. At the time I presetthis post to publish, the report on the Portland Maine Temple announcement had not been included on the page you mentioned. At some point between when I prepared the post and when it published at the preset time, that changed. The other item that list doesn't include is the First Presidency's tour of the Salt Lake Temple. Of course, the Newsroom may have decided to keep that update with the latest updates on the Salt Lake Temple rather than categorizing it as something that should have been listed on the main page for temple news in 2025.
DeleteThanks for bringing that to my attention, Scott. Sorry about my confusion. I always appreciate hearing from you.
On this Saturday, the Church News has shared this new report thus far. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteFriday. It's Friday today. My apologies for the mistake. Aside from the update above, the only other update published today is the latest edition of "This Week on Social". The general Church leaders who had content featured in the latest installment of the ongoing weekly series are:
DeleteChurch President Dallin H. Oaks and Elders Neil L. Andersen and Dale G Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (each of whom paid tribute to President Holland) and Sister Andrea Munoz Spannaus, Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency, who posted a New Year's message in Spanish via Young Women Worldwide.
I had thought that with President Holland's funeral on New Year's Eve that we might get word today, tomorrow, or Sunday that Presidents Eyring and Uchtdorf had been set apart in their new oversight roles for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, but I hadn't taken into account that both of those leaders, along with President Oaks and other members of the Quorum of the Twelve, would travel to St. George to attend the graveside service for President Holland.
So if the First Presidency makes the first major temple construction announcement on Monday (January 5), then unless the new leaders of the Qourum of the Twelve are set apart on Sunday, it will probably be Tuesday at earliest before we hear about that update. I still think that the new apostle could be called, and ordained on Thursday or Friday, with the Church announcing that either on the day it happens or the day after. But I also wouldn't be shocked if the announcement of the new apostle is deferred until Tuesday or Wednesday of next week.
In either case, it won't be long now before the wheels of change spin for the leadership of the Quorum and for that Quorum's newest member. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News is looking for 2026 Winter Olympian Latter-day Saints and inviting them tosend in their stories. And the Newsroom capped its' yearlong coverage of 100 years of the Church in South America with one additional report. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn Saturday, the Church News shared a few new updates: BYU has paid tribute to former president Jeffrey R. Holland;; another BYU professor of Ancient Scripture has shared his insights on studying the Old Testament this year; the results of some Giving Machine donations have been outlined; the Church News shared the text of the message that will be given during today's 5,025th episode of "Music & the Spoken Word"; and one missionary's unique approach to strengthen community ties and teach the gospel in the nation of Guinea.
DeleteMeanwhile, on this Sabbath Day thus far, the Church News shared teachings on temples and temple worship from each of our 14 current apostles and President Jeffrey R. Holland, and a brief overview of the 25 stake presidences that have recently been called, with 1 of those being for a newly-created stake and the other 24 being for reorganized stake presidencies.
I don't know when or how soon the next group of biographies for new temple leaders will be shared, but with the Bacolod Philippines and Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temples completed, they have not had their first leaders called (or their biographies shared by the Church News) yet. So hopefully the next group of temple leader biographies is forthcoming.
I also just wanted to mention that I anticipate regular weekly major temple construction announcements to pick up this year. So I anticipate such updates will be announced most Mondays at 2:00 PM MST (with some of those announcements coming on a Tuesday if any Monday is a federal holiday in the United States). How soon the next temple dedication will be announced is hard to gauge, and it is hard to know whether any such dedications will be set to occur in July of this year (which will be the recess month for General Authorities). So it will be interesting to see what happens with temple dedications in the next little while here.
In addition, either later today or on Tuesday, I anticipate we will hear confirmation that President Eyring and now-President Uchtdorf have been formally set apart in their roles to lead the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The newest apostle could be called next week or the week after. Stay tuned here for my coverage of those announcements whenever they are made. My thanks once again to you all.
