PROVO, Utah In 2011 the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans to restore a historic site in Pennsylvania.

On Monday the church gave FOX 13 News a glimpse of the plans that are underway to renovate its Priesthood Restoration site in northern Pennsylvania and a new film they are making specifically for the new visitors center there.

Its the last really site that has not been restored by the church from church history so this is a very, very exciting place, said Stephen B. Allen, managing director of Missionary Department for the LDS Church.

The project has been in the works for nearly two decades. Church leaders say the construction of historic buildings, a visitors center, as well as monuments will help educate members and others.

All the events that transpired here are of tremendous significance to Latter-day Saints. The covenants we believe we can make by baptism, the priesthood, which keeps us together as families, the ability to continue to progress in the gospel and the Book of Mormon as an additional witness of Jesus Christ, these things all came out of the Harmony area, said Reid Neilson, managing director of the Church History Department for the LDS Church.

To show those visiting what happened at the historic area, a short movie is being filmed in Pennsylvania as well as in Provo depicting events like Joseph Smith, the churchs founder, translating the Book of Mormon and receiving revelations on the priesthood and baptism.

We feel its a timely story we want to emphasize right now the importance of the restoration of the priesthood and the reality of the translation of the book of Mormon, Neilson said.

The 90-acre Susquehanna site is expected to be finished in late summer or early fall of 2015.

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LDS Church to restore historic site in Pennsyvania

Johannesburg - Construction at a church building in Lyndhurst, Johannesburg, was a disaster waiting to happen, The Star newspaper reported on Monday.

A second storey was being added to the Alleluia Ministries church without building plans or approval from the City of Johannesburg, according to the newspaper.

Two warnings to stop construction have been ignored.

The church was operating illegally as the property it was situated on was not zoned as a place of worship, while the city's town-planning amendments scheme stated the property was not safe to build on.

'Extremely dangerous'

Architect Marian Laseron, who has taken up the cause of neighbours who have been trying since 2009 to stop church activities, said the foundations of the building were water logged.

"It is a disaster waiting to happen. Hundreds of people attend that church every week. It is extremely dangerous," she said.

Laseron said the city's amendment scheme specifically said Johannesburg Road could not provide access to the property, which it did.

The church had also closed off Astra Road, a public street, stating it had permission from the Johannesburg Roads Agency.

The newspaper reported that pastor Alph Lukau did not respond to their request for comment.

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News24.com | Joburg church construction 'extremely dangerous'

Development project decision delayed

A proposal to build 30,000 square feet of retail space and 111 residential condominiums on seven lots along Pacific Coast Highway and Del Prado Avenue was also scheduled for the Sept. 22 Planning Commission meeting. However, the issue was postponed because revisions still needed to be made and the plan was not ready to go, city Community Development Director Ursula Luna-Reynosa said at the meeting.

For those interested in Majestic's plan, the issue will be heard at a special Planning Commission meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Dana Point Community Center, 34052 Del Obispo Ave.

The Gloria Dei Lutheran Church got the go-ahead from the city on Monday night to make major renovations, minus one contested part: a columbarium a structure that holds urns of cremated ashes.

Some members of the citys Planning Commission and residents who live by the church voiced concerns about having such a structure near peoples homes; church representatives said it would be a small garden-like space for reflection.

The Planning Commission unanimously approved permits for the rest of the construction plans for the 3.4-acre property, which include building a new 331-seat sanctuary, gym, preschool building, increased parking, a 46-foot elevator tower and a 44-foot carillon tower. The carillon tower, or bell tower, would only be permitted to ring at certain times, such as services and special occasions, following commissioner concerns. The existing sanctuary will be converted into administration offices.

Commissioners asked Gloria Dei representatives to come back with specifics on how many inurnments the columbarium would hold and what it would look like. The commission approved the rest of the plan; the church can apply for a separate conditional-use permit for the columbarium in the future.

The church at 33501 Stonehill Drive has been a part of the community for close to 50 years, said pastor and Dana Point resident David Mattson during the meeting.

We thought a lot about the impact on the neighborhood, Mattson said. We spent a lot of time thinking about parking, noise, ministry, all of those things. We obviously want to be good neighbors.

The columbarium and bell tower drew interest at Monday nights meeting, with a few residents complaining that the words columbarium and carillon tower were unclear or hidden. Eight people spoke at the planning meeting, evenly split between church members and residents.

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Dana Point church renovation approved, without columbarium

The collapsed church building. | credits: Alexander Okere

Barely two weeks after a church building collapsed in Uzama Street, Off Oliha Quartres, in Egor Local Government of Edo State, leaving one person dead and injuring no fewer than three others, another church building has collapsed at Asoro Slope, off Ekenwan Road in Benin.

The church auditorium, which belongs to the Liberty Power Bible Church Incorporated, was said to have collapsed around 1.30pm after a heavy rainstorm on Sunday.

Although no life was reported lost, a residential building was, however, said to have been affected by the disaster.

