The Gilbert Arizona Temple at 3301 South Greenfield Road at the corner of East Pecos Road in

Gilbert, Arizona Gilbert is a town in Maricopa County, Arizona, United States, located southeast of Phoenix within the city's metropolitan area. Incorporated on July 6, 1920, Gilbert was once known as the "Hay Shipping Capital of the World". It is the fifth-larg ...

, is a

temple A temple (from the Latin ) is a building reserved for spiritual rituals and activities such as prayer and sacrifice. Religions which erect temples include Christianity (whose temples are typically called churches), Hinduism (whose temples ...

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Christianity, Christian church that considers itself to be the Restorationism, restoration of the ...

(LDS Church). The design of the temple was overseen by Gregory B. Lambright of Architekton. Groundbreaking took place in 2010 and the temple was dedicated in 2014.

History

The announcement of the temple on April 26, 2008 came concurrently with the

Gila Valley Arizona Temple The Gila Valley Arizona Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) in the town of Central between the communities of Pima and Thatcher in Arizona. The temple was dedicated on May 23, 2010, following an o ...

, which were the first new temples announced after

Thomas S. Monson Thomas Spencer Monson (August 21, 1927 – January 2, 2018) was an American religious leader, author, and the 16th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). As president, he was considered by adherents of the re ...

assumed responsibilities as LDS Church president. It is the 142nd temple of the LDS Church, and the fourth temple built in the state of Arizona. The temple is near the intersection of Pecos and Greenfield roads in a rapidly growing part of the southeast

Phoenix metropolitan area The Phoenix Metropolitan Area – also the Valley of the Sun, the Salt River Valley, or Metro Phoenix (known by most locals simply as “the Valley”) – is the largest metropolitan area in the Southwestern United States, centered on the city ...

. The temple was built in response to the high concentration of church members in the area and will help ease the load on the nearby

Mesa Arizona Temple The Mesa Arizona Temple (formerly the Arizona Temple; nicknamed the ''Lamanite Temple'') is the seventh operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). Located in the city of Mesa, Arizona, it is the first of s ...

. The Gilbert town council gave unanimous approval to requested zoning changes in a meeting on September 29, 2009. Key among the requests was an allowance to build to a height of 85 feet, higher than the existing restriction at 45 feet. The temple's planned steeple did not require an exemption, as the town does not restrict the height of steeples. While not providing a specific timeframe for construction, an anticipated completion within three years was repeated at the meeting. The temple sits on 15.4 acres of land, bounded by Greenfield and Pecos Roads and Somerset and Granview Boulevards. It stands at 195 feet tall with the addition of an angel Moroni statue put in place on May 15, 2012, and is 85,326 square feet. The building's exterior is completed with light cream colored precast concrete with white quartz. The interior is decorated in blues, greens, and earth tones on the walls and stained glass windows with the same scheme. Some limestone completes the beauty of the temple along with eucalyptus wood, white oak, and painted hardwoods. Claudio R. M. Costa presided at a

groundbreaking Groundbreaking, also known as cutting, sod-cutting, turning the first sod, or a sod-turning ceremony, is a traditional ceremony in many cultures that celebrates the first day of construction for a building or other project. Such ceremonies are o ...

ceremony on November 13, 2010, with completion of the temple expected to take approximately two years. During construction a trailer at the site served as a visitors' center, greeting guests and answering questions. A public open house was held from January 18 to February 15, 2014. The temple was formally dedicated on March 2, 2014 by Henry B. Eyring and Monson. Like all LDS Church temples, the temple in Gilbert was built and dedicated as a "refuge from the storms of life and the noise of the world" for church members. In 2020, the Gilbert Arizona Temple was closed in response to the

coronavirus pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

.Stack, Peggy Fletcher
"All Latter-day Saint temples to close due to coronavirus"
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The Salt Lake Tribune ''The Salt Lake Tribune'' is a newspaper published in the city of Salt Lake City, Utah. The ''Tribune'' is owned by The Salt Lake Tribune, Inc., a non-profit corporation. The newspaper's motto is "Utah's Independent Voice Since 1871." History ...

'', 26 March 2020. Retrieved on 28 March 2020.

References

External links

Gilbert Arizona Temple Official site

Gilbert Arizona Temple
at ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org
Dedicatory Prayer
{{LDS-Temple-USA Temples (LDS Church) in Arizona Gilbert, Arizona Religious buildings and structures completed in 2014 21st-century Latter Day Saint temples 2014 establishments in Arizona 2014 in Christianity

History

See also

References

External links