The latest edition of "In Case You Missed It: Week in Review" has been published. This week, only 8 new developments were highlighted, although within those 8 developments were a couple of updates that included multiple reports. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAs reported by the Newsroom and the Church News have reported on the unexpected sudden death of a Utah missionary serving in New Mexico. An autopsy is planned to determine the cause of the death, which will hopefully bring some closure to the family that must now carry on in the wake of their loss.
DeleteWith no other reports from the Newsroom, the Church News has shared some additional reports: resources for parents and teachers of children and what church leaders have said about Moses 1 and Abraham 3, which are the "Come, Follow Me" chapters of study for the upcoming week,
Since nothing new was announced today, I would assume that the soonest we will hear about the newly set apart leaders of the Quorum of the Twelve will be Tuesday, unless they announce both that and the traditional major temple construction update tomorrow. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church Temples site has noted a minor change in the temple construction queue. Here is where things stood as recently as yesterday:
DeleteLate 2026: Port Vila Vanuatu & Querétaro Mexico Temples
Late 2026-early 2027: Freetown Sierra Leone, Ribeirão Preto Brazil, & Londrina Brazil Temples
And here is where those same time-frames stand with the recently-applied adjustments:
Late 2026: Freetown Sierra Leone & Port Vila Vanuatu Temples
Late 2026-early 2027: Querétaro Mexico, Ribeirão Preto Brazil, & Londrina Brazil Temples
I am still evaluating my adjustments to the dedication time-frames for all temples, based on the fact that we last had a dedication announced almost 3 weeks ago. The last temple dedication prior to that was announced 6 weeks ago and wAs a US temple for which the dedication was set to occur in early June. The biggest question I have wrestled with is whether the Church will schedule any temple dedications to occur in July, which is typically a recess month for the General Authorities, including the apostles. I am hoping that the next set dedication will be for the Yorba Linda California Temple, and that that dedication could either occur on either the last Sunday in June (June 28) or else two weeks later (July 12). But could the next set dedications be pushed into August? Are groundbreaking announcements more likely? These are the questions I am considering. Short answer: I don't know what the Church may choose to do. And it is possible that, if the Church is going to confirm the leadership changes for the Quorum of the Twelve and the new apostle this week that the next major temple construction announcement could be pushed to Tuesday of next week (as next Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day here in the United States, a federal holiday on which Church offices will be closed).
So all I can say is stay tuned here in the coming days, and I will be sure to provide any official Church reports here ASAP after I learn about them. My thanks once agian to you all.
I am pleased at this time to share with you all that construction status updates have been reported for the Fort Worth Texas, Freetown Sierra Leone, and Lone Mountain Nevada Temples. Thanks again, everyone!
DeleteOn this Monday morning, the Newsroom and the Church News have each provided one unique report apiece. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has also shown temple growth with 6 maps. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteNo major temple construction announcement was made today, which convinced me that we could see both an announcement of the new leadership for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and also the announcement of the newest apostle this week. Stay tuned for my coverage on whatever happens in that regard. In the meantime, the Church News has shared this additional update. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the Newsroom has provided an overview of thekeynote speakers for RootsTech 2026. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteToday is the birthday of Sister Amy A. Wright, First Counselor in the Primary General Presidency. The Church News has shared this tribute in her honor. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe >a href="https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/familysearch-announces-rootstech-2026-keynotes-and-class-scheduling" >Newsroom and the Church News have shared the keynote speakers for RootsTech 2026. The Church News has also shared the Winter Semester 2026 devotional and forum guests at Church schools. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Newsroom link in my above comment isn't working. I apologize for the error. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe latest edition of the Church News podcast has been shared as well. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteOn this Wednesday, the Church News has reported on the New Year's counsel given by Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson to missionaries at the Provo MTC. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has reported two updates. that speak for themselves. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News has also reported on a tragic incident that occurred in a Church parking lot where an evening funeral was being held. My thanks once again to you all.
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