Interesting posts and comment threads on Matthew Martinich's Church Growth Blog

While it took a while for Matthew Martinich, who is considered somewhat of an authority on the subject of Church growth, to post for the first time this year, he has done one or two most interesting ones within the last month. And the most intriguing thing about following those ongoing posts is the ensuing discussions that have taken place in the comments responding to the post topics. This one highlights the first units created in 2017, and includes an ongoing discussion on the subject of mission president assignments, particularly those that have been filled by General Authorities and the husbands of the general officers of the Church.

This one includes a link to the monthly newsletter of cumorah.com, a neighboring site maintained by Matt that highlights the growth and progress of the Church in various nations and countries of the world. This one highlights an apology from Matt that I feel is unnecessary, but which he did in reporting that his previous post about the imminent creation of the Church's first stake in Belize was proven to be in error.

This one focused on Church-related growth and developments in and around the region of Kurdistan Iraq. As is all too common in posts on Matt's blog, the conversation branched off to many other topics.

But when the conversation came back around to Kurdistan, a church service missionary felt to point out to Matt how wrong she thought his post was in terms what what he had indicated. After reading her comment, I felt somewhat conflicted, on the one hand feeling defensive of Matt, whose information has been proven to be reliable for the most part, even though it was not uncommon to have him retract or clarify information on his blog when that becomes necessary. On the other hand, I was intrigued by what the sister service missionary shared about the actual developments she had witnessed firsthand. The next comment, which proved to be the last, was from Matt himself, who thanked her for the clarification and told her why he had written what he had written. This seemed to smooth things over well enough, for which I was very glad.

In the meantime, there was also one other post Matt did just before Christmas of which I wanted to make mention. He talked about how Nigeria had reached the landmark milestone of 500 wards and branches. The ensuing discussion is interesting. Click here to read both the post itself and the discussion that followed.

Interesting stuff as always! Enjoy! And, as always, any comments on Matt's blog posts of which I have made mention should be made at the location of the original posts. Thanks.

New Mission Presidents Announced for 2017

Even though, historically speaking, by this time in January in years past, mission presidents and any new missions have been announced for about a week, in light of the recent deaths of prominent current and former General Authorities just within the last 20 days or so, it is understandable (in my opinion) that this year's assignments were only announced today.

The biggest surprises for me in this regard (which were, on reflection, not as surprising as they initially appeared to be) were that the only new mission to take effect this year is the Utah Salt Lake City Church Headquarters Mission, and that, among those called to serve as mission presidents this year were not a few former Area Seventies, four currently serving ones (Pedro U. Adduru, Angel H. Alarcon, Winsor Balderrama (Sejas) and Abenir V. Pajaro, who will no doubt be among the many Area Seventies released this April (as service as a mission president renders continuing service in a specific geographical area impossible)) and one current General Authority, Elder Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, who joins the ranks of five or six other actively serving General Authorities that have served as a mission president during that same time.

I honestly can't qualify this next statement. I only make it based on my own study of the relevant time periods. But from that study, I can say with relative certainty that it was a common thing for apostles to serve as mission presidents while being active members of the Quorum of the Twelve, at least for the first 100 years or so of the Church's history. Then it seemed that, during President Spencer W. Kimball's tenure as prophet, many actively serving General Authorities served as mission presidents. I haven't been made aware of all those that might have so served during the tenure of Presidents Ezra Taft Benson, Howard W. Hunter, and Gordon B. Hinckley, but I can't say unequivocally that it did not happen at all. If that practice did go away during those years, it seems that President Thomas S. Monson has been inspired to bring it back.

As part of my desire to share what I know regarding Church news and developments, I share the following facts I am aware of in terms of those active General Authorities who have served, are serving or will start serving this year as mission presidents. This information was mentioned by me in a comment I posted recently in response to a post on the LDS Church Growth Blog. For what it's worth, here's that information:

