Temple gets its crown
Statue of the Angel Moroni lifted atop LDS temple's steeple By Cathy Noah CENTRAL POINT -- Between 1,500 and 2,000 members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints converged Friday to watch a milestone: the crowning of a new temple with the Angel Moroni. Members from far and wide -- Redding, Calif.; Roseburg; Lakeview; Eureka, Calif.; Coos Bay -- watched with Rogue Valley congregations as a crane lifted the 7-foot, 200-pound angel onto the temple's spire. The angel is made of fiberglass and plated with gold leaf. A lightning rod is inserted into the top of the angel and connected to a copper grounding wire for safety. The temple is still under construction but is expected to be completed by spring. It will be the only LDS temple between Lake Oswego and Oakland, Calif. "We're very excited to have a temple in this area," said Helen Consiglio, who came from the Grants Pass stake with her husband, Giacomo. The Consiglios said they have been driving to Lake Oswego to do their temple work. "This is a big deal for us, to have a temple this close," said Scott Gordon, a professor at Shasta College and ward bishop who drove his family of seven from Redding to watch the event. "We had to drive to Oakland before -- this is a much prettier drive." In the LDS church, a temple is reserved for marriages, baptisms, living ordinances (covenants with God) and other sacred ceremonies. "The temple is a place where worthy members come to worship the heavenly father," said Central Point Stake President Ed Hanson. "It's a more sacred place than our church. It's a place where we make covenants that bind families."
The Central Point temple is the 103rd of a total of 115 temples the LDS church plans to have in operation by the end of the year 2000. There are currently 65 temples throughout the world; it is estimated 10 new temples will be built by the time Central Point's is completed. About 50 people are working on the 10,700-square-foot temple now, said Corey Vitus, of Vitus Construction, general contractor for the temple. He said the majority of work will be done by the end of January. An open house for the public -- which is expected to last several days and draw 30,000 people -- is planned in the spring. "It'll be a wonderful opportunity for people to see the temple and get a better understanding of why it's so special to us," Hanson said. The Angel Moroni is a symbol of the restoration of the church, Hanson said. "Our belief is the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored in the latter days and that the Angel Moroni was a key individual to that restoration," Hanson said. LDS members believe Moroni was an American prophet who lived during the fifth century A.D., and that as a heavenly messenger, he visited Joseph Smith in the early part of the 19th century and revealed to him the location of the ancient record, which today is known as the Book of Mormon. The Central Point temple, at 2305 Taylor Road, will serve nine stakes: Klamath Falls, Medford, Central Point, Grants Pass, Roseburg and Coos Bay in Oregon, and Anderson, Redding and Eureka in California. There are about 28,000 members in the temple district, with 6,000 belonging to the Medford and Central Point stakes. |
