Auckland New Zealand Temple

The Church was first established in the city of Auckland, New Zealand, in the 1850s and has more than 117,000 members today. The members are spread throughout 226 congregations.

There are thirteen stakes in the Auckland metropolitan area where Church membership has grown significantly in recent years.

On 7 October 2018, during the 188th Semiannual general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson announced that a temple would be built in Auckland New Zealand. The temple was announced in the 60th anniversary year of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple, the same year it closed for a multi-year renovation.

The Auckland New Zealand Temple is located on Redoubt Road in Manukau, Auckland, New Zealand. The temple is built 14 miles (23 km) southeast of Auckland City, next to the New Zealand Missionary Training Center on the south and the Auckland New Zealand Redoubt Stake Center on the north. The Auckland New Zealand Temple is the second temple built in New Zealand, following the historic Hamilton New Zealand Temple (1958). A third temple will be built in Wellington.

During a nine-day ministering tour of the Pacific islands, President Nelson spoke at a devotional held Tuesday, 21 May 2019, in Auckland's Spark Arena to a congregation of 12,000. In the course of his remarks, he told the people that the temple would be a "two-story building with a granite exterior. Its light and beauty will be highly visible."

Large Latter-day Saint congregations first developed in New Zealand during the 1880s. Many Maori recognized Latter-day Saint missionaries’ efforts as the fulfillment of earlier prophecies by Maori prophets, and they embraced the restored gospel. The Book of Mormon was first published in Maori in 1889.

A Small-Scale Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Auckland New Zealand Temple

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in New Zealand held a small-scale groundbreaking ceremony for the Auckland New Zealand Temple on Saturday, 13 June 2020. Attendance at the site was limited to invited guests only in accordance with the guidelines set by the local government.

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Auckland New Zealand Temple was announced on the same day that the Church announced it was temporarily suspending all public gatherings of Church members worldwide, including sacrament meetings, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Elder Ian S. Ardern, Pacific Area President presided at the event. The general public viewed the ceremony via delayed broadcast on Sunday, 14 June 2020.

The groundbreaking ceremony video created by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is available to watch online.

History of the Auckland New Zealand Temple Site

The Church Newsroom Pacific reports that the Church purchased the property where the temple is built in 1996 as a potential site for a meetinghouse or religious learning facility.

The property was historically occupied by Māori tribes of Tainui descent, then later associated with the St. John’s Redoubt (fort) of the Waikato Wars. When the property was purchased, the late Eru Thompson, a highly regarded Kaumatua (Māori elder) and cultural advisor and an acknowledged and respected historian, who represented the Te Kawerau-a-Maki iwi, gave the land a traditional Maori site blessing. The local Iwi (a Māori community), Te Akitai Waiohua, was represented by brothers, Sonny and Brownie Rauwhere.

A few archaeological sites have been recorded in the area. During the construction of the Redoubt Road meetinghouse to the north of the temple site, and the construction of the New Zealand Missionary Training Center to the south, the Church consulted archaeologists who found signs of early inhabitants. In some cases a local Iwi representative was brought to the site to handle the find.

According to Church Newsroom Pacific, European settlement in the area dates to the mid-nineteenth century (1840-1859). The St. John's Redoubt was built by colonizers in 1863 to protect the supply line and facilitate military advance along the Great South Road against the Waikato Māori during the Waikato Wars, one of the most controversial and influential episodes of New Zealand's history.

Though little remains visible on the ground surface, this historic reserve is now a legally protected heritage site administered by the Department of Conservation and Auckland Council. The damaged western bastion of the St. John’s Redoubt extends some 17 metres into the Church property. To preserve the historical remnant, the Church established a buffer zone between construction and the redoubt defenses.

Open House Held

After a media day on Monday, February 24, 2025, invited guests began touring the temple on Tuesday, February 25, and Wednesday, February 26, 2025. The temple was then open to the public for tours from Thursday, February 27, to Saturday, March 22, 2025 (excluding Sundays).

Welcoming media representatives Monday to the temple were the Pacific Area presidency of Elder Peter F. Meurs, Elder Taniela B. Wakolo and Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, as well as Elder Steven R. Bangerter and Elder K. Brett Nattress, both assistant executive directors in the Temple Department. All five are General Authority Seventies, and the Church’s Pacific Area is headquartered in Auckland.[1]

The multilevel building of approximately 45,455 square feet features design motifs that include New Zealand flora — kōwhai flower, pōhutukawa tree, manuka tree, kauri tree and silver fern — as well as the blue and green colors of the pāua shell, with accents of gold. Designs also feature Māori basket weave patterns.[2]

Flooring provides visual ties to New Zealand, with green quartzite stone reminiscent of New Zealand jade (pounamu) and the white calacatta caldia marble calling to mind the word “Aotearoa,” the Indigenous Māori name for New Zealand, meaning “land of the long white clouds.”[3]

The art-glass designs reflect the same New Zealand flora, along with blue, green, yellow and clear textured glass. Also, the millwork and doors feature Tasmanian oak, a native Australian eucalyptus wood. [4]

Landscaping features 250 large trees, including native kōwhai, nīkau palms and pōhutukawa trees. Two of the latter were transplanted from a site in central Auckland, where they would have been cut down. The grounds also include shrub gardens, seasonally rotated flowers and lawns.[5]

Dedication

The Auckland New Zealand Temple was dedicated in a single session on Sunday, April 13, 2025, by Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. The 10 a.m. NZDT dedicatory session was broadcast to all units in the Auckland New Zealand Temple district.

Elder Kearon also addressed those assembled. He said, "One of the sweetest blessings of worshipping in the temple often is hearing time and time again the beautiful, powerful promises that our Father in Heaven has gifted us because He loves us so much and wants us to find joy and peace. Though we don't always feel it, the truth is that we are of infinite worth in the sight of God, and each soul is individually and inherently precious." He added, "These constant reminders lift us above our daily cares to a higher and more hallowed view of the world we live in and our place in it."[6]

Elder Peter F. Meurs, president of the Pacific Area, conducted the dedication and shared his feelings about what the Auckland New Zealand Temple would mean for the people of New Zealand. "What a joyous day! I'm overcome with emotion. I can feel Heavenly Father's love for the people of New Zealand," he said.

Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Temple Department, also accompanied Elder Kearon and Elder Meurs, as did their respective wives, Jennifer Kearon, Nancy Duncan, and Maxine Meurs.