Elder W. Craig Zwick served as an interim mission president because of the death of the current president. I guess the idea was to do a quick fix to ensure the mission work would carry on uninterrupted while the Church appointed a successor. Elder Zwick served for that short time in 2014 as president of the Puerto Rico San Juan Mission. Then, as mentioned above, Elder Michael John U. Teh currently serves as the president of the Taiwan Taichung Mission, having been called last year. Elder Wong has been called to serve as president of the Canada Vancouver Mission starting in July, which will neccesitate and result in a change being made in the Asia Area Presidency. Elder Kazuhiko Yamashita served from 2013-2015 as the president of the Japan Nagoya Mission. And during that same two year span, Elder Yoon Hwan Choi served as the president of the Seattle Washington Mission.
That said, I am not sure of all the factors that are involved in the decision to assign a currently serving General Authority to simultaneously lead a mission. I imagine most of it involves helping thosemissions grow in ways that they could not otherwise achieve. Slightly less important, it may be that some of these brethren did not have a chance to be a mission president prior to serving as a General Authority. Service as being a mission president is not by any means a prerequisite to being a General Authority, but it does help. Another reason may be the idea that a general authority who has had experience through various assignments around the world and at Church headquarters may serve to "tighten up" mission procedures and policies and bring them more in line with the Church's general mission.

It has been interesting to see the announcement of new mission presidents. For a list of those called,click here. Any comments on the subject of new mission presidents are always welcome and appreciated. Thanks.

Important Update in terms of Future Temples--Mainly posted for my own benefit

Hello. While this post will mainly be for my own benefit (to enable me to have the updates while I am at work), I wanted to post today to note important developments that have happened in terms of progress announced temples have made towards groundbreaking. These are important notes because it gives some indication of how imminent such future events may be. With that said, I welcome any feedback. There have been no other changes to this temple construction progress report update other than the notes I have made here. But it is a new year, and there have been some outstanding developments in regards to temple construction. So I anxiously await future news, and I hope to be able to post about such things as they cross my radar. Thanks.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/12/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 10 announced. NOTE: There is a more than likely possibility for several announced temples to have a groundbreaking announced during 2017. Two are very close to that so far this year, and there may be many more before too much longer.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Exterior lighting system operating; interior work underway; scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Fencing progressing; entrance plaza created; landscaping areas defined; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Trees on site for planting; patron plazas and water featured added; installing lamp posts and art glass windows; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Pouring temple foundation; setting rebar for missionary housing walls; palm trees planted along entrance road; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Scheduled for rededication:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement.

169. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in early 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.

170.  Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Governmental approval phase; preliminary environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking pending.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: The LDS Church Temple website indicates that a potential site has been announced and that the temple itself is currently being designed. This is a sign that a site announcement is likely to happen sooner rather than later.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement. NOTE: As the above-mentioned website indicates for this temple, while no official temple site has been announced, there may be a possibility that a Church office building may be reconstructed into a multi-purpose edifice that may in part function as the temple. If that happens, it will be similar to the situation of the Hong Kong China and Manhattan New York temples.

173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report. 

Another touching story from the Church News: Prayer, "guardian angel", protect a woman during airport shooting

In another touching story from the Church News, an LDS member from Fort Lauderdale related the account of how she was protected during the shooting at the Florida airport by prayer and the intervention of a "guardian angel" she said was sent there to save her life. Click here to read that remarkable story. Perhaps the most interesting part of this account is the fact that the woman's "guardian angel" doesn't view himself as a hero and says instead that he hopes he would have done the same thing for anyone else. But "hero" is a very appropriate designation for this remarkable man that sees himself as anything but. I loved reading about this, and it was my distinct honor to share it with you now. Thanks for your continued readership and support.

Another former General Authority Lost: Elder Lynn A. Sorensen Passes Away

Though I just found out about this a little while ago, I couldn't waste any time in reporting on it. The Church lost another great giant of the kingdom six days ago. Elder Lynn A. Sorensen, who served as a General Authority from 1987-1992, passed away on January 4. Called as a General Authority at the age of 67, he reached the age of 97 by the time of his death.This article details his service and stands as a tribute to his life. Funeral services will be held tomorrow. Click here to review his one conference talk, a masterful and inspirational address. It is a crazy time we live in, where so many of our leaders, current and former, are being called home. The Lord must need them. I hope this post, short though it is, serves as an adequate tribute to the life of a most remarkable man. Thanks for reading this. Any and all comments are welcome and appreciated.

Tucson Arizona Temple Advancements

Much progress has been reported in the construction of the Tucson Arizona Temple. This has rendered it necessary for me to include a full update to my temple construction progress report. As before, this is just a minor change, but I wanted to post it here from home so that I have access to it at work. Thanks for indulging me. Let me know if any of you have any feedback.

