Melbourne Australia Mormon Temple
June 11, 2008 by admin
Filed under Temples in the Pacific
On October 30, 1998, the First Presidency of the Mormon Church announced that a Mormon temple would be built in Melbourne Australia. The Melbourne Australia temple is the 90th operating temple in the Mormon Church worldwide. The members in the area were overjoyed to hear that a temple would be so close. For the past fifteen years members from the area had traveled twelve hours one-way every single weekend-to visit the Sydney Temple.
The first Mormon missionaries arrived in Australia in 1840, but found few who were ready to hear the gospel. Those who did join during those early years of the Mormon Church in Australia, for the most part decided to emigrate to the United States to be closer to the main body of the Church; a common practice in early Mormon history. Missionary work continued to be slow until the 1950’s when the number of people joining the Church suddenly exploded. In 1955 there were 3,000 members in Australia; just five short years later there were almost 10,000. By 1970 the number of members more than tripled to 32,000. In 1980 it had jumped to 50,000. Today there are more than 100,000 members in Australia, making the Mormon Church the fastest growing Christian Church in the country. Because of this amazing growth, the Church has built or has plans to build five temples in Australia.
On March 20, 1999, a groundbreaking ceremony and site dedication presided over by P. Bruce Mitchell, a member of the Seventy, was held. The site for the temple is 5.98 acres. A meetinghouse is on this site as well.
The temple was open to the public for tours June 2nd through the 10th 2000. Those who toured the 10,700 square foot temple were able to see the stunning craftsmanship, the celestial room, two sealing rooms, two ordinance rooms, baptistry, and to learn more about Mormon beliefs.
President of the Mormon Church, Gordon B. Hinckley, dedicated the Melbourne Mormon temple on June 16, 2000. Four dedicatory services were held to accommodate all the members who wanted to attend. The Melbourne temple serves 18,000 members in eight stakes from Victoria, Tasmania, and Southern New South Wales.
Physical Address:
76 Cathies Ln
Wantirna South VIC 3152
AUSTRALIA
Mailing address:P.O. Box 1137
Glen Waverly, Victoria 3150
AUSTRALIA
Australia
Phone: (61) 3-9881-9700
Other Links:
Temple (Mormonism) – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
