Mormons building temple in San Antonio.

[BuddyHolly]

Mormons building temple in S.A.


J. Michael Parker
Express-News Religion Writer

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open its most sacred building in San Antonio later this year.

But church members, commonly called Mormons, won't be able to worship there on Sundays.

In fact, many Mormons will never see the inside of the temple unless they join the rest of the public at a one-time "open house."

Officials expect the San Antonio Texas Temple, a 17,000-square-foot building in Stone Oak on the North Side, to be completed by December. The open house will be in early 2005 before the temple is dedicated.

After that, church authorities will admit only "worthy" members for special ceremonies such as eternal weddings.

"To LDS Church members, this building is no different than Solomon's Temple or Herod's Temple in Jerusalem," said Vern Martindale, the Salt Lake City-based church's official overseeing the project.

"They're identical in purpose. The temple is the house of the Lord, and only those who are worthy may enter," he said.

The structure will be one of only 125 LDS temples in operation worldwide — 100 of which have been built in the past 30 years.

Church President Gordon B. Hinckley — whom Mormons consider a prophet like Moses and others mentioned in the Old Testament — has quickened the pace for building temples.

"The factors he considers are proximity and LDS Church population in a given area. The idea is to bring the temple to the people so it's convenient for them to visit," said church communication director Gary Gomm.

The San Antonio metropolitan area has 16,584 Mormons, less than 1 percent of the population. The total number grew by 33.7 percent from 1990 to 2000, according to the American Religion Data Archive.

Mormons are organized into wards, similar to Catholic parishes, and worship on Sundays in ward chapels.

The wards are grouped into stakes, which are roughly analogous to Catholic dioceses although much smaller. San Antonio has four stakes.

The temple will serve a district of 11 stakes that stretches from Brownsville to Hillsboro, with about 47,000 congregants in 69 counties.

Texas' first temple was built in Dallas in 1984. Before that, members who wanted to have ordinances performed had to travel 1,000 miles to Mesa, Ariz., outside Phoenix. In 2000, temples were opened in Houston and Lubbock.

The San Antonio temple will be visible for miles around. It's on a high hill, which Hinckley chose during a 2001 visit. The signature feature will be a distinctive open-air tower crowned by a gold statue of the angel Moroni, whose head will be 115 feet above the ground.

"This is the one of the nicest temple sites I've ever worked on," said Martindale, who's supervised more than 40 temple construction projects.

The property will have only about 90 parking spots — ample space since the brief ceremonies held there are limited to 40 attendees.

Two church officials screen potential attendees ahead of time with questions about faithfulness and how well members abstain from alcohol, caffeine, etc.

Worthy attendees are given two-year passes that must be shown to enter the temple.

"Everyone who enters the building for ceremonies must change into special white clothing — even the president of the church, if he's here," Martindale said.

Members have certain ordinances, or rites, performed that will be binding for eternity, including baptism, covenants with God, sealing of marriages and sealing of children to their parents.

Marriages and baptisms performed in ward chapels are binding only until death.

Members also are encouraged to have the ordinances performed by proxy for deceased relatives who have never had them done.

The LDS Church maintains extensive worldwide genealogical records and encourages members to research their genealogy to have the ordinances performed for those relatives.

LDS members believe that they will go to a spirit world after earthly death.

The sealing ordinances conducted in the temple will enable families to continue as families eternally and individual members to advance to a higher state of being, or a closer relationship with God in eternity.

Baptisms will take place in a spacious room with a large baptismal pool in the center. The pool, finished in marble, will rest on the backs of 12 life-sized fiberglass oxen representing the 12 tribes of Israel.

There are also three instruction rooms, each more ornate than the last to reinforce the feeling of increasing sanctity.

"I've been waiting for this since I moved to San Antonio in 1972," said Ray Otte, chairman of the local temple construction committee.

"I've been going to Houston once a week; the round trip is 470 miles," he said. "When the new temple is open, I'll only drive 14 miles."

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/rel....66fb514a.html

[login_name]

mormon churches are great for picking up women. i went to one for a school project and theyre real friendly cuz they wanna convert you. i didnt convert but i got something for my troubles a couple weeks later lol. theres always a couple that want to rebel.

[Angel Face^i^]

I've heard about this temple for a while. Its supposed to be nice. Just never knew when or where they were going to build it. Stone Oak sounds about right.

[Blake]

so...they're building a huge beautiful temple for all to see for mile around.....buuut...you can't come in unless you know the secret handshake and have stayed away from soda......what a church.

