Why so many new temples, up 70 under pres nelson 3.5 year tenure when membership flat. Why?

[Fair Dinkum]

You get a temple and you get a temple and you get a temple in fact everybody gets a temple  

 

 

https://religionnews.com/2021/05/20/why-so-many-new-mormon-temples-when-lds-growth-is-flat/

Edited May 21, 2021 by Fair Dinkum

[teddyaware]

1 minute ago, Fair Dinkum said:

 

 

 

https://religionnews.com/2021/05/20/why-so-many-new-mormon-temples-when-lds-growth-is-flat/

To perplex, mystify and annoy doubters.

[webbles]

To spend the rainy day fund

[Vanguard]

To make it easier to visit for those who are interested in making the temple a more regular part if their routine. I say great!

[mgy401]

“The denomination as a whole is not enjoying the kind of growth that would make these temples a need rather than a luxury, . . .”

But that’s just it.  A luxury is something you do without it when you can’t afford it, and then go ahead and spring for it once you’ve got the money.

The Church, having basically bought into the Dave Ramsey idea of “live like nobody else now so you can live like nobody else later”, is in a position to enjoy some of the benefits of the sacrifices made by earlier generations.  The main question for me is whether the Church can maintain its vitality without requiring of its members the same level of sacrifice that they’ve had to make in the past. 

[Bernard Gui]

To make the temple available to as many members as possible and to facilitate travel in case things in the world go awry.

[Bernard Gui]

11 minutes ago, mgy401 said:

The main question for me is whether the Church can maintain its vitality without requiring of its members the same level of sacrifice that they’ve had to make in the past. 

If there were to be future societal issues, having smaller temples relatively close by would be a blessing, and members might be responsible for upkeep. And if things get really out of hand, it might be a trial of faith just to get to the building.

Edited May 21, 2021 by Bernard Gui

[pogi]

Because they will be used.  Do we need any more reason?

Ok, here are a few more off the top of my head - Because temples are awesome and we have a crap load of work to do!  Because they help fulfill 3 folds of our mission - to perfect the saints, redeem the dead, and to proclaim the gospel (My parents served a mission in the Oakland temple visitor center and temples are excellent missionary tools which attract curiosity).  Finally, because they create greater accessibility equity in our worldwide church. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by pogi

[Duncan]

Build it and they will come [back]

We have a temple, fully built but hasn't been dedicated yet. It was scheduled for dedication last November but obviously everything blew up. I have no idea what the temple presidency are doing but whatever. Hopefully soon though!

[Peacefully]

Modular building could make more temples available in a shorter amount of time. We have a temple in Dallas but I would love to have one in Ft. Worth.

[rongo]

2 hours ago, pogi said:

Because they will be used. 

When?  Despite saying in conference that they will open when local regulations allow, none are back to pre-Covid capacity and volume. Only a handful in the world are even open for partial vicarious work. If it really were local regulations, temples would be open and operating right now. Despite saying this, it isn't local regulations holding them back, it is internal Church regulations. 

2 hours ago, pogi said:

we have a crap load of work to do!

Which is belied by the complete lack of urgency over the last year and a half and counting. We're told how crucial this work is, but the Church's actions on their face say the opposite. 

2 hours ago, pogi said:

Finally, because they create greater accessibility equity in our worldwide church. 

This is certainly a part of it, but many of them are announced in places where they aren't going to be staffed or patronized, other than by missionaries. 

I think it's two-fold: 1) President Nelson likes the idea of building them all over the place. 2) Branding and marketing. The idea is that if they're all over the place, it will make the Church more visible and seem more established. 

How many have been announced that are somewhere between announcement and being dedicated? Isn't it at least 60? And with the construction supply shortages, it's going to take even longer than it normally would. 

[longview]

3 hours ago, teddyaware said:

To perplex, mystify and annoy doubters.

