The gospel and the temple bring me abundant peace and radiant joy. My bishops credibility sank. A First Presidency letter announced opportunities for senior service missionaries around the world. I am deeply relieved it is gone. The Choir also sang live music at the October 2021 general conference and resumed its live broadcast of Music & the Spoken Word. Regarding informed consent Simply informing participants that these are the 5 covenants youll make isnt informed consent. Women are irrelevant to whats necessary for church structure. It is a step forward to having more resources that are child-centric.. @lws, that whole series (I think its in 6 parts) is really good and eye-opening. I did and of course, not enough was changed. The angel Moroni. 2) Im assuming these Jesus pics are all going to be Nordic Tinder Jesus, but its still an improvement over Supercuts Adam Im also interested in how strongly we can disagree about issues relating to the temple and dont want to have strong feelings about that. I look forward to attending and seeing how they did with that. While unable to hold its yearly Christmas concert, the Choir and Orchestra taped a Christmas special for 2022 with special guests Megan Hilty and Neal McDonough. My great grand mother who I knew personally was the daughter of a polygamist who had 4 families. 6) Im not sure which vestiges are in and which are out; personally, Im not bothered by the Masonic roots, but I dont think its great that church leaders have believed that the Masonic stuff was actually from the time of Solomon, or the other elements where we seem to be cosplaying ancient Israel which is a flavor of cultural appropriation that some take far too seriously If you are dissatisfied with your temple experience, do these changes move the needle for you? Or pick up trash on a highway? My last trip to the temple was to see my daughter married last year and Ill not be back unless something miraculous happens. The current church hierarchy favoring men has negative effects on both men and women, as your story illustrates. Temple Square in Salt Lake City before the Saturday morning session of October 2021 general conference. The changes made in regards to blacks, LGBTQ, Caffeine at BYU, and even abortion as well as the changes hidden from the public about the temple ceremony make me wonder whos really running the church and makes me suspect that its more men than God. In a major change, LDS Church . I experienced the changes this week (and will do sealings tomorrow and see if theres any improvement on gender parity there?). As someone who enjoys doing family history I now find it ludicrous to be doing all these ordinances for the dead for which we can only do a chip of the iceberg. President Nelson talks about temple and spiritual foundations - Deseret Even if youre right and its all of the ordinances, the reality is still that the promises given to men and women in the temple are not the same. I had no family to help me. So I went from accepting it and not liking it to not accepting it and hating it. Admit it. So, credit where credit is due, but for many of us, its too little too late. Thank you for educating me. In October, the 133-year-old Manti Utah Temple began undergoing renovations. Read more about Leavitts call at LDS Living. First Presidency announces changes to the temple endowment ceremony By The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints July 20, 2020 12:23 PM MDT The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following message on Monday, July 20, 2020, about changes to the temple endowment ceremony: As for the apron, I think its beautiful. The Temple Department in the US and Canada announced new opportunities for service missionaries in a January 29, 2021, notice. Additional instruction rooms, more sealing ordinance rooms, and a second baptistry were announced in the same statement, and a cafeteria would not be included. . There is no way to get around this. Finally, I think you may also have misunderstood my statement about the new and everlasting covenant. I have real life experience with this both with my husband and bishops. In any case, it doesnt matter, I wont ever be going back. The First Presidency approved a new position, international area organization adviser, in March 2021. First Presidency announces changes to temple endowment ceremony, citing As far as I can tell, the temple ceremony is something Joseph Smith came up with, after becoming a Mason, and he used it as a loyalty test for followers and a way to launder his secret plural marriages. No, I suppose Adam would have sprung for a nice pair of white shoes. My understanding of the 2020 changes is that they happened because the director of the new temple movies was arrested for child sexual abuse. If they had happened 10 years ago, when I was regularly attending each month, they would have had more of a positive impact. In sum, these seem like tiny changes that I suppose are positive-ish (other than A&Es clothes) but not meaningful. On the tragically funny theme, when I was a 19 year old virgin on my mission, not having been around girls for a long time, I found the endowment movie strangely erotic. The new temple film, which Ive only seen once so far, seems to me, to be just for them, and my friends in Africa. We truly are a worldwide church now. I also disagree that the church certainly doesnt treat women as equal. Of course any decisions a woman makes in the church can be vetoed by a man over her, but the same goes for any decisions a man makes in the Church. Jul 12, 2021, 12:21pm PDT SHARE Latter-day Saints reminded of new ceremonial clothing as temples resume operations Flipboard A view of the Ogden Utah Temple on Tuesday, Sept. 29, 2020. I have enjoyed hearing how you interpret the symbols and I agree with you on some and learned a new perspective on others. What are the implications of that? Everyone should know what they are before they go to the temple. I do think the General Authorities tended to be misandrist for a long time, but perhaps the men of the Church really were, by and large, that bad. In the hierarchy of the church we women are only gifted with the choice to submit and consent, or to withhold our consent and be seen as disrespectful (and be destroyed). In my opinion, no amount of Jesus pictures (which I assume would be the Caucasian version) inserted into the presentation, can mask the fact that the Christ the Church claims to