Newport Beach Will Get 1 of 3 Mormon Temples Planned for State

Three new Mormon temples--holy sanctuaries where only church members in good standing can set foot and even then only in ceremonial white clothing--will be built in California, including one each in Newport Beach and Redlands, church officials said Friday.

A third Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple will be built in Sacramento, bringing California’s total to seven--the most in any state outside Utah.

“It’s the most important thing that’s happened in our lifetime in Orange County,” said Joseph Bentley, a leader in the Orange County Mormon community. “The temple is the most holy spot on the face of the earth.”

The proposed buildings will be part of a new generation of smaller Mormon temples--rolled out in greater frequency than ever before--intended to serve targeted communities. Today, an estimated 44,000 Mormons in Orange County and more than 100,000 in the Inland Empire must drive to West Los Angeles or San Diego for the most sacred religious ceremonies.

“Not only will the temple generate excitement, but it’s a great opportunity for many people who find it difficult to get into Los Angeles,” said Doug Glauser, head of the church in the Redlands area. “I think it will have a unifying effect.”

When Jordan and Laura Graff heard the news Friday, the Irvine residents thought back to their mission trips to Russia and South American, where the local Mormons had to make long, expensive journeys to reach a temple.

“It was really humbling to think about,” Jordan Graff said. “People save for years and years for a chance to go once, and now we’ll be able to go whenever we want.”

Costs, sites and designs for the new temples haven’t been finalized. But church officials say the buildings will be more modest than the 59,000-square-foot San Diego temple. The striking, white-stone aggregate and opaque-glass spired building off Interstate 5 cost $24 million when it was completed in 1994.

One Newport Beach property under consideration is next to a recently completed Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints meeting house on Bonita Canyon Drive near MacArthur Boulevard, church officials said.

“In recent times, we’ve built smaller temples in scope and grandeur” than those in Salt Lake City, Los Angeles, Washington and even San Diego, Bentley said. “But they’re still very impressive.”

For Mormons, the temple serves as a bridge between heaven and Earth, a place where family relationships are “sealed” for eternity. Inside, Mormons wear simple white temple clothes as a sign of purity and reverence.

Temple rites include weddings and what church officials call “vicarious baptisms for the dead,” ceremonies designed to unite deceased relatives who weren’t originally church members with their family through eternity.

Temples have a variety of rooms, both big and small, and many have an altar where sacred ceremonies are performed and religious instructions are given. They are off-limits to nonobservant Mormons and others, sometimes causing family members and friends to be left outside during weddings and baptisms.

Weatherford Clayton, who leads the church in the Newport Beach area, said that inside a temple, “you feel very close to our father in heaven. The building is beautiful and reflects peace.”

It also is a place that “the youth dream about--being married in the temple of the Lord,” said Clayton, a Newport Beach physician. “For us, it’s a dream come true. This will facilitate being able to attend a temple close to home, making it much easier for the church members who live here.”

Once built, temples are opened to the public for short periods.

“We want to make sure everyone knows something strange isn’t going on inside,” Bentley said. “The public is allowed to see everything.”

Tannin Fuja, an Irvine resident, said both Mormons and others will enjoy having a nearby temple.

“Having grown up in Provo, Utah, and been very close to the temple, I know firsthand the peace it brings to the church,” Fuja said. “It will also bring peace to anyone who walks around the beautiful grounds of the temple.”

The church has more than 11 million members and 104 temples worldwide. The other California temples are in Fresno and Oakland.