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/9/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 10 announced. NOTE: There is a more than likely possibility for several announced temples to have a groundbreaking announced during 2017. Two are very close to that so far this year, and there may be many more before too much longer.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Exterior lighting system operating; interior work underway; scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Patron plazas and water feature added to temple grounds; interior finish work underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Fencing progressing; entrance plaza created; landscaping areas defined; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Trees on site for planting; patron plazas and water featured added; installing lamp posts and art glass windows; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Pouring temple foundation; setting rebar for missionary housing walls; palm trees planted along entrance road; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Scheduled for rededication:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement.

169. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in early 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.

170.  Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Governmental approval phase; preliminary environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking pending.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report. 

Newest Apostolic Age Milestones

Hello, all! Just posting today to do my second update this year on the latest apostolic age milestones. In this post, I will review the tenure milestones President Nelson will reach as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in 2017, where he sits in terms of age among the other nonagenarian apostles and those he will surpass among that group this year, the 2017 age and tenure milestones that Church President Thomas S. Monson will reach this year, and where the apostles are age-wise as of today. I will be throwing out a lot of facts, figures, and dates in this post, so hopefully none of you will get confused and it will be enjoyable to all.

Before I discuss all of that, I do want to note one thing: President Nelson's future milestones as Quorum President are subject to however long President Monson lives and serves as Church President. For the last two or three years, President Monson's health has been iffy, and the report has been that he is feeling the effects of advanced age However, he (President Monson) was reportedly able to summon enough strength to deliver a tribute at Elder Glen L. Rudd's funeral of a considerable and extensive length. Whether he forced himself to be well enough to do so remains to be seen. I prefer to see it as a very good indicator that President Monson's health has sorted itself out for the moment. More on that will be reported here as I learn of it.

As of today, President Nelson has been the Quorum President for just over 18 months, having served for 1 year, 6 months, and 5 days. As some of you may recall, he jumped two spots in terms of his service length just around the celebration of the Christmas season. He will jump several spots again this year. Assuming President Monson lasts throughout 2017, by the end of it, President Nelson will have lived to become the 16th longest serving Quorum President (he now holds the 21st spot.) For those curious about the specifics, he will reach the 20th spot on Friday May 5 (less than four months from now), passing up Brigham Young Jr.'s first tenure. Note that the latest milestone he observed was passing Brigham Young Jr.'s second tenure. The son of our second Church President served two nonconsecutive terms as Quorum President because he served around 6th Church President Joseph F. Smith taking his spot as Quorum President for about a week before his ascension to the Presidency. Young would have been the Acting President for his first tenure, if that practice had been in place at that time.)

President Nelson jumps to the 19th spot less than a month later on Sunday June 4, taking the spot currently held by George Albert Smith. He will become the 18th longest serving Quorum President on Sunday July 9, surpassing Heber J. Grant. He takes the 17th spot, now held by Anthon H. Lund, on Wednesday October 11. And he will reach the #16 spot, which is currently held by Harold B. Lee, on the same day Amy and I will celebrate 7 years of marriage on Monday December 18. As you can see, it will be quite a year in terms of Quorum Presidential milestones.

In the meantime, if President Nelson lives through this entire year, he will jump three spots in terms of his rank as a nonagenarian apostle. He currently ranks as the 10th oldest of our 17 nonagenarians, being 92 years, 3 months, and 30 days old as of today. On Wednesday July 5, he will take the #9 spot now held by Elder L. Tom Perry. Though Elder Richard R. Lyman was excommunicated and lost his apostleship, history still notes him as living long enough to become the 8th oldest nonagenarian apostle. President Nelson will surpass Elder Lyman on Wednesday October 18. About two months later, President Nelson will achieve the distinction of becoming the 7th oldest apostle, taking the spot which is currently held by Charles W. Penrose. President Nelson appears by all reports to be well on track to become the oldest living apostle, which will happen on Monday August 8, 2022. What a banner year it will be for President Nelson!

