We visited the Sacramento California Temple on Day Four of our California Temple Trip. In the morning we were at the Oakland Temple and late afternoon we traveled to the Reno Temple. The darkening clouds at Sacramento invoked the reassurance of the temple being a refuge from the storm (and made for some fine photographs).
Click on the images to enlarge.
Jake and Rick outside the Sacramento Temple
The First Presidency of the Church announced on April 21, 2001 that a temple would be built in the Sacramento area. This temple is the seventh built by the Church in California, more than any state except Utah. The Sacramento California Temple serves a growing membership which totals approximately 80,000 in the area.
Plans for building the temple were met with little resistance by the surrounding communities and government bodies. Many were glad for the building of the temple in the area because it would improve the land, and bring visitors and money into the area. There was some concern about the height of the temple spire and the Church agreed to lower it twenty feet.
On August 22, 2004 a site dedication and groundbreaking ceremony were held. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presided at the ceremony and gave the site dedication prayer. Other prominent Church members from the area also attended the groundbreaking and site dedication, including Congressman John Doolittle.
The site for the temple, located in Rancho Cordova, includes 46 acres and overlooks the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The temple grounds were designed to fit in with the surrounding landscape. The temple design is slightly larger than most of the temples currently under construction. The temple has a total of 19,500 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and four sealing rooms.
Note the lightning rod on Moroni's head
At many of the temples we visited Jake took photographs of the flowers. He will probably post the best of them once he gets his homework done.
An open house was held July 29-August 26, 2006, to allow the public to tour the temple prior to its dedication.
The Sacramento California Temple was dedicated on September 3, 2006, by President Hinckley. The dedication was given in four sessions to allow all those who would like to attend the opportunity to participate. The night before the dedication, a cultural celebration was performed at the ARCO Arena.
Photos by Rickety. Text from Wikipedia.
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