Mormons hoping to build first new temple in UK for 30 years
The first new Mormon temple in the UK for 30 years is to be built in Sutton Coldfield as a venue for “sacred ceremonies” and in pursuit of an “ultimate goal” to have temples dotted around the UK.
The large white edifice will feature a 314ft spire and an imposing entrance arch. Planning permission has yet to be granted, but the church hopes construction will begin this year and take up to three years to complete.
The temple will be the Mormons’ third in the UK. The first temple, in Newchapel, near Lingfield, Surrey, opened in 1958, and a second opened in 1998 in Chorley, Lancashire. About 800 people train in missionary work each year at the Chorley base.
The new temple, to be built on the site of an existing Mormon church, was “part of a programme of building temples around the world at increasing speed, to make them more accessible to members”, said Elder Martin Turvey, a church leader and spokesperson.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints – the Mormons’ official name – has attracted controversy over cases of sexual abuse, its prohibition on sexual activity between samesex couples, and its historical endorsement of polygamy.
It became the unlikely subject of a hugely successful and multi-award winning satirical musical, The Book of Mormon, which opened on Broadway in 2011 and in London’s West End in 2013. It follows the efforts of two missionaries attempting to convert the indifferent inhabitants of a Ugandan village.
The church responded to the show by saying it may entertain audiences for an evening, but the Book of Mormon could change lives. It took out adverts in programmes encouraging people to join the church.
The Mormons, whose headquarters are in Salt Lake City in the US state of Utah, has more than 16 million members worldwide. In the UK, the church claims nearly 187,000 members in more than 315 congregations. Membership was “showing modest growth”, according to Turvey.
He said temples were “the most
sacred places, where we go to worship, to learn, to participate in various ordinances”, or ceremonies. Only members of the church are allowed entry. “We have ordinary, churches where people go each Sunday to worship. And we have temples where specific ordinances take place.”
The ceremonies include weddings, or “sealing ordinances”, and baptisms for the dead. Sealings represent a marriage for eternity, rather than until death. Those seeking sealings must attest to following the church’s rules, including abstinence from sexual activity before marriage, alcohol, tobacco and caffeine, and tithing – paying 10% of their income to the church.
Baptisms for the dead involve church members being dressed in white and baptised by immersion as a proxy for family members – even ancestors – who died without being baptised themselves.
The church’s “ultimate goal is to have a temple within an hour or two’s drive” of anywhere in the UK, said Turvey. He said he had “no idea” of the cost of the Sutton Coldfield temple, but it would be paid for out of church investments and members’ donations.
Church missionaries still travelled “everywhere we’re allowed to go” to spread their message, he said. “I understand how it might be seen as a recruitment effort, but it’s really about inviting people to come to know Jesus Christ.”
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was founded by Joseph Smith in New York state in the US in 1830. After a revelation, he wrote the Book of Mormon. From the start, the church sent missionaries to win converts. Smith himself was imprisoned more than 30 times for his faith.
Mormon missionaries arrived in the UK in 1837. According to the church’s website, more than 52,000 converts emigrated from Britain in the 19th century to join the main body of the church in the US. By 1870, nearly half of all of Utah’s population consisted of British immigrants.