BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Phased Reopening of Temples Continues Into September

Hello again, everyone! A short time ago, the Church released the latest information in the ongoing process of reopening all temples Churchwide, which continue to bring more temples worldwide yet another step closer towards resuming normal operations. The latest changes have, as always, been detailed in the latest update from the official Newsroom, with updates also mentioned by the Church News, and reflected in the latest updates to the temple reopening status tracker, The strategy observed by the Church remains the same: focus on a cautiously-coordinated carefully-planned approach to changes in temple reopening stauses, and adapt to circumstances as necessary.

The results of that strategy speak for themselves. Let's now explore the changes that have been most recently announced this morning. The Church has announced updates that will impact the status of 8 temples in total, with 6 that will now offer proxy ordinancces in either phase 2-B or phase 3, and the remaining 2 unpausing and resuming an operational phase. 1 of those 2 is retruning to the same phase it had been in, while another is tranisitioning to a different phase.

Now, regarding specifics: As soon as one week from today (Tuesday September 7), 5 Brazilian temples (Campinas, Fortaleza, Porto Alegre, Recife, and Sao Paulo) and 1 European temple (The Hague Netherlands) are expected to tranisition to phase 3, and offer all proxy ordinances on a limited availability basis, so that the Church can thus ensure that they are doing their best to keep Church members who are able to work in and attend the temple ast patrons are safe. 

I am not sure how temples elsewhere in the world might work, but I do know that when I worked at the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple for 6 years (2006-2012), although a fair porition of the workers there were older retired individuals and couples, there were also a fair number of young adults, both single and married, who rounded out the workforce for the temple. 

I imagine that age, health, and likely susceptibility to COVID-19 would factor into the decisions each temple makes about who staffs the various areas  Most temples are probably using the proverbial "skeleton crew" and having areas staffed by individuals who are either younger, not as susceptible to catching the virus, or those that have been fully vaccinated.

In the meantime, the other two temples having changes announced are the two in South Africa (Durban and Johannesburg). Both have come out of recent pauses in their reopening process. For Durban, the unpausing also involves a shift to phase 2-B, which will allow limited proxy baptisms to occur, in addition to all living ordinances in priorirty order. And with the Johannesburg South Africa Temple, following the conclusion of its' recent pause, it's going back to phase 3, which will allow all living and proxy ordinances by appointment.

Additionally, the Church had previously noted that the Medford Oregon Temple was anticipated to transition to  phase 3 at some point this month, but that change has not yet been able to occur, likely because the Church prefers to be cautious in that temple's particular case, but hopefully, during any one of the 4 Tuesdays in September, that change might be able to go into effect. And the Church News again shared the list of 10 temples that have not been able to offer any proxy ordinances yet, with no phase designation given to the Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan Temples (both of which are closed for renovations).

6 others are in Latin American nations, and 1 of those 6 remains in phase 1, while 1 other had reached phase 2 but has since paused. And the remaining 2 temples are in Eastern Europe and Asia. In view of the changes announced today, the Church has the 8 temples closed for renovations (all but the previous 2 Asian temples I mentioned above have had a phase 3 designation given to the patrons in their districts). And in view of updates announced today, 5 temples remain "paused" in their reopening due to local COVID-19 conditions (of which 3 had reached phase 3 at the time of their pauses, with 1 each in phases 2-B and 20.

Of the temples not closed for renovation or currently impacted by a pause in their reopening statuses, only 1 remains in phase 1, with 6 in phase 2, 10 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 138 are now in phase 3. I willingly and gratefully testify to the inspired nature of the latest announced adjustments, and am grateful that process continues to go as well as it has. For my part, I continue to monitor all developments announced by the Church News and the Newsroom, and remain committed to continuing to provide those reports as I become aware thereof.

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. 

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Revised Opening Arrangements Announced for Winnipeg Manitoba Temple

Hello again, everyone! Just over 1 year ago, on September 1 of last year, the Church postponed the opening arrangements for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple.. With the mid-June announcement of opening arrangements for the Pocatello Idaho Temple in mind, I had offered my opinion just recently that that temple would be the only one de/dicated this year

As the Lord often deoes, He has proven me wrong yet again. This morning, the First Presidency announced revised opening arrangements for the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple. And not only will the dedication of that teemple occur by the end of the year, but with today's announcement, the Church will actually be dedicating the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple prior to the previously-announced dedication for the Pocatello Idaho Temple. Let's break down the details.

