Anchorage Alaska Temple
Encyclopedia
The Anchorage Alaska Temple is the 54th operating temple
Temple (LDS Church)
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord, and they are considered by Church members to be the most sacred structures on earth. Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time...

 of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In 1997, President Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...

, 14th President after Joseph Smith, announced the building of smaller Mormon Temples. The first of these smaller temples was built in Monticello, Utah and the second in Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage, Alaska
Anchorage is a unified home rule municipality in the southcentral part of the U.S. state of Alaska. It is the northernmost major city in the United States...

.
After the groundbreaking of the Anchorage Alaska Temple in 1998, the construction of this 6800 square feet (631.7 m²) temple took only nine months.
The west side of the Anchorage Alaska Temple features the seven stars of the Big Dipper
Big Dipper
The Plough, also known as the Big Dipper or the Saptarishi , is an asterism of seven stars that has been recognized as a distinct grouping in many cultures from time immemorial...

 pointing to the North Star, a symbol found on the Alaskan flag and on the Salt Lake Temple
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...

. The temple walls are covered with gray and white quartz-flecked granite, and the temple design incorporates Alaskan motifs, such as likenesses of fir trees on the doorway pilasters. The stained glass is reminiscent of water, and stylized evergreens with patterns resembling native designs are used to adorn interior furnishings.

President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Mormon Temple on January 9, 1999, with more than six thousand members from as far away as the Yukon braving the freezing weather. After remodeling that nearly doubled the size of the temple, President Hinckley rededicated the temple on February 8, 2004. The Anchorage Alaska Temple now has a total floor area of 11937 square feet (1,109 m²), two ordinance rooms, and one sealing room.

See also


External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK