Manhattan Temple Dinner at Sylvia's in Harlem

Brent and Lorinda enjoyed a wonderful evening at Sylvia's Restaurant in Harlem with Pres. and Sister Garff and other Manhattan Temple ordinance workers. At the end of the evening, Brent ran into long-time friend Van Woods (and son of THE Sylvia). A wonderful time!

Manhattan Temple Fireside

Brent with friends Blair and Sue Garff, President and Matron of the Manhattan New York Temple, on the seventh anniversary of the Temple's dedication.

Placement of Angel Moroni Statue Atop Manhattan Temple

Wonderful experience watching the statue of Angel Moroni as it "flew" above Manhattan to its perch above the Manhattan Temple, accompanied by brass ensemble and viewed by a crowd of several thousand. In photo (from left to right): Melanie Rasband, Frank Fernandez, Temple architect, Lorinda Belnap, Elder A. Kim Smith, Area Seventy, Brent J. Belnap.

"A Temple In Manhattan"

A number of stake members, including Brent, were interviewed for this television special produced by Carole Mikita with KSL TV in Salt Lake City. It aired several times during General Conference breaks following the Manhattan New York Temple dedication in 2004.

"The Greatest Day Ever For The City of New York"

Manhattan Temple dedicated
'We've brought Zion to Babylon,' Pres. Hinckley says
(by Carrie A. Moore, Deseret News; published: Monday, June 14, 2004)

NEW YORK — For Latter-day Saints, this city of ultimate contrasts added another Sunday when their prophet dedicated the Manhattan Temple as a "place of great refuge" just off Broadway, some 23 blocks north of Times Square, with its 24/7 multistory neon considered by many here the "crossroads of the world."
"We've brought Zion to Babylon," President Gordon B. Hinckley of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints told several hundred church members. "Zion" is a biblical term often used by LDS leaders to refer to "the pure in heart."

Church members packed the temple and its interior meetinghouse opposite Lincoln Center for the first dedicatory session. Additional thousands gathered for each of the four members-only dedicatory services, broadcast live to 16 meetinghouses in 10 languages.

Following a monthlong public open house, only faithful Latter-day Saints will now be admitted to the temple, which President Hinckley said stands in sharp contrast to much of what surrounds it.

In the dedicatory prayer, he asked God to "protect it from any act of evil hands" and from the forces of nature, so it can welcome those who seek "the spirit of the Lord."

A 9 a.m. cornerstone ceremony was held in a small entryway near the elevator on the main floor of the six-story building, just off the Columbus Street entrance. A small choir filled the room with a rendition of the hymn, "Sweet Is the Work," as President Hinckley, several of his children, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve and other LDS dignitaries stepped off the elevator. "Only in Manhattan could eight voices produce that kind of music," he said, smiling.

As he has done scores of times during his service to the church as a general authority and now as its top leader, President Hinckley took a trowel and placed a bit of mortar in the cornerstone of the new temple. After inviting several church leaders to place some mortar, he asked 6-year-old Sarah Hodson and 7-year-old Christopher Belnap to do so as well.

The cornerstone contains a time capsule filled with memorabilia significant to New York church members, including a commemorative white satin handkerchief with gold detailing patterned after one LDS Church founder Joseph Smith commissioned for the dedication of the faith's first temple in Kirtland, Ohio. Also included was a copy of the New York Times and a commemorative piece of crystal, along with a set of LDS scriptures, sheet music and other memorabilia.

The 20,630-square-foot temple now fills the first, second, fifth and six floors of the building, with the third and fourth floors holding a meetinghouse and LDS administrative offices.

After the cornerstone ceremony, President Hinckley presided at the dedicatory services on the top floor of the building.

During the service, Elder Hales recalled his childhood in Manhattan, praising the "Eastern pioneers" who had laid the physical and spiritual foundation for the temple. He referred to them during Saturday night's jubilee celebration at Radio City Music Hall, lauding early Latter-day Saints who had sailed from New York City to California on the ship "Brooklyn" a year before Brigham Young led the main body of Latter-day Saints to the Salt Lake Valley in 1847.

Like those early pioneers, many who have lived in New York for decades have prepared the way for those who will follow, he said.