The owner of the church, identified as Apostle Moses Erue, was said to have returned few hours after the collapse to salvage some of the church property.

Punch Metro, however, gathered that the church auditorium may have collapsed due to the use of sub-standard building materials.

The owner of the residential building, Mr. Ajoh Silvanus, told our correspondent that he earlier warned the owner of the building severally about the inferior materials being used for the construction of the church auditorium.

He lamented that the church owner was only concerned about the safety of the church speakers, rather than the damage done to his own building.

He also revealed that the owner of the church had been apprehended by the police.

Ajor said, I have been complaining to the pastor of this church that he was erecting the church like a fence without pillars, even the blocks were made with ordinary sand.

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Another church building collapses in Edo

PROVO -- Construction is underway by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on a new visitors center and historic center in north-central Pennsylvania where the church believes the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods were restored on the earth in May 1829.

The new visitors center in Oakland, Penn. -- once known as Harmony -- will feature a film that was shot in part Monday at the LDS Motion Picture Studios in Provo.

Stephen Allen, managing director of the church's Missionary Department, and Reid Nielson, managing director of the Church History Department, held a joint news event at the studio to discuss the site plans for the area, and invite media crews to film the church's filming of the restoration story.

"This is the last site of the Restoration that has not been restored by the church," Allen said. "The film intends to tell the story of translation of the Book of Mormon through Oliver Cowdery's eyes."

The site plans include a restoration of the Joseph and Emma Smith home, the Issac Hale Home, a visitor's center and chapel. The area is close to Fayette, N.Y., and Palmyra, N.Y., and has previously held a monument marker honoring the location of the priesthood restoration.

The location is significant to members of the LDS Church because it was where they believe the resurrected John the Baptist first restored the Aaronic Priesthood through Joseph Smith and Cowdery. A short time later Peter, James and John, Christ's original disciples, returned to the site as resurrected beings and restored the Melchizedek Priesthood to the earth.

This site is sacred ground for Latter-day Saints, church historian and recorder Elder Marlin K. Jensen said when plans for the site were announced in 2011. Our hope is that by restoring the historic buildings and making the area more accessible, visitors of all faiths will be able to enjoy the beauty of the site and learn more about the restoration of the priesthood and the translation of the Book of Mormon.

The site has a three-fold message, according to Nielson. The first is the Book of Mormon translation. It was at Harmony that references to baptism and the priesthood caused Smith and Cowdery to ponder and eventually ask the Lord for further understanding.

The second message is about the many revelations Smith received on the site. Several of the modern-day revelations that formed the foundation of the church were received at this location.

The third message is the priesthood restoration.

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LDS Church producing film for Priesthood restoration site

ELDRED The congregation of the First Church of God in Eldred marked the joyous occasionof themortgage burning ceremonyon Saturday afternoon through music and reminiscing.

For most churches, a mortgage is perhaps the largest expense and paying it off depends on faith and the congregations generosity,so not having thisindebtedness is certainly a cause for celebration.

Not only is the loan paid in full, but having an early repayment, as in this case, is even morereason for rejoicing.

John Mead opened the service with a guitar selection.

Pastor James Kazimer, an Eldred native, said when he returned to his hometown from Rochester, N.Y., the congregation was small just 10 members so he was not paid a salary as part-time minister. He took a second job in Wellsville, N.Y.

When I came here, the church building itself was old, the floor needed repaired and the church was unable to pay its bills due mainly to the economically depressed area, Kazimer said.

But, still the congregation grew, increasing the need for new facilities.

Kazimer credited a friend who attended the ceremony,the Rev. Bruce Wilson,who now pastors the Liberty Street Church of God in Clarion, with suggesting a capital campaign so we dont have to take money from the general fund.

That recommendation was accepted, and church members signed pledge cards for the building fund. Dinners and bazaars were also held to raise the funds.

Work began. Before construction of the Fellowship Hall was completed, a balance remained on that note.

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Eldred church holds mortgage burning ceremony

In my last two columns, I've written about a new temple being constructed in the city of Philadelphia by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple, which is near Logan Square, is due to be completed in 2016.

Since the closest temples are in Washington, D.C., and in Manhattan, local Latter-day Saints are excited to have a temple so close to home. A public open house will be held prior to the dedication. I will provide details about how to obtain tickets as they become available. For information, in the interim, you can visit our visitor center in a trailer at the construction site or online at http://www.mormontemples.org to learn about the Philadelphia temple and other Latter-day Saint temples around the world.

The construction of temples by the Latter-day Saints today is a continuation of the pattern the Lord established anciently.

As the Israelites were traveling through the wilderness, they received instructions to create a mobile temple from tent material that could be carried during their journeys. Exodus 25:8-9 reads: "And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell among them. According to all that I shew thee, after the pattern of the tabernacle."

Moses followed very detailed instructions about the construction of the tabernacle (Exodus 25-31,35-40). When completed, the tabernacle was the center of worship for the Israelite nation, a place of learning and a place for sacred ordinances and personal worship.

