California to Get 3 New Mormon Temples

Religion: Newport Beach, Redlands and Sacramento buildings will bring state's total to seven.

Los Angeles Times, Apr. 21, 2001
http://www.latimes.com/news/religion/20010421/t000033708.html
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Three new Mormon temples, holy sanctuaries where only church members in good standing can set foot and even then only in ceremonial white clothing, will be built in California, including one in Newport Beach and one in Redlands, church officials said Friday.

The third Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple will be built in Sacramento, bringing California's total to seven, the most in any state outside of Utah.

The new buildings will be part of a new generation of smaller Mormon temples intended to serve targeted communities. Today, an estimated 44,000 Mormons in Orange County and more than 100,000 in the Inland Empire must drive to West Los Angeles or San Diego for the most sacred religious ceremonies.
(...)

For Mormons, the temple serves as a bridge between heaven and Earth, a place where family relationships are "sealed" for eternity. Inside, Mormons wear simple white temple clothes as a sign of purity and reverence.

Temple rites include weddings and "vicarious baptisms for the dead," ceremonies designed to unite deceased relatives who were not originally church members with their family through eternity.
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Commentary:
Theologically, Mormonism is a cult of Christianity. It does not represent historical, biblical Christianity.

See also:
» Articles about the Mormon Temples presented by
   Mormonism Research Ministry

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