Just 16 days after it was announced, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints revealed the location of the Helena Montana Temple on Tuesday and released the first rendering of what it will look like.
A news released revealed that it will be one of the smallest temple’s in the world.
President Russell M. Nelson announced the temple at the end of the church’s 191st Annual General Conference on April 4, when he announced the locations of a record 20 new temples. The church operates 168 temples worldwide, with another 83 announced or under construction.
What it will look like:
The rendering shows a single-story temple with a center spire. The temple will be on the smaller side, with approximately 10,000 square feet according to a news release.
Only three temples are 10,000 square feet. The Taipei Taiwan Temple is 9,945 square feet, the Lima Peru Temple has 9,600 square feet and the Colonia Juárez Chihuahua Mexico Temple is the smallest at 6,800 square feet.
Another 39 temples are between 10,396 and 11,000 square feet in size. They are built to serve the population of Latter-day Saints in the area.
“We want to bring the house of the Lord even closer to our members, that they may have the sacred privilege of attending the temple as often as their circumstances allow,” President Nelson said on April 4.
More than half of the church’s temples are twice that size or more. The largest temples are the Salt Lake Temple at 253,000 square feet and the Los Angeles Temple with 190,614.
Where it will be located
The temple will be constructed on a 4.8-acre site located at 1260 Otter Road. A new meetinghouse will be built on the site, too.
The church’s special projects team will file public documents with Helena officials detailing preliminary plans for the two buildings.
Who will use the temple
The church operates a single temple in a Montana, a state with 50,000 Latter-day Saints, having dedicated the Billings Montana Temple in 1999. The 125 Latter-day Saint congregations worship each Sunday in meetinghouses. They use other days of the week to attend temples, which are considered the faith’s most sacred buildings and are home to ordinances that bind families together forever and bring members closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.