Fresno California Temple
The Fresno California Temple is the 78th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
California is home to over 734,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ as well as ten Latter-day Saint temples. California has had a long history with the Church, starting with members who sailed to San Francisco aboard the Brooklyn. Then when members of the U.S. Army unit known as the Mormon Battalion were discharged in San Diego, many stayed and helped build up the San Diego area. Members arrived in Fresno in 1907 and by 1920 a congregation, called a ward, was organized. The area continued to grow and at the time of the temple dedication, there were 28,000 members in the Fresno area.
Elder John B. Dickson, of the Seventy, conducted the groundbreaking ceremony in March of 1999. Before the temple was dedicated it was opened to the public. During that time 53,000 people toured the temple.
President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Fresno California Temple on 9 April 2000. In his dedicatory prayer he petitioned, “Wilt Thou bless all who will serve within this sacred structure. They will come here to assist in bringing to pass Thy work and Thy glory, even the immortality and eternal life of man." [1]
The Fresno California Temple has the same design as the other smaller temples that were built worldwide at that time. The exterior is white sierra granite and features a single-spire topped by a statue of the angel Moroni. It has a total of 10,700 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
Notes
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, June 2000, 70
Temples in California
- Bakersfield California Temple
- Feather River California Temple
- Fresno California Temple
- Los Angeles California Temple
- Modesto California Temple
- Newport Beach California Temple
- Oakland California Temple
- Redlands California Temple
- Sacramento California Temple
- San Diego California Temple
- San Jose California Temple
- Yorba Linda California Temple
