Hello again, everyone! Given the recent confirmation that the Sunday Morning Session of the April 2026 General Conference will more particularly focus on messages about the life, ministry, mission, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I have once again revised my predictions for the speaker lineup for General Conference weekend.
Based on the aforementioned source, I now believe the Sunday Morning Session will include talks from each member of the First Presidency, alongside a couple of members of the Quorum of the Twelve and other general Church leaders.For that reason, I now believe that 4 members of the Quorum of the Twelve will speak on Saturday Morning, 3 each on Saturday Afternoon and Sunday Afternoon, and the remaining 2 on Sunday Morning, along with the First Presidency and a couple of other general Church leaders.
I have adjusted my predictions accordingly. And if, as I am projecting, the entire First Presidency speaks on Sunday Morning, President Oaks will likely close out the final session with brief concluding remarks rather than a full-length address. It is also possible that President Oaks could speak briefly before or after the Solemn Assembly is held, but I am less convinced that will be the case. And if the entire First Presidency speaks during the Sunday Morning Session, neither of the current counselors in the First Presidency will need to speak in any of the other sessions.
For all of these reasons, the adjustments make sense to me. I hope the revised speaker lineup predictions prove insightful to all who view them here. And again, I have no insider knowledge regarding the speaker lineup. This is my analysis based on past patterns. The elimination of a Saturday Evening Session is a game-changer for sure. And whether I'm right or wrong about any such projections, I will still enjoy following along with what actually happens over General Conference weekend.
You can count on my analysis of any major news that will be announced during General Conference weekend. And leading up to that, I will have the final version of all predictions relating to the conference posted here on Thursday night at 10:00 PM (36 hours before the first session begins). 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.
On this Saturday, with no new reports from the Newsroom, the Church News has shared a few new reports: a Church service missionary who has Down Syndrome and a limited speaking ability is serving with love and kindness; how Palm Sunday can help us "remember who [we] are"; the Caribbean Area Presidency recently met with a presiding Catholic leader in the Dominican Republic; young single adults are strengthening faith and community in Massachusetts; and the Church News has provided the text of the message that will be given by Brother Derrick Porter during the Palm Sunday edition of "Music & the Spoken Word" (which will mark the 5,037th episode of the program). My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Church News has shared one additional report. With nothing new from the Newsroom, I wanted to note major changes in my thinking about the potentially likely time frames for temple dedications for the rest of the year:
DeleteWith the queue of completed temples being staggered between larger temples and smaller ones, the dedications will likely be staggered too. And since the first leaders have been named for the Smithfield Utah Temple, it seems likely that the Church might be looking to dedicate that temple before the end of this year. Those adjustments will be reflected in my end-of-first-quarter 2026 temple construction review, and I will be revising my thinking on the timing for the dedications of other temples in the current queue as a result. That appears to be a perpetually recurring process.
One other thing I wanted to note: recently, the Salt Lake Tribune published yet another article advocating for the idea of granting emeritus status to infirm or older apostles. The article in question notes Elder Hugh B. Brown's radical proposal that apostles be granted emeritus status at around age 70, perpetually bringing younger perspectives to Church policies, doctrines, and practices. Interestingly enough, at the time Brown made the proposal, if it had been approved, it would have resulted in Elder Brown himself being emeritized.
DeleteAs we know, subsequently, President Spencer W. Kimball's First Presidency determined in 1978 that the general authority seventies should be granted emeritus status at age 70. But, as we also know, that did not affect the apostles' rendering lifelong service. With the exception of Hugh B. Brown's proposal, it has been a well-established practice that, in similarity to the meridian Church, the apostles of our day serve from the moment they are called until their dying breath. And that is something that those pushing the proposal of emeritus status for the apostles do not account for.
I cannot say it enough: the apostles of our day who serve until their dying breath willingly do so, despite the difficulties related to their ages and health conditions. They find joy in so doing. As President Hinckley rightfully observed, having mature men who will not be blown about by every wind of doctrine is an immeasurable bleswsing to the worldwide Church. And speaking personally, if any apostles were granted emeritus status of any kind, we would miss out on their final sermons, which are some of the most treasured apostolic talks, in my opinion.
Granting apostles emeritus status is not the Lord's way. It never has been, nor will it ever be. The aging apostles provide constancy amidst an ever-changing, more difficult, and increasingly more wicked world. When they accept the calling to serve, they understand it is something from which their only release is death (with the exception of apostolic excommunication, which has not happened in 83 years, and appears very unlikely to occur again).
So, emeritus status for the apostles will never happen, as it is not the Lord's way of doing things. He knows who He wants to serve as apostles (and prophets), when, and for how long. The Church and its' members are blessed beyond measure to have aging apostles who are committed to their lifelong calls, and their final addresses are often their very best ever delivered. Sorry to get up on my soapbox about this, but as you can probably tell, the idea of granting apostles emeritus status is something that I feel very strongly against, as it is contrary to the Lord's way.
