Orlando Florida Temple - Church News

Click here for Orlando Florida Temple information including temple schedule and directions from temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org. Announced: Feb. 17, 1990. Location: On a knoll overlooking Butler chain of lakes at Apopka-Vineland Road on the edge of Orlando suburb of Windermere, five miles southwest of Orlando near Florida Turnpike and Interstate 4; 9000 Windy Ridge Road, Windermere, FL

Click here for Orlando Florida Temple information including temple schedule and directions from temples.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.

Announced: Feb. 17, 1990.

Location: On a knoll overlooking Butler chain of lakes at Apopka-Vineland Road on the edge of Orlando suburb of Windermere, five miles southwest of Orlando near Florida Turnpike and Interstate 4; 9000 Windy Ridge Road, Windermere, FL 34786-8347; phone: (407) 876-0022.

Site: 13 acres.

Exterior finish: White precast concrete with marble chips.

Temple design: Classic modern with one spire.

Architects: Scott Partnership Architects.

Church project manager: Ralph Cluff.

Contractor: Brice Building Company.

Rooms: Baptistry, celestial room, four ordinance rooms, five sealing rooms.

Total floor area: 69,000 square feet.

Dimensions: 216 feet by 252 feet; tower with statue of Angel Moroni is 165 feet high.

District: 23 stakes, 3 districts in Florida, Georgia, Jamaica, Puerto Rico..

Groundbreaking, site dedication: June 20, 1992, by Elder James E. Faust of the Quorum of the Twelve.

Dedication: Oct. 9-11, 1994, by President Howard W. Hunter; 12 sessions.

Dedicatory Prayer

Done by President Howard W. Hunter

O God, Our Eternal Father, thou Great Elohim, we bow our heads before thee in reverence and love. We are met to dedicate this thy holy house.

We thank thee for this beautiful structure, and for the purposes for which it has been built. We thank thee for the eternal priesthood restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith, which will be exercised herein. We thank thee, above all, for the atonement of thy Beloved Son through whose sacrifice salvation and eternal life are made possible. We thank thee for the ordinances of this house which will be administered in behalf of the dead as well as the living. We thank thee for the great vicarious work which will be carried on within these premises.

Father in Heaven, we note the beauty of this thy temple, and thank thee for the consecrations of thy faithful people throughout the world which have made possible this sacred house of peace and divine love.

Now, acting in the authority of the Holy Priesthood which has come from thee, and in the name of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ, we dedicate this the Orlando Florida Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We dedicate it as thy house and the house of thy Beloved Son, and pray that thou wilt accept it as the consecrated gift of thy people. We pray that it may be acceptable unto thee and unto Him, and that thy Holy Spirit may hallow it at all times. We dedicate the structure from the footings to the statue of Moroni which crowns its steeple. We dedicate all of its facilities, including the dressing rooms, the fixtures and appointments for the washing and anointing ordinances, the endowment rooms, the beautiful celestial room, and the sealing rooms with their sacred altars where under the authority of the Holy Priesthood there will be bound in the heavens that which is bound upon the earth. We dedicate the grounds on which this temple stands with the vegetation growing thereon—the trees, the flowers, the shrubs, the lawns.

We pray that thy watch-care will be over this thy sacred house. Preserve it by thy strong arm from storm and tempest, and above all from the defiling hand of man. To all who look upon it, including those who reside in this area, may it ever present a picture of peace and beauty, a structure partaking of thy divine nature.

Bless all who shall enter its portals that they may come with clean hands and pure hearts, setting aside the cares of the world as they engage in the sacred service to be performed herein. Grant unto them a greater understanding of things divine and things eternal. Bless them with joy in the service which they give. May the generations of the families of thy sons and daughters be joined in unbroken linkage that thy divine purposes may be brought to pass concerning the immortality and eternal life of thy children. We pray that all who covenant with thee in the sacred endowment service will stand ever true to their promises.

Bless the youth who will be baptized for the dead. May this sacred service instill in their minds a greater understanding of thy divine plan, and a stronger resolution to live worthy of every blessing which eventually may become available to them in this thy holy house.

May those who come to be sealed in marriage kneel at these sacred altars and resolve within their hearts to be ever true and faithful, that the sacred relationships here solemnized may continue with happiness throughout all eternity. May the spirit of the prophet Elijah rest upon thy people that the hearts of the children may turn to their fathers that the earth shall not be wasted, and that thy divine will may be brought to pass for the blessing of thy sons and daughters of all generations.