Longtime resident Brent Belnap, president of the Manhattan LDS Stake who chaired the temple committee for two years, brushed aside tears of joy following the service. In a voice choked with emotion, he said Sunday was "the greatest day ever for the city of New York . . . I can't think of anywhere that needs a place of peace and of refuge and of repentance more than New York City. This temple is a blessing."

Emotions ran high among New York church members, some of whom returned to the city for the dedication. Norman Rothman, a former New York resident who now lives in Salt Lake City, came back to the city of his birth, where he was among the first Jewish converts to the LDS Church 40 years ago.

He has since written a book to the Jewish people about his faith. "It's just wonderful," he said, standing outside the temple. "Who would ever have thought?"

Josh Leukhardt of Queens spent all day Saturday helping orchestrate the jubilee celebration, and was outside the temple early Sunday ushering visitors through. He said the dedication is a fitting cap to months of work by many people to see a sacred space devoted to God. "It's the best."

Before Sunday, "we had to travel five hours to the temple, so I haven't been in almost two years," said Rebecca Gilmore, a longtime member and actress who met her husband on Broadway before he joined the LDS Church. "No one has a car here, and it's $100 to get a sitter for the kids for a day at the temple" in Boston. Now it's within a subway ride for nearly everyone in the temple district, she said.

Understatement is one of the best parts about having the temple in Manhattan, she said, noting it's difficult to impress New Yorkers who are used to "seeing spectacular things every day." Yet in her faith, the most important things in life are found inside what Latter-day Saints consider to be "God's house."

Kevin Shelley, a 10-year resident who first came to New York as an intern from Brigham Young University, has spent the last 16 months juggling space for eight wards inside the building. Part of that time members were literally meeting amid the rubble of reconstruction as remodeling was under way. "It was so worth it. I never heard any complaints because everyone just sacrificed to get things done."

Francis Adams and her husband, Garry, brought their two children, Garry Jr. and Marchandt, from their home in Queens to see the dedication. They wanted to underscore the importance of LDS belief in eternal life and families "sealed" together forever by temple ordinances. Adams, who called the faith's missionaries after seeing a TV commercial about such beliefs and eventually joined the church, said she "can't wait to come back to do the ordinances."

The unity of purpose among Latter-day Saints also impressed Garry Adams, who spoke of of the memory the dedication will create for his family and their hopes for the future. "It's awesome. There are no other words to really express it. This is just a wonderful time for all of us."

Manhattan New York Temple

As stake president, Brent also served as local committee chair for the Manhattan New York Temple. Here is a link to an issue of the New York LDS Historian that documents some of the wonderful events associated with the arrival of a Temple in New York City:

New York LDS Historian, Spring 2004

Manhattan Temple Cornerstone Laying Ceremony

Brent and Christopher were invited by President Hinckley to assist with the laying of the Manhattan Temple cornerstone during the first of four dedicatory sessions. Brent was also invited by President Hinckley to speak during the third session.

 

"Members Come to New York--To Stay"

Members come to N.Y. — to stay
(by Carrie A. Moore, Deseret News; published: Saturday, June 12, 2004)

NEW YORK — Latter-day Saints in America's largest city say they have come out of obscurity in the eyes of their faith, creating a burgeoning destination that welcomes growing numbers of newcomers rather than being a place for "just passing through," according to local leaders and members.

"It used to be when (Latter-day Saints) would move here from the West they were always pursuing something else short-term, whether it was grad school or a career start in performing arts, medicine or Wall Street," said Brent Belnap, Manhattan stake president for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. "They would stay for a season and most would move back West. More of them are staying now."

With the scheduled dedication Sunday of the Manhattan temple, members and observers alike are curious about what is driving the growth that led to the announcement of a temple here.

Belnap, who moved here 18 years ago as a single law student, watched the revolving door of church membership during his first five years. But then the dynamic began to change. Young professional couples would come and stay "until their kids were ready to start school."

Then he saw another shift, where many stayed until their children entered the teen years, and now — despite the hectic lifestyle, heavy taxes, hefty cost of living and often cramped living quarters — "some are making a long-term commitment here. We have seen a real infusion of people who are staying longer."

It's a change of mind-set for many of who are used to suburban life. Fewer than 2 percent of Manhattan church members own their own vehicles, and Belnap estimates even fewer own their apartments or homes. The most recent cost of living survey in New York put the price of an apartment at just more than $1 million, he said. Average rent on the "most livable" two-thirds of Manhattan tops $3,500 per month.

