Major Church News Developments Reported

Hello again, everyone! Less than 24 hours before General Conference is set to begin, there have been major and significant developments on many Church news fronts within the last 12 hours or less. Let's get right into all of those. First, as many of you have seen from the comments on previous posts, the Choir that US President Ronald Reagan called "America's Choir" has changed its' name.

This is being done in order to follow President Nelson's recent impression (about emphasizing and using the proper name of the Lord's Church), which discouraged against using "Mormon" as a term for the members or organization of the Church.

When President Monson became Church President in 2008, he and his counselors would sometimes refer to the Choir as merely the "Tabernacle Choir" and would omit any usage of the term "Mormon" in those references. So, in compliance with both the previous practice of a Church President, and, more significantly, in order to comply with the guidelines about the proper terminology for the Church and its' members, the Choir will now be known as "The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square".

It may take some getting used to, but to me, this change makes perfect sense. The Orchestra and Bell Choir that have previously performed with the Choir have been referred to respectively as "The Orchestra at Temple Square" and "The Bells on Temple Square". So this stylistic change seems not only needed, but very appropriate and timely. The Church News also provided some additional details on this name change. It was great to hear about that.

Also from the Newsroom, the Church will be posting all updated articles and other coverage relating to General Conference in this specific section  of that Newsroom. In the meantime, in an earlier post, I had mentioned that the Newsroom would feature stories throughout the weekend which are shared in the semiannual World Report, which will air during General Conference weekend. So stay tuned to that page for the stories that will be shared during this weekend as well.

We conclude now by turning to the Church News website, which has featured some additional inspiring articles. Church members around the world shared what the April 2018 General Conference meant to them. In another article in the "History Revisited" series, a Church News staff writer took a look back at the vital role of women's voices  during General Conference throughout the history of the Church.

There was another report about the Saints and our friends of other faiths who continue to work together to make progress with ongoing cleanup efforts from the aftermath of Hurricane Florence. While the road to full recovery and restoration may take a while, the common brotherhood of man and a mutual desire to help each other has transcended religious differences. And finally, the Church News has shared insights from a few Church members around the world about familial traditions being kept and the variety of other ways in which Saints around the world prepare for General Conference.

As the Conference weekend occurs, you can be sure I will continue to provide coverage of important developments as they occur. I do continue to also monitor any other Church and temple news and will bring word of those developments to you all as I become aware of them. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

Additional Church News Reported

Hello again, everyone! Some additional Church news developments have come to my attention within the last several hours. Let's get right into all of those. First of all, here in Utah, a major compromise has been reached between supporters of the ballot initiative which will go before voters that would legalize marijuana (both for medical and recreational use) and those who have opposed it, including a coalition of governmental and religious leaders and medical professionals who see problems with the wording of the initiative as it now stands.

The compromise, announced today by Utah Governor Gary Herbert, calls for the initiative to remain on the ballot, on the understanding that whether or not it passes, a special session of the Utah legislature will come together to either fix the existing problems if the initiative passes, or to craft legislation to legalize medical marijuana with the proper safeguards and protections if the measure does not pass. Both those in favor of and those opposed to the ballot measure have promised to scale down the level and manner in which their support or opposition is expressed. The Newsroom on the Church website has provided a thorough look at the compromise.

In the meantime, in ongoing efforts to emphasize the increasing influence of international service of our General Authorities, and to provide a look at how highly the Church needs, trusts, and uses international leaders, two articles were provided. The first provides some perspective and thoughts about the growing globalization of general Church leadership from two international leaders who have served as General Authorities since April 1994, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (who hails from Europe), and Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, General Authority Seventy (who was born and raised in Brazil).

And the final article highlights how a recent interfaith forum demonstrated how the Church and its' leaders are having more of a global influence, politically (on issues, but never on candidates), medically, and on matters relating to both religion in general and the values, doctrines, and principles, which the Church has supported and for which Church leaders have been advocates.

As ever, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments. I will also be providing ongoing coverage of developments leading up to, throughout, and directly following General Conference. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time. Thank you for the privilege of your time.

If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.

New President Called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple

Hello again, everyone! The Church News reported about an hour ago that a new president has been called for the Frankfurt Germany Temple, which was yet another change I had not anticipated when putting together my list of temples which might have a new president called this year. This brings the number of new temple presidents called this year to 67.

But more than that, the new president for this temple is Wolfgang Pilz, who is currently serving as an area seventy. This brings me to revisiting something I have previously mentioned on this blog: in recent years, we have seen an increase in the number of current area seventies who are called to serve as mission or temple presidents in any given year.

For area seventies called to preside over missions, it has not been uncommon to see them continue to serve as area seventies for 1-3 General Conferences following the beginning of their new assignments. For those called as temple presidents, however, the practice has generally been to release them during the General Conference before their service commences (which has traditionally been in November for currently operating temples, and for new temples or those undergoing renovation, that service begins once the temple is dedicated or rededicated.

That said, the number of area seventies on my list of those who may be released now stands at 16 (with 4 who began serving as mission presidents in July, 7 others who will be serving as temple presidents within the next few months, and 5 more who have served for seven years or longer), although in recent years, we have seen far more area seventies than that released each October. It used to be the case that the bulk of changes in area seventies occurred every April, with only a few changes in October, but, as others have observed in previous comments here, that does not seem to be the case now.

In the days ahead (particularly at some point during the upcoming General Conference weekend), we are sure to learn more about what President Nelson has planned for future temple-building efforts in the Church. And if those turn out to be on the scale that many (myself included) have heard is possible and likely, we are almost certain to see an increase in the number of temple developments reported, and that in turn may lead to additional news about new temple presidents in the years ahead.

To the best of my ability, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all ASAP after I learn of them. I will also be providing extensive coverage of whatever occurs during this General Conference weekend. That does it for this post. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time.

Thank you for the privilege of your time. If you enjoyed what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly-added content, please feel free to subscribe. Until my next post, I wish each one of you all the best and pray that the Lord will bless you all in everything you do.