BREAKING NEWS: Church to Create 6 New Missions (and Rename 1 Other) in 2023

Note: An original one-paragraph version of this post was published at around 11:30 AM, just after the announcement was made. Additional details and analysis in subsequent paragraphs were added during the 1:00 PM hour.

Hello again, everyone! The First Presidency has announced this morning that 6 new missions will be created next year: 5 in Africa and one in Europe. Of the 5 in Africa, 2 are in Nigeria. I will have further analysis on this here later this afternoon, and I'm sure the news will also be covered by the Church Growth Blog. For now, my thanks once again to you all, 

I am back, as promised, with the additional analysis I mentioned. While I will certainly defer to Matthew Martinich at the Church Growth Blog to provide important context on today's updates, I can provide some initial thoughts I have, for whatever they may be worth to you all here. So let's break down the details: 

The first mission, the Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan North Mission, will be created from a division of the Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan East Mission, and will also take in some areas currently pertaining to the Côte d'Ivoire Abidjan West Mission. Given the fact that 3 missions will now cover the capital city in Côte d'Ivoire, it did occur to me to wonder if this newest mission, with or without any additional missions being created, could eventually lead to a second temple in the capital city of Côte d'Ivoire. 

We now shift to Central Africa, where the Church will divide the current Democratic Republic of the Congo Mbuji-Mayi Mission to create the Democratic Republic of the Congo Kanaga Mission. Since the Church has announced plans for a temple in Kananga, the creation of this mission makes sense. That is because we have seen several recent examples of those involved in the construction of a temple for the Church being converted to the gospel in the course of being involved with such projects. So I wouldn't be shocked if the new temple there plays a vital role in expanding missionary efforts in that newest mission.

The next two missions will be based in Nigeria, with the Nigeria Aba Mission being created from a division of the Nigeria Owerri Mission. Additionally, parts of the current Nigeria Benin City and Nigeria Enugu Mission will be reassigned to the Nigeria Owerri Mission. I am a little surprised a mission was not created in Aba before now, since the temple there was dedicated 17 years ago. In addition to the Nigeria Aba Mission, the Church will also create the Nigeria Abuja Mission by dividing the current Nigeria Lagos Mission.

The announcement doesn't indicate that parts of any other Nigerian missions will be incorporated into the Nigeria Abuja Mission, but I see that as a potentially likely scenario. During a period of time when the Church has 3 temples in Nigeria in various planning stages, it's not surprising that 2 new missions will serve that nation. Additionally, I have mentioned in the recent past that, per feedback from Matthew Martinich on the Church Growth Blog, it appears likely that the Church will split Nigeria off into its' own area at some point. 

Based on these two new missions, and on the fact that the Church has called at least 1 new GA Seventy from Africa every April for the last several years, the Church could conceivably have 3 GA Seventies who are native Nigerians by either next year or the year after. Whether or not that happens, I wouldn't be shocked if the 2023 or 2024 area leadership assignments include the announcement of a new Nigeria area.

The final new mission in Africa will be the South Africa Pretoria Mission, which will be created through a division of the Botswana/Namibia and South Africa Johannesburg Missions, while also taking in parts of the South Africa Durban Mission. Since the April 2021 General Conference, when the Cape Town South Africa Temple was announced, I have felt and said that I think the next temple in South Africa will be in Pretoria, and the creation of the South Africa Pretoria Mission may certainly strengthen the case for a temple in that city.

The final mission will be located in Europe. The Hungary/Romania Mission will be renamed the Hungary Budapest Mission, and the Church will create the Romania Bucharest Mission, which may in due course lead to a new temple in Romania at some point in the near term. The one other thing I wanted to note is that all of these missions will be operative on July 1, and the announcement of new mission presidents for 2023 is anticipated in January or thereabouts. These additional missions will bring the worldwide total to 416 as of July 2023, which means that the worldwide total for the year-end 2022 is 410.

And the fact that 5 of the 6 new missions are in Africa, with 2 in Nigeria alone, indicates to me that the Church continues to expand well throughout Africa. As I've mentioned a few times in this post alone, it will be interesting to see how existing, planned, or yet-to-be-announced temples might impact missionary work going forward. Having noted all of this, I will be sure to post a note in the comments of this post when Matthew Martinich has provided his analysis, as he will have more contextual information.

I also continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple construction developments and will bring word of those to you all as I receive it. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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: Opening Arrangements Announced For Saratoga Springs Utah Temple

Note: The first paragraph of this post was published to this blog at 2:20 PM, with subsequent paragraphs added between 5:30-6:30 PM MST that same day.

Hello again, everyone! The Church has been announcing the newest major temple updates every Monday at around 2:00 PM. Today's announcement pertained to opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. I have some appointments to take care of but I will have further analysis later this evening as time and circumstances allow. For now, my thanks once again to you all.

Hello again, everyone! I am back with the additional analysis I promised this afternoon. The press is invited to tour the temple on Monday, April 10. VIP tours will follow from Tuesday, April 11-Friday, April 14. The public open house will follow between Saturday, April 15, and Saturday, July 8, with the exceptions of the Sundays of April 16, 23, and 30, May 7, 14, 21, and 28, and July 2.

