Over one hundred thousand members of the public recently toured the newly completed Calgary Alberta Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the third Mormon temple in Alberta.
- Calgary Temple Open House - Cooper Family
- Calgary Temple Open House
- Calgary, Alberta Temple Recommend Desk
- Calgary Alberta Temple Stained Glass
- Calgary, Alberta Temple Doorknob
- Calgary Alberta Temple Ordinance Room
- Calgary-Ceiling-Painting.jpg
- Calgary, Alberta Temple Bride's Room
- Calgary, Alberta Temple Exterior
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Tours of the temple, located at 9802 Rocky Ridge Road NW, began at the Latter-day Saint chapel adjacent to the temple and consisted of a 13-minute video presentation followed by a 40-minute walking tour through the temple.
Comments from the public attending the open house were very positive. "Very Beautiful! Peaceful feeling in the temple. Amazing! Breathtaking!" wrote one visitor who visited for the first time. A local resident said, "The graciousness to open your temple to the community was very appreciated. Now I will drive by with reverence..." Another visitor commented, "I have never heard of your church before. I feel like I am at home."
Church spokesperson Kevin Palmer remarked, "I do not believe any event in the city of Calgary has touched more people for good, than the opening of this temple. Hearts have been changed forever."
Plans for a temple in Calgary were first announced by the First Presidency of the Church on 4 October 2008. Construction began with a formal groundbreaking on 15 May 2010, where Elder Donald L. Hallstrom of the Presidency of the Quorums of the Seventy presided.
The Calgary Temple is the 140th temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the world and the eighth in Canada. There are also temples in Cardston, Edmonton, Vancouver, Regina, Toronto, Montreal, Halifax, and a temple announced for Winnipeg, Manitoba. The temple will serve approximately 25,000 Latter-day Saints in Calgary and surrounding communities from Banff in the west to Drumheller in the east.
The exterior of the three-story, 33,000-square-foot temple features gray granite from China. The building stands 35 meters tall and is crowned with a 3-meter gilded statue of the angel Moroni, who is significant to Latter-day Saints for his role in the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Inside the temple, cream-colored marble from Spain is accented by travertine from Turkey and granite from Brazil. To reflect the importance of agriculture in Alberta, there is a wheat motif in the stained-glass windows, railings, doorknobs and furniture. Maple and oak wood complement the gold and green color scheme of the carpet and fabrics. A hand-painted mural of a scenic Alberta landscape graces one room, and other paintings throughout the temple also reflect the beauty of the Calgary area.
One visitor commented, "The temple itself was incredibly beautiful. I loved how it had an Albertan theme to it. Every temple has it's own unique theme, and ours happens to be wheat and the wild rose. So much detail goes into the temple."
Latter-day Saint temples differ from the chapels where members meet for Sunday worship services. Temples are considered “houses of the Lord” where the teachings of Jesus Christ are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other ordinances that unite families for eternity.
Following the public open house, the temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, 28 October 2012. The dedication will be preceded by a cultural celebration featuring music and dance by the youth of the Church, to be held in the Stampede Corral on the evening of 27 October.
Additional information about the Calgary Alberta Temple is also available at: www.calgarymormontemple.org
Downloadable, broadcast-quality video of the building site is available for news media use:
http://broadcast.lds.org/newsroom/2012-01-2030-calgary-canada-temple-open-house-hd-eng.mov?download=true