Regina Saskatchewan Temple
The Regina Saskatchewan Temple is the 65th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
News of the Regina, Saskatchewan temple was announced on August 3, 1998 while President Gordon B. Hinckley was visiting with missionaries and members in Regina. During the visit, President Hinckley told the people
- You are good people. ... You get on your knees and pray to God. That is a wonderful thing, when all is said and done. ... Many years ago, generations ago, family prayer was a very common phenomenon in Canada and the United States. There isn’t much of it anymore. 1
It is partly because of the prayers of the 6,700 members in the 252,000 square mile area of Saskatchewan that they now have a temple.
Dedication of the Regina temple made history when for the first time two Latter-day Saint temples were dedicated the same day. Because of issues with transportation President Hinckley's dedication of the Halifax Nova Scotia Temple was delayed a day. Not wanting members to have to go home and come back President Hinckley decided to go ahead with the dedication of the Nova Scotia Temple. Meanwhile President Boyd K. Packer was sent to dedicate the Regina Saskatchewan Temple.
Prior to the dedication, members frantically worked to complete the landscaping and masonry. Because of a truckers' strike the materials had not arrived until only a few days before. So crews worked around the clock to finish the light gray granite facing, completing the exterior the night before the dedication.
The day before the temple's dedication, a mission tri-zone conference was canceled and the 60 missionaries along with about 40 youth and adult members worked together to lay 18,000 square-feet of sod, plant trees, and raise the granite sign, which stated that the building was a temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
About 2,000 members traveled to attend the dedication. During the dedicatory prayer, President Packer offered the temple to the Lord saying, "Wilt Thou be pleased to accept of this the offering of our hands and our hearts. It has been erected as an expression of love for Thee and for Thy divine Son." He also asked that the Lord pour out rain upon the land, temper the elements, and prosper the Saints as "they serve thee in righteousness." 2
The Regina Saskatchewan Temple has a total of 10,700 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
Notes
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 105
- "Dedicatory prayer: 'Wilt Thou be pleased to visit it,'" Church News 4 Dec. 1999: 11.
Other Temples in Canada
- Calgary Alberta Temple
- Cardston Alberta Temple
- Edmonton Alberta Temple
- Halifax Nova Scotia Temple
- Lethbridge Alberta Temple
- Montreal Quebec Temple
- Regina Saskatchewan Temple
- Toronto Ontario Temple
- Vancouver British Columbia Temple
- Victoria British Columbia Temple
- Winnipeg Manitoba Temple
