BREAKING NEWS: Church Updates 15 Chapters of General Church Handbook

Hello again, everyone! On this last day of July, both the Newsroom and Church News have noted updates to 15 more chapters of the Church's General Handbook for all members, which included major updates to 5 of those 15 chapters. With these latest adjustments and updates, 16 of the 38 total chapters in the Handbook have received major overhauls in their content.

As some of you might recall, earlier this year, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve authorized the publication of the new single-volume handbook, which is being made available to all through the Gospel Library section of the Church website.Since that revised single-volume general handbook was first made available, the process of updating it has been somewhat ongoing to varying degrees as changes have been rendered necessary.  This post will provide a brief overview of those changes. In the section about stake leadership, clarification has been provided on how stake leaders should work with civic and community leaders on issues impacting their congregations, and how area seventies may invite stake leaders to assist on the coordinating councils that the Church has established within each of its geographical areas.

Next, for both the Elders' Quorum and Relief Society sections, content has been organized to emphasize the role of those organizations' presidencies in congregational efforts relating to salvation and exaltation. As previously noted, more responsibilities once held by the bishop are being delegated to the presidencies of these two organizations to enable bishops to spend more time with the youth. Among other changes, this means that the two presidencies in each congregation will take responsibility for missionary efforts and temple and family history work in their congregations. Additionally, Elders' Quorum and Relief Society presidents may now call coordinators for service and activities.

As a result, the calling of compassionate service leader in each Relief Society has been renamed "service coordinator", with that adjustment intended to further unify coordination between the Elders' Quorum and Relief Society in each congregation. Also, what was formerly known as "additional Relief Society meetings" will now become "Relief Society activities", and direction has been given for the stake presidents to take responsibility for calling and coordinating with the stake Relief Society president, rather than delegating those responsibilities to either of his counselors.  For the Primary, minor changes have been noted, with new sections for singing time and nursery. An expanded purpose for Primary, and clarification on Primary day camps have also been provided.

Meanwhile, other major changes have been noted for the Sunday School in each congregation, where the calling of counselors and a secretary in the Sunday School presidency will now be optional and based on the needs and size of each congregation. The Church has discontinued the practice of calling Sunday School class presidents, and teacher council meetings, which have solely focused on teacher improvement methods for organizational teachers in each congregation, have been expanded to include guidance for parents teaching their children in their homes.

And authorization has been given for the organization of a class specifically for new Church members and those returning to Church activity, those learning about the Church, and others as determined by the bishop, with the curriculum for that class being Come Follow Me. Additionally, adaptations that may not apply to some congregations has been placed into a separate section in the Sunday School chapter. The Church has also announced that meetinghouse libraries will be renamed "resource centers" with the calling previously styled "ward librarian" now known as "ward resource center specialists."

For the chapter on Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, a minor update in a new section discusses class options. Meanwhile, the chapter on Teaching the Gospel has consolidated the information about responsibilities of leaders under a new heading, which has been simply entitled, "Leaders' Responsibilities". and a new section focuses on "Home-Centered Gospel Learning and Teaching". Information focusing on the "Teaching the Gospel" course has been replaced by a section covering teacher council meetings. And Primary leaders have been given more flexibility on arranging for their teachers to attend teacher council meetings.

In the section covering "Priesthood Ordinances and Blessings", the Brethren have offered guidance that, when necessary, counselors in a stake, mission, or branch presidency, or bishopric may give approval for some ordinances and blessings in the Church, when they are authorized by the stake, mission, or branch president or bishop to do so in their stead. Minor updates have also been made to the chapters on Preparing and Recommending Missionaries and Temple Recommends, respectively. And for meetings in the Church, a section has been added to explain the coordinating council meetings, including how the councils themselves are formed, who attends the meetings, and the purpose of such meetings. And the Church has updated the chart of callings that is included in a Handbook.

