JENNIFER DOBNER Associated Press writer | Posted: Sunday, August 6, 2006 12:00 am
SALT LAKE CITY - Mormon church president Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the building site of a new church temple in Draper Saturday, saying the faithfulness of church members necessitated the new building.
"It is a great tribute to our people," the 96-year-old Hinckley said. "They are so faithful in temple attendance and it is for this reason that we construct this beautiful house of the Lord."
Expected to open in 2008, the Draper temple will be the third in the Salt Lake valley and the 12th in Utah. Two additional Salt Lake area temples are planned, one in South Jordan and one in the west valley, although an exact location has not yet been announced.
"If people continue to move here, it may become necessary to build another one or two," Hinckley said.
The 12.5 million member Mormon church has 122 operating temples in 37 countries, with about a dozen more planned, under construction or set to open later this year.
Also on Saturday, a Mormon temple in Sacramento, Calif., opened for tours ahead of its planned Sept. 3 dedication ceremony, when public access to the building closes.
Temples are considered sacred to church members, who use the buildings to perform sacred religious rituals including proxy baptisms and marriage ceremonies knows as sealings. Only Latter-day Saints considered to be in good standing are allowed to enter church temples.
In 2004, the last year for which statistics are available, a record 32 million temple ceremonies were performed by church members.
Construction of temples worldwide has been a primary focus of Hinckley's 11-year leadership of the Mormon church, with more than 70 built on his watch.
"Temple service is the end product of all our teaching and activity," the church president said last fall during the faith's semiannual General Conference in Salt Lake City.
Before a crowd of several hundred in Draper Saturday, Hinckley said again that he believes temple service is a fundamental religious principle that church leaders must support by continuing to build the sacred spaces for members.
"We must build temples where people can get to them," he said. "The church is now worldwide which means that temples must be built all over the world. Fortunately, because of the faithful, tithe-paying Saints, we have the means to do so."
Hinckley's remarks were followed by a dedicatory prayer and the traditional ceremonial turning of the earth with gold-painted shovels by the church president and his counselors, President Thomas S. Monson and President James. E. Faust.