In the meantime, President Monson, as noted above, seems to be doing better. Time will tell for sure, and I will do my best to keep up on that and report things as they develop. His tenure as prophet, which as of today has lasted 8 years, 11 months, and 5 days, leaves him as the 9th longest serving prophet. In the meantime he is the 7th oldest prophet of this dispensation, as today he is 89 years, 4 months, and 18 days old. His one and only milestone this year is in tenure length. He will become the 8th longest serving Church president, surpassing Wilford Woodruff, on Friday June 30. In the meantime, one age-related milestone will be marked this year for President Monson. He will join the ranks of the 17 other nonagenarian apostles 7 months and 13 days from now, on Monday August 21. 

Now, just a word about the apostles overall. The next apostolic birthday takes place later this month when Elder D. Todd Christofferson will celebrate his 72nd. The next one before a three-month break will be that for Elder Ronald A. Rasband, who will turn 66 on February 6.

With that said, what follows are the latest apostolic age averages. As of today, the average age of the members of the First Presidency is 83.05. President Eyring is closest to that average, having reached today the age of 83.61. President Monson is above that average, standing at the age of 89.38 years. And rounding out the First Presidency as its youngest member is President Ucthdorf at 76.17 years. 

As of today, the ages of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stand thusly: President Nelson is 92.33. Elder Oaks is 84.41. Elder Ballard, just younger than President Monson, is 88.25. Elder Hales, who is 12 days younger than Elder Oaks, is 84.38. The youngest and most senior of our apostles born in 1940 is Elder Holland, who marked 76.1 years as of today. Elder Bednar, the third youngest apostle, is 64.57. Elder Cook, the oldest of the three apostles born in 1940, is 76.33 years. Elder Christofferson, who as I mentioned, is preparing to mark his 72nd birthday in just 16 days, is 71.96 years old. Elder Andersen stands at 65.42 years. Elder Rasband, whose 66th birthday will be less than 2 weeks (13 days exactly) following Elder Christofferson's 72nd, is now 65.92 years. Elder Stevenson, the youngest of our 15 apostles, is now 61.42 years. And Elder Renlund, our second youngest apostle who is separated in age from Elder Bednar by less than five months, is 64.15 years. 

With those ages, we arrive at the fact that the average age for the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is 74.6 years, with that average splitting the quorum directly in half, with Jeffrey R. Holland being the youngest of the oldest half and Elder Christofferson being the oldest of the youngest half. In the meantime, the average age of the 15 apostles overall stands, as of today, at 76.29 years. 7 of those 15 are older than that average, and 8 are younger. Those closest to that average include Elder Cook on the older side and President Uchtdorf on the younger side.

Hope this post has been interesting and informative to you all. Thanks for reading and, if you feel so inclined, commenting on this. I hope that I will have the opportunity for many more such updates this year, even though I can't promise all of them will be this extensive. I appreciate you all.

Funeral Services Held Today for Elder Bruce D. Porter

Hello, all! As anticipated, funeral services were held today for General Authority Seventy Elder Bruce D. Porter. Also as anticipated, the Deseret News gave a report on that commemoration of his life. But what was not expected was the difference between the report of the services honoring Elder Rudd yesterday and the same today for Elder Porter. Rather than listing specific General Authority attendees, as was done in the article about Elder Rudd the article about Elder Porter only vaguely made mention of those in attendance. I am sure those specifics may be added given time, if they become available, but for now, the article is not clear in that regard.

That being said, the General Authorities of the Church appear to have been well represented in terms of the number of them in attendance, even though specific attendees were not known. President Eyring represented the First Presidency. 75% (9 members) of the Quorum of the Twelve were also in attendance, as were four members (a clear majority) of the Presidency of the Seventy and many other unnamed General Authorities and general officers of the Church.

The most weird thing about the article reporting the services, in my opinion, was the fact that the article, written earlier today, was nowhere to be found on the main LDS Church News website. I only found it by running a search for it. Also, it is indicated in the article that the article itself was put together as press time approached and that a more full report would be contained in the next print edition of the Church News (though it indicated that the full report would be available instantly on the Church News website). For now, if any of you would like to read the version to which I am referring, click here. I will post the more complete report as soon as I am able to find it.

Well, with how very busy it has been at work today, it's time for me to go home. Depending on what I might learn in terms of other Church news and developments, I may be posting again as needed once I get there. Thanks, as always, for your kind readership and attention. Any and all comments continue to be welcome and appreciated.

