LDS Church keeps fast pace through pandemic of 2020 – Daily Herald

In his closing remarks during the October 2019 Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson invited members of the church to prepare for 2020.

Nelson said: General conference next April will be different from any previous conference... I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundation of the restored gospel.

He was referring to the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the Joseph Smiths First Vision wherein he testifies he saw God, the Father and Jesus Christ, his Son.

While Nelson said he had no notion that a worldwide pandemic would add to the unique conference, but it most certainly did. And, for the LDS Church, it was a unique year.

While the world has become familiar with people and activities being quarantined, closed or postponed, 2020 was anything but paused for the LDS Church.

Rather than slowed or halted, many of the church activities were accelerated.

New branding

In order for us to get through the pandemic and other chaos is the world, Nelson said members needed to pause and understand how an individual, personally hears their maker.

A new initiative by the church to help members recognize how they receive personal revelation, how they #HearHim, was introduced during the April Conference. Members were invited to take time to listen and develop a closer relationship with deity in 2020.

The April General Conference, for the first time, was held remotely, via several media platforms, due to COVID-19 restrictions. The Conference Center was closed and leadership meetings postponed.

With the worldwide pandemic still rampant in October, the fall Semiannual General Conference was also held remotely.

After mid-March The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square, Orchestra at Temple Square and other performing groups were put on hiatus and prerecorded music by the choir was used for meetings and celebrations including the First Presidencys 2020 Christmas Devotional in December and the weekly broadcasts of Music and the spoken word.

Nelson also introduced a new symbol or logo for the church. This new symbol, a drawing of the Christus statue in an enclosed archway, is a continuation of the effort Nelson felt inspired to initiate in August 2018 to focus on the Churchs divinely revealed name.

Since that time, he said, the churchs leaders, departments, related entities, main website, members and many others now use the correct name of the Church.

We have gone to these extraordinary efforts because when we remove the Lords name from the name of His Church, we inadvertently remove Him as the central focus of our worship and our lives, Nelson said.

In-home church

The focus of worship for the church started changing in January 2019 when the church instigated a new home centered, church supported study program titled Come Follow Me.

Weekly worship in chapels came to a temporary halt in March, but the faiths culture of home-centered gospel study helped Latter-day Saints more easily adapt to worship and scripture study from home.

By summer, LDS Wards and Stakes were able to meet on a limited basis with portions of the meetings being available to watch at home via Zoom and by other media support.

That still continues as of the end of 2020.

It was the sacred ordinance of the Sacrament that became a major focal point for members of the church as they were able to have priesthood holders, either in the family or church representatives, provide the service in their homes. The experiences shared show members have developed a great appreciation for the Sacrament and what it represents in their lives.

Humanitarian aid

In January, with a global pandemic at her doorstep, Sister Sharon Eubank, director of Latter-day Saint Charities, and first counselor of the General Relief Society Presidency and her team started planning on how they could respond to basically everyones needs.

This is the first time responding to a global event, Eubank said. Everybody in the whole world is being affected.

Typically, Latter-day Saint Charities responds to individual disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, typhoons and volcanoes.

Never have those charities had to respond to the entire world at once, and Eubank said they had to look at the issue with a whole new set of eyes.

Perhaps the biggest question for Eubank was: How do you respond to, organize and assign and direct a global event from your living room? She has been required to work from home for the most part.

Eubank said there are 20 members of her team at church headquarters in Salt Lake City and they meet daily.

We are looking at technology to see what we can do, Eubank said. Its forcing us to do things in different ways.

Throughout the world, the church is divided into areas with General Authority Seventies over each area. They also have teams representing Latter-day Saint Charities that work with those leaders in each area of the world and report to Eubank.

Were giving 147% or more, Eubank said. There is nothing more pressing.

Throughout 2020, the LDS Church has donated cash and commodities to support more than 1,000 COVID-19 relief efforts around the globe this includes partnerships with Convoy of Hope, Feeding America, Partnership with Native Americans, the Salvation Army, the United Way and the World Food Programme.

Food donations also increased and were distributed nationwide in the United States. The church also responded to many natural disasters around the world, including wildfires in the western United States, hurricanes in the southern United States and Central America, and typhoons in the Philippines.

