Raleigh North Carolina Temple Wiki

Description

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple is the 68th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church).

History

The history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in North Carolina dates to the Church’s earliest days. In the mid-1830s, just a few years after the religion was organized, Jedediah M. Grant became its first missionary in the area. To this day, Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina, retains a first edition (1830) Book of Mormon in their Rubenstein Library. Today, there are more than 88,000 members of the Church in North Carolina, comprising 17 stakes and 170 congregations.

Announced

Plans for the temple were announced on 3 September 1998.

Groundbreaking

Groundbreaking services for the Raleigh North Carolina Temple were held on February 6, 1999.

Open House

About 31,000 people toured the temple during the open house. Visitors were surprised to see the many pictures of Jesus Christ. Wake County Commissioner Yevonne Brannon commenting on the pictures of the Savior said, “The artwork was simply stunning. I felt drawn to each painting and found myself wanting to linger in front of every scene so I could contemplate the meaning of what was being portrayed. But how could I selfishly do that with so many people behind me?”^[1]Church News, 25 December 1999.

Dedication

Gordon B. Hinckley, Church president from 1995 to 2008, dedicated the temple on 18 December 1999. Before the first session Elder M. Russell Ballard, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, talked to a group of reporters. He described “how the Church shares goals with other religions, such as safeguarding ‘values, family, fidelity, and the responsibility of parents for their children, teaching them correct principles, guiding, loving, and showing the way, not letting them get gobbled up by the ravages of the world.'” [1] It is because of this belief in families that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints builds temples.

During the dedicatory prayer of the temple on the 18th of December 1999, President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “We pray for all who enter Thy house that they may be pure and clean in heart and hand. May they here ‘feel thy power, and feel constrained to acknowledge that thou hast sanctified it and that it is thy house, a place of thy holiness.'”^[2]News of the Church,” Ensign, Mar. 2000, 74

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple’s timely dedication was indeed a fitting offering to the Lord while the world observed His birth of nearly 2,000 years before. Moreover, the edifice was dedicated just five days before the 194th birthday anniversary of Joseph Smith, prophet of the Restoration.

in attendance was Blanche Keith, 83, Garner Ward, a granddaughter of Durham Hall Smith, who became the first convert in Raleigh’s county on September 15, 1895. Cecil Reese, the first stake president in North Carolina in 1961, spoke during the second dedicatory session. Brother Reese, 78, a retired Du Pont chemist originally from Logan, Utah, whose employment brought him to North Carolina, marveled at what a blessing it is to have a temple in relatively close proximity. “I’ve sent people to the temple in either Arizona or Salt Lake who had sold everything they had except their cars to get the money to go,” he recalled. “They’d come back, and they wouldn’t have a dime left. They’ll never tell you it isn’t the smartest investment they ever made.”

Pamela Beavers and Deborah Byler of the Fayetteville 3rd Ward, emotionally embraced each other after the first dedicatory session. “I will always remember this day and the feelings that I had,” said Sister Beavers. “The spirit is just enormous in this little temple.” Sister Byler said that in 1989, she was one of the first sister missionaries to serve at the Arizona Temple Visitors Center. “We had people come to the temple grounds so they could escape the outside world and feel the Spirit. And that same Spirit is here today.”

School teacher Sarah Barnhill, a member of the Raleigh North Carolina Stake, was dismayed when she discovered that only a limited number of VIP guests could receive special invitations to the Raleigh North Carolina Temple open house and that her principal, who was also a minister, was not among them. So, Sister Barnhill obtained one of the 50,000 printed invitations available for distribution by members and personally extended the invitation. The small action sent ripples as her principal in turn took the invitation to his pulpit the next Sunday and urged the entire AME Rush Methodist congregation to see the newly completed temple for themselves. When she attended her principal’s church services the Sunday after the open house as a gesture of courtesy, he brought her to the front of his congregation and thanked her for her personal invitation to experience such a beautiful building.

Apex Herald reporter David Leone prepared an eight-page Raleigh Temple commemorative insert for the Dec. 2 edition of the weekly newspaper. When 75 percent of that week’s edition sold out two days after it hit the racks, the newspaper’s circulation manager called to express regret that the paper had not fully appreciated the event the reporter pushed so hard to cover. He asked for the locations of other LDS temples being built in the South so he could alert other newspaper editors to what an asset an LDS temple can be.

