Nearly three years after the devastating February 2011 earthquake, the stake centre (main church building) of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints re-opened in Christchurch this weekend.
A conference was held there over the weekend overseen by Elder O. Vincent Haleck, a general authority of the Church.
Elder Haleck said that he applauds the resilience of the members living in Christchurch.
"The conference this weekend held in the stake centre is a symbol of that resilience and the numbers gathered is indicative of the hope that people here have for their city," he said.
Church-goer Lusila Tahaafe said that attending the conference on Sunday morning in the reopened stake centre made her feel like things were getting back to normality.
“It was nice to come back to somewhere we had before the earthquake, it was lovely," she said.
Mayor Lianne Dalziel, who attended the meeting, said that she attended the Sunday morning conference session to show support for the Latter-day Saint community. She felt it was significant that the stake centre was being re-opened, particularly as it was one of the first main church buildings in Christchurch to do so.
- Elder Haleck Christchurch November 2013
- Christchurch Church re-opened after earthquake in 2011
- Elder O. Vincent Haleck Christchurch 17 November 2013 dignitaries
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
The service was also attended by Members of Parliament Megan Woods (Wigram electorate) and Rino Tirikatene (Te tai Tonga electorate).