Part of the miracle that made all of this happen was the volunteer service by members rendered in all the locations and in activities such as making five million face masks and the canning the bumper crop of vegetables and fruit that gave the church a surplus of products in their storehouses and the ability to share more.

Temples

Perhaps one of, if not the hardest thing Nelson said he had to do was shut down 162 temples. These are considered the most important buildings in the church, they are called The House of the Lord.

Temples closed for a few months before a cautious and careful phased reopening began in May around the world. Temples are still in a phased reopening and are still unable to completely open as of Dec. 30.

Even with temples closed, temple work continued, not only with members doing family history, but with 21 temple groundbreaking ceremonies including one in September for the new Orem temple.

Nelson also announced the future construction of 14 more temples including new houses of the Lord in the United Arab Emirates and in Shanghai, Peoples Republic of China.

Adjustments to the temple ceremonies and temple clothing were also announced.

On Jan. 1, the Salt Lake Temple began a 4-year renovation, restoration and seismic fitting. The St. George Temple was already in process. The church announced it would be upgrading all of its legacy temples including Manti and Logan Temples in the future.

It appears that new temples no longer have the iconic Angel Moroni on the temple main spire throughout the world. The focus is not Moroni but on the purpose of the building, to bring all to Christ through sacred covenants.

In October, Nelson announced that Lindon Utah would also get new temple. Its location was announced just before Christmas at 800 East and Center Street.

Missionaries

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, most missionaries were called back to their home countries in April, or asked to spend more time in isolation, but missionaries continue to share messages of Jesus Christ online.

Many missionaries whove temporarily returned home from their service due to the COVID-19 pandemic, faced a unique decision this spring.

In a letter from church leadership sent to missionaries on March 31, they learned that they had until Thursday, April 30, to decide between two options for resuming their missions.

The first option was to resume their missions as soon as conditions allow, with their original assignment or a temporary one, the letter says. The second option was to resume their missions during a set time window, within 12 to 18 months.

Those who return as soon as possible would keep their original release-from-service date, while those who return to service within 12 to 18 months would receive a new one.

Similar options were offered to missionaries who had received mission calls or completed online missionary training, the letter read.

Mission assignments, whether original or temporary, would be determined by the churchs Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, according to the letter.

In the meantime, the Provo Missionary Training Centers and other were closed and newly called missionaries were to study and train online at home.

As of the end of 2020, missionaries are still in transition and the Provo MTC is still closed.

Of note

Many other things took place during the year.

Before COVID-19 put a pause on global travel, several Apostles made in-person visits with Latter-day Saints and civic leaders in several places.

Elder David A. Bednar became the first Apostle to visit the African nation of Sudan, Elder Quentin L. Cook visited the Philippines, Elder Ulisses Soares traveled to Costa Rica and Guatemala, and Elder Ronald A. Rasband made a stop in South Africa. Other leaders made visits closer to home. President Dallin H. Oaks spoke to youth around the world in a broadcast originating from Temple Square, President Henry B. Eyring ministered in Idaho, President M. Russell Ballard spoke to students at Brigham Young University, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson visited New York.

The ministry has continued apace during COVID-19. From President Nelsons video message at the beginning of the pandemic to the First Presidencys Christmas devotional, Apostles have shared many digital messages with Latter-day Saints and others around the world.

Elder Bednar spoke at a religious freedom conference and at the G20 Interfaith Forum, according to church information.

The LDS Church made several adjustments and additions to the General Handbook and the handbook itself is now online and available to the public. Recent additions included sections on transgender members, clarifications on the Word of Wisdom, and a variety of other topics.

It was announced that in 2021 the entire handbook would be updated.

Beginning Jan. 1, 2021 the church would have three updated church magazines for adults, teens and children. The Liahona will be a worldwide edition for adults, For the Strength of Youth will be the teen magazine, and the updated Friend will serve children of the Primary.

A surprised music committee continued going through the thousands of hymn and prose entries for a new Hymnbook and Childrens Song Book that was previously announced and was hoping to be completed by the end of the year. That has not been put off with no publication date announced.

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LDS Church keeps fast pace through pandemic of 2020 - Daily Herald