Wake County Commissioner Yevonne Brannon was amazed at the images of the Savior during her tour of the temple. “The artwork was simply stunning,” she exclaimed. “I felt myself drawn to each painting and found myself wanting to linger in front of every scene so I could contemplate the meaning of what was being portrayed. But how could I selfishly do that with so many people behind me?”

At the confirmation of Gary Stansbury, construction superintendent for the temple, Bishop Bruce Nay of the Apex Ward commented, “Most people come to the temple by way of the gospel; Gary came to the gospel by way of the temple.” During construction, Brother Stansbury had begun investigating the Church and was baptized on September 29, 1999, after receiving the discussions by temple missionaries Elder Gaylen and Sister Alaire Johnson. “Looking back at the series of events that brought me here to North Carolina, I don’t much believe in coincidence,” Brother Stansbury reflected. “There are just too many things that fell into place, especially when I consider that the Johnsons were here, with whom I felt so at ease and who were so full of the Spirit.”

Though he is from Kansas City, Missouri, right next to Independence, “somehow the Church eluded me for 44 years,” he said. Originally assigned to supervise a large retail project in St. Louis, Brother Stansbury was reassigned to the LDS temple in North Carolina due to a delay in St. Louis. The temple project was to be a temporary assignment, so he began to look for other work early on. However, by the time he received a substantial offer from an Atlanta company, he told them to call back in December. The building was completed in a record six months. “I had to stay and build this temple,” he said. “I needed to be here. And thinking back now, it almost seems that I’ve kind of been led to learn for 44 years, and now, this [joining the Church] is what I’m supposed to do.”^[3]Church News, 25 Dec. 1999.

2019 Renovation

On June 27, 2017, The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the closure of the Raleigh North Carolina Temple for renovations.^[4]”Three Mormon Temples in the US to Close for Renovation: Upgrades planned for sacred buildings in Mesa, Baton Rouge and Raleigh“. Newsroom. LDS Church. June 27, 2017. During the remodel, crews upgraded the mechanical and electrical systems, made spaces ADA compliant, moved windows and doors to accommodate minor floor plan changes, enclosed the entrance canopy, and raised the height of the steeple by 10 feet.

Closure

The temple closed and decommissioning began on 7 January 2018.

Open House

On May 3, 2019, the church announced the public open house that was held from September 21 through 28, 2019, excluding Sunday.^[5]”Open House and Rededication Dates Announced for Two US Temples: Rededications in late summer and fall“, Newsroom, LDS Church, May 3, 2019

Rededication

The renovated Raleigh North Carolina Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was rededicated on Sunday, 13 October 2019. President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided at the single re-dedicatory session. The session was not broadcast.^[6]”Raleigh North Carolina Temple Is Rededicated“, Newsroom, LDS Church, October 13, 2019

The temple reopened for patrons on Tuesday, 27 October 2019.

In 2020, the Raleigh North Carolina Temple was closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.^[7]Stack, Peggy Fletcher. “All Latter-day Saint temples to close due to coronavirus“, The Salt Lake Tribune, 26 March 2020. Retrieved on 28 March 2020.

Presidents

Temple President	Temple Matron	Years Served	Total Years
Mark Alan Amacher	Patricia Allen Amacher	2020–
Kerry Lamont Lee	Ann Jones Lee	2016–2020	4
John Charles Taggart	Marilyn Whitehead Taggart	2013–2016	3
James Mitchel Scott	Zelma Sue Langston Scott	2010–2013	3
Kenneth Max Stainback	Claire Sue Holloway Stainback	2007–2010	3
Grady Lynn Barnes	Genevieve Bryant Barnes	2004–2007	3
Richard Dan Lee	Jean Robbins Lee	1999–2004	3

Details

Location

The temple is located at 574 Bryan Drive in Apex, North Carolina,

Exterior

The Original temple featured art glass windows and Imperial Danby White marble exterior quarried in Vermont. The modern design features a lone spire topped with a gold statue of the angel Moroni.

The new exterior features a beige colored limestone with new, larger art glass windows. The taller lone spire is still topped by a gold statue of the angel Moroni.

Interior

The Raleigh North Carolina Temple has two ordinance rooms, two sealing rooms, and one baptistry. The original temple had a total floor area of 10,700 square feet (990 m2), the renovated version, having enclosed the portico, has 12,864 square feet. (1195 m2).