Yet the trend is there, and combined with a growing conversion rate and the church's rising profile on the East Coast, it represents something of what some see as an about-face for the LDS Church, which followed national housing and economic trends that rode a decades-long flight to the suburbs post-World War II.

As one of the fastest-growing faiths in America, the church is returning to inner city venues in a way unprecedented in its history. Manhattan is no exception, according to Claudia Bushman, an adjunct professor of history at Columbia University.

A longtime East Coast resident, Bushman and her husband, Richard, have lauded the "new commitment of the church to urban areas" after living through the flight to the suburbs and watching as the church "sold all its urban city properties. But almost immediately afterward, it began to grow in the city."

Currently, some 132 wards and branches — three of them singles wards — are a part of the 14 stakes or districts, with more than 42,000 members who will use the new temple.

Belnap remembers the rebirth of a congregation in lower Manhattan four years ago, after a 15-year hiatus of activity around Wall Street and the city's financial center. Shortly after 9/11, people again fled the city in droves, but the growth has continued nearly unfettered since.

"If anything, it was just a temporary breather, and things have sailed right on. We've actually gone over the growth numbers to statistically demonstrate what's happened to the church here since, and 9/11 is an indistinguishable event."

For several years, the midtown location that now houses the temple across from Lincoln Center was the only LDS building in Manhattan. At one point last year, it housed eight wards in space built for four.

But a map of the church's presence here today shows buildings in every major sector of the city, many of them marked in red as being "overutilized" and others marked in green as being "under construction." In Manhattan alone, a building housing three church units was dedicated in January near Union Square, the Canal Street branch in Chinatown will move to a new rental building in two weeks, and construction on a new multistory chapel in Harlem is set to begin this month.

In addition, the demolition is being completed on a property the church purchased on East 87th Street between Second and Third Avenues, set to house a multistory meetinghouse that looks from preliminary architectural renderings to be a mixture of historic cathedral and chapel combined.

Belnap credited former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani's cleanup campaign aimed at city streets and parks as one reason for the increased interest in urban living. As a city dweller, Bushman said the church "needs a serious downtown presence nearly everywhere." She praised the "great vision shown by our area presidency recently in seeing that we needed this kind of space."

Outlying areas of the city are also experiencing a growth spurt. Ground was broken just last weekend for a new building in New Rochelle, which lies just northeast of Manhattan.

Mark Bench, president of the church's Westchester stake that includes the Bronx, said as new converts continue to come into the church economic and cultural extremes in the area present some challenges. His stakes includes the wealth and prestige of Scarsdale, N.Y., contrasted with one ZIP code area within the Bronx that registers the lowest per-capita income in the country.

Belnap said the complexity of cultures and ethnicities is a rare mix nearly always lacking in LDS regions around the West. "In many respects we're a first-world church, but we're also a Third World church here, with real problems that are very much indicative of life in some parts of Latin America."

Missionaries in New York's five boroughs hail from countries such as Finland, England, Uzbekistan, Mexico, Chile, Peru, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Russia, many of them speaking native languages in order to teach the city's widely diverse population of immigrants, students and business people.

The Canal Street branch is situated among the largest concentration of Chinese-speaking people in North America, and has grown from one or two members to more than 50 within the past four years, Belnap said.

Yet with all the demographic surveys and even the temple's construction, he "can't fully explain" the growth of the church in Manhattan. "We live and breathe it every day. It's hard to not just stand it awe, and it's almost happening despite ourselves. It seems we're seeing a formula for astronomical growth."

Meetinghouse caption: "A preliminary drawing shows the LDS multistory meetinghouse planned for East 87th Street in Manhattan. Demolition is under way at the site."

Manhattan Temple Jubilee

Wonderful event for Lorinda and Brent and family with President Hinckley and others as the largest cast ever to perform on the stage at Radio City Music Hall celebrated the completion of the Manhattan Temple.

New York Temple To Get Spire

N.Y. temple to get spire
Faithful eagerly await Sunday's dedication
(by Carrie A. Moore, Deseret News; published: Thursday, June 10, 2004)

NEW YORK — The Manhattan Temple, which will be dedicated this weekend, will soon look more like other LDS temples — a spire with the angel Moroni is to be added to the refurbished building.

