Initial Predictions for the April 2020 General Conference: Part Two—Prospective Church Leadership Changes and Statistical Report

Hello again, everyone! Part 2 of the 3-part series highlighting the initial version of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference is here. As noted in my last post, this installment will explore prospective Church leadership changes and my initial estimates for the statistical report. As I noted, those estimates will be subject to change as more information is brought to my attention towards the end of this year. Without further ado, those two sections follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do: That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.

Predictions for Changes in General Church Leadership

Presidency of the Seventy: Elder L. Whitney Clayton released from the Presidency of the Seventy (to be effective August 1); new member of the Presidency of the Seventy sustained (also to be effective August 1)8. Result:

General Authority Seventies: New General Authority Seventies sustained from the current area seventies or the Church at large9.  Result:

Area Seventies: Releases and sustainings10. Result:

Young Men General Presidency: Stephen W. Owen, Douglas D. Holmes, and Joseph M. Brough released as the Young Men General Presidency; new Young Men General Presidency called11. Result:

Statistical Report, 2019 (corrected figures in parentheses)12

Stakes	3,440
Missions	399
Districts	522
Wards & Branches	30,608
Total Church Membership	16,548,462
Increase in Children of Record	99.967
Converts Baptized	226,984
Full-Time Missionaries	65,138
Church Service Missionaries	32,.673
Temples Dedicated during 2019 (Rome Italy, Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo, Fortaleza Brazil, Port-au-Prince Haiti, Lisbon Portugal, and Arequipa Peru)	6
Temples Rededicated during 2019 (Memphis Tennessee, Oklahoma City Oklahoma, Oakland California, Raleigh North Carolina, Frankfurt Germany, Asunción Paraguay, and Baton Rouge Louisiana)	7
Temples in Operation by the end of 2018	167

References—Part Two

8In April 2018, 3 changes in the Presidency of the Seventy that would be effective August 1 were sustained in advance. Since Elder Clayton, the current Senior President of the Seventy, will turn 70 in 2020, his release from the Presidency will likely become effective August 1, so his release and the sustaining of his replacement are likely to be presented for sustaining vote. Based on recent changes in that Presidency,  the new member may be someone who was born outside the United States, which would increase the internationally-born majority (currently 4 out of the 7 members were born outside the US).  

9It has been customary in recent years for any new General Authority Seventies to be sustained in April, so that is likely to occur again. 

10Since 2017, it has been customary for the Church to release less than 10 area seventies each April. Among those releases this go-round could be those called as GA Seventies, mission presidents, or temple presidents whose service could begin before the October General Conference, any current area seventies called to serve in the new Young Men General Presidency, or any called before April 2015 who have not yet been released. Although I anticipate only a few releases, I have compiled the following list of those who might be released, so as not to overlook anyone: Ruben Acosta, Frederick O. Akinbo, Vladimir N. Astashov, Jorge T. Becerra, M. T. Ben Davis,  E. Xavier Espinoza, Sam M. Galvez, Wisit Khanakham, Jose E. Maravilla, Adeynka J. Ojediran, Alexey V. Samaykin, Gordon H. Smith, and Kevin J. Worthen (who, as the current BYU-Provo President, if released as an area seventy, may be called as a General Authority Seventy).

11Since the current Young Men General Presidency has served together since April 2015, and since the standard call length for general officers of the Church has typically been 5 years, it would make sense if the current presidency was released during this General Conference, with a new General Presidency called. Past precedent indicates that the new presidency members could be comprised of one or more current General Authorities released to fill this new assignment, one or both of the outgoing counselors in the current Young Men General Presidency, either of the counselors in the Sunday School General Presidency, any member of the Sunday School or Young Men General Board, any current area seventies, or any men from the Church-at-large.

12In a continuation of the new tradition which began in April 2018, the Statistical Report will not be presented over-the-pulpit, but will instead be released on the Church’s official Newsroom directly following the Saturday Afternoon Session of this General Conference. 

Initial Predictions for the April 2020 General Conference: Part One—Overview and Projected Speaking Order

Hello again, everyone! It took me quite a while to do so, but I finally have the initial version of my predictions for the April 2020 General Conference finished. I will be presenting those in 3 parts. This first part will contain the speaking order and the associated relevant notes (of which there are slightly more than usual in view of the remarkable statement by President Nelson in relation to this General Conference. The second part will contain my predictions for the changes I anticipate in general Church leadership and the estimated numbers for the statistical report (which may be subject to change based on additional and updated information that may be available towards the end of this year), and the third and final part will highlight the list of locations for which I anticipate a temple might be announced. That said, the speaking order predictions and the relevant notes follow below. In order to not disturb the flow of that information, I will end here as I always do:

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.

