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PHILADELPHIA, PA. -- Intersecting both American and important church history, LDS church leaders broke ground for a temple Saturday in downtown Philadelphia, PA.
The temple - diagonally across the street from the prominent landmark, Logan Square - will serve the Pennsylvania, Delaware and some New Jersey and Maryland areas. About 30,000 church members across eight stakes will be within its boundaries in those areas, as the church has divided it.
Church leaders, including President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency and Elder Jay E. Jensen of the Presidency of the Seventy among others, came together for the ground- breaking ceremony.
"The work done in these sacred buildings becomes the crowning element of our religious worship," said President Henry B. Eyring. "For Latter-day Saints, no building is more sacred than a dedicated temple of God."
"The temple that we build here will add to the grandeur of the city and in particular it will add to the spirit of brotherly love, which is a hallmark of our faith and of our religion," said Elder William R. Walker. "We are confident that citizens of Philadelphia of all faiths will similarly admire the beauty of the temple and see it as a symbol of peace, harmony and faith."
According to the LDS Church, membership in Pennsylvania alone has grown to nearly 50,000 members and 107 congregations in the 50 years the church has had an established stake there. The first stake, created in 1960, consisted of 1,100 members and spanned throughout southeastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and Maryland.
The temple in Philadelphia will be the first built in Pennsylvania -- important state in LDS church history. From 1827-1830, Joseph Smith Jr. and his wife Emma lived in Harmony, PA., now Oakland, while he translated much of the Book of Mormon. The restoration of Priesthood authority is also believed to have happened there on the edge of the Susquehanna River.
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