Updated guidelines have also been provided in the sections covering Repentance and Church Membership Councils and Physical Facilities. And the section on Church Polcies and Guidelines has been updated to clarify instruction on unwed parents in the Church, a preface to policies on moral issues, birth control, donating or selling sperm or eggs, fertility treatments, the occult, sex education, suicide, surrogate motherhood, and the usage of medical marijuana. I am grateful to have been able to learn about and share these updates with you all here. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will keep passing those along as I learn about them. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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 UPDATE: KSL Provides Status Update on Tooele Valley Utah Temple

Hello again, everyone! During the recently-concluded hor-long newscast at 6, KSL provided more contextual information about the  Tooele Valley Utah Temple and the issues that could impact the timing of construction for it. Although I presently have no source from KSl for the information they provided today, I will be sure to add that to this blog post when I have it. At the end of the first full week in April, the Church had released the artist's rendering for three temples, including the Tooele Valley Utah Temple. Less than a month later (on May 5 of this year), renderings of the  residential community  which was being planned by the Church's real estate investment arm were released.

According to the information KSL shared in their on-air story today, the temple had been planned to complement and contribute to the look and feel of that residential development, in such a way that there would be a visual coordination between the two. In the interim, residents have, as previously noted, been working on gathering signatures that would put the residential development on the ballot. What those who are excited about the temple and have no objections to that part of the plan fail to realize is that, if the initiative successfully gets on the ballot, any unity of opposition to the development would in turn impact the design and probable timing for construction of the temple itself.

So where does that initiative stand currently? A fair number of signatures have been gathered already, and the petition is apparently generating support. But the clock is ticking for the signature gathering process, which must be completed and have the signatures appropriately verified by Saturday August 15 to ensure that the initiative is successfully placed on the ballot for community input in the November elections. f the requisite number of signatures are not gathered and verified by that date, then the matter will not be placed on the ballot, and the Church could then have a groundbreaking for the temple as anticipated either in late August or early September, with the development going forward as planned, and the temple keeping its' exterior design.

Conversely, if sufficient signatures are gathered and certified by that August 15 deadline, then the initiative would likely be put to a vote in November. In the interim, the Church would then have two options. 
The first would be to wait on the outcome of the vote before adjusting the design of the residential development (which might perhaps also involve a redesign of the temple's exterior becoming necessary). The second option may be to initiate the process of making those changes to the plans so that, regardless of the outcome of that election, the Church would be ready to act ASAP on beginning construction for both the temple and the community. The key to the timing and details of the temple's construction appears to be dependent on the outcome of the initiative. As I noted earlier, some residents have made it clear that they want the temple, and are pleased with the interior and exterior renderings for it, but that they worry that a high-density residential community being built in conjunction with the temple would cause Erda to lose much of its' small-town way of life.

I guess I can understand that part of the argument. However, what I don't get is wwhy, when community input has been sought in every stage of this project's approval, there seems to be wide-spread objection to the overall plan for that part of Erda where there did not seem to be any of that before. Again, I will either update this post or provide a follow-up comment in the threads thereof once I have the KSL report on this story that was provided on-air today. In the meantime, I do continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, including the latest on this Tooele Valley Utah Temple process, and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here as I become aware of such developments.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.

POSSIBLE BREAKING NEWS: Potential Arrangements Detailed for the October 2020 General Conference?

Hello again, everyone! As some of you might recall, roughly 6.5 weeks ago, the First Presidency had  officially announced that the October 2020 General Conference will be virtual only, and would "follow the same pattern" as the April 2020 General Conference. In sharing that report on this blog, I had  conjectured that that meant that the Saturday Evening Session for October would perhaps also be a general session for all members and friends of the Churrch, with the conference utilizing prerecorded music, and perhaps with only all ordained apostles attending the entire conference, with the individual sessions being otherwise attended only by those who are speaking or praying in each session.

That was a theory I could not directly corroborate at the time. Later on, the event listing for that conference had shown that it would follow a similar pattern to April, but the page in question had listed the April dates in reference to the October 2020 General Conference. So I wasn't sure and wanted to wait for anything more official. Today, when I happened to again be checking  that particular entry, the dates in question were updated to be correct for October, and included the detail that the Saturday evening session would be "for all members and friends of the Church".