Meanwhile down in the Devil's domain, alarm bells are clanging away continually - - -

[sunstoned]

Announcing temples and building temples are two different things.  

[Hamba Tuhan]

34 minutes ago, rongo said:

How many have been announced that are somewhere between announcement and being dedicated? Isn't it at least 60?

It's actually 84 (28 in the past year). Of those 84, 36 are under construction, three have dates set for groundbreakings, and nine more have had site locations announced (all but one with exterior renderings released).

Edited May 21, 2021 by Hamba Tuhan

[webbles]

26 minutes ago, rongo said:

How many have been announced that are somewhere between announcement and being dedicated? Isn't it at least 60? And with the construction supply shortages, it's going to take even longer than it normally would.

Per https://churchofjesuschristtemples.org/construction/, I see 2 awaiting dedication, 34 currently under construction, 3 scheduled for groundbreaking, 9 with a site announced, and 36 without a site announced.  Unless I messed up the counting, that's 84 between dedication and announcement.

[pogi]

33 minutes ago, rongo said:

Which is belied by the complete lack of urgency over the last year and a half and counting. We're told how crucial this work is, but the Church's actions on their face say the opposite. 

Umm...the mission is to redeem the dead, not multiply the dead. 

Are you suggesting that our prophet is lying, or at least not genuine in his urgency for the work?
 

I feel confident that our prophet is balancing the responsibility to protect the sanctity of life (hence his abundance of caution and vaccine push) amidst a devastating pandemic, and the urgency of the work.   The urgency to redeem the dead cannot rob the urgency to protect the living, when a temporary hiatus could potentially save thousands of lived from a premature death.  Your arguments are reminiscent of those who shamed the handcart companies into pushing through the winter, risking lives unnecessarily, instead of waiting a short season to do the work.  
 

His building of temples in a pandemic when none are attending attests of his hope and faith in the future of this work...simply waiting a short season for the snow to melt.  He is planting those seeds and they will sprout as the snow melts.  Impatient gardeners make terrible gardens.  In gardening, urgency needs to be balanced with a patient vision and hope in the future.   

 

 

 

Edited May 21, 2021 by pogi

[OGHoosier]

23 minutes ago, Hamba Tuhan said:

It's actually 84 (28 in the past year). Of those 84, 36 are under construction, three have dates set for groundbreakings, and nine more have had site locations announced (all but one with exterior renderings released).

I had recently moved to Philadelphia when that temple was announced and by the time I moved away they hadn't broken ground yet. Philly was an outlier (the city government was not very cooperative and the scuttlebutt around the stake suggested that Philly's powerful Catholic lobby was behind it since our temple is on the same square as their basilica). Nevertheless, after that interminable period of waiting the idea of a same-year announcement and groundbreaking is, well, groundbreaking to me. 

I wonder if it has anything to do with the endowment backlog. More facilities means more flexibility for members, which can't hurt. 

Edited May 21, 2021 by OGHoosier

[jcake]

And, the millennium is coming, they will be needed then!

[Scott Lloyd]

4 hours ago, Fair Dinkum said:

You get a temple and you get a temple and you get a temple in fact everybody gets a temple  

 

 

https://religionnews.com/2021/05/20/why-so-many-new-mormon-temples-when-lds-growth-is-flat/

The number of temples is not a reflection of raw membership totals. It’s a reflection of the membership worldwide who are faithful and devout enough to qualify for a temple recommend. An ever increasing number of temples might thus be regarded as a measure of real growth, or the growth in the number of members for whom the Church makes a positive difference in their lives. 
 

Furthermore, temples are not just for the living, but for the dead as well. Making temples more convenient and accessible to living members facilitates the saving ordinances being offered to ever-increasing numbers of those who have passed beyond the veil without having those blessings in mortality. 

[JustAnAustralian]

Kevin R Duncan, GA70 & executive director of the temple department has answered this.

