Philadelphia Temple Reaches Significant Construction Milestone

  • PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA

The angel Moroni statue is hoisted atop the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple on December 30, 2015.

The Church placed an angel Moroni statue atop the highest spire of its temple in downtown Philadelphia on December 30, 2015. This marks a major milestone in the construction of the first Mormon temple in Pennsylvania.

Latter-day Saints in the area “have been watching for this visible highlight of the construction period,” said Elder Milan Kunz, an Area Seventy. “It indicates the temple is nearing completion, and it adds a new image to the skyline of the city.”

Construction plans for the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple were announced in 2008. The groundbreaking was held on September 17, 2011. It will serve around 45,000 Church members from four states. Completion is slated for the fall of 2016 and will include an adjacent Church building.

Construction workers prepare the angel Moroni statue for hoisting. The statue was placed atop the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple on December 30, 2015.

Currently, the closest temples for local Latter-day Saints are in New York and Washington, D.C. There are nearly 170 temples throughout the world in operation, under construction, or announced.

”Once [the temple is] completed,” Elder Kunz continued, “we look forward to welcoming our friends and neighbors to the public open house, which will be held over several weeks. While our meetinghouses are open to all, following the temple open house and formal dedication, the temple thereafter will be used only by members of the Church who are actively engaged in the faith, for sacred ordinances such as marriage.”

The angel Moroni statue was placed atop the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple on December 30, 2015.

The angel Moroni statue was placed atop the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple on December 30, 2015.

The angel Moroni statue was placed atop the Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple on December 30, 2015.

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