I want to be very clear here that unless and until this information is confirmed, denied, corrected, or clarified through an official announcement on the Newsroom website from the Brethren, anything that has not been officially announced should be taken with the proverbial grain of salt. That being said, a couple of principles may be worth mentioning here. In  Doctrine and Covenants 68:4-5, the Lord provides Hris definition of what constitutes scripture. In an earlier revelation, the Lord also  explained the link between His voice and the voice of His servants.
With those scriptures in mind, I'd also like to cite a statement made by prolific apostle Elder Bruce R. Mcconkie, who noted the following in his scholarly work entitled Doctrines of the Restoration: "The proper course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the Lord’s Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture."

So, what I'm trying to convey here is that, if prophets speak for the Lord, as a result of which anything they say when moved upon by the Holy Ghost is scripture, and if the practice of the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture, then it follows that, in most cases, updates to announcements or entries on the official Church website, when done with the approval of the Brethren, constitutes confirmation of the same, perhaps even of information not yet officially confirmed.
As a result, subject to any First Presidency correction or clarification, my assumption is that only the First Presidency (and some or all of the apostles) will attend each session, that only those other leaders who are speaking or praying will attend, that those leaders serving outside North America will be excused from attending, that the leadership sessions will again be postponed, that the music will again be pre-recorded, that the Saturday evening session will be for all members and friends of the Church, and that the conference itself will originate from the small auditorium in the Church Office building.

It will be interesting to see what happens in that respect.. And I will cover all new developments as I learn about it. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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: 3 Temples to Begin Phase 1 Reopening; 12 to Move to Phase 2; Changes Announced for Endowment Ceremony

Hello again, everyone! Two landmark announcements have been made about temples today, providing ample breaking developments. Let's get right into all of that. First of all, the phased reopening of temples continues unabated. Effective next week, the Columbia River Washington, Guayaquil Ecuador, and Preston England Temples will open under Phase 1, which allows husband-and-wife living sealings to occur in those temple. 

But the First Presidency is expanding the phased reopening of temples today, with the first 12 temples announced for phase 2 reopening, which continues the closure of temple cafeterias, clothing rental, and patron housing, but allows those temples to be open for all living ordinances, which means that for those 12 temples, those going out on missions will be able to receive their own endowment before their departure.

The 12 set to open in that phase 2 status as of next week are as follows: Billings Montana, Bismarck North Dakota, Columbus Ohio, Copenhagen Denmark, Frankfurt and Freiberg Germany, Helsinki Finland, Seuol Korea, Stockholm Sweden, Taipei Taiwan, The Hague Netherlands, and Winter Quarters Nebraska. It is good to see the Church continuing the cautious and carefully-coordinated phased reopening of temples.

If that was the only big temple news, it would be reason enough to rejoice, but the First Presidency also issued an official message by way of informing the Church and its' friends of other faiths that more changes had been approved for the endowment ceremony in temples. This follows changes announced to temple worship in early January 2019. The nature of the changes alluded to today is not known.

But the First Presidency concluded today's statement with the following comments: "Given the sacredness of the temple ceremonies, we ask our members and friends not to engage in speculation or public discussions about these changes. Rather, we invite Church members to continue to look forward to the day when they may return and fully participate in sacred temple work prayerfully and gratefully."

As one who sustains the Brethren as prophets, seers, and revelators, I accept that final paragraph of counsel as setting the parameters of the breadth and depth of any discussion that may follow here on this blog about the changes to which the statement alluded. Therefore, those specific guidelines will govern the discussion (or lack thereof) of the changes in question. 

With the first temples reopening under phase 2 next week, hopefully the phased reopening of temples will continue undeterred, and I predict based on that that some temples may be open under phase 4 by the Monday before the October 2020 General Conference, but that prediction is subject to confirmation, denial, or correction through official channels.

In the meantime, I do continue to monitor any and all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to bring word and analysis to you all on that as I become are of such developments. That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.

UPDATED: Current Apostolic Statistics

Hello again, everyone! Recently on this blog, it has become traditional for me to publish updated apostolic statistics relating to both the age and tenures of our current apostles roughly every 7 weeks. Since I last did so on Sunday May 24, it is now time to do so again today. Those updates, as has also been customary, the information will be featured in two parts: the first and the second. The information speaks for itself. I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates and will be sure to pass word of those developments along to you all as I become aware of any such reports.

That does it for now. Any and all comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated, on any post at any time, as long as such comments are made in accordance with the established guidelines. Thank you for the privilege of your time. 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.