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KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Thousands of people are expected to take a look inside The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' new temple in Kansas City, Missouri over the next few weeks.
A public open house is currently under way there. Cable News Network took the tour and features an inside look at the 32,000 square-foot building.
CNN's Brian Todd reports, "It's unmistakable, rising up like a castle from the rolling prairie, the gold-leafed statue of the Angel Moroni adorning its main spire. The new Mormon temple in Kansas City symbolizes a rare pattern at a time when many faiths see their numbers in North America shrinking."
Elder William R. Walker of the church's First Quorum of the Seventy told CNN, "Well the church is growing very nicely. We now have over 14 million members of the church worldwide, about 6-and-a-half million members of the church in the United States."
"We were shown around by Elder Walker, a top church official who overseen the operation of 137 temples worldwide, with 30 more on the way," Todd continues. "He won't say how much it cost to build, but it doesn't look like any expense was spared. The chambers are striking.
"We saw sealing rooms, where weddings take place; an instruction room with a mural depicting earth, as Mormons believe, just after creation; and the pristine ‘celestial room,' the most sacred space inside, for reflection and meditation complete with crystal chandeliers. This is the biggest room you'll find in the temple. There's no large sanctuary."
"The purpose of the temple is not for a big meeting," Elder Walker said. "We have other chapels and throughout the church and throughout the world, assembly halls and meeting halls. But when we come to the temple, this is more for private and individual communion."
- Is the church's second temple in Missouri and 67th in the U.S.
- Will serve some 45,000 Latter-day Saints in 126 congregations throughout Kansas, Missouri and small portions of Oklahoma and Arkansas
- Construction began May 8, 2010
While CNN was given an extensive tour, the church denied its request to record it, and instead provided pictures. CNN asked Elder Walker if that plays into perceptions - right or wrong - about secrecy.
"It's not about secret. It's about sacred," he answered. "And we feel that it's a very sacred and a special place and therefore it is reserved for those worship functions and those ordinances that take place in the temple. It's not about secret."
The open house will continue through April 28. Church President Thomas S. Monson will formally dedicate the temple on May 6.
The Kansas City Star published a story titled "137th Mormon temple awaits 75,000 visitors for public viewing" in anticipation of the open house. Read that here.
