NEW MORMON TEMPLES PLANNED

Gordon B. Hinckley, president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, recently announced plans to build five more temples. Hinckley revealed the church’s intention at its semiannual General Conference held in Salt Lake City in early October.

A distinction marking the announcement was that three of the five structures would be “small temples.” Construction of the minified buildings will be in areas where LDS membership is slack or nearness to another temple makes building a second full-sized temple impractical. The conventional, larger temples will be built in Houston and Porto Alegre, Brazil. The smaller temples are slated for Anchorage, Alaska; Monticello, Utah; and in northern Mexico.

The downsized versions of the sacred structures will offer the complete range of the sect’s peculiar temple rituals and services, including baptisms for the dead and sealing marriages for time and eternity. However, Hinckley noted that operation times may differ and be regulated “according to local demand, maybe only one or two days a week.” The smaller temples will be about half the size of the full-size temples.

Currently, the LDS church operates some 50 temples worldwide with twelve previously planned structures under construction.

—MKG

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