Major Changes Made in Church Board of Education

Hello, all! Faithful members of the Church all over the world are no doubt familiar with the Church Educational System (which manages seminary and institute classes worldwide and also has the responsibility of administering the Church-owned universities that provide higher education opportunities) know that it has been a busy year for higher education changes. Let me just mention the presidents of those institutions and share when the last transitions for each took place.

Kevin J. Worthen became the first Area Seventy to be asked to take the reins of BYU-Provo as its 13th president, and he was inaugurated in 2014.  John S. Tanner became the 10th president of BYU-Hawaii just over 2 years ago. As announced earlier this year by the Church (which I focused a blog post on), Henry J. Eyring (President Eyring's son) was inaugurated in April as BYU-Idaho's 17th president.

As also noted on this blog, the reason BYU-Idaho needed a new president in April was as a result of its incumbent president (Clark S. Gilbert) being asked to spearhead the new BYU-Pathway Worldwide as its first president. Also in April of this year, Bruce C. Kusch was inaugurated as the 13th president of LDS Business College. So the Church has been quite busy of late ensuring that these presidential transitionary periods happened smoothly.

My point in mentioning these things is that the Church's higher educational institutions are doing remarkably well under the leadership of these great men, who oversee staffs and faculties of equally diligent and faithful men and women in the Church that enable higher education to be both enjoyable and inspirational.

But that is not my main reason for posting. The Church Board of Education has the oversight of all Church-owned higher educational institutions, and I discovered earlier today that there have been some major additions to that board.

In order to help you appreciate the changes I will be reporting in this post, I wanted to first set the nature of the changes in the board in context for you all. Because I spent many happy hours in my growing up years perusing old editions of the General Conference Ensigns, one of the things I learned as a direct result of that study is that it was very common during most if not all of President Spencer W. Kimball's prophetic tenure and perhaps into that of his successor President Ezra Taft Benson for the members of the Church Board of Education to be featured prominently in the midst of what was then a very extensive Sustaining of Church officers.

From my study, I remember well that the Church Board of Education was comprised during that time of all members of the First Presidency, roughly half of the members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, a couple of members of the Presidency of the Seventy, the Presiding Bishop, and the Relief Society General President.

Fast forward several years to when I was in Junior High and High School. Thanks to the fact that I have 3 siblings, I attended many seminary graduations during those years. And on each Seminary Graduation program would be an updated list of the members of the Church Board of Education, which at that time were the First Presidency, 3 apostles, one member of the Presidency of the Seventy, and the general presidents of the Relief Society and Young Women. When Elder Scott, who had been on the Board of Education until he became too unwell to function in that capacity, passed away in September 2015, the Church decided to just have two members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Board.

Fast forward to May of this year. The Board membership had not changed at all by then. When the Church announced area leadership changes, which included the release of two members of the Presidency of the Seventy, one of those men. Elder Hallstrom, had been representing the Presidency of the Seventy on the Board of Education. I anticipated that Elder Hallstrom would be released from his assignment on the Board, but I didn't know what, if any, other changes to expect.

When I took time to update the Wikipedia page for our General Authorities on the first of this month, I waited for a time to find out who would be representing the Presidency of the Seventy on the Board. I found out shortly thereafter that Elder Gerrit W. Gong had received that assignment. I was happy about that because I had had the opportunity to interact with Elder Gong when he was assigned to visit my parents' Stake Conference, and I had been impressed with his testimony, knowledge, warmth, and sincerity.

Fast forward again to earlier today. I wondered in passing, since there hadn't been any other changes on the Board for a while if there was anything new in that regard today. So I ran an internet search on the subject. And that search led me to this link which lists the current members of the Church Board of Education. I was absolutely blown away by the changes. I was not, of course, surprised at all that there was no change in the chairmanship and vice chairmanships of the board.

Nor was I surprised to learn that Elders Dallin H. Oaks and Jeffrey R. Holland were still on the Board, with Elder Oaks still serving as the Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Boards. In case I haven't mentioned this, it is customary for the most senior member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on any general Church committee to serve as the Chairman.

Here's what did surprise me: Elders David A. Bednar and Dale G. Renlund, also of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, have joined the board membership. With Elder Gong continuing to represent the Presidency of the Seventy on the Board, Church leaders have also asked Elder Donald L. Hallstrom to retain his seat on the Board, now as the only General Authority Seventy on the Board who is not in the Presidency.

Additionally, Church leaders have also invited our current Presiding Bishop, Gerald Causse, to serve on the Board as some of his predecessors in that office had previously done/ And finally, while Sisters Jean B. Bingham and Bonnie L. Oscarson continue to represent the Relief Society and Young Women auxiliary leaders, the Brethren have also invited Young Men General President Stephen W. Owen to be on the Board.

I was so very grateful to have heard of these changes. I know that with these additional leaders on the Board, the work of the Church Educational System will continue to roll forward. I was so excited to hear about this earlier today. I would have reported on this much sooner, but I spent a lot of time on Wikipedia helping to update the necessary pages as a result of these changes.

