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CONCEPCION, Chile — The Concepción Region Public Affairs Committee has announced that the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has set the date of the groundbreaking ceremony for the Concepcion Chile Temple, the second in the country. The ceremony will be on October 17th, 2015.
The groundbreaking ceremony consists of a meeting that includes messages of Church authorities and local members, the dedicatory prayer on the grounds, and the breaking of the Temple grounds by leaders in attendance, giving way to the beginning phases of construction. The dates of completion, open house, and the dedication of the temple have not yet been announced.
This past June, the last of the properties that were acquired by the Church was demolished to form part of the temple grounds. In 2009, a few weeks after the announcement of plans to construct a temple, the Church acquire the Quinta Jungue, located in the city of Concepcion on Pedro de Valdivia Avenue between Alemana and Inglesa Avenues, a site which takes up 3.7 acres.
In January of 2013 construction permits were issued for the temple, a two-story building totaling 2,500 square meters. With all the associated buildings, the Temple will be the largest religious building in Concepcion. In April of the same year, Elder W. Craig Zwick, of the First Quorum of the Seventy, presented a temple’s rendering to a few local church leaders. In November, Elder Jeffery R. Holland confirmed the design that already been presented. It is similar in design to the Tijuana Mexico Temple, but more stylized. Elder Holland added that the temple will be decorated with artwork inspired by Chilean landscapes.
The temple district is shared by three missions in the southern-central area: Concepcion, Concepcion South and Osorno -and probably others, which include more than 30 stakes and districts-. The Concepcion Temple will help alleviate congestion of the Santiago Temple, which currently serves all of Chile’s 96 stakes and districts.
The Concepcion Temple will be the second in Chile, the 16th in South America, and the 161st in the world. It will be the southern-most temple in the Americas and the second southern-most of the world, the first being the Hamilton New Zealand Temple. Construction on the Temple will begin after 6 years since it was first announced by President Thomas S. Monson in the October 2009 General Conference.
Concepcion one of the most populous city south of Santiago and its metropolitan zone includes seven Stakes, one District, one Institute of Religion and is the headquarters for two missions of the Church.
After its dedication, the Concepcion Temple will be the second temple in operation in Chile. The first was the Santiago Temple, which was dedicated in September of 1983 by President Gordon B. Hinckley, who at the time was a counselor in the First Presidency. Later, after extensive renovations, the temple was rededicated in 2006 by the same President Hinckley, who at the time was President of the Church.
Additional information about invitations to the groundbreaking ceremony and accompanying broadcast to local meeting houses will be reported as it becomes available.