follow would have no interest in the opulence of temples or in what takes place there. Pretty easy exercise if you are sincere about what you wrote. Ive heard so many stories, first hand, from people who felt they were not adequately prepared. First of all, no, I meant what I said about the Churchs misandry. As COVID-19 restrictions diminish in various areas and temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue to increase operations, Latter-day Saints are reminded of previously announced adjustments to temple ceremonial clothes and the availability of new styles. (I am not sure whether that language is the same now but thats what it was 16 yrs ago when I got married: I gave myself to my husband and he received me; he didnt give himself to me because he cant: he may be sealed to multiple women so cannot give himself to any one of them.). See the full statistical report at LDS Living. More Jesus, less touching: 14 changes to the Mormon temple endowment A lot more than intent going on there. I shared a story of one of them in my last post to Elisa, so hopefully that will be up by the time I finish this. I get the temple, and honestly have to say I am confused when I hear some members talk about how incomprehensible the temple is, and that incomprehensibility is what makes it so wonderful, always something new to learn. I went through the temple first in 1988 before my mission and then again when I married in 1991. He used Masonry as a common fraternal society, necessary for the recruitment of labor and voluntary work, and also to embark on settling sovereign landthats it. There are too many positive symbolic usages of the fig tree (IMO) for me to let go of its sacred connotations. Setting aside that the changes were actually not changes, without apology and explanation there can be no healing. To say otherwise sounds like toxic positivity to me. Humans are prideful, and I personally men are more so than women. I enjoyed all that and the dead can wait. It says a person who dislikes despises or is strongly prejudiced against men. Nothing in our actual doctrine says women are more sacred than men, except these sort of statements leaders put out to tell us to quit complaining about our status. But dont hold your breath. I had assumed it was only temporary as they were changing up the ceremony, but it sounds like they kept this as a permanent feature? They have completed or are no longer attending high school, secondary school, or the equivalent. On top of that, theres now a line emphasizing that ADAM has the PRIESTHOOD, which seems a step backward since we silly women thought we were getting some kind of priesthood through temple ordinances. Things may have changed either before or since I was there many, many years ago. It becomes the mans choice whether to treat us well in their decision making or choose to delegate any decisions to us. In February, the Church had its first-ever Friend to Friend event. In order to be one in a truly intimate safe relationship men and women have to relate as equals rather than one up, one down and protected in a lower hierarchy, veiled position. Should shave off a minute or two from the endowment. It need not be replaced by the new style, according to the letter. It felt very simple and empty. My recommend lapsed during COVID, and I no longer attend church. I wanted to ask about it but realized my parents were probably not equipped to talk about it, and my bishophe had effectively disqualified himself as someone I couldnt trust. I really dont mean to be rude, but your explanation sounds like metaphysical mumbo jumbo to me. You may also like:Reminisce over bygone Church pageants and try out for the Nauvoo cast. Ditto to the changes they had already made to the initiatory. First of all, plural marriage is a *form* of polygamy, but is not exactly the same; and secondly, while it is a *part* of the new and everlasting covenant, it has never been equivalent to it. Instead you can say Yeah, some things are great about the church and the members and leaders, others not so much. and stay in the church and do what you can to make it a safe welcoming place for everyone. Also, it's worth remembering the original purpose of the temple ceremony. Making amends in an unapologetic world: No forgiveness for institutions incapable of public repentance. I stood in a prayer circle with sister missionaries a couple of times and no one said boo about it. My interviewees said there were several points when the script reminded people that the temple endowment is symbolic and mentioned how those symbols pointed to Jesus Christ. I want to add that the church certainly doesnt treat women as equal, not in final decisions in our ward stakes or in the whole church. sltrib.com 1996-2023 The Salt Lake Tribune. Really appreciate the honesty here as well as the respect for what others find sacred and meaningful. Of the fact that weve made mistakes and sinned, just as Adam and Eve did. I know this because my non-heathen spouse is teaching the course in our ward at the moment and is constantly looking for better material. The Church, as always, will condemn The Worlds evil philosophy of gender equality (because eternal truths), and then when the battle is lost, it will embrace the change (because ongoing restoration). Either way, Im good with it. The First Presidency letter includes a list of frequently asked questions addressing the redesign of ceremonial clothing. Continuing movement toward gender equality. @Travis Im surprised that you dont see any connection to Masonry and the Temple endowment. Required fields are marked *. Its interesting to read about the changes, but I wont be going to see them. The church is reminding Latter-day Saints of the new styles and adjustments as COVID-19 restrictions diminish and temples continue to increase operations, according to a news release Monday. If the new and everlasting covenant is just the priesthood and priesthood ordinances, then why dont men and women have the same promise? She showed him that her shoes were worn out and asked for a new pair. Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company. By. I appreciate the effort at improving informed consent, and making the whole experience somewhat less coercive by explaining the covenants up front. As for why they werent made in 2019, I can think of two possibilities: either a) the people werent ready for them yet; or b) the prophets hadnt thought of them yet.