That does it for this blog post. Comments are always welcome and appreciated. As always, thank you so much for the privilege of your time. Hope you all are well. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Church News Not Previously Reported

Hello again, everyone! In doing my last check of the Church websites I follow today, I noted a couple of Church News articles that I had read and by which I had been touched, but I had forgotten to focus on them in a blog post. This report has to do with general Church leaders that have shared important information with diverse groups.

First, Sister Neill F. Marriott (who, as the Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency is also the oldest currently-serving female auxiliary leader and the second oldest auxiliary leader overall (at 69 she is just younger than Sunday School General President Tad R. Callister, who is currently 71)) wrote a Church News article that was published yesterday on the subject of how all of us, regardless of age, can strike up conversations about the gospel with our peers (or coworkers). You can find what she wrote on the subject here.

Also, Elder Quentin L. Cook, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was an attorney by profession (and who, as previously mentioned, will mark his 77th birthday exactly two weeks from today) spoke to members of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society, community leaders and guests, on August 12 (which coincided with the 85th birthday of his apostolic colleague, Elder Dallin H. Oaks, who himself is a former attorney). Elder Cook covered the topics of faith, family, and religious freedom. To read a great summary of what he said in this setting, click here.

That does it for this blog post. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments continue to be welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Additional Church News

Hello, all! I found some additional news on Mormon Newsroom that I couldn't wait to share. The Church has published this commentary about how faith contributes to life-long learning. I can attest to that. My membership in the Church and devotion to the gospel has helped me learn many things I did not know, and has contributed to my desire to share the good news from the Church with each of you, my readers. The Church also issued this report about how Saints and friends of other faiths in Texas are bracing for the impact of Hurricane Harvey. I hope each of us will keep the Saints of Texas in our prayers, and also that those of us who can will volunteer in Church-related efforts that will provide relief in the aftermath of it. Efforts in that regard have already begun, with the Church getting ready to send any aid that might be needed. Let us get involved in such efforts and pray with all our faith that members and nonmembers alike in this area will be able to weather and triumph over this anticipated disaster. Any comments are welcome and appreciated. In the meantime, thank you for the privilege of your time, and may the Lord bless you all!

700th Blog Post: Dates for 2018 Church Events Announced

It snuck up on me, but this is my 700th blog post. I could not think of a better subject for this milestone than this: In keeping with the annual custom, Church leaders today announced the dates of important events and church-wide broadcasts for 2018. Here is an overview of that schedule:

In January, a Worldwide Devotional will be held for Young Adults on the 14th, while CES personnel will get to enjoy the Annual Evening with a General Authority on the 26th. On Saturday February 3 (when, if President Monson is still living at that time, will mark his 10th anniversary as Church President) President and Sister Nelson will be the featured speakers at a Face-to-Face Event for Youth (by which time President Nelson will have marked his 93rd birthday).

March will get a little busier, with the 3rd marking RootsTech Family Discovery Day (which typically features a keynote address by an apostle), and on the 23rd (my sweetheart Amy's birthday), the Mormon Tabernacle Choir will present Handel's Messiah. The next night will mark the General Women's Session of General Conference, with the other 5 sessions following on Saturday March 31 and Sunday April 8.

The events get more spread out over the next months, with Sunday May 6 marking another Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, the annual Mormon Tabernacle Choir Pioneer Day Concert on Saturday July 21, and the final Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults on Sunday September 9 (which will coincide with President Nelson's 94th birthday, if he is still alive at that time).

The October General Conference will be next, with the Women's Session on Saturday September 29, and the other sessions following on Saturday and Sunday October 6 & 7. At some point in October, a Face-to-Face event for Youth will be held, with the date and speaker to be announced at a later date. Rounding out Church events in 2018 will be the First Presidency's Annual Christmas Devotional on Sunday December 2.

Sounds like the Church will be busy in 2018, and that is before considering any potential temple-related developments during the year. I am excited to have been able to learn and now post about these developments.

That does it for now. Thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are welcome and appreciated. Until my next post, I wish you all the best.

Dates Released For the Beginning of Open House Reservations for Two Temples

Hello again, everyone! I am back with more Church news. After no significant progress has been reported on temples of late, I found out today that the Church has released information about when open house tickets will be available for the Meridian Idaho and Cedar City Utah Temples. For Meridian, reservations will be available on Monday September 25 (one month from today), and, as already announced, the open house will go from October 21 to November 11), and reservations will continue to be offered up through the last day of the open house. One week after reservations are available for Meridian (Monday October 2, the day after General Conference concludes), reservations will start to be accepted for the Cedar City Utah Temple Open House, which, as previously noted, will run between October 27 and November 18), and reservations will continue to be offered through the last day of the Cedar City Utah Temple Open House.

Aside from these developments, things have been quiet on both the temple news and unit growth front. But I guarantee it will not remain that way for too much longer. I for one hope very soon that the Church will announce the dates for the open house, dedication (and rededication) of the Rome Italy and Frankfurt Germany Temples. In the meantime, once I hear anything new on this front, you can count on my passing that along. For now, thank you for the privilege of your time. Comments are welcome.  Stay tuned this weekend, when I hope to provide another update on apostolic statistics, and when I will be keeping my eye open for any addition Church or temple-related news.  I pray the Lord's blessings upon you all, and wish you all the best for a wonderful weekend.