Connecticut’s first Mormon temple will be open to the public this week and then is expected to host thousands of church members from a four-state area.
The new temple located in Farmington is set to have an estimated 27,000 congregants from Connecticut, Rhode Island, western Massachusetts, and eastern New York, Fox News noted.
The 32,000-square-foot structure will be the 155th temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS), and contains paintings that illustrate “Connecticut landscapes, mahogany wood surfaces and an acorn and leaf motif” throughout the building.
While this is the first Mormon temple to open in Connecticut, it’s not the first on the East Coast, as another temple was recently constructed in Philadelphia, and opened in early August, according to The Berkshire Eagle.
“Out here on the East Coast, it is a unique challenge to be a member of the church because we are so few and far between. This Hartford temple is going to be a huge beacon of hope and pillar of faith,” said Randy LaRose, a church member who serves at Yale University.
The temple consists of eight rooms and each have their own significance. In fact, a baptismal room, a sealing room for marriage ceremonies, and the celestial room will be just a few of the rooms in the temple with their own unique functions, Fox News noted.
“In a temple the focus is on individual worship, not group worship. That’s why there are many smaller rooms rather than one large hall,” elder Larry Wilson said.
Drucila Maldonado, a member of the church who lives in Bridgeport, is excited about the location of the new temple, as it’s expected to increase the local presence of the LDS church.
“Now I’m very excited that there is a temple right here. It’s so much closer for me and my three children, compared to the two-and-a-half hour drive to Boston,” Maldonado said.
According to The Berkshire Eagle, under Mormonism, temples aren’t as common as meeting houses that offer weekly church services. Instead, these temples focus more on the highest forms of religious worship.
The temple is set to open Friday for public tours, and will continue up until Oct. 22, Fox News noted. It will be dedicated in November, and after that only members of the church will be welcome.