Your email address will not be published. We do not obey covenant. I work hard every week and at home to build something wonderful. For the Strength of Youth conferences were postponed during the pandemic but will begin again in 2022 and 2023. What are the implications of that? Read more about the notice at Church News. I actually have positive feelings about polygamy myself. Regarding the 7 changes Elisa outlines in her first paragraph, my reactions are: As for polygamy, I think there are a lot of serious misunderstandings about it. She only had one interaction with him. Re: The Law of Obedience: I wouldnt get too fussy over the seeming double talkits just one of those things. Watch or Read Inspiring Messages about Jesus Christ - Talks Available. Oh, and this has to be done for dead people also., I didnt really address Elisas questions, but I think Im pretty close to @Annas recommendation: The only way to fix the endowment is to accept that it was not what Jesus told us was needed and throw it out as false.. We covenant to live be covenant; were not truly loving until we love to love, and so forth. I believe its a continuation of what President Nelson started with the focus on the name of the Church. As a woman, I need your respect, not your flattery.. If you went through the temple for the first time during a different iteration of the endowment, which covenants did you make? 4) I dont really know what this one means. https://academia.edu/resource/work/94819636. And so the apron is a symbol of our imperfection. The Salt Lake temple will be able to have double the number of patrons, and can host. But, since I picked a husband that would not ask me to obey him if I didnt agree, I wasnt too worried with that. My hometown has a large Masonic Lodge and many men in the community were active in Freemasonry at that time. Callings in the baptistry and ordinance support continue to be made by the temple president. His deep concern for children and youth must continue to be our deep concern.. The missionary department encouraged all missionaries and prospective missionaries to safeguard themselves by being vaccinated. On December 13, the First Presidency released the following regarding the completion date for the Salt Lake Temple renovation project: The seismic strengthening of the Salt Lake Temple and the extensive remodel of the Temple and surrounding area are sacred and significant undertakings. Mostly, the circle made my arm really tired & it was weird holding hands with a stranger for an extended period of time. Should the Saints be better? At this point I will never go to the temple again. I thought well why didnt they specify that? I felt pretty invisible as a woman in the endowment , especially as Eve never said a word after leaving the Garden. IMO, the most profound meaning of the fig leaves is that of fertility and fecundity. I just dont see things the same as you, and thats okay. Your email address will not be published. . These renovations include safety improvements and filmed presentations of temple ceremonies, increasing the number of languages sessions in which they are available. The point is that they are given the presiding position and women are not in the presiding position. The biggest improvement Ive read about is the informed consent. Cant the man and woman embrace each other, so they are both at the center and at the edge at the same time? There were a couple of small changes from the 70s-90s that I wondered about if God was The same yesterday, today, and forever but with the changes that have happened since then that Ive read about it just seems to be to be a slower adaption to the world than the church makes in its more open statements to the public. I welcome these changes and look forward to more. The Lord gave us mortal bodies and a temporal salvation as an escape from the telestial fig fruit trap. By wearing the fig emblem of Satan/Cain throughout the entirety of the presentation of the endowment, we symbolically reject the sacrifice the Lord made in order to give us earth, embodiment, and resurrection. See photos of the missionaries arriving at the Provo MTC at LDS Living. Cant remember what happened last week, let alone in January 2021? Thanks Bro! The Mormon temple ceremony is still awesome, even with the changes. Ceremonial clothing previously used may still be worn for temple worship. They will no longer feel special. And thats a beautiful thing (IMO) as it grounds us in those things that make possible the reception of the Holy Ghostwhich (reception) gets us on the high road to eternal life. We were pretty poor for many years , so that was as close to these vacation spots I was going to get . The ceremony at that time still included the violent death consequence hand motions for disclosing the signs and tokensthat rocked me. I bought a wedding dress with sheer sleeves, not knowing it was a little unacceptable. Questioning the terms of this discussion. Sometimes there were just very small circles, and the officiator could barely get to the alter. You may have heard that the LDS Temple ceremony changed to (1) provide an explanation of five temple covenants before people agree to continue, (2) show pictures of Jesus, (3) eliminate the roles of the witness couple, (4) change it so that certain elements are only shown on screen, not performed during the ceremony, until the end (which I I am deeply relieved it is gone. No more live endowment sessions in Mormon temples - Religion News Service Emma and her counselors were even ordained with the priesthood and told to pick deacons and teachers from among the sisters (see josephsmithpapers.org). @Toad, I had the same experience re: penalty oaths. Joseph and his family always considered Masonry to be an apostate feigning of priesthood. Elisa, the ordinances