Welcome to this new email with Tad Walch. As noted by Deseret News Editor Doug Wilks, this email is a new format for the Latter-day Saint Living Weekly (former Mormon Times) newsletter. Let us know what you think! |
|
Tad Talk President Russell M. Nelson may be in the midst of altering another common practice in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Since he assumed presidency of the church in January 2018, President Nelson has dedicated two of the five temples the church has completed and opened for operation in that time. Admittedly, it’s a very small sample size, but if he continues to dedicate fewer than half of the temples during his presidency, it would be a departure from the practice of his predecessors. Poor health has limited the ability of several church presidents to travel and preside over temple dedications during the church’s history, but when healthy, church leaders often have handled the bulk of such assignments. That is especially true of President Nelson’s three most immediate predecessors. For example, President Howard W. Hunter dedicated each of the two new temples completed during his tenure. President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated 63 of 86 temples completed during his presidency. President Thomas S. Monson dedicated the first 10 temples finished during his tenure, though he dedicated only four of the remaining 25 on his watch due chiefly to failing health. President Nelson is actually on the same trajectory as the leader who preceded the above three presidents. President Ezra Taft Benson also dedicated two of the first five temples finished during his leadership. He did not dedicate any of the remaining four in his time, chiefly due to failing health. |
|
The question now is whether President Nelson will continue to delegate dedications to others. The last two temple dedications were performed by junior apostles. In April, Elder Dale G. Renlund dedicated the Kinshasa Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple. In June, Elder Ulisses Soares, the most junior apostle, returned to his homeland to dedicate the Fortaleza Brazil Temple. The church has announced four upcoming dedications but not who will perform them. Those four dedications are the: • Port-Au-Prince Haiti Temple on Sept. 1, while President Nelson is scheduled to be in Brazil on a tour of South America • Lisbon Portugal Temple on Sept. 15, six days after President Nelson turns 95 • Arequipa Peru Temple on Dec. 15, and • Durban South Africa Temple on Feb. 16, 2020 The next two temples under construction and on schedule for dedications next year are the Rio de Janeiro Brazil Temple and the Winnipeg Manitoba Temple in Canada. President Nelson dedicated one temple before assuming presidency of the church. He was the president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles when he dedicated the Sapporo Japan Temple in August 2016. I don’t believe he is done dedicating temples, but I do think this is a pattern — that he will continue to delegate much of that specific work while continuing his own tours of the church around the world. Now, a quick special note about President Hinckley. When the six temples I’ve just listed above are dedicated, the church will have 170 operating temples. At that point, exactly half of them will have been dedicated by the late President Hinckley, who passed away 11 1/2 years ago. Interestingly, his first assignment as Assistant to the Twelve in 1958 was to assist in the dedication of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, which was the church’s 11th. When he died, the church had 124, and he had dedicated nearly 69.4% of them. He dedicated 22 temples while an apostle and counselor in the First Presidency. |
|
What I’m Reading ... Can I hand you the keys to how to troll me? I can’t stand it when people say baseball is dying. The industry has set records for gross revenues for 16 consecutive years, reaching $10.3 billion for 2018. The NFL is at about $15 billion and the NBA at $8 billion. Not everything is perfect for baseball, no. But it is healthy. And now the Red Sox are playing the Yankees in London this weekend, the first time Major League Baseball games have been played in Europe. Now, the real question is why there isn’t a Walch family reunion in London this weekend. According to one story I read, there are 100,000 baseball players in Europe. This story talks about the weekend’s games and the inroads baseball is making in England. This story says baseball was invented in England. What? King George III played a version as a boy before the American Revolution? Jane Austen played it and mentioned it in “Northanger Abbey?” My mind is blown. The Guardian admitted this column was based on rumors that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was going to pay off some of the $124 million Tonga owes China. If you read it, you’ll see that what interested the columnist were possible alternative ways for small nations to meet debt obligations, not with how churches should or should not use their money. That story was followed by one from one of Tonga’s major news outlets, which quoted the church’s Area Seventy for Tonga, Elder Aisake Tukuafu, whom I got to know and interview while I was there in May. He said, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints does not help governments pay off loans from other countries. Media reports that the Church is doing this for Tonga are not true.” |
|
|
|
|