Situated one block west of Central Park and kitty-corner from the Lincoln Center, which houses the Julliard School of Music and other major performing arts venues, the temple will be set off from the current boxy, multitiered skyline in the surrounding area.

The church has received clearance from the city to construct a spire on the building's southwest corner, and the spire will be topped with a gold figure of Moroni, a key figure in the faith's foundational scripture, the Book of Mormon.

Meanwhile, the countdown toward Sunday's dedication of the temple has begun here for more than 42,000 area Latter-day Saints, whose growing presence has attracted the attention of not only New Yorkers but major media across the country and in Europe.

There are also plans for another temple roughly 25 miles to the north. However, church officials remain mum on the progress of the White Plains, N.Y., temple, whose construction has been bogged down by a series of lawsuits, traffic studies and delays.

More than 53,000 visitors attended the monthlong open house in Manhattan, which concluded last weekend, with "people from all walks of life and religious backgrounds" having attending the 40-minute tour, according to Brent Belnap, chairman of the temple committee.

The tours were followed by a reception in the meetinghouse that is also inside the six-story building that was renovated to house the temple.

Floors one, two, five and six now comprise the temple's 20,630 square feet. Floors three and four contain a meetinghouse for several local congregations, as well as administrative offices for the church.

The temple is one of only two LDS temples worldwide that is not free-standing and surrounded by greenery and gardens. At present, the temple could easily be mistaken for just another office building in midtown Manhattan, with only the name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as a distinguishing feature.

Belnap said he was pleased with public response so far.

"It's fair to say a lot of tour guides, as they were taking people through, would notice this hard edge New York skepticism or demeanor just literally melt away. By the end of the tour, they said there was just such a different tone and attitude" among visitors.

One woman who lives in a building next to the temple came out of curiosity, skeptical about what would be happening, Belnap said. "By the end of the tour, she was saying, 'Wow, I'm so glad you're here in the neighborhood.' We've been here since 1975, but she never bothered to find out who her neighbors are."

There was some mild protest on the sidewalk outside the building during the open house, featuring literature calling into question the beliefs of Latter-day Saints, but there was no major disruption for visitors. Church officials decided against advertising the open house, fearing they would be overwhelmed, he said.

People were drawn "through members, local press coverage" and the LDS Church's Web site, www.lds.org.

Announced by LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley in August 2002, word of a temple in Manhattan came as a surprise to area residents who had long been watching the political maneuvering surrounding a temple announced in 1995 for White Plains.

Residents and some city officials there objected to the proposed size of that building, which is still moving forward, according to Mark Bench, former mayor of Scarsdale, N.Y., and president of the church's Westchester Stake, where the White Plains (officially in Harrison, N.Y.) temple is to be located.

He said the church is currently placing, "at enormous effort and expense, a sewer line underneath eight lanes of the Hutchinson River Parkway. It's a lengthy process" that must be complete before the town of Harrison will issue a building permit.

The move is the latest concession made by the church after a series of costly studies on traffic patterns and other infrastructure concerns were pressed by area officials. Lawsuits in both state and federal courts over particulars surrounding the proposed temple also delayed the project from its inception, and in 2002 the various sides reached a settlement that would reduce the proposed size of the temple.

Original plans called for a 97,000-square-foot structure with a 159-foot spire. Concessions brought the size down to 56,000 square feet, then again to 28,400 square feet, with the spire lowered to 115 and then 105 feet, respectively. President Hinckley's announcement of the Manhattan Temple came a few months after the wrangling came to a peak.

The LDS Church has declined formal comment on its plans for the White Plains temple, and the attorney working on the project for the church did not return phone messages seeking comment. But attorney James Staudt told The Journal News in suburban New York in January that the temple "will be built. No, they (opponents) did not wear the church out. I should think not."

Harrison supervisor Stephen Malfitano also told the paper that "as far as we know, based on the evidence of the construction going on, they intend to go forward with the project."

Members in the Harrison area have turned their attention south at this point.

"We're thrilled to have the Manhattan Temple, which is within a 45-minute drive of the farthest point of the stake," Bench said.
Latter-day Saints in the New York area have been driving several hours to Boston to attend a temple.

