Tuesday, April 9, 2019

493: NEW CHILD BLESSING RECORDS NEEDED?

The General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ended a few days ago. We were advised and forewarned to Buckle Up. However, if you watched.. you probably didn't need to even need to wear seat beat.. or even use a carseat. (Unless you live in Tooele, UT and you heard  announcement of the 21st Utah Temple will be built in your city. Unfortunately you were not able to share your joy when it was announced due to the sacred nature of the announcement.)

However, even though Conference was void of any changes requiring vitamins, or a portent snowstorm/blizzard.... the real bombshell change was revealed (no pun intended) a few days before Conference. On Thursday, April 4, 2019, the First Presidency announced the revelation reversal which we are told that "policy changes come after an extended period of counseling with our brethren in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and after fervent, united prayer to understand the will of the Lord on these matters."

Here is part of the new policy:
A nonmember parent or parents (including LGBT parents) can request that their baby be blessed by a worthy Melchizedek Priesthood holder. These parents need to understand that congregation members will contact them periodically, and that when the child who has been blessed reaches 8 years of age, a Church member will contact them and propose that the child be baptized.

The wording used in most blessing is the following "The name he/she will be known by on the records of the Church is: then full name is stated".  Prior to the blessing. the parents fill out an official Child Blessing Record and give it to the Bishop. See example below. I have highlight the entry boxes for the names of the Father and the Mother. 


...........
So my question is. Will these children then have their names put on the roles of the Church? 
The Church now has officially allowed same sex parents to have their children receive this same blessing. Will a new Child Blessing Record need to be printed by the Church Publishing Department to allow for this new change in policy?

Here is most likely the changes that will need to be made. Here are samples. These are NOT official.






Interesting times in which we live.