[PHANTOM21]

Who needs a church when i can drink wine and sacrafice lambs at my own place?

[Wes33]

i heard it was gonna be the most expensive per square foot building, in san antonio

[missmyzte]

They just built one in Redlands, CA not too long ago. I went to the opening. Very pretty, very superficial and very suffocating.

Sorry if anyone in here is LDS and is offended but that's my opinion.

[FoldedSpace]

mormon churches are great for picking up women

Really? Hmmmmm....

[BuddyHolly]

Wes, is that the San Antonio temple?

[BackInTexas]

Originally Posted by Blake

so...they're building a huge beautiful temple for all to see for mile around.....buuut...you can't come in unless you know the secret handshake and have stayed away from soda......what a church.

Don't make yourself look so juvenile and biased. Contrary to what you may or may not have have heard as rumor, your analysis is very ignorant.

heard it was gonna be the most expensive per square foot building, in san antonio

In fact it will be. If you take the time to go to the open house (which would give you an idea of what it looks like inside), you will come to find that the interior is incredibly ornate and quite sprititual in nature.

They just built one in Redlands, CA not too long ago. I went to the opening. Very pretty, very superficial and very suffocating.

Sorry if anyone in here is LDS and is offended but that's my opinion.

Not offended, but I would of course disagree. These buildings are built with the purpose of creating a very peaceful and spritual environment inside. Not meant to be a place of alot of heavy business or movement like one of our typical church buildings. The open house and takes about an hour or less to walk thru, so come and make your own judgement.

Wes, is that the San Antonio temple?

This is a picture of what the final construction will look like from the east side.

[BuddyHolly]

I take it you're Mormon BackInTexas?

[N.Y. Johnny S]

that is a beautiful building. I like that fountain there going into it. Very nice

[missmyzte]

Originally Posted by BackInTexas

Not offended, but I would of course disagree. These buildings are built with the purpose of creating a very peaceful and spritual environment inside. Not meant to be a place of alot of heavy business or movement like one of our typical church buildings. The open house and takes about an hour or less to walk thru, so come and make your own judgement.

I understand.My best friend throughout high school and college was LDS, his family pretty much adopted me. I've been to seminary and youth conference and everything else which is why I wanted to see the temple.

[bnwhuxley]

Some kid is going to find a way to get into this building.

[omax]

I found a site that has pictures of most of the other LDS Temples.

Temples

Many of them are really beautiful.

Make sure you check out the ones in Utah...of course they would be some of the nicest ones.

The San Antonio one is ok...but compared to some of the other ones...its really quite plain.

Im not a mormon or anything...but it would be cool to have one of the really nice looking temples in SA...purely for aesthetic reasons.

[BackInTexas]

Originally Posted by BuddyHolly

I take it you're Mormon BackInTexas?

That obvious, huh?

Originally Posted by omax

I found a site that has pictures of most of the other LDS Temples.

Temples

Many of them are really beautiful.

Make sure you check out the ones in Utah...of course they would be some of the nicest ones.

The San Antonio one is ok...but compared to some of the other ones...its really quite plain.

Im not a mormon or anything...but it would be cool to have one of the really nice looking temples in SA...purely for aesthetic reasons.

In the past couple of decades, the LDS church has moved away from the general policy of making every temple "different". They have moved towards a couple of smaller designs that they then tweak a bit to make each temple unique in certain ways. This is not just for financial reasons, but also for reasons of utility. The ones in Utah have alot more day to day activity than ones outside, hence bigger buildings. Yet even in Utah, the newer temples follow the same general plan as the one here will have.

[Mighty_Mike]

I live across the street from the site they are building the Temple...I wonder what that will do to my property value???

Any Mormons here have any ideas?

[BackInTexas]

Originally Posted by Mighty_Mike

I live across the street from the site they are building the Temple...I wonder what that will do to my property value???

Any Mormons here have any ideas?

In most, if not all cases, of existing temple sites, it has served to increase the value of properties within that community. Although the Stone Oak area is already a very sought out area, so it may not have as much of a dramatic impact.

[Angel Face^i^]

wow, that is going to be a beautiful building. I've only been to one Temple ever and that was in Dallas, can't quite remember it though. I would like to attend the open house for the one they are building here.

Good find there Omax. I've always been fond of the Manti Utah Temple myself.

I live across the street from the site they are building the Temple...I wonder what that will do to my property value???

Any Mormons here have any ideas?

that sounded funny

[ladyspur]

Are these the guys that ride around town on bicycles wearing white shirts & black pants?