Groundbreaking dates announced for temples in Utah, Democratic Republic of the Congo
May 10, 2022, 9:04 AM | Updated: Jun 22, 2022, 2:25 pm
An artist's rendering of the Ephraim Utah Temple. (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
SALT LAKE CITY — The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the groundbreaking dates for the Ephraim Utah Temple and the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple.
Church officials said the groundbreaking ceremony for the Ephraim Utah Temple will be held on Saturday, Aug. 27.
Elder Walter F. Gonzalez of the Quorum of the Seventy will preside at the event.
The temple was announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson during a special Manti Area conference in May 2021 and will serve more than 31,000 Latter-day Saints in the area.
Church officials announced in October that the temple will be built on a 9.16-acre site located at the intersection of 200 North and 400 East in Ephraim. Current plans call for a three-story temple of approximately 39,000 square feet.
The Ephraim temple will join 27 other temples in Utah currently in operation, under construction or under renovation.
Church leaders will break ground for the Lubumbashi Democratic Republic of the Congo Temple on Saturday, Aug. 20. Elder Matthew L. Carpenter, Africa Central Area President, will preside at the event.
The temple was announced by President Nelson in April 2020 and will be the second temple in the country. The Kinshasa temple was the first to be built in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Church officials say there are nearly 90,000 Latter-day Saints in more than 250 congregations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Lubumbashi, the country’s mining capital, is in the southern tip of the country.
Attendance at both groundbreaking ceremonies will be by invitation only.