With the temple's completion and open house, several major media outlets have written about the growth of the church in the New York area, including the New York Times, the New York Daily News, New York Sun, Newsday, the Los Angeles Times and the Financial Times of London.

Belnap believes the attention is warranted. "The first stake of the church created east of the Mississippi after Saints fled Nauvoo was this stake here in Manhattan, the New York, New York Stake in December 1934. Today that area includes 14 stakes and districts. If the past is prologue, the future of the church here in NewYork City is bright and will only get brighter.

"For long time New York members, it's like 'Wow, we're finally on the radar screen.' A whole new chapter is beginning for the church here."

Los Angeles Times Article on Manhattan New York Temple

Below is the text of (and related link to) an article entitled "Its New Manhattan Temple Is a First for Mormon Church" that appeared on May 9, 2004, in the Los Angeles Times for which Brent was interviewed:

The Nation: Its New Manhattan Temple Is a First for Mormon Church
It's also inside an existing building and doesn't have the soaring spires normally associated with such a place of worship.
(by John J. Goldman, Times Staff Writer)

Successfully blending religion with prime real estate, the Mormon Church has completed its first temple in Manhattan.

The task required creating a feeling of spaciousness and spirituality in tight quarters.

Unlike most temples built by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with soaring spires and manicured lawns and gardens, the new temple is on four floors of a renovated six-story building across Columbus Avenue from Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

"I think the primary challenge has been fitting a temple inside an existing building, which is highly unusual," said Brent J. Belnap, president of the temple committee.

"Other temples usually have been new construction ... on a piece of ground that has sufficient space for landscaping and parking."

Facing the challenge of creating contemplative space in a bustling, noisy section of mid-Manhattan, architects studied the construction of Lincoln Center, where such groups as the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the New York City Ballet perform.

"As you walk through, you will notice you can hear virtually nothing from the outside," Belnap said.

The temple's architects employed the same soundproofing techniques used in some of the cultural center's facilities to block distracting noise.

The decision to build the temple -- the 119th in the world -- reflects both the growth of the religion, which has about 42,000 members in the New York region, and its history.

After the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, there were fears that the threat of further terrorism would cause large numbers of followers to leave the city. That hasn't been the case.

"It hasn't affected the growth of the church at all," Belnap said.

"The church has continued to increase in growth since then.... We have congregations that speak not only English and Spanish but Portuguese, Mandarin, Cantonese, French Creole, Korean and other languages," he said.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has about 12 million members, was founded on April 6, 1830, by Joseph Smith, who lived about 300 miles northwest of Manhattan in Palmyra, N.Y.

In October 1832, he traveled to New York City to preach and clearly was impressed by the city, writing to his wife, Emma: "The buildings are truly great and wonderful, to the astonishing of every beholder."

Los Angeles Times

WABC TV Appearance

Note the "correctly spelled" surname!

"Manhattan Temple tour a 'hot ticket' in N.Y."

Brent was interviewed for a Deseret News article about the Manhattan New York Temple open house:

Manhattan Temple tour a 'hot ticket' in N.Y.
80% of the passes to monthlong open house are gone
(by Leigh Dethman, Deseret News; published: Tuesday, May 4, 2004)

Forget Broadway, Times Square and the Empire State Building.

The open house for the new LDS temple in Manhattan is the hottest ticket in town.

As of Monday, more than 80 percent of the free tickets to the public open house starting later this week were already gone, said Brent Belnap, temple committee chairman.

"It's almost all reserved, and the open house hasn't even started yet," Belnap said.

VIP tours of the new temple began Monday. Ambassadors from Eastern Europe and the Middle East are among those on the long list of VIPs who will tour the temple this week, said Jason Howell, a spokesman for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The temple doors will officially open to the public Saturday for a monthlong open house. Tours will run on Mondays from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and Tuesdays through Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. through June 5.

To snag one of the only tickets left, go to www.lds.org/temples.

Located just one block west of Central Park, the temple will serve more than 42,000 church members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

"Obviously, having a temple here in New York City is a big deal in part because it's in the heart of midtown Manhattan," said Belnap, who also serves as stake president of the New York New York Stake.

The temple will take up four of the six floors of a building used by the church since 1975. Local church members must take an elevator up to the third or fourth floor to attend their Sunday meetings, Belnap said.

