Difference between revisions of "Auckland New Zealand Temple"

Latest revision as of 12:25, 3 March 2025

Auckland New Zealand Temple. © 2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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

Auckland New Zealand Temple groundbreaking. © 2020 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

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 will then be 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 Announced

The Auckland New Zealand Temple will be 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 will be broadcast to all units in the Auckland New Zealand Temple district.

Picture Gallery of Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Reception area of the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Top of the grand staircase of the Auckland Temple

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  Waiting area for patrons in the temple

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  Baptistry of the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  The baptistry of the temple rests on the backs of 12 oxen

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  An instruction room in the temple

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  An art-glass window inside the Auckland Temple

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  The bride's room of the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  A sealing room in the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  A sealing room in the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  The celestial room of the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  The celestial room of the Auckland New Zealand Temple

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  Auckland New Zealand Temple at night

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  Another view of the Auckland New Zealand Temple at night

All images ©2025 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.

Videos about the Auckland New Zealand Temple

See also

• Inside Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ
• Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ
• The Temple Endowment
• Latter-day Saint Undergarments
• Latter-day Saint Weddings

External Links

• Official Auckland New Zealand Temple page
• Auckland New Zealand Temple page
• What Is the Purpose of the Temple?
• Temples—The Church News Almanac
• FamilySearch RootsTech, Temple Invitation by Russell M. Nelson