BREAKING TEMPLE NEWS: Latest Phased Reopening Updates Released

Note: This post was originally published on this blog at 10:20 AM. Subsequent content was added between 12:30 and 1:00 PM.

Hello again, everyone! Although I had published an initial version of this post here at 10:20 AM,  some of the Church News articles covering that development were not yet available at that time, and I had another commitment to tend to this morning, so, on the heels of this morning's announcement of the revised reopening dates for the Washington D.C. Temple, temple reopening update were first provided in this official release from the Newsroom. Those updates were subsequently also shared in the latest update from the Church News, and were further reflected in the weekly reopening status tracker. Let's get right into those details.

First, the temples in Caracas Venezuela, Manaus Brazil, Tijuana Mexico, and Vancouver British Columbia have reopened or will soon reoepen in phase 3, which allows for the performance of all living ordiances in priority order, and the scheduling of limited proxy work. Meanwhile, the Church has announced that the Fortaleza Brazil Temple could transition to phase 2-B, allowing ordinances for the living in priority order, and proxy baptisms by appointment, as early as August 2. And the Sydney Australia Temple, which had reached phase 3 in its reopening, has had to puuse operations due to COVID-19 conditions and restrictions.

And three more temples in North America could reopen in phase 3 anytime between now and the ned of next month. Those three are the Toronto Ontario Temple in the North America Northeast Area, and the Medford Oregon and Spokane Washington Temples  in the North America West Area. As of next Monday (July 26), these adjustments will result in the following breakdown of temples reoepning in each phase:

8 are closed for major renovations (6 of which have been granted phase 3 designation, allowing ordinances for the living in priority order and limited proxy ordinances as scheduled); 10 temples are currently "paused" in their reopenings (6 of those had reached phase 3, with 1 in phase 2-B and the remaining 3 in phase 2); 3 are operating in phase 1; with 10 in phase 2; 17 others are in phase 2-B; and the remaining 120 are now operating in phase 3.

As always, I remain continuously grateful for the measured approaach the Brethren have taken to carefully transition temples to the next phases of operation, while allowing COVID-19 conditions to inform their choices about pausing or stepping back any of the temples in their reopening. Each week, the Church is getting all the more close to a return to normal temple operations, and that is very much a reason to rejoice.

For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all as I become aware thereof. 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: Reopening Dates Set for the Washington D.C. Temple

Hello again, everyone! Although I anticipate the weekly announcement of temple reopenings any time now, other breaking temple news has been announced by the Church. Following a nearly 2-year delay due to COVID-19 conditions, revised reopening dates have been reset for the Washington D.C. Temple Let's break down the particulars. The Church has announced that a media day will occur on April 18, 2022, with VIP/private tours from April 19-April 27. 

Following those tours, the temple will reopen to the public for a rough 6-week period (from April 28-June 4, excluding the relevant Sundays).  There will be a youth devotional held on June 18, followed by the rededication of the temple the next day in 3 sessions (at 9:00 AM, 12:00 PM, and 3:00 PM), The youth devotional and rededication will be broadcast to all meetinghouses in the the Wasshington D.C. Temple district.

Interestingly enough, the news release does not mention who will preside at the youth devetional and templei rededication. I was a little surprised that the rededication of this temple will only occur in mid-June of next year, but ive view of the extended open house, it does make sense. As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, the Church will likely make its' temple reopeneing announcements for the week in the next little while, which I will pass along to you all as I receive that information.

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: Church Confirms the Preliminary Details for the Yorba Linda California Temple

Hello again, everyone! This morning the Church has confirmed the location and preliminary plans for the Yorba Linda California Temple. Let's break down the details. The single-story temple (anticipated to be roughly 30,000 square feet) will rise on a 5.4 acre site on the corners of Osmond Street and Bastanchuury Road. Representatives from the Church will work on the approvals process for that temple alongside government leaders, but this very well could mean another temple that is likely to have a groundbreaking later this year. 

With today's announcement, the only US temples announced earlier this year which have not had preliminary information confirmed are the Eugene Oregon and Ephraim Utah Temples, but I imagine word on the locations and preliminary details for thoesse temples will come down the pike at some point between now and the end of this month. In any case, I'd anticipate that the Church will have a very busy second half of 2021.

By way of review, the Church now has 14 temples in the queue which could conceivably have their groundbreakings during the second half of this month. With the information for most US temples being announced in stages, as has been the case lately, that does make it difficult to figure out what the timing of the next announcements (exterior renderings and groundbreaking arrangements) might turn out to be for each of these temples. which in turn will impact the construction time-frames.