But don't worry. The pitter-patter of toddler feet in the hallways and laughs from Sunday School class will not be heard on the temple floor up above.

"The temple itself is soundproof," Belnap said. "You really don't hear any of the traffic and sirens and certainly any of the meetings going on down below."

Belnap said about 1,000 visitors, most who are not members of the LDS Church, toured the temple Saturday during a practice run for the VIP and public tours.

"Almost all of them have described the temple as exceptionally beautiful, a real asset and jewel here in New York City," Belnap said.

The LDS Church currently operates 117 temples worldwide. Church members consider temples to be "houses of the Lord" where marriages, baptisms and other sacred ordinances are performed.

President Gordon B. Hinckley will formally dedicate the temple June 13, 2004. Four private dedicatory sessions are planned to accommodate as many New York City area Latter-day Saints as possible.

Manhattan Temple Nears Completion

Church completes Manhattan temple
(Deseret News; published: Thursday, April 22, 2004)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the completion of its first-ever temple in New York City.
It will open the new temple in Manhattan at 125 Columbus Ave. across from Lincoln Center June 13. The temple will serve more than 42,000 church members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.

A public open house will be held from May 8 through June 5 before the building is formally dedicated, after which it will be closed to the public.

This particular temple is unusual because of its location in midtown Manhattan. Most LDS temples are free-standing structures surrounded by manicured gardens in suburban settings, but the Manhattan temple was built in an existing building that rises six stories above ground in an urban setting one block west of Central Park. The temple uses four of the building's levels — the other levels house a chapel, classrooms and church offices.

The building is adjacent to other city buildings and blends into the surrounding urban landscape.

Brent Belnap, chairman of the temple committee, said the church is expecting thousands of visitors.

President Gordon B. Hinckley will formally dedicate the temple on June 13.

LDS Newsroom/Meridian Magazine: Manhattan Temple

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Opens First-Ever Temple in New York City
(published 21 April 2004)
Public Open House from May 8 - June 5

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will open a new temple in Manhattan at 125 Columbus Avenue across from Lincoln Center on June 13, 2004.

The temple is the first ever in the New York metro region and will serve more than 42,000 church members in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. Currently, most members in the area travel to Boston to visit a temple.

A month-long public open house will be held from May 8, 2004, through June 5, 2004, before the building is formally dedicated, after which it will be closed to the public. Open house hours will be Mondays 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. and Tuesday through Saturday from 9:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m.

This particular temple is unusual because of its location in midtown Manhattan. Most Latter-day Saint temples are free-standing structures surrounded by manicured gardens in suburban settings. However, the Manhattan temple, similar to the Church’s temple in Hong Kong, was built in an existing building and rises six stories above ground in an urban setting one block west of Central Park. Temple visitors will use four of the building’s levels; the other levels house a chapel, classrooms and church offices.

Brent Belnap, chairman of the temple committee, said the Church is expecting thousands of visitors. “Because they are only open to the public before dedication, temple open houses typically draw visitors from a wide area,” he said. “We think people will find this sacred space in one of the busiest cities in the world to be truly remarkable.”

President Gordon B. Hinckley, the world leader of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will formally dedicate the temple on Sunday, June 13, 2004. Four private dedicatory sessions are planned to accommodate as many New York City area Latter-day Saints as possible. A cornerstone ceremony will be at 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, June 13, 2004, prior to the first dedicatory session.

The temple will be the second in New York state (the Palmyra New York Temple was dedicated in 2000) and the 119th in the world. Temples are considered "houses of the Lord" where Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances such as eternal marriage, baptism and family “sealings” which unite families for eternity.

Latter-day Saint temples differ from the tens of thousands of local meetinghouses where members typically meet for Sunday worship services and midweek social activities, and where visitors are always welcome. Temples are used solely for the performance of sacred ordinances and religious instruction aimed at strengthening members’ relationships with God and their fellow man.

The building, designed by Frank Fernandez of New Jersey-based F. Fernandez A.I.A., celebrates the Church’s New York roots while also incorporating elements reflecting its international headquarters in Utah. The building is adjacent to other city buildings and blends into the surrounding urban landscape.