Quote

Speaking to the media after President Nelson announced the new Ephraim temple, Elder Kevin R. Duncan, a General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, offered insight. He said the Church is working to build temples “nearer the people so they can go to the temple frequently.”

He spoke about temples for smaller communities and then envisioned a time when the Church would have multiple temples in large cities that are hard to navigate. “Instead of one large temple that is hard to get to, you can have multiple temples that are easy to get to,” he said.

Elder Duncan said Church leaders “are making the temple accessible.”

....

Elder Duncan said Church leaders all anticipate a day very soon when temples will literally “dot the globe” — with every member living within two hours of a temple, or much, much closer.

https://www.thechurchnews.com/temples/2021-05-15/sarah-jane-weaver-temples-pattern-connects-small-towns-large-cities-213205

 

[e-eye]

Prophecy will be fulfilled regardless of our limited understanding. As wickedness increases so will righteousness. 

[Garden Girl]

3 hours ago, jcake said:

And, the millennium is coming, they will be needed then!

I've heard it taught that the great work of the millennium will be the temple ordinances...

GG

[Robert F. Smith]

7 hours ago, Fair Dinkum said:

Why so many new temples, up 70 under pres nelson 3.5 year tenure when membership flat. Why?

You get a temple and you get a temple and you get a temple in fact everybody gets a temple 

https://religionnews.com/2021/05/20/why-so-many-new-mormon-temples-when-lds-growth-is-flat/

Now you are being silly, and just dinkin around.  Jana pointed to two major factors: (1) small temples need to be closer to the members, who otherwise would have to travel long distances; (2) The pandemic has had a; major effect on membership figures.  You seem to pointedly ignore both facts.

Not that there will not be a winnowing in membership in some areas, which is a natural affect (emphasis on the first syllable).  For those who do not know anything about LDS Church history, it may seem as though there have never been major apostasies along the way.  The Church has managed those quite well, thank you. 

[Robert F. Smith]

4 hours ago, rongo said:

When?  Despite saying in conference that they will open when local regulations allow, none are back to pre-Covid capacity and volume. Only a handful in the world are even open for partial vicarious work. If it really were local regulations, temples would be open and operating right now. Despite saying this, it isn't local regulations holding them back, it is internal Church regulations. 

Which is belied by the complete lack of urgency over the last year and a half and counting. We're told how crucial this work is, but the Church's actions on their face say the opposite. 

Nonsense, Dr Nelson has better sense than to expose everyone unnecessarily to COVID-19.  Your politics are showing.

4 hours ago, rongo said:

This is certainly a part of it, but many of them are announced in places where they aren't going to be staffed or patronized, other than by missionaries. 

The Nauvoo Temple, for example.  Some years back I drove into Nauvoo, rented a motel room, and looked around.  There were about 200 LDS missionaries in town, all very helpful.  That evening I got on my laptop and prepared about 15 ancestors for complete temple work the next day.  Went to the local public library to print out the order (with bar code), which was run by a missionary.  Then went to the temple.  A wonderfully beautiful edifice.  Maybe the first time since 1844-45 that a member of my family had been back to Nauvoo.

I started in the basement at the baptismal font, where I found a member of my stake presidency with his extended family doing the same thing I was.  Got everyone baptized and confirmed, then moved on up.  With the help of temple missionaries, all were endowed, sealed, etc., by the time I had finished the one name I had done on my own.  I was so gratified.

4 hours ago, rongo said:

I think it's two-fold: 1) President Nelson likes the idea of building them all over the place. 2) Branding and marketing. The idea is that if they're all over the place, it will make the Church more visible and seem more established. 

How many have been announced that are somewhere between announcement and being dedicated? Isn't it at least 60? And with the construction supply shortages, it's going to take even longer than it normally would. 

I suspect that the LDS Church is in this for the long haul, not for a Hollywood moment.

[Scott Lloyd]

A 17-word thread title? If that’s not a record, it must be close to it. Awesome.