SALT LAKE CITY — The reconstructed Nauvoo Illinois Temple will be dedicated
27 June 2002. Because of the historic significance of this event, the dedication
will be broadcast worldwide via satellite to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The June date is important to Church members because Joseph Smith, the Church's
first president and prophet, was martyred with his brother Hyrum, on 27 June
1844. A mob attacked them while they were imprisoned at Carthage Jail, just
23 miles southeast of Nauvoo.
President Gordon B. Hinckley, world leader of the Church, will dedicate the Nauvoo Illinois Temple. The first dedicatory session will be held on Thursday, 27 June 2002. Nine additional dedicatory sessions
will follow on 28-30 June with three sessions held each day. Members of the
Tabernacle Choir and local choirs will provide music for the dedication
services.
Prior to the dedication, the reconstructed temple will be open for public tours
beginning Monday, 6 May 2002. The open house will last through 22 June to
accommodate those who wish to view the historic temple before it is dedicated.
Open house tours will be available to the public Tuesday through Saturday from 8
a.m. to 9 p.m. and Mondays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Public tours will not be given on
Sundays. Tickets will be required and will be available in early November on the Internet at www.lds.org/nauvoo,
with a maximum of 10 tickets per requester. For those without Internet access, a
toll-free telephone number for ordering open house tickets will be announced at
a later date.
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple will serve 15,000 members in five stakes: Nauvoo and
Peoria Ill.; Cedar Rapids, Davenport and Iowa City, Iowa.
The reconstruction of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple was announced by President
Hinckley at General Conference 4 April 1999. The ground was broken 24 October
1999 and the cornerstones were set 5 November 2000. The temple is being
constructed to appear almost as a replica of the original temple built on the
same site in the early 1840s. The limestone exterior will be a near duplicate of
the original. However, the interior will differ from the original in order to
efficiently offer all temple ordinances. Structural modifications will meet
modern building standards and codes.
Construction of the original temple began in 1841 and continued for five years.
Although many of the Saints were forced to leave Nauvoo in early 1846, the
temple was completed and dedicated in May of that year. The temple provided a
place to participate in sacred ordinances such as marriages and baptisms before
they began their westward trek.
The temple did not last long after the Saints' departure. It was
gutted by fire on October 1848 and was further weakened by a tornado in May 1850. The ruined
building was later razed, and its stones were used to construct other buildings.
Latter-day Saint temples differ from the hundreds of meetinghouses or churches
where members typically meet for Sunday worship services and midweek social
activities. Temples are considered "Houses of the Lord" where Christ's
teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other sacred ordinances
that unite families for eternity.
More than 11 million people belong to the worldwide Church in 162 countries and
territories. There are 47,500 members in Illinois who worship in 118
congregations and 18,035 members in Iowa, in 61 congregations.
Currently, the Church has 106 operating temples, with 19 more announced or
under construction.
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