Opening set for Modesto’s LDS temple. When the only public tours will be offered
An opening date has been announced for the anticipated Modesto Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The new temple will be dedicated Sunday, Nov. 22, according to an LDS church press release. An open house will offer tours for invited guests Oct. 14-15. The public can visit Oct. 16-31, excluding Sundays.
The temple will not be open to the public after those dates.
The 30,000-square-foot temple is adjacent to 4300 Dale Road on a 17.6-acre site, according to the Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints website. It includes a single attached central tower, two instruction rooms, two sealing rooms (where marriages and families are sealed) and a baptistry.
A groundbreaking service was held in October 2023 after plans to build the temple were announced in April 2022.
The Modesto temple will be the 10th in California, with two more planned in Bakersfield and Sunnyvale.
LDS temples in the state include those in Feather River, Fresno, Los Angeles, Newport Beach, Oakland, Redlands, Sacramento, Yorba Linda and San Diego.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside over the November dedication, which will be broadcast to congregations in the Modesto region, the press release said.
According to a February 2023 story in The Bee, members of the Latter-day Saints consider temples the house of the Lord and the most sacred places of worship. Temples differ from church meetinghouses and are not accessible to the public.
“The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies, such as marriages, which unite families forever,” noted the story, which quoted a press release at that time, “and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living.”
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