Hello again, everyone! Today, the First Presidency announced two temple groundbreakings (for the Kumasi Ghana and Cape Town South Africa Temples) and the preliminary information for one other temple (Ulaanbaatar Mongolia). Let's get into all the relevant details:
We start in Kumasi Ghana. The temple bearing that name was announced in April 2021, with the site announcement following in May 2023, and an exterior rendering is yet to be released at a later date. As for the groundbreaking, it has been scheduled to occur under the direction of Elder Iaaac K. Morrison, Second Counselor in the Africa West Area Presidency, on Saturday, October 18, 2025.
Meanwhile, the Cape Town South Africa Temple, which was also announced in April 2021, and its' site location and exterior rendering were both released on December 7 of the same year. The groundbreaking for that temple is scheduled to occurt under the direction of Africa South Area President Elder Carlos A. Godoy on Saturday, October 25, 2025.
Today's groundbreaking announcements bring the total number of temple groundbreakings set thus far this year to 18, vs. the 14 we had last year. My mom is a South African native, so she's familiar with all three South Africa cities with temples: Johannesburg, Durban, and now Cape Town. She was very pleased to hear this news.
Having discussed the temple groundbreakings, let's break down the details for the Ulaanbaatar Mongolia Temple: Mongolia's first temple (planned to be a one-story edifice of approximately 18,850 square feet will rise on a nearly 11 acre site located at Naadamchid Road, Khan Uul, 8 Khoroo in Mongolia. The project will also include a patron housing facility and a meetinghouse. The rendering speaks for itself but it reminds me a lot of other temples as well. Hopefully a groundbreaking will shortly follow.
I will just add that the site location confirmation and exterior rendering follow that temple's announcement in October 2023. And in view of today's announcement, 64 of the 114 announced templessI know of people with connnections to Mongolia, so I am happy for today's news on that temple. I had been hoping we would get groundbreakings, site confirmationse, and renderings, and the fact that they released information for 3 temples at the same time is exciting.
I am not sure when or how soon the next temple dedication might be announced. I do know there has been major movement in the temple construction queue over the weekend. This document shows where those estimates stood as of early Saturday, and this one details where those estimates and the queue stand now. I will continue to provide updates on the shifts in the construction queue as they occur. I am grateful for today's announcements, and I hope my analysis herein haas proven to be helpful and contextual.
I invite you all to stay tuned here for my coverage of the latest updates from the Church News, Newsroom, and Church of Jesus Christ Temples sites. I’ll be sure to pass word of those along to you all as soon as I learn about them. In the meantime, that does it for now. All comments are, as always, welcome and appreciated on any post at any time, as long as all such feedback is made per the established guidelines.
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That is awesome. Another South African temple in your Mom's home country is moving forward. And the temple in Mongolia, my wife's homeland is taking the next step forward.
ReplyDeleteHey, Chris! My mom was excited about the news. This leaves the Sao Paulo East Brazil Temple as the one that has had a site announced the longest ago, but has not yet had a rendering released. I know Daniel Moretti (on the Church Growth Blog) has been anxiously awaiting news on that temple, so hopefully it isn't far behind. And this leaves one Saturday in October (aside from General Conference weekend) on which the Church could potentially hold other groundbreakings. It will be interesting to see what happens there. Thanks for your kind comment. Always a pleasure to hear from you.
DeleteA rendering for the Kumasi Ghana Temple is available on the Africa Newsroom:
ReplyDeletehttps://news-africa.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/groundbreaking-announced-for-another-two-temples-in-africa
That is interesting, and a little surprising. I wonder why the African Newsroom release would include that, but the main Newsroom didn't. Maybe it was easier to clear it for inclusion the African Newsroom than it is to clear it for inclusion in the main Newsroom. The rendering is identical to the one given to the king of the Kumasi area of Ghana, if my memory serves me correctly, so now we know that assessment was correct. Thanks for notifying me of this, Noah! I always appreciate hearing from you.
DeleteHello again, everyone! The Church News has covered the announcements about the 2 African Temple groundbreakings and Mongolia's first temple, in addition to three other reports that speak for themselves, while the Newsroom has shared three others, which also speak for themselves.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of temple construction updates, the following temples have had a construction status update: Yorba Linda California, San Luis Potosi Mexico, Cleveland Ohio (with the latter two trading places in the construction queue, but retaining their late 2025 completion estimate), and Bacolod Philippines. My thanks once again to you all.
The Church News and the Pacific Newsroom have each provided one new report apiece. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church Temples site has reported that the site of the Cuernavaca Meixoc Temple has been cleared for construction.That temple now sits near the top of my list of temples for which groundbreaking announcements are pending, and it joins the Vitoria Brazil Temple (for which the site has been cleared, but an exterior rendering has not yet been released) and the Barcelona Spain Temple (which has had an exterior rendering announced and an exterior rendering released). It is likely that ground may be broken for the second temple in Spain and the temple iin Cuernavaca may have groundbreakings before the end of the year. I am less certain on whether that will be the case for the Vitoria Brazil Temple, but that temple could have an exterior rendering released in conjunction with the announcement of its' groundbreaking.
DeleteIt is worth noting that I wasn't necessarily expecting groundbreakings for most of the temples that had such ceremonies announced and held this year, so I also can;t rule out any other temples having a groundbreaking this year. And I don't know what to expect there either as far as scheduling goes. The Church could probably slip in additional groundbreakings on either of the two October dates on which ground will be broken for Africa''s newest temples, and I could see the Church also potentially scheduling one or more October groundbreakings for the Saturday after General Conference.But it's also entirely possible that the Church will not schedule any other groundbreakings to occur next month. That's no more and no less than my own analysis, so take it for what it's worth. My thanks once again to you all.
The Newsroom has shared two new reports. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd the Church News has shared three new reports, each of which speaks for itself. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd an update has been provided for the Cody Wyoming Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteThe Church News just provided their coverage of the Newsroom article about the renovations for the Provo MTC cafeteria and administration building. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteAnd there is a new construction status update for the Birmingham England Temple. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteSince they aren’t an official site of the church, how does the church temples site get its information?
ReplyDeleteI am not the one best qualified to address where other sources get their information. But my understanding of the Church Temples site is that it may get some degree of official information from official Church departments, along with photography and videos contributed by a network of generous worldwide contacts.
DeleteTo whom may I offer thanks for this inquiry?
DeleteOn this Wednesday, the Church News has provided two new reports, which speak for themselves, while the Newsroom has detailed a donation made by the Church towards the preservation efforts for the iconic Great Salt Lake. This is a ongoing part of the Church's efforts to be good global stewards, which is being led by the Presiding Bishopric under a First Presidency directive.. As a consequence, Bishop W. Christopher Waddell, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, is quoted in this article regarding that additional donation from the Church. My thanks once again to you all.
ReplyDeleteThe Church News has provided two other reports, while there have been no other additional Newsroom reports. Temple construction updates, if any, will follow later tonight. My thanks once again to you all.
DeleteFar later than I had anticipated, I wanted to note that there are no temple updates to report from the last 24 hours. My thanks once again to you all.
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