Having said that, Iam grateful for the Church's approach here, which has been very measured for the time being, and I look forward to passing something more official on any of those temples along to you all once that is announced.  In the meantine I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will be sure to bring word of those to you all here as well.

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: Groundbreakings Announced for Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Nairobi Kenya Temples

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the First Presidency announced the groundbreaking arrangements for the temples in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania and Nairobi Kenya. First, it's worth noting that the Newsroom article on this development incorrectly states that both temples were announced in April 2020 by President Nelson. That's not quite correct. As we know, the Nairobi Kenya Temple was actually the last temple in the queue that had been originally announced by President Monson (in April 2017).

That inaccuracy aside, the first of the two to have a groundbreaking will be the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania Temple. That's set to occur on Saturday August 21, 2021, and is the second groundbreaking held during COVID-19 to have an exact date announced for the ceremony instead of a general window. Elder Randall K. Bennett, president of the Church's North America Northeast Area, will preside over that ceremony. The location and rendering of that temple was released in mid-January.

As for the Nairobi Kenya Temple, its' groundbreaking is set to occur on Saturday September 11. Elder Joseph W. Sitati, a native of Kenya currently serving as the president of the Africa Central Area of the Church, will preside at that event. In a somewhat odd development, the news release notes that the temple's official location and exterior rendering will be released at a later time. I imagine that's because the final approvals for the location and design are pending, but they are far enough along that a groundbreaking can be safely set.

It would appear that, except for areas where COVID-19 still makes things unpredictable, the Church is able to again set exact dates for temple groundbreakings. I would anticipate that both temples will be completed sometime in 2023 (with Nairobi possibly completed in 2024), but we'll have to see. Although I was anticipating groundbreaking announcements for more temples would be coming down the pike, the announcement specifically relating to Kenya's first temple surprised me in terms of its' timing.

I take today's announcement as a positive sign that the Church will be able to schedule other groundbreakings for specific dates in the future. On my personal watchlist for such an announcement are the temples in Lindon Utah (though the Church temples site indicates that the groundbreaking for that temple is anticiapted in 2022), and any of the Pacific Area Temples for which official details have been confirmed. 

I particularly anticipate something official might come down the pike for the Neiafu Tonga, Pago Pago American Samoa, and Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temples, but we'll see what happens for each of those temples. It's also worth noting that, while I was composing the content of this post, the Church News shared their own coverage on today's announcement, though again, the Church News article also mistakenly asserts that the Nairobi Kenya Temple was announced in April 2020.

Today's announcement brings the number of temples for which a groundbreaking has been scheduled this year thus far ro 6, but I anticipate a sharp increase in that number for the second half of this year. For my part, I continue to monitor all Church news and temple updates, and will be sure to pass word of those along to you all here as I become aware thereof. 

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: Additional Temple Reopenings Announced for July and August

Hello again, everyone! This morning, the latest temple reopening updates were released through the Newsroom, with those same updates noted in the Church News and reflected as well in the temple reopening status tracker, with each of those showing the changes that will go into effect throughout the rest of this month and into August.

18 more temples have moved or will move into phase 3 as early as this week. Those temples break down by area as follows:

Caribbean: Port-au-Prince Haiti

Europe: Frankfurt and Freiberg Germany, Bern Switzerland, Copenhagen Denmark, Lisbon Portugal, Madrid Spain, and Rome Italy.

Philippines: Cebu City Philippines

North America Central: Calgary and Edmonton Alberta

North America Southeast: Fort Lauderdale and Orlando Florida; Columbia South Carolina; Louisville Kentucky; Memphis Tennessee; Raleigh North Carolina

South America Northwest: Guayaquil Ecuador

The Anchorage Alaska Temple (which falls under the North America West Area) has also reopened, but patrons in those districts have been able to schedule limited phase 3 proxy ordinances for the last several weeks. The Church also announced other temples projected to move to phase 3 in July and August, which are likewise listed by Church area:

Brazil: Manaus Brazil

Mexico: Tijuana Mexico

North America Northeast: Toronto Ontario

North America West: Vancouver British Columbia; Medford Oregon and Spokane Washington (The Church had originally planned to reopen the latter two temples later this month, but that's been pushed back to August, likely due to COVID-19 conditions).

South America Northwest: Caracas Venezuela

As of next Monday (July 19), the status of the Church's 168 temples will break down as follows: 8 closed for major renovations (6 of which have been given phase 3 designations); 9 paused (5 in phase 3, 1 in phase 2-B, and the remaining 3 in phase 2); 3 in phase 1; 10 in phase 2; 21 in phase 2-B; and the remaining 117 in phase 3.

I am grateful for the Church's continued measured and cautious approach to reopening temples. I continue to monitor all Church news updates and temple developments and will bring word of those to you all as I receive 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.