(Added from home about 75 minutes later) Click here for the more extensive report I referenced above. Still no specific list of attendees from the various leadership groups mentioned in the article. But perhaps the numbers mentioned above are more indicative of Elder Porter's scope of influence than an actual list of participants would be. Hope this additional information is helpful to you.

(Still later) We have yet another source available to us in regard to Elder Porter's funeral services. This article from the Mormon Newsroom on lds.org, goes into greater detail than that which has been provided by the Church News. Still no official list of participants, but another amazing read nonetheless. Another great report of the events commemorating the life of this amazing spiritual giant. Stay tuned for more on all Church news and developments as I hear of them. Thanks again.

Important and Significant Temple Construction Progress Update

Hello. I am posting today for a very exciting reason. When I made my first check of the LDS Church Temples website, I was initially very disappointed to see that no progress has been noted on temples now under construction. But those disappointed feelings faded away very quickly when I looked at the information about announced temples.

Just between the last time I checked the site and now, there has been sufficient reason enough to warrant noting that a groundbreaking announcement is anticipated soon for the Arequipa Peru Temple. That was great to hear.

The one question in my mind, which I am trying to get resolved in the best possible way, is whether the site announcement and groundbreaking ceremony for the Harare Zimbabwe Temple may take place before the groundbreaking in Arequipa. Since it is difficult to tell, I would welcome any thoughts in that direction. For the moment, my line of thinking is that since the Arequipa groundbreaking appears to be more imminent than the unfolding of events in Harare. it is Arequipa that should be listed first. I will change that in the posted report below. Feel free to let me know your thoughts and feelings on this matter. If it comes to a point where I need to change it again, I am more than willing to do that. Just let me know what you think, if you feel inclined to do so.

Here's my updated report:

Temple Construction Progress Report (current as of 1/5/17)

Current Temple Status: 155 operating; 1 scheduled for dedication; 11 under construction; 1 scheduled for rededication; 2 undergoing renovation; 10 announced. NOTE: There is a more than likely possibility for several announced temples to have a groundbreaking announced during 2017. Two are very close to that so far this year, and there may be many more before too much longer.

Dedication scheduled:

156. Paris France Temple: Exterior lighting system operating; interior work underway; scheduled to be dedicated on Sunday May 21, 2017.

Under Construction:

157. Meridian Idaho Temple: Light fixtures hung; interior trim underway; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

158. Cedar City Utah Temple: Fencing progressing; entrance plaza created; landscaping areas defined; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

159. Tucson Arizona Temple: Pouring walkways; erecting fencing; installing art glass windows; hanging drywall; completion anticipated sometime during late 2017.

160. Rome Italy Temple: Interior work progressing; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

161. Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple: Building the exterior walls; completion anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

162. Concepcion Chile Temple: Attaching building wrap to exterior walls; adding landscaping structures; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

163. Durban South Africa Temple: Pouring temple foundation; setting rebar for missionary housing walls; palm trees planted along entrance road; completion anticipated sometime during mid-2018.

164. Barranquilla Colombia Temple: Pouring walls for steeple base; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

165. Winnipeg Manitoba Temple: Groundbreaking held Saturday December 3, 2016; completion anticipated sometime between late 2018 and early 2019.

166. Fortaleza Brazil Temple: Second floor exterior walls poured; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

167. Lisbon Portugal Temple: Excavation underway for temple and utility building; structural framing going up for meetinghouse; completion anticipated sometime during 2019.

Scheduled for rededication:

8. Idaho Falls Idaho Temple: Closed for renovation; finish work underway; rededication scheduled for Sunday June 4, 2017.

Undergoing Renovation:

20. Jordan River Utah Temple: Closed for renovation; rededication anticipated sometime between late 2017 and early 2018.

41. Frankfurt Germany Temple: Closed for renovation; some exterior stone removed; foundation exposed; old meetinghouse razed; rededication anticipated sometime between early and mid-2018.

Announced:

168. Arequipa Peru Temple: Construction preparation phase; awaiting groundbreaking announcement.

169. Harare Zimbabwe Temple: Approval and construction preparation phase; official site announcement anticipated in early 2017, with the groundbreaking anticipated to take place shortly following the site announcement.