The Church will offer open house tours for that temple from Saturday October 9-Saturday October 23, with the exceptions of the Sundays of October 10 and 17, in addition to Monday October 11, which marks the day people throghout Canada celebrate Thanskgiving. Aside from the open house dates, the Church has announced a youth dvotional to be held prior to the dedication. 

But rather than having that devotional the nigth before the dedication, Church leaders announced today that the youth devotional will cocur on Sunday October 24. No reason was given for the devotional occurring a week in advance, so if any of you know the reason for the devotional being held a week in advance, please let me know.

In the meantime, in another surprising update, rather than having the traditional 3 temple dedication sessions, the Church has announced that up to five such sessions could be held. 4 will take place every 2 hours at 8:00 AM, 10:00 AM, 12:00 PM and 2:00 PM, with the Church reserving the option to hold a fifth such session if need be, which would probably occur at arounf 4:00 PM. Those sessions are set to be hell on Sunday October 31, which coincides with the observation of Halloween here in the United States.

If you'll pardon the pun here, it will be all treats and no tricks for this scheduled event. This does mean that the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple will be the 169th dedicated temple in the world, with the Pocatello Idhao Temple now becoming the 170th. I shold also note that I anticipate the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple will not open until early next year at soonest, and that the dedications for both the Yigo Guam and Quito Ecuador Temples might likely be similarly delayed into next year.. 

The same holds true for the likely rededication windows for both the Tokyo Japan and Hamilton New Zeland Temples, though the Lord mght prove me wrong on that as well. In any case, I am grateful to have learned about this report so that i could pass that along to you all here, It's worth noting that the Church News also provided coverage on this. I continue to monitor all such developments and remain committed to bringing those to you here as I become aware of all such updates.

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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Additional Temples to Change Phases As Reopening Process Continues

Hello again, everyone! Tuesday has again rolled around, and with it has come the latest announcements in the week-by-week process to reopen temples worldwide. The most-recently announced changes have been shared within the last half-hour or so. The Church continues to detail them through the official Newsroom release, with more in-depth coverage from the Church News, and an area-by-area update of the latest changes as detailed in the temple reopening status tracker. 

As I have customarily done each Tuesday in recent weeks, let me now share additional analysis on the temple reopenings. First, the Church announced this morning that 4 temples in South America (Concepcion and Santiago Chile, Asuncion Paraguay and Cordoba Argentina) will move to phase 3, allowing all living and proxy ordinances, as early as next Tuesday (August 31). And although the Medford Oregon Temple was announced to reopen in phase 3 at some point before the end of August, that has not yet officially occurred, so hopefully the Church will announce that happening among next week's changes.

In last week's update, I mentioned the details about 10 temples which have not yet opened for proxy work.  This week's update did not affect any of those 10, but hopefully, at least a few of those will transition to proxy work in the next several weeks. With the updates announced today, by next Tuesday (August 31), the Church will have 8 temples closed for renovation (all but two of which, Hong Kong China and Tokyo Japan) have been granted phase 3 designations, which allows the patrons residing in the districts of those temples to schedule limited proxy work at nearby temples which are also in phase 3).

7 other temples remain "paused" in their reopenings (of which 5 were in phase 3, with 1 each in phases 2-B and 2). Only 1 temple is currently in phase 1, with 6 remaining in phase 2, 15 others offering living ordinances and proxy baptisms in phase 2-B; and the remaining 131 have been given phase 3 status, allowing living ordinances and all proxy work by appointment, with limitations and protocols in place. 

As I read about and pass along these reports on this blog, I'm continually blown away by how well the Church is monitoring COVID-19 conditions around the world and making weekly adjustments as necessary. I remain grateful for the moderate, measured, and cautiously-coordinated way in which the Church continues to reopen temples, and to move each temple that much closer to resuming normal operations. We are blessed to see the Lord's hand directing this process every step of the way. 

I continue to monitor all Church news reports and temple updates, and will be sure to bring you all word of those as I become aware thereof. 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.