President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, will preside over the 3 dedicatory sessions at 9:00 AM and 12:00 and 3:00 PM on Sunday, August 13, 2023. Since the scheduling of opening arrangements for larger temples like Richmond Virginia and Saratoga Springs Utah Temples are more spread out, I assume that will also likely be the case for the Bangkok Thailand Temple, which is also on the larger end of that spectrum. 

With that temple being the next to have a dedication announced, I'd anticipate it will be dedicated at some point in September, and that such an announcement is likely to occur in about two weeks since that temple has not yet been completed. And the Feather River California and Lima Peru Los Olivos Temples are also comparatively on the larger side, so the dedication of the former could be set for October and the latter for November. 

By contrast, the Bentonville Arkansas, Brasilia Brazil, Okinawa Japan, and Helena Montana Temples are on the smaller side, so as they are completed, their dedications could be set to occur between those of their larger counterparts. So it will be interesting to see how the Church balances all of that. In the meantime, I stated above that I believe that the dedication arrangements for the Bangkok Thailand Temple will be the next temple opening announced, but I think that announcement is two weeks out. 

It could also potentially be three weeks away. With that in mind, what could we expect in terms of temple announcements in late November and early December? I see a few possibilities. There are 17 temples with site locations confirmed (7 of which have had exterior renderings released), so any of those could have groundbreakings set. 

A site confirmation (whether or not the Church also releases exterior renderings and sets groundbreakings at the same time) could occur for any of the other 9 US temples announced in October of last year or in the two General Conferences of this year. And I am watching for news on 5 other temples outside the United States.

 It is also entirely possible that, for any of the other 37 announced temples, either individual or combined site confirmations, exterior renderings releases, and scheduled groundbreakings could be on the horizon in the near term as well. So I think we may have a lot to which we can look forward in the coming weeks, even if the next dedication announcement is three weeks out.

To the best of my ability, I will continue to cover all such developments, in addition to all temple construction updates and Church news reports, and to pass along word of those to you all as they cross my radar. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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 NEWS: Latest Updates from the Presidency of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square

Hello again, everyone! I mentioned previously that, since opening arrangements were announced on Monday for the Richmond Virginia and Columbus Ohio Temples, the Church might subsequently make another announcement this week relating to opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. While we didn't get that announcement, the presidency of the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square has redefined its' mission. Let's get right into the relevant details: 

In a recent meeting with Church President Russell M. Nelson, the prophet shared his vision for the Choir, as cited in the news release today: "The Church will continue to grow. It will fill the world. It will continue to bless more and more nations, tongues, and people. The Lord is hastening his work in the promised global gathering of Israel. You can be sure that the Tabernacle Choir, Orchestra, and Bells at Temple Square will be a pivotal part of that era.” 

With the goal to expand the reach of the Choir worldwide, the Choir presidency has revised the Choir's mission statement and outlined three new initiatives to extend the Choir's global reach: First, the Choir will create Spanish and Portuguese editions of the weekly "Music and the Spoken Word" broadcast, with customized visuals and graphics relating to the areas where the international broadcasts will be shown, and native speakers in both languages providing the weekly "Spoken Word" message. Editions in other languages will be created at a later date.

The Choir will utilize travel more frequently with shorter tours requiring less travel per trip, but will provide the opportunity to perform in more locations worldwide. The first of those "targeted tours" will occur between June 13 and 19 next year, where the Choir will do multiple performances in Mexico City Mexico. And thirdly, to represent more regions globally, qualified Church members in Latin America, West Africa, the Pacific, and the Philippines will have the opportunity to audition to sing with the Choir during the April 2023 General Conference.

The Choir will evaluate after that conference whether that should be a one-time thing, something done more frequently, or something that will be done in every General Conference going forward. The Choir presidency will continually seek the counsel of Church leaders and the inspiration of heaven to ascertain additional ways to expand the reach of the Choir going forward. And thus we see that the concept of a Choir presidency has been inspired by prophetic direction.

I was grateful to learn about this development and will be sure to pass along any others to you all as I become aware thereof, whether they are related to the Church in general or temples in particular.In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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: Opening Dates Set For the Columbus Ohio and Richmond Virginia Temples

Hello again, everyone! Another Monday afternoon has rolled around, and the First Presidency has released another major temple construction announcement. Opening dates have been set for two temples in the United States: Columbus Ohio and Richmond Virginia. Let's break down the details: First up is information on the open house and rededication of the Columbus Ohio Temple. A media day will be held on Monday, April 24, 2023, followed by VIP tours from Tuesday-Friday April 25-28. 

The public open house will follow between Saturday, April 29, and Saturday, May 13 (excluding the Sundays of April 30 and May 7). The temple will be rededicated on Sunday, June 4 in three sessions at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 3:00 PM EDT, under the direction of Acting President M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

And for the Richmond Virginia Temple, the Church will hold a media day on Monday, March 20, with VIP tours between Tuesday, March 21-Friday, March 24. Public tours will be held from Saturday, March 25-Saturday, April 15, 2023, excluding the Sundays of March 26, April 9, and April 16, and General Conference weekend on Saturday and Sunday, April 1-2, 2023.