April 2020 General Conference Predictions [Text in brackets indicates what actually happened.)1

Sess.	Conducting	Speaker
SAM2	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson
		Bishop Gerald Causse3
		Silvia H. Allred
		Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez
		Elder David S. Baxter
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
SAA	President Henry B. Eyring	President Dallin H. Oaks (Sustaining of General Authorities, Area Seventies, and General Officers of the Church)
	Church Auditing Department Report, 2019	Kevin R. Jergensen
		Elder Dale G. Renlund
		Elder John A. McCune
		Elder Gerrit W. Gong
		Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
		Elder Anthony D. Perkins
		Elder Gary E. Stevenson
SPH	President Russell M. Nelson	President M. Russell Ballard4
		Elder Neil L. Andersen
		Elder Quentin L. Cook
		President Henry B. Eyring
		President Dallin H. Oaks
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUM	President Dallin H. Oaks	President Russell M. Nelson (Introductory Remarks and New Temples)5
		Elder David A. Bednar
		Bishop Dean M. Davies
		Lisa L. Harkness
		Elder Ulisses Soares
		Elder Scott D. Whiting
		Elder Ronald A. Rasband
		President Russell M. Nelson
SUA	President Henry B. Eyring	Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
		Bishop W. Christopher Waddell
		Jan E. Newman6
		Elder Carlos A. Godoy7
		Elder Alan R. Walker
		Elder James R. Rasband
		Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai
		Elder D. Todd Christofferson
		President Russell M. Nelson

References

1With very few exceptions, General Conferences during the last two decades have conformed to similar general patterns. Because President Nelson has surprised us with 4 atypical General Conferences thus far, and because he said that this General Conference will be different from any previous ones the Church has had, I used a combination of past traditions and patterns with variations for a Nelsonian General Conference, and made further alterations based on the prophet’s statement. Since it is difficult to know what exactly to expect, I will be allowing myself another margin of error, which will, in this particular case, be slightly higher than it was for the 4 previous General Conferences. I will detail my reasoning in some respects in subsequent notes. 

2In prior General Conferences, we have seen the entire First Presidency speak together in one of the four General Sessions (aside from the Priesthood Session) only a handful of times. That was true in the following cases: April and October 1995 and October 2000 (Sunday Morning Session); April 1997 (short video presentation in the Sunday Morning Session), April 2007 (Saturday Afternoon Session for the rededication of the Salt Lake Tabernacle) and April 2018 (Easter Sunday Morning). In April of next year, General Conference weekend will again coincide with Easter Sunday, making it likely that the entire First Presidency will again speak in the Sunday Morning Session. Since this conference is anticipated to be unique, I am predicting that the entire First Presidency may speak during this session, and that, consequently, no members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will do so.  

3Given that the Presiding Bishopric is the Global Presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood, and given that the restoration of the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods will be among the events that are commemorated during this General Conference, I have felt impressed to predict that each member of the current Presiding Bishopric will speak during this General Conference, and that each will do so in a different session. 

4Major steps in the Restoration included the reinstatement of priesthood offices that existed in Christ’s original Church. One of those priesthood offices was that of the apostleship. And since this Priesthood Session will likely pay tribute to both, and will be unique, I could not think of a more effective way that could happen than to have 3 members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles speaking in this session, along with the entire First Presidency. Never before has the Church had 3 members of that Quorum speak in this session: it has just been 1 (or in rare cases, 2). So having 3 do so in this bicentennial conference makes a lot of sense to me. 

5Given what has been said repeatedly by President Nelson, his wife, and his apostolic Brethren, new temple announcements will be an essential and significant part of every General Conference for the time being. In October 2018 and April 2019, I had been hopeful President Nelson would both be detailing the extent and timing pertaining to his plans to increase the number of temples ten-fold and also announce a mass number of temples. But that has not happened yet. And further research on my part has indicated that such a mass announcement, if it ever occurs, will not be as imminent as some (myself included) have previously believed. That said, I fully believe that the timing could be right during this bicentennial conference for President Nelson to detail the preliminary elements of those plans with some indication of the extent and timing thereof, and making the announcements regarding any new temples. And if he does so, then I could see him making a general announcement at the beginning of this session, then having Elder David A. Bednar, who chairs the Temple and Family History Executive Council, explain those in greater detail on that, and, following the other speakers in the session, President Nelson could then give another address as has been customary.

6Brother Newman is the new Second Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency. Given that the new Sunday School General President spoke last October, normal logic would suggest that the First Counselor may do so this go-round. But in the case of Brother Newman, he is a direct descendent of Hyrum Smith, brother of the Prophet Joseph, so it would make more sense during a General Conference commemorating important events of the restoration that someone with ties to that family might be given priority over someone else who is not so familially connected, even if such action defies normal traditions. 

7Although I had felt that two or more members of the Presidency of the Seventy could possibly speak during this General Conference (since only one has done so in each General Conference for the last several years), given the many others I wound up trying to fit into the speaking order for this General Conference, I couldn’t make that work. If there is only one, it will likely be Elder Godoy, who, of all the current members of that Presidency, has had the longest period of time pass without speaking in General Conference (having last spoken during the October 2014 General Conference), and in the event there are two, I anticipate Elder Jose Teixeira (who last spoke during the April 2015 General Conference) will be the other.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Rendering Released and Site Location Revealed for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, with President Nelson now in Cambodia, he revealed the site location for the Phnom Pehn Cambodia Temple. But he also released a rendering thereof to the Cambodian Saints at the same time. This post will share that information. The temple will be constructed on Russian Confederation Street, between the Cambodia Institute of Technology and the Institute of Foreign Languages near the Royal University of Phnom Penh. It looks to be a medium-sized or larger temple, and although the square footage thereof was not shared, I would not be shocked if the square footage was comparable or similar to the Richmond Virginia and Layton Utah Temples. Again, since that square footage was not specified at this time, I imagine that information will be released once plans are developed. And I will need to double-check, but I think that the number of temples that could now potentially have a groundbreaking within the next year or so has risen to 15 or 16. More on that as I learn about it.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. 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.