Tampa Florida Temple
The Tampa Florida Temple was among those announced by President Russell M. Nelson during the April 2022 General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Central Florida, the Tampa Florida Temple will be the state’s fourth. [1] Other temples in operation or under construction are the Orlando Florida Temple, Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple, Tallahassee Florida Temple, and the Jacksonville Florida Temple.
There are more than 168,000 Latter-day Saints and some 280 congregations in the state. Possibly the first missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Florida was Phineas Young, who served a two-month mission in 1845. The first missionaries were not well-received. From 1869 to 1929 law officers met each train arriving in Tallahassee and prevented Latter-day Saint elders from getting off. As late as 1895, history notes that two elders were arrested and given the choice to leave or pay a $200 fine. In 1898, one Church congregational leader was murdered.[2] In spite of such persecution, missionaries continued to preach in Florida. The state's first official Church congregation was created in Jefferson County in 1897.[3]
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Location
The Tampa Florida Temple is currently in the planning stages. The single-story edifice of approximately 30,000 square feet will be built on a 16.2-acre site adjacent to an existing meetinghouse located at 4806 Bell Shoals Road in Valrico, Florida.
