Perth Australia Temple
Snowflake Arizona Temple
Columbia River Washington Temple
107th dedicated temple in operation
© Leon Jacob. All rights reserved.
Services
NO visitors' center open to the publicNO arrival center available
NO patron housing available
NO distribution center on site (Store Locator)
Announcement:
2 April 2000Groundbreaking and Site Dedication:
28 October 2000 by Stephen A. WestPublic Open House:
27 October–10 November 2001Dedication:
18 November 2001 by Gordon B. HinckleySite:
2.88 acres | 1.2 hectaresExterior Finish:
Bethel white granite from Vermont and ItalyArchitectural Features:
Single attached spire with an angel Moroni statueOrdinance Rooms:
Two instruction rooms (two-stage progressive), two sealing rooms, and one baptistryTotal Floor Area:
16,880 square feet | 1,568 square metersElevation:
538 feet | 164 metersTemple History
The Columbia River Washington Temple was the third temple built in Washington, following the Seattle Washington Temple (1980) and the Spokane Washington Temple (1999).
Groundbreaking Ceremony
Elder Stephen A. West, who presided at the groundbreaking ceremony, stated at that occasion, "Our homes are where we become prepared to go to the temple. Carved over the temple door is the phrase, 'The House of the Lord.' Our houses should be homes where the Lord could be comfortable to visit. In the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple it was said?'establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.' May that be said of our homes as well."
The temple's construction is of exceptional significance for the many second and third generation Latter-day Saints who moved from Utah to Richland during the build-up of the Hanford site in World War II. These faithful saints who have remained in Washington for many years will now be blessed with the proximity of temple as enjoyed by most Utahns.
Elder Lowell Barber, Area Authority Seventy, quoted the First Presidency from a letter written in 1893, counseling Church members how to prepare for temple worship: "Before entering into the temple to present ourselves before the Lord in solemn assembly, we shall divest ourselves of every harsh and unkind feeling against each other,?that we shall confess our sins one to another, and ask for forgiveness one of another; that we shall plead with the Lord for the spirit of repentance, and having obtained it, follow its promptings?"1
- Church News, 4 Nov. 2000.