of the endowment bestow upon both men and women the same powerstheyre identical. Even so, Im not opposed to men placing women on pedestals. And, if the meaning doesnt change just because the words did (the reassurance some GAs gave folks after previous changes), am I bound by the meaning of the obey the law of your husband wording from even earlier? (RNS) Just four years after the most recent revisions, the LDS temple ceremony has undergone more changes. What follows is a provisional overview. If the temple ceremony has been changed to allow more instruction and consent prior to entering into a covenant that will be a great improvement. Believe in women more, Jack. People sometimes confuse the ordinance of the endowment with the presentation of the endowment. Were just supposed to pretend that the many years we spent listening to the old language are wiped away. So when I went after the 2019 changes, I was a little excited. The clothing adjustments do not change temple doctrine or symbolism but are designed to enhance members experience in the temple and make the ceremonial clothing easier to put on, care for and afford,the First Presidency announced in January of 2020. With that in mind, when what consider that which is most sacred above all it should be obvious why the woman is at the fulcrum of eternitythe center. Yes, the new and everlasting covenant is also spoken of, but how many sections of the Doctrine & Covenants consist of the Lord giving Joseph way more than he bargained for? (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.). To me adding pictures of Jesus to the endowment misses the point when correcting the problem that the endowment has nothing to do with Jesus and the atonement. In other words, if you want salvation, you must go through the temple, and so you have to come to church and pay tithing. Imagine that. I hope youll let me know what those are in the days to come, if you can. The symbol does not lie. I have sough that, most recently when I last went and found a friend to be a temple worker, but she could tell me nothing other than those are not the questions she asks. Temple attendees said the endowments wording now includes several reminders to obey. Are you seeing a greater contingency of non-temple Mormons in your circles? Think thats where I am now. 3) Minimal effect. I actually spend all kinds of time doing all kinds of great things in my area. Their (the officiants) only role was starting the session and then saying the prayer at the end of the session, one person told me. I went to the temple this year for the first time in some years. You may also like:What I learned about the limitless power of the Spirit during my virtual vacation to Church historic sites. I think we see things pretty wildly differently and thats ok. There was nothing secret about Masonry by Josephs timeall was published publicly by anti-Masonic factions. 'Real Housewife' Heather Gay pens a juicy ex-Mormon memoir By Jana Riess . And will know our righteousness level just by knowing us better than we know ourselves. It gets confusing. Joseph synthesizes modern and ancient temple ordinance in this. I do think 2020 was just reducing physical contact for Covid. Candidly, I dont think theres an argument that that Church and temple liturgy isnt structurally sexist. (That isnt stopping me from blogging about them, I guess, but Im just doing my journalistic duty here!) I was saying that thats how some folks might interpret what I was sayingbut thats not what Im saying at all. Im interested to see how they increase Christs role in the endowment. I went through for the first time in 1993 and was completely unprepared even though I was a BYU student and had taken temple prep classes. First sentence: So say the racists, so say sexists. I think the three primary objectives will be focusing on first [is] the idea that the global church needs a global choir, and that means seeking larger, more global audiences. @Anna, the grinch comment yes. Iws329: What differences are you referring to? But their complimentary relationship works in a way that allows the most sacred fruit to be brought forth in the most sacred space. Ive had the thought, If they really want to increase temple attendance, they should just go full monty with the video. Many of the changes make explicit how central Christ is in the faith and this rite. Even so, I think women need both (generally speaking) as do menespecially from their significant other. Its *my* fault for doing it, just as it would be my husbands fault if he sinned against me. that places the woman on a more sacred footing than the man Pedestal much? 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. As for the apron, whats funny is that I always saw that as a beautiful part of the temple to me, the apron represented our humanity as imperfect as it was, yet we got to keep it with us throughout. Celestial Room, and in other areas in the Temple, if you need to communicate, Say it. My understanding of the 2020 changes is that they happened because the director of the new temple movies was arrested for child sexual abuse. This is also an excellent series on polygamy: http://www.thefaithfulfeminists.com/2021/11/polygamy-in-pieces-part-one-timeline.html. About men, and the hierarchy, no man is dependent upon a woman over him in the church, to allow him to receive ordinances essential to his salvation. The gospel and the temple bring me abundant peace and radiant joy. However this story doesnt eliminate the negatives of my other family polygamy story. The argument that Joseph aligned the temple more with Kabbalah has been made by scholars such as Harold Bloom, Lance Owens, Hugh Nibley, and Hartley Lachter. The whole chapter begins with Joseph asking questions about polygamy. Are you suggesting that my greatgrandmother should have focused on the positive aspects of having no relationship with her father? The woman is veiled within the stewardship of the man as a matter of protecting and navigating sacred space. It is the opposite of the atonement. I felt weird. I have not attended in three years and will surrender my recommend after a certain wedding I am waiting for. Ward and and stake boundaries are established according to how many priesthood holders pay tithes in the area. Read more about the dedication at Newsroom. But it is just a fact that in Church women do not have the power, authority, or influence that men do. The ceremony, with all its words and signs, has always just been what it is. 7) Who cares? 