Among its many unique features is a soundproofed inner shell, which creates a quiet, peaceful atmosphere where members can enjoy spiritual reflection. Its sculpted carpets, decorations, artwork and furnishings speak of beauty and excellence.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in Fayette, New York, in 1830. Today it is among the world’s fastest-growing religions, with nearly 12 million members globally.

LDS Newsroom: Manhattan Temple

New York Times: "Mormons Plan a Temple Opposite Lincoln Center"

While vacationing in Utah, Brent was informed by President Hinckley that a Temple would be built in Manhattan at the location of the current stake center at 2 Lincoln Square. The next day, he was interviewed by phone by a reporter from the New York Times while at the Joseph Smith Memorial Building in Salt Lake City.

"Mormons Plan a Temple Opposite Lincoln Center"
(by Daniel J. Wakin; published: August 09, 2002)

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is going on a Manhattan building spree to serve what it says is a growing membership.

Yesterday, it described plans to convert two floors of its building opposite Lincoln Center into a 20,000-square-foot temple. The temple, to be completed in February 2004, will be the church's first in New York City and the only one between Washington and Boston.

The church also said that it would begin work, probably by the end of the year, on three new chapels at sites in Manhattan it has acquired over the last year. Buildings on the Upper East Side and near Union Square will be renovated, and a building in Harlem will be razed and replaced, said a spokesman for the church in Manhattan, Scott Trotter.

Church members attend chapels for Sunday services that are open to the public. The temple, however, is the sacral heart of Mormon religious life. It is used for rituals like sealing ceremonies, in which a man and woman are joined in marriage for eternity; instruction in the church's truths; and baptisms for the dead, to allow them entry into heaven.

Mormons in the New York metropolitan region travel to Boston, Washington or Palmyra, N.Y., the birthplace of Mormonism, 21 miles southeast of Rochester, for the rites.

Just ''worthy'' adults who receive permission from church leaders are allowed to enter Mormon temples. But the Manhattan temple is to be open for public viewing for a month after it is finished.

The decision to establish the temple, made by the church's leaders in Salt Lake City, stemmed in part from frustration over the slow pace of work on a temple planned for Harrison, N.Y. Church officials acknowledged that a seven-year dispute with Harrison officials over permission to build had contributed to the decision to build in Manhattan.

''I think that could be part of it,'' Mr. Trotter said. The town, in Westchester County, had objected to the height and volume of the temple and the potential increase in traffic. A compromise was reached in May to reduce the size, and officials expect construction to proceed.

The church president for Manhattan, Brent Belnap, said the Harrison temple was proceeding slowly, ''agonizingly so, unfairly so.'' The Manhattan temple was ''somewhat'' of a solution to the slow pace.

''If it were a religious group any more well known in the New York area, or not perceived as so unique or different,'' Mr. Belnap said, ''I don't think we would be having these problems right now.''

But church officials stressed that the main reason to build the temple and the new chapels was membership growth, a result of vigorous proselytizing in a region not known for its Mormon concentration. According to the church, its membership in New York City, on Long Island and in central and northern New Jersey rose 25 percent from 1995 to 2000, to 37,620 members from 28,350. Mr. Trotter said 25,000 Mormons lived in the five boroughs, from a worldwide total of 11 million.

Mr. Belnap said, ''Growth in the five boroughs has been so great, that the logic of having a temple within easy access to public transportation in the heart of the city makes far more eminent sense.''

The Manhattan temple will occupy the fifth and sixth floors of a church building on 65th Street at Columbus Avenue, where it has been a fixture for more than 25 years. The building has a chapel, offices and a genealogy center, a feature of the church's emphasis on baptizing dead souls. Church officials, sensitive to discussions of the church's wealth and power, declined to say how much the temple and chapels would cost. The money will come from church headquarters, which tithing finances.

The temple will be patterned after one in Hong Kong that also is in a larger building, a rarity for Mormon temples, which usually are freestanding. Following the pattern of Mormon temples, it will have a series of ritual rooms where men and women enter dressed in white garments. In a large Celestial Room, worshipers will pray or contemplate.

In New York's tradition of religious recycling, one building to become a chapel, at 141 West 14th Street, is a former convent. Another chapel site is at 217 East 87th Street, and the third is an abandoned six-story apartment building at 360 Lenox Avenue, near 128th Street.