The dedication of that temple will follow on Sunday, May 7, 2023, under the direction of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in three sessions at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 3:00 PM EDT. Interestingly, no youth devotionals were mentioned in today's announcement. And I also found it interesting that the announcement did not include opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple. 

I was also somewhat baffled by the timing of the respective dedication and rededication of these two temples. Perhaps that indicates that all dedications will be more spread out than I have suggested. Hopefully next week, we get an announcement on the opening arrangements for the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple, whether or not that announcement is made in conjunction with any other temple updates.

I was grateful to have learned about this update and for being able to share this information with you now I am keeping my eyes open for any additional updates and will be sure to pass word of anything else along as I become aware of it. In the meantime, that does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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. 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.

Elder Dale G. Renlund Observes His 70th Birthday Today

Hello again, everyone! I am back with a post in tribute of Elder Dale G. Renlund, who, as noted, is marking his 70th birthday today. Let's get right into all of that. Elder Dale Gunnar Renlund was born to Mats Ake and Marianna Andersson, in Salt Lake City, Utah, on this day in 1952. His parents had emigrated from Finland (Mats) and Sweden (Marianna) respectively in order to be married in the temple. In view of that, Elder Renlund grew up primarily speaking Swedish. 

The fact that he did not speak English as a primary language gives him a certain degree of international appeal. In his teenage years, Elder Renlund lived with his family in Sweden while his father was a building missionary for the Church Several years later, Elder Renlud returned to Sweden, this time as a full-time missionary. Following his missionary service, Elder Renlund continued his scholastic endeavors at the University of Utah, where he earned a bachelor's degree in chemistry and his M.D.

Approximately 3 or 4 years after he concluded his missionary service, he met and married his eternal companion, Ruth Lybbert, who was the daughter of another General Authority Seventy, Merlin R. Lybbert. Elder Renlund went on to do a three-year cardiology residency and a three-year fellowship in cardiology, both at Johns Hopkins University, and served as a bishop while he did so.

During that very same period of time, his wife was earning her law degree, and Ruth also gave birth to their only child, a daughter, Ashley. At some point in 1986, Elder Renlund became a professor at the University of Utah. From 1991 to the time of his call as a General Authority Seventy in 2009, he served as the medical director of the Utah Transplantation Affiliated Hospitals Cardiac Transplant Program.

In 2000, he was also appointed the director of the Heart Failure Prevention and Treatment Program at Intermountain Health Center headquartered in Salt Lake, while his wife was working as a law partner in the firm of Dewsnup, King and Olsen. In the Church, in addition to serving as a bishop, Elder Renlund also served locally as ward Sunday School president, high councilman, and as a stake president. From 2000 to 2009, Elder Renlund served as an area seventy. 

He became a general authority seventy in April 2009, at the same conference in which Elder Neil L. Andersen was sustained as an apostle. The August after his call, Elder Renlund began serving in the Africa Southeast Area Presidency, which is headquartered in Johannesburg, South Africa. He concluded that service as the area president from 2011 to 2014. 

Just over a year after concluding that service (during which time he served in other general capacities at Church headquarters), he was the third man to be called to fill the three vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve in the wake of the passing of President Boyd K. Packer and Elders L. Tom Perry and Richard G. Scot (with his call occurring the same day as that of Elders Ronald A. Rasband and Gary E. Stevenson). 

Some have claimed (rightfully so, in my opinion) that since Elder Scott was the last of the three to pass away, Elder Renlund, as the last of the three new apostles called, was the one filling the apostolic vacancy occurring from the death of Elder Scott. Others may disagree on that, as is their right, but I think that is a fair statement.

Elder Renlund's apostolic call was significant for a few reasons. The calls of Elders Rasband, Stevenson, and Renlund made them the 98th, 99th, and 100th members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called in this dispensation. There have been more men ordained as apostles, but only 102 of those men have officially served in the Quorum of the Twelve. There is another significant aspect of Elder Renlund's call.

As most of you are probably aware, at times in the past where 2 or more apostles have been called, tradition is that they will be called, sustained, and ordained according to their age, from oldest to youngest. That tradition, as has been the case a couple of times before, was slightly adjusted, as Elder Stevenson, almost three years younger than Elder Renlund, was called, sustained, and ordained as the senior apostle to Elder Renlund. That kind of thing is not in any way unprecedented, but it is a significant anomaly to note.

Given that all apostles from Elder David A. Bednar through Elder Renlund were born in the United States, some have taken issue with the Church for the perceived lack of diversity in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. But as was observed in this article, Elder Renlund's diverse background certainly qualifies him as having strong international ties and experiences. Elder Renlund has given a total of 19 addresses in General Conference, 2 of which were prior to his apostolic call (the second of which was given in the General Conference prior to the one in which he became an apostle).

Only 3 of the 15 current apostles are now under 70 years old (Stevenson, Gong, and Soares). I am grateful to have been able to offer this birthday tribute in his honor, and am also grateful for his service. I gladly sustain him and the other 14 apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple developments and will keep doing my level best to bring word of those to you all as I receive it.

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.