Our Beloved Father, we pray for all who have responsibility in thy kingdom, including the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, the Seventy, the Bishopric, and for all who serve in any capacity throughout the world. May all be faithful and true and work with a spirit of love and dedication. Prosper thy faithful Saints in their temporal affairs. Bless them in their homes and in their hearts with peace and gladness. May they walk in thy divine favor as they walk the paths which thou hast marked for them.

We ask it all, Beloved Father, as thy thankful sons and daughters, and on this day of dedication, we dedicate ourselves anew to thy service through service to our fellow men, both the living and the dead, in the name of our Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

90,000 tour temple; give glowing reports

By R. Scott Lloyd

Church News staff writer

More than 90,000 people toured the new Orlando Florida Temple during a public open house Sept. 10-30, preceded by two days of tours for specially invited guests.

Visitors viewed an introductory video, walked through an exhibit, then saw the interior of the temple. An estimated 10,000 Church members volunteered their time as tour guides or in other capacities, according to Brent Holladay, dedication specialist with the temple committee. That represented about 80,000 volunteer hours, consisting of a six-hour shift and two-hour training period for each volunteer."They say we will have more than 800 missionary referrals from this event, a number with which organizers are very pleased," said Genean McKinnon, spokeswoman for the temple.

Sister McKinnon said coverage of the temple in the Orlando broadcast and print news media has been excellent.

"Daily and weekly newspapers have covered it and there was a wonderful story in Orlando magazine," she said. "A news report was done by a television station here and picked up on the video wire by three or four additional stations around the state."

An article in the Tampa Tribune, featuring an interview with Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Council of the Twelve, was carried by a wire service and featured in a least 15 newspapers around the state "from Key West to Fort Walton Beach, literally from `tip to toe' in Florida," Sister McKinnon added.

Typical of favorable comments was a phrase used by Peggy Landers, religion writer for the Miami Herald, who called the temple "the connecting point between heaven and earth."

Sister McKinnon said the lead-in to a local television news report on the temple mentioned there is a new architectural landmark in town. The report said the temple would be "forever identified with Orlando."

For Church members the three weeks of public tours have been a high point.

"Fast and testimony meeting was held this past Sunday (Sept. 25) because of general conference next week, and everyone I spoke with in congregations across the state said their meetings went overtime," Sister McKinnon said. "People wanted to share so many wonderful things that had happened in conjunction with the open house."

One such incident, she said, was related by Jim Tew, Church public affairs director for the North America Southeast Area. He took his father-in-law, who has been blind for five years, through the temple. Having been a carpenter, the father-in-law felt the woodwork and moldings and said the workmanship was exquisite simply to touch.

Church members are not the only ones in the community to appreciate the new edifice. An article written by Matthew R. Gomez in the Sept. 23 issue of The Florida Catholic, a publication for area Catholics, quoted Bishop Norbert M. Dorsey, a Catholic leader who was among several clergy to tour the temple.

The article reads: " It is very impressive,' said Bishop Dorsey during his homily at a Sept. 12 Mass for Bishop Moore High School supporters.The structure is magnificent, and the people were very hospitable and welcoming. It is obvious the temple was built for the Lord.' "

The article further quoted Bishop Dorsey as saying he was "struck by the beauty of the building and the intensity of faith displayed by members of the Mormon faith."

The temple will be dedicated Oct. 9-11 in 11 sessions attended by Church members in Florida and southern Georgia. A traditional cornerstone ceremony will precede the first dedicatory service Oct. 9.

Open house, dedication announced for temple

Open house for the new Orlando Florida Temple will be Sept. 10-30, the First Presidency has announced.

The temple, nearing completion in the Orlando suburb of Windemere, will be the 46th operating temple of the Church.The open house, to which the public is invited, will be held 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, except on Mondays, when it will be 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. No tours will be conducted on Sundays.

Eleven separate dedicatory services are planned following the open house. The dedication dates are Oct. 9-11. Church members in Florida and south Georgia are being invited to the dedication.

A traditional cornerstone ceremony will precede the first dedicatory service on Oct. 9.

The temple will serve Church members in 22 Florida stakes and one stake in south Georgia. It will also serve Church members in the Caribbean until the recently announced temple to be built in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, is constructed.

Plans for the Orlando Florida Temple were announced by the First Presidency in February 1990. A groundbreaking ceremony was held June 20, 1992, at the 13-acre site, which is on a knoll overlooking a chain of lakes.

The facade of the temple is white cast stone. A traditional statue of the Angel Moroni stands atop its tower.

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