170.  Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple: Governmental approval phase; preliminary environmental license issued in November 2016; groundbreaking pending.

171. Port-au-Prince Haiti Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

172. Bangkok Thailand Temple: Planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

173. Urdaneta Philippines Temple: Stalled in planning and approval phase; awaiting official site announcement.

174. Abidjan Ivory Coast Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

175. Quito Ecuador Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

176. Belem Brazil Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

177. Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple: Planning phase; awaiting official site announcement.

Key:

Bolded numbers and text denote temples whose numbers already exists (for renovations), or is certain due to a scheduled dedication, as well as information that is certain, such as dedication or groundbreaking dates.

Italicized numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on the order in which future dedications and groundbreakings are scheduled.

Underlined numbers and text denote temples whose numbers may change based on progress towards planning, approval, and groundbreaking.

Red text denotes changes from the last posted temple progress report. 

Journalist's gripe against the Church's Public Affairs Department Is Not Justified

On the LDS Church Growth blog, some discussion was had regarding a gripe made recently by a journalist regarding how the LDS Church Public Affairs Department responded to some questions he had about the Tabernacle Choir's agreement to perform at the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump. One comment made on the LDS Church Growth blog was to the effect that the Public Affairs Department should be more transparent regarding the information they share about the public actions of the Church and its associated entities.

Since I had before offered my opinion on the Choir's decision (which I believe is fully justified), I was sickened by reading the journalist's rant about the unjust way his concerns had been dealt with. In his rant, he cited James 1:5-6 as being the reason Joseph Smith sought wisdom at the hands of the Lord, saying that while the Lord is willing to give wisdom to those that ask for it, his concerns and questions had not been dealt with in the same spirit.

I couldn't disagree more on that point, and I will explain my reasoning for saying that in a minute. First, if you haven't seen the rant in question yet, you can find it here. When I read his rant, the first thought that came to my mind is this: While it is absolutely true that Joseph was given wisdom when he lacked it primarily because he asked, there was another side to that. He additionally had studied the matter out in his mind before he asked, and he had done research enough to give him doubt as to the truthfulness of any Church then in existence. A big part of obtaining wisdom when one asks for it is doing the research to know what questions to ask. Had the journalist bothered to do so, his questions would have been addressed without him having to ask the Church public affairs department to do his research for him.

Now that you understand more about my line of reasoning in my approach to all of this, I wanted to share my personal response to the journalist's questions. This response was posted on the same comment thread as the link to this rant. And I am only in a position to venture any answer to these questions because I have made the subjects of the Church's political neutrality and the Choir's past experiences singing for presidents and presidents-elect a matter of extensive study, prayer, and observation. That said, for what it may be worth, these are the answers I felt to provide on the LDS Church Growth blog in response to the questions posed by the journalist.

1. The Choir is a volunteer unpaid organization, and as such, any events at which they appear are entirely voluntary and no participant receives any compensation of any kind for their participation.
2. The Choir has accepted any and all invitations extended to participate in any event that involves a current or future US President. By nature of the Church's devotion to political neutrality, no candidate receivesspecial support, consideration or rejection of such invitations for any reason. If that were not the case, the Church could not maintain its professed political neutrality. Their actions would clearly set the lie to their words, and that's the last thing the Church wants or needs.
3. The only opportunities the Choir ever seeks or books as an entity is their appearances at special venues, such as during tours or for special events. They would never presume to seek an opportunity to perform forany government leader (especially one who clearly sees the Church and its members and practices through a very darkened lens) but willingly respond when invited to do so. That being said, the Church and Choir may have taken this opportunity as a way to see if the Church's image could be improved in the eyes of the President-elect.
4. Again, in the Church in general and with the Choir in particular, except where noted above for special events at particular venues, opportunities are never sought after nor declined. If it is true that the Choir has not for a while performed at an event for a Democratic President, it is because such an opportunity was never extended.
Anyways, that's how I chose to respond to the attempts of this journalist to take issue with the answers provided him by the Church Public Affairs Department. I welcome any comments, whether in agreement or contention with what I have said here. However, I would encourage us all to be respectful of other people's right to their own opinion. Even if that opinion is not shared, any uncivil, rude, or contentious comments will be promptly deleted after they are made. Thanks for letting me weigh in on this.