Stokes Sounds Off

Search This Blog

Monday, February 26, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Renderings Released for Birmingham England, Lone Mountain Nevada, and McKinney Texas Temples; Site Location and Preliminary Information Released for the Vancouver Washington Temple

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency announced the next major temple construction updates today. The exterior renderings have been released for the Birmingham England, Lone Mountain Nevada, and McKinney Texas Temples, and the site location and preliminary information have been confirmed for the Vancouver Washington Temple. Let's break down the details:

While I will let others more qualified than myself share their observations on the exterior renderings in question, I did want to note some general observations about them on my end. The Birmingham England Temple was announced in April 2022, with its' site location and preliminary information released in December 2023

The Lone Mountain Nevada and McKinney Texas Temples were both announced in October 2022; the site location and preliminary information for Lone Mountain were released two months later, while the site location and preliminary information for McKinney were confirmed in December 2023. The release of these renderings now gives me hope that groundbreakings for each of these temples might soon follow.

That brings us to the Vancouver Washington Temple. Announced in October of last year, the temple will rise on a 15.11-acre site located at the Northwest corner of SE 20th Street and SE Bybee Road intersection, Vancouver (Camas), Washington. Plans call for a multi-story temple of approximately 43,000 square feet.

Today's update on the Vancouver Washington Temple means that, of the 95 currently announced temples, 43 have not yet had any official information confirmed. That means that 52 have had sites confirmed, 2 of which have also had groundbreakings scheduled. I think that, because we have had so many exterior renderings released just since the beginning of this year, the Church may be queuing up a bunch of temples for groundbreakings.

I am not concerned at this point about any "backlog" of temples that have not yet moved to have a groundbreaking. As I've previously mentioned, my preference would be for the Church to take extra time procuring approvals rather than rushing through that process and running into complications getting those temples to a groundbreaking and on to construction.

While I was incorrect about any groundbreakings being set today, I'm glad I was correct in my theory that more exterorior renderings and site confirmations would occur. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 

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 the offered 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. 

Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 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.


Sunday, February 25, 2024

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Datta

Hello again, everyone! It has been a tradition on this blog for me to provide updates on apostolic data every 7 weeks. Having last done so on Sunday, January 7, it is time to publish the newest such data. As with every two-part update, the first part contains updated data about the age and tenure length records for all 17 Church Presidents, in addition to updated information on the tenure lengths for each of the 28 Presidents of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. 

The first document likewise notes information on the tenure length rankings for three sets of apostolic groups: the longest-serving First Presidencies (with the current First Presidency joining that list for the first time), in addition to the longest-serving groups of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and groups of all ordained apostles (the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), and an overview of when each of those current groups will move up on the list.

Meanwhile, the second part of today's update shows the long-form and decimal ages for the members of the current First Presidency, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the same data for the combined First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in addition to the average ages of each group and apostolic nonagenarians (with 3 of the current 15 apostles being on that list), and a final table showing the remaining time between today and when each of the other 12 apostles will become nonagenarians and join that list. With these updates coming every 7 weeks, the next update will be posted here on the morning of Sunday, April 14.

Hopefully, this post is of interest to you all. Again, I offer an open invitation to ask anyone who has any questions about those documents to ask them here. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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 the offered 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. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 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.

Tuesday, February 20, 2024

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Provo Utah Temple Renamed; Exterior Rendering Released and Groundbreaking Set for Teton River Idaho Temple; Site Location and Initial Details Confirmed for the Jacksonville Florida Temple

Hello again, everyone! As anticipated, because yesterday was Presidents' Day in the United States, today, the First Presidency made their weekly major temple announcements. Included this week are a rename for the Provo Utah Temple, the exterior rendering released and groundbreaking set for the Teton River Idaho Temple, and the site location and preliminary information released for the Jacksonville Florida Temple. There's a lot to get into here, so let's dive right in:

The Provo Utah Temple, which will close for renovation on Saturday, will now be known as the Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple. The release states: "The Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple will be built to current seismic codes and have reconfigured rooms and energy-efficient electrical, heating, and plumbing systems." And of course, there is also the redesign, which will see its' exterior changed to match its' sister temple in Orem. It occurred to me to wonder if this name change may be in advance of a potential third temple coming to the Provo area. But the Rock Canyon name makes sense. I am grateful for this news.

We now move on to the Teton River Idaho Temple groundbreaking. As mentioned, it will be one of the largest in the Church. I heard a rumor through the Church Growth Blog that this announcement was forthcoming, so it's nice to have that confirmed. The rendering reminds me of other temples of a similar size. I will defer to any of you who would like to comment more on the exterior rendering of this temple. In the meantime, the groundbreaking for this temple has been set to occur on Saturday, June 1, with Elder Ricardo P. Gimenez presiding.

I think we will likely see other groundbreakings take place between the March 9 groundbreaking of the San Luis Potosi Mexico Temple and the June 1 groundbreaking for the Teton River Idaho Temple as announced today. As to which temples might have a groundbreaking between now and then, that's not for me to say. But the good news is that I think other groundbreakings will be announced between today and General Conference weekend, so I look forward to seeing what happens there.

We now move on to the site location and preliminary information for the Jacksonville Florida Temple, which was originally announced in October 2022. A 6.6-acre site located at 3323 Loretto Road, Jacksonville, Florida, will be the home to a single-story, 29,000-square-foot edifice. There are now only 44 announced temples that have not had any official information confirmed yet.

The Provo Utah Temple being renamed took me by complete surprise, as did the release of information about the Jacksonville Flordia Temple. As I noted earlier, I had anticipated the groundbreaking would soon be announced for the Teton River Idaho Temple, and the fact that it will be a larger temple means it makes perfect sense that a groundbreaking announced for it now will only take place in early June.

I am grateful for all of this news and the opportunity to pass it along. I continue to monitor any and all Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples updates and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as they cross my radar. 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 the offered 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. Please subscribe if you liked what you read here and would like to be informed of newly added posts and comments. 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.