1. Read the accounts of early saints. I dont know that *early* church leaders were that way, but I certainly know men that have felt slighted by when they see as the Churchs maltreatment of men. It felt very simple and empty. Thats 7 years I wont have with my children and grandchildren. Yet somehow, neither the Lord nor the Prophets ever said anything derogatory about those that were never called to participate, only those that were *unwilling* to do so. See the full statistical report at LDS Living. We know people are anxious to visit and the missionaries are eager to welcome them. To say otherwise sounds like toxic positivity to me. The 65,000-square-foot store is located at Cypress Creek Parkway in Houston, just 15 minutes away from the Houston Texas Temple. And unifying men and women in an eternal complimentary relationship is the key to eternal life and felicity. My interviewees said that despite some time-consuming elements being cut, such as the passing of tokens by hand to everyone in the room, the additions mean the endowment is running about the same length it was shortened to in 2019, roughly 90 to 105 minutes. Additional instruction rooms, more sealing ordinance rooms, and a second baptistry were announced in the same statement, and a cafeteria would not be included. Some plausible explanations are (1) minimize germ-spread (consistent with the 2020 changes); (2) reduce the number of workers required to run a session; (3) attempt to address issues of informed consent by explaining the covenants prior to beginning (temple prep seems a better option for this, because it would still be really awkward to get up and leave in front of friends and family your first time); and (4) trying to seem more Christian (ok that was snarky, I imagine it is a sincere effort to make Christ more central to the ceremony). Adult church members wear ceremonial clothing inside temples as part of sacred ordinances and ceremonies, in addition to sacred garments worn every day. (I remember being super bummed that they finally made a change but didnt bother addressing sexism.). Tacloban City, Philippines. Katie Ludlow Rich on Twitter: "If the changes to the LDS temple I always thought that was strange in a church that bears Christs name, and holds Him up as the most crucial component of the plan of salvation everywhere except in the temple. Joseph Smith did not get the temple from Masonry. I look forward to attending and seeing how they did with that. Peace and joy that fill me completely up. A woman alone cant stand at the center of creation any more than a man can do. We just dont understand that North America, for many, many millions of people, is NOT the center of the universe! The linked site has its own terms of use, privacy policies, and security practices that differ from those on our website. The policy changes do not impact marriages that can be performed by Latter-day Saint chaplains, as directed by the handbook. @LHCA, Ive never heard the concept of having a beautiful gift to return to the Savior. Why dont we just sell indulgences? Covenant refers to proximity and responsibility. This podcast series has a ton of information about women who lived, and suffered, under polygamy: https://www.yearofpolygamy.com/author/lindsay/. We'll be going over the basics of this ceremony, and some of the exalted meaning that we can draw from it. She did the right thingthough at the wrong time. And it is taking the family with it. Major changes to Mormon temple ceremony, especially for women Mormon temple rituals have been updated to reflect a greater focus on gender equality, among other changes. Trying to avoid links, my quick google search brought up numerous blogs and articles about people leaving Catholicism. All positive changes. What I see is that when a woman gets baptized, she has all the Priesthood authority she needs to witness, to preside, to receive and even perform ordinances in the temple, to become a Queen and Priestess, and eventually a Heavenly Mother in her own right. Im a convert since high school and went through the ceremony when I got married in 1976. Indeed, similar to my post from last week (sorry, I guess its week two of downer posts from me), there is little that could be done to the temple ceremony in anything resembling its current iteration that would seem meaningful to me so I honestly just dont care. There are plenty of LDS husbands that dont make their wives full partners. There appear to be subreddits about leaving virtually every religion. Re: the adversarys symbol: come now, brother. I like learning from you even if we might have a different perspective. Eve, for example, has a new line in which she talks about the blessings Latter-day Saints will receive if they are obedient. The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints released the following statement on Monday, July 20, 2020, about the changes to the temple endowment ceremony: The sacred teachings, promises, and ceremonies of the temple are of ancient origin, and point God's children to Him as they make further covenants and learn more .