The tabernacle served as the temple for Israel until the Temple of Solomon was constructed in Jerusalem by King Solomon. As described in 1 Kings 5-8 and 2 Chronicles 2-5, it was built from the finest materials that the wealthy king could obtain.

Skilled craftsmen were brought from distant lands to adorn the House of the Lord. For more than 400 years, the temple was the center of Jewish worship, a place where the most sacred rites were performed until its destruction by King Nebuchadnezzar. Israel, for the first time in many generations, was without a temple.

Upon their return from Babylonian captivity, one of the first things the Jews did was to rebuild the temple (see Ezra chapters 1-7). The completion of the temple was accompanied by great rejoicing and renewed commitment to righteousness by the Jewish nation. That temple stood for many years. When Herod conquered Jerusalem in 37 B.C., portions of the temple were damaged. To gain favor with the conquered nation, he began a process of renovating and enlarging the temple that lasted a century.

The Temple of Herod, as it was called, was the temple the Savior knew during his mortal life. The New Testament records many sacred events occurring at the temple both in the Savior's life and the lives of his apostles. This temple was destroyed in 70 A.D., only three years after its completion, and has not been rebuilt.

The Book of Mormon, which has the history of the ancient inhabitants of the New World, describes the building of ancient temples on this continent as well. Shortly after the people arrived in the Americas from Jerusalem, their first prophet-historian Nephi describes the construction of a temple (2 Nephi 5:16).

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Faith and Values: Temples throughout the ages

By Vincent Cabreza |Inquirer Northern Luzon

BAGUIO CITYA suit filed by the Church and private individuals seeks to strip a watershed in the town of Benguet province of all commercial activity, including the construction of a supposedly ecological resort being developed by a congressman.

The suit took to task officials of Tuba town and several government agencies for the sale of land in the Sto. Tomas watershed, supposedly a protected area.

In a petition for a writ of kalikasan filed in the Supreme Court on Sept. 23, Lingayen-Dagupan Archbishop Socrates Villegas, Baguio Bishop Carlito Cenzon and several city residents asked the high court to stop all road construction and all forms of vegetable gardening and commercial development being blamed for the contaminatiion of water sources in Sto. Tomas.

The commercial projects include a proposed ecological resort being developed by Baguio Rep. Nicasio Aliping Jr. on land he claimed to have bought from farmers in the area, lawyer Francisca Claver, the bishops counsel, said on Friday.

An environmental order may also compel the Tuba municipal government to start nullification proceedings for land claims there, which it had legitimized by allowing them to pay tax declarations, Claver said.

The issuance of these tax declarations has opened the floodgates for the alienation and transfer of portions of the forest reserve, which is bound to bring about land speculation to feed the high demand for resorts and vacation houses in the name of tourism, the petition said.

The petition sought court action against Aliping, Environment Secretary Ramon Paje and local officials of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Tuba Mayor Florencio Bentrez Jr. and town officials like municipal assessor Prudencio Pinkisan, and the local police.

The Sto. Tomas watershed was classified as a forest reserve in a 1940 proclamation. It is often identified with Mt. Sto. Tomas, which is popular with tourists because of its two giant radar dishes.

But the watershed is composed of several mountain peaks, which are major sources of water for both Baguio and Tuba, and is host to the headwaters of the Bued River that supports the San Fabian River irrigation system in Pangasinan province.

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Church seeks stop to sale of land in watershed

The Gloria Dei Lutheran Church remodel is shown here in an architectural rendering. Image: Courtesy city of Dana Point

By Andrea Swayne

The Dana Point Planning Commission voted unanimously on Monday to approve conditional use and site development permits for the demolition of one building, construction of four new structures and parking lot changes at Gloria Dei Lutheran Church.

The permit for the church, located at 33501 Stonehill Drive, includes plans to demolish the existing Fellowship Hall, convert the current sanctuary to administration offices, construct a new sanctuary, preschool, gymnasium, elevator tower, a carillon tower (bell tower) and a columbarium (a cemetery wall that would inter the cremated remains of church members).

The project will increase seating in the sanctuary from 192 to 331 and parking spaces from 104 to 146.

Four members of the public spoke against portions of the projectthe columbarium and carillon towercalling them undesirable due to the possibility of the bells creating unwelcome noise and the cemetery wall having negative effects on quality of life and home property values.

They also had a problem with receiving the public notice from the city only a few days before the meeting and the use of the unfamiliar words columbarium and carillon tower.

Parag Gondhalekar, whose house is situated near the border of the churchs 3.4-acre campus, said without those two elements, he would be in support of the project and called the use of the words as sneaky.

If it had been made clear (the words mean bell tower and structure with niches that hold funeral urns) more residents would have come to this meeting, he said.

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New Construction at Gloria Dei Church Approved

Christ Church Construction September 23 2014
via YouTube Capture.

By: George Nuber

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Christ Church Construction September 23 2014 - Video