Oslo Norway Temple
President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct the Oslo Norway Temple on April 4, 2021, at the 191st Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This will be the first temple for Norway[1] and the fourth in Scandinavia. Latter-day Saints in Norway currently must travel to temples in Scandinavia. In Scandinavia, temples are operating in Helsinki, Finland; Copenhagen, Denmark; and Stockholm, Sweden.
About 4,500 Latter-day Saints live in Norway. Oslo, Norway’s capital, sits on the country’s southern coast. The first missionaries arrived in Norway in 1851 and though the government refused to recognize the Church and the early Saints in Norway faced significant opposition, thousands joined the Church in Norway in the 1800s. Norwegians who joined the Church in the United States were among the first pioneer companies to reach the Salt Lake Valley. One immigrant, John A. Widtsoe, later became a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and served for three decades.
In August 1946, the government granted the Church permission to preach in Norway and the first two congregations were organized in July 1852. Official registration as a religious denomination was granted in 1988.[2]
Contents
Location
This temple will be built on an 8-acre site located at Smedsvingen and Ravnsborgveien roads in Hvalstad, Norway. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 10,800 square feet, with patron housing and arrival facilities included.