The Salt Lake Tribune article in question may require a subscription to read it, but for those of you who are interested in reading what they have to say on the subject, I wanted to include that link to it. Thanks for taking the time to read through my thoughts on this subject. I appreciate e of my readers here, and hope that comes across well with the commentary I share. May the Lord continue to bless our discussions.
On this Palm Sunday, the Church News has shared 5 resources for study and worship of Jesus Christ during this 2026 Easter season. The Church has also shared additional resources for Easter-related study, including a day-by-day plan to study the final week of the Savior's life, His crucifixion and resurrections. That includes the notice that the Sunday Morning Session of General Conference will more particularly focus on Jesus Christ, which is why, as I noted in my latest pos abovet, I have once again altered my General Conference projected speaker lineup.
ReplyDeleteMoving on to other developments reported today, the Church News also shared the top 9 developments reported this week in the latest edition of "In Case You Missed It: Week in Review". And with our "Come, Follow Me" study centering on the subject of Easter, see what Church leaders have taught about the Easter season.
Today, the Newsroom additionally noted that worldwide enrollment in seminary and institute has now surpassed 1 million for the first time in Church history. Any new temple construction updates or new reports from the Church News and Newsroom will continue to be shared as time and my circumstances allow me to do so later today. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
On this Monday, we are just about 20 minutes away from the next anticipated major announcement about temple construction. We currently have 9 temples completed and awaiting the announcement of their respective opening arrangements, so I could see one or two dedications announced. We also have a number of temples that have had significant milestones towards groundbreakings, so 1 or 2 of those could also be announced. Other exterior renderingers and/or site location confirmations are also very possible.
DeleteWhile we await that announcement, the Newsroom has provided an overview of the World Report that will air during General Conference weekend, in addition to more social media posts about Easter from general Church leaders.
Meanwhile, the Church News shares more about Presiding Bishop W. Christopher Waddell's recent ministry in Europe, and detailed more about Easter displays on Temple Square.
My report about the temple news will follow once that announcement has been officially released. In the meantime, my thanks once again to you all.
Looks like there may not be an announcement today, which makes sense as we are in the week prior to General Conference, and usually, that means that the incoming and outgoing area seventies will be announced on Thursday during the General Conference Leadership Sessions. If that happens on schedule again, I am anticipating that 50-70 area seventies will be released, with 70-90 additional area seventies called. I will, of course, cover any major developments reported throughout this very busy week and weekend. For now, my thanks once again to you all.
DeleteWith no temple news today, unless something is announced at some point tomorrow, it looks like we won't be getting a major temple construction announcement this week. That being said, the Church News has shared this report on the Newsroom release about how enrollment for seminaries and institutes of religion has now surpassed 1 million for the first time in Church history. The Church News also shared one other report that speaks for itself.
DeleteAnd there will be plenty to report on this week (and possibly this weekend). Tomorrow marks the last day in the first quarter of 2026, so my temple construction review for the quarter will be published late tomorrow night. On Thursday, as noted above, it is very likely that we will see incoming and outgoing area seventies announced, in addition to which, the final revision of my General Conference predictions will be published at 10:00 PM that same day (36 hours before the Saturday Morning Session of General Conference begins). We expect the 2025 Statistical Report to be posted during that first session.
Will President Oaks opt to revert to the traditional way? I don't see why he would. In any case, since the last two Church Presidents to have Somen Assemblies had their Second Counselors lead that process, I think President Christofferson will do so for President Oaks. Will President Eyring conduct the sustaining of other Church leaders in the Saturday Afternoon Session? It seems most likely, but it's not been confirmed either way yet.
And with one less session to plan for, I am anticipating that the apostolic talks will continue to be the length they have been, with any other speakers given a slightly smaller allotment of time to speak. And with the Easter Sunday Morning Session set to be specifically focused on Easter, will the entire First Presidency speak to close out the session? Or will President Oaks stick to the established precedent of the prophet only speaking at the close of General Conference?
For General Conference weekend itself, I'll be interested to see how the Church handles the business portion thereof. As I have noted elsewhere on this blog, traditionally, when Solemn Assemblies sustained the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, part of that process has also involved noting and sustaining other changes in general Church leadership. But that process was broken in half under President Nelson, with each of his counselors handling a portion of that process at the top of the first two sessions of General Conference. Since that does suggest a new precedent, I have projected that President Christofferson will lead the Solemn Assembly on Saturday Morning, and that President Eyring will lead the Sustaining of Other Church Leaders at the top of the Saturday Afternoon Session.
I will be curious to see how many talks are given in 4 sessions vs. 5 sessions. It seems likely that the Church may shorten the length of time allotted to non-apostolic speakers by a few minutes each or so, which would allow more General Authority Seventies to speak. But I recognize we are in uncharted territory with the reduction to 4 sessions. As one other note of interest, the Church has traditionally published articles about the reorganization of the First Presidency, articles for each of the three members thereof, and articles for new apostles. With President Oaks and his counselors appointed in October 2025, and with four General Conference sessions going forward, I am projecting the inclusion of the biographical articles for these new leaders in the May 2026 Liahona. Given the lack of new articles since the October announcement, the May Liahona may be the best place for those articles. Time will tell on that. My thanks once again to you all.