Slight Update to my thoughts on the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Construction Process

Hello again, everyone! I wanted to post some updated thoughts about the process of construction for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. While many sources available to me have offered a general estimate that full-scale construction may begin at some point during the first half of 2018, I have done some further study about the climate in Winnipeg. That study has led me to conclude that full-scale construction will begin once the winter season ends. Since spring comes near the end of March, it is my new feeling that earnest work can begin on that temple somewhere around the beginning of April. If that happens, and if the redesign of that temple does not change the estimate we have been given of 20 months for that process, then the construction of that temple will be wrapped up as 2019 ends. That being the case, the dedication would likely follow in February or March 2020. If weather conditions cooperate enough to allow construction to begin a month or two earlier, then the dedication could take place before the end of 2019. It will be interesting to see what happens in that regard.

That does it for this post. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray the Lord's blessings will be upon each of you in all that you do.

Changing my original thoughts about the potential name for the second temple in Manila

Hello again, everyone, as we mark the beginning of the month of November. As some of you may remember, at one point a month or two ago, I had expressed my opinion that the second temple to be built in Manila Philippines might be named the Alabang Manila Temple. Since that time, I have not published any update on that, and when I published a full version of that report earlier this week, I had removed any unofficial name for that temple. It is anticipated that the Church may announce the official name at any point in the future, whether prior to the groundbreaking for that temple, or at very least during that ceremony, whenever that might happen.

So then the question arises, what might that temple be named. I have heard a few possibilities floating around, and any one of them could be possible. I list those here, in no particular order, with the exception of the last one, which seems to be the most likely possibility.

Manila Philippines Temple (the idea behind that one seems to be that, since the temple currently known by that name is actually located in the area known as Quezon City in Metro-Manila, that temple would be renamed the Quezon City Philippines Temple)
Manila Philippines Muntinlupa Temple
Manila Philippines Muntinlupa City Temple
Muntinlupa Philippines Temple
Muntinlupa City Philippines Temple
Manila Philippines Alabang Temple

That is the complete list of possibilities I have heard floating around. That said, I want to hear your thoughts on these possibilities. Have I overlooked anything? Which do you feel are most likely? That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray the Lord's blessings will be upon all of you.

Update: Church unit changes since September 14 of this year

Hello again, everyone! Since I last posted some thoughts about Church unit developments almost seven weeks ago, there have been significant changes. With only 9 of the 53 Sundays left in this year, so much has happened. As previous noted, on New Year's Day of this year, the Church had 3,266 stakes, 556 districts, and 30,304 congregations.

Noting that the Church now has 3,319 stakes, there has been a net increase of 53 stakes. With the 44 Sundays that have come and gone this year, that averages out to 1.2 new stakes per week. If that continues for the remaining 9 Sundays of this year, a minimum increase of 11 stakes is possible. Matthew Martinich, who keeps us all informed about Church growth on his blog devoted to that subject, has noted that the Church may have as many as 66 new stakes by the end of this year. Given that 5 stakes have also been discontinued thus far this year, that would be a net increase of 61 new stakes for the year, which means a net increase of 8 stakes, which is slightly lower than the 11 I referenced above.

Additionally, there are currently 545 districts, which is a net decrease of 11 districts. That said, when I have posted previously about Church growth that has happened or may yet happen, some have inquired how many of those 11 might have been upgraded to a stake. While that is a great question, that is not something I am comfortable answering. Posts like this represent my own thoughts on the growth of the Church that has or may yet occur, and the answers to such questions are well documented by others whom I respect as experts in the field of Church growth developments. With that in mind, those kinds of questions I would defer to those experts to answer. That said, I am grateful to those who have asked about that in the past, because it demonstrates that you are paying attention to things I have said in these posts. It will be interesting to see what the year-end number of districts is.

Next, I wanted to note that the number of congregations Church-wide has risen to 30,385. That means that, during these 42 Sundays that have come and gone, there has been a net increase of 81 congregations, or roughly 1.93 new congregations established each week. If that rate continues in the remaining 9 Sundays of this year, we could see 18 additional congregations established, at minimum. If a larger increase in the number of stakes occurs than what I have suggested here, many more congregations could be created. The one thing that is not as certain is how many congregations, if any, might be created during the final two Sundays of this year, when the world observes Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.

Finally, I just wanted to note as well that, based on the Church''s announcement last week about how missionaries would be using technology more, and that missions would begin to be consolidated, we could see a change in the number of missions in the Church by the end of this year. There is also a possibility that the Church could wait to start that consolidation process until next year, when the assignment of new mission presidents will be announced.

Whatever might happen in regards to Church growth, you can depend on the LDS Church Growth blog (and, to a lesser extent, this one) to bring you the latest. That does it for this post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord's blessings upon each of you in all you do.