BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Tacloban City Philippines Temple Groundbreaking Confirmed; Birmingham England Temple Groundbreaking Set; Site Location Confirmed and Preliminary Details Released for the Huntsville Alabama Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, in a single news release, the First Presidency confirmed the groundbreaking for the Tacloban City Philippines Temple, set groundbreaking arrangements for the Birmingham England Temple, and confirmed the location and preliminary details about the Huntsville Alabama Temple. The confirmed groundbreaking for the Philippines' newest temple speaks for itself, so let's break down the details for the other two temples named above.

The Birmingham England Temple's groundbreaking will take place on Saturday, March 22, 2025, under the direction of Europe North Area President Elder Scott D. Whiting. Three weeks after the last announced groundbreaking (for the Cali Colombia Temple), the third temple groundbreaking for 2025 will occur roughly 2.5 months ahead of the third groundbreaking the previous year. So, 2025 will far outpace 2024 in terms of temple groundbreakings alone, though that is expected to also be true for temple dedications in 2025 vs. 2024.

I say that because there are several temples likely to have a groundbreaking announced soon. Those include the Singapore, Lone Mountain Nevada, Lethbridge Alberta; Bakersfield California; Tampa Florida, McKinney Texas; and Cape Town South Africa Temples. If all of these temples have groundbreakings announced within the next 3-4 months or less, they could easily all have groundbreakings before the end of June of this year.

That brings me to the initial details announced for the Huntsville Alabama Temple. It is the first temple announced in October 2024 to have initial details officially confirmed. A 21-acre site at the southeast corner of Gillespie and Browns Ferry Road, Madison, Madison County, Alabama, will serve as the location of the single-story, 30,000-square-foot edifice.

 It occurred to me to wonder why this temple is so much bigger than its' counterpart in Birmingham Alabama. But I think that may be because the Church is planning to renovate and expand the Birmingham Temple, during which time the temple patrons in Birmingham's district could easily be accommodated in Huntsville.

So that brings us to some final thoughts on today's announcements. I'm glad we got another groundbreaking and the preliminary information for one more temple. In the coming weeks, on Mondays, I anticipate we will get more dedication announcements. The Antofagasta Chile Temple has been completed for a while now, so I'm not sure what (if anything) may be preventing the Church from setting dedication arrangements for that temple. Major construction is also now completed on the Grand Junction Colorado Temple, marking another temple for which we could soon see opening arrangements confirmed.

And with 2 other temples (Farmington New Mexico and Burley Idaho) nearly completed, 2 others (Syracuse Utah and Bahia Blanca Argentina) nearing completion, and 5 more (Alabang Philippines, Elko Nevada, Harare Zimbabwe, Lindon Utah, and Davao Philippines) approaching completion, we could see dedications announced for most of these temples within the next.2-6 months, if not sooner. And, as noted above, there are 7 temples that could have groundbreakings announced soon, most of which could be announced in the next 2-6 weeks, if not sooner.

So lots of temple news may be coming down the pike in the coming weeks and months. Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required. 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.

BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Opening Arrangements Announced for the Nariobi Kenya Temple; Exterior Rendering Released for the Brussels Belgium Temple

Hello again, everyone! This afternoon, the First Presidency announced the opening arrangements for the Nairobi Kenya Temple and released an official exterior rendering for the Brussels Belgium Temple. Here are the details: Kenya's first temple will welcome the media on Monday, April 14, 2025, followed by two days of VIP tours. 

The public open house spans from Thursday, April 17-Saturday May 3, except for the Sundays of April 20 and 27. The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, May 18, 2025, under the direction of Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who will preside over the single dedicatory session, which will be carried to all units in the Nairobi Kenya Temple district. 

The dedication is coming 4 months earlier than I had projected it might, which is a good sign for other temples. I forgot to account for the smaller size of the Nairobi Kenya Temple when I made my estimates for its dedication. I should also note that this dedication will occur a week ahead of the previously announced dedication of the Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple.

We now turn to the rendering for the Brussels Belgium Temple. An existing building at Avenue des Arts 52, in Brussels, Belgium, will be home to an arrival facility and a meetinghouse, in addition to the multistory temple of 25,000 square feet.. The site location was announced on June 17 of last year. 

At a glance, the temple rendering released today reminded me of the redesigned exterior of the Manhattan New York Temple. The Church is currently seeking permits for the conversion of that existing building into the spaces I described, so the release of an exterior rendering for this temple gives me hope that construction may be able to begin soon.

I am grateful to have learned of this news and for the opportunity to share it with you today. Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 

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 all such 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. 

If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required. 

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.

Final Temple Construction Progress Overview for 2024

Hello again, everyone! Zs 2024 winds down to its' conclusion, I am pleased to be able to provide an overview of where temple construction stood at the beginning of this year vs. where they stand now. I am pleased to present my temple construction progress reports showing where things stood as 2024 began, at the beginning of April, at 2024's mid-point, as October began, and as 2024 ends. Please feel free to post questions you might have. Other than these notes, the documents are self-explanatory for the most part.

Stay tuned here for updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. 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 all such 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. If you liked what you read here and would like to stay informed of newly added posts and comments, please subscribe for the applicable updates. 

If you would like to support the work done on this blog, donations in any amount are always welcome and appreciated but never required. 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.