New Latter-day Saints temple will rise in fast-growing far north Colorado Springs
A 45,000-square-foot, single-story temple for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints worshippers, along with a meetinghouse and a utility building, soon will rise in far north Colorado Springs as the city's first Mormon temple, the denomination's President Russell M. Nelson announced Monday.
The 18.6-acre site where the temple will be built is located at the south corner of Flying Horse Club Drive and Barossa Valley Road, off Colorado 83 near the upscale Flying Horse Ranch development.
Thirteen months ago, Nelson unveiled plans to build 20 additional Mormon temples around the world, including one in Colorado Springs. But the exact location was not disclosed.
"The Lord is directing us to build these temples to help us think celestial," Nelson said in a video that aired last October at the church's 2023 general conference.
Two other Latter-day Saints temples have been built in Colorado, in Centennial and Fort Collins; a third temple is under construction in Grand Junction. The Colorado Springs location will be the state's fourth temple.
Latter-day Saints worship in temples for reasons that include "to feel God's love and peace, to learn more about God's plan for His children and the gospel of Jesus Christ, to make promises with God and with one's husband or wife, and to unite families in this life and the next through sacred ordinances," according to the announcement.
Several members in the Pikes Peak region told The Gazette last October that they have longed for a temple for years, as they've always had to travel to Centennial, near Denver, for revelation, instruction and rituals.
Temples typically are grandiose and serve as a landmark and beacon, since they are highly visible in the landscape of a community.
The greater Colorado Springs area is divided geographically into five stakes or groups of congregations. Each stake has between 3,000 and 5,000 members, according to church leaders. Statewide, the church claims nearly 150,000 members in 310 congregations.
The building expansion is part of a growth spurt; in the past six years, Nelson, recognized as the church's prophet, has announced 153 new temples.
Nelson also released on Monday the location of the first temple that will be built in Missoula, Mont. Plans call for a single-story temple of 19,000 square feet and an ancillary building on a 5.08-acre site.
