The Hague Netherlands Temple
The Hague Netherlands Temple is the 114th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The building of a Mormon temple in Hague, Netherlands was announced on August 16, 1999. This is the first Mormon temple in the Netherlands and the 114th Mormon temple worldwide. The need for a temple in the area was obvious with more than 13,000 members in the proposed temple district. This temple serves members from the Netherlands, Belgium and parts of France.
Mormon missionary Elder Orson Hyde, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles first entered the Netherlands in 1841. He stayed for a little more than a week preaching the gospel, but he had really been sent to go to Jerusalem. It was not until twenty years later in 1861 when the first Mormon missionaries were officially sent to the Netherlands. On October 1, 1861 near the village Broek bij Akkerwoude the first converts to the Mormon Church in the Netherlands were baptized. People from the Netherlands joined the Mormon Church by the thousands, most emigrated to the United States to be in Utah near Church headquarters, but the Church leadership has since asked members to stay in their own lands and build up the Church there. The Mormon Church has continued to steadily grow in the Netherlands. There are now three stakes and 7,800 members.
A groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication was held on August 26, 2000. The site chosen for the temple is in a city park. Temple construction quickly began. Because the site bought by the Church is only slightly larger than the 14,500 square foot temple, so a parking garage and Beehive Clothing store were built underneath the temple. This is something that is not found in any other Mormon temple. The Hague, Netherlands temple has two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms.
An open house for the public was held August 17-31 2002. The open house allowed many to see the interior of the temple and learn more about the sacred place it has in the Mormon Church.
President of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, dedicated The Hague, Netherlands Mormon Temple for use on September 8, 2002. In the dedicatory prayer President Hinckley not only dedicated the temple for use, but also blessed the country and the people that they would be free and prosper. Of the dedication ceremony President Hinckley stated, "four sessions were held. What a touching and wonderful experience that was." [1]
The Hague Netherlands Temple has a total of 10,500 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
Notes
- Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Marvelous Foundation of Our Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 2002, 78
See also
External links
- Official LDS The Hague Netherlands Temple page
- The Hague Netherlands Temple page
- Mormon Temple Ordinances - ReligionFacts
- Temples and Mormon Temples - Answers.com
- Early Christianity and Mormonism: The LDS Temple Endowment: An Introduction
- Mormon Missionaries - BBC Religion & Ethics
- Prophet Joseph Smith - Lightplanet
