The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plans to build a new temple in Yorba Linda, among 20 new locations planned around the world, church officials announced Sunday, April 4.
Details are sparse, however; church officials did not elaborate on the forthcoming house of worship in the announcement or offer any renderings of what it could look like and city officials said plans hadn’t yet crossed their desks.
Tom Lindsey, a former mayor of Yorba Linda and a member of the church himself, said he was both surprised and thrilled when he heard the news from his faith leaders over the weekend.
“For a Latter-day Saint, having a temple in their locality is one of the greatest blessings that we could have in our lives,” he said.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, widely known as the Mormon church, has one temple in Newport Beach that opened in 2005; a Yorba Linda location would be Orange County’s second. There are also temples in Los Angeles, San Diego and Redlands.
There are differences between the stately Latter-day Saints temples and the church’s neighborhood chapels, which are open to the general public and used for Sunday services as well as other activities throughout the week.
When temples are first built, they are briefly open to the public, but once dedicated, indoor spaces are reserved for church members to hold ceremonies, such as marriages and baptisms.
The church has 750,000 members among 1,230 congregations in California, a news release said.
“It’s an exciting time for Latter-day Saints in your neck of the woods, that’s for sure,” said church spokesman Doug Andersen. But he added that he couldn’t immediately offer more information about when or where construction could start.
“Nothing has been submitted to the city yet, and we have no other information about the project (including where they intend to locate),” Yorba Linda spokesman Geoff Spencer said.
Councilwoman Tara Campbell said that she and her colleagues look forward to hearing from church officials about their proposal. She said she made a point when she was mayor in 2019 to visit every house of worship in Yorba Linda, “a strong, faith-filled community” that has more religious centers per resident than any other city in Orange County.
Councilwoman Beth Haney also expressed excitement about the church’s ambitions on social media.
“I am thrilled that Yorba Linda will be getting a new Latter-day Saints temple soon,” Haney said Monday in a Facebook post, which included a personal photo of Salt Lake City’s temple. “These temples are some of the beautiful in the world.”
Where the temple would be built is also a mystery to Lindsey, but he suspects a temple could fit on property in Yorba Linda the church already owns.
“I can’t wait to find out,” he said. “I’d like to be able to walk there.”
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