The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released an exterior rendering showing the planned design for the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple.
This comes as project leaders begin the process of working with local government officials relating to the temple’s design in preparation for the eventual groundbreaking and beginning of construction.
The Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple, which was announced in October 2019 by President Russell M. Nelson, will be built at Muniogo Crescent, Badili, Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 9,550 square feet. Missionary and patron apartments, a temple president’s residence, and a distribution center will also be constructed on the site. The meetinghouse currently on the site will be removed. This will be the nation’s first temple. Nearly 31,000 Latter-day Saints live in Papua New Guinea.
Detailed design plans for this temple are still in process. A groundbreaking date has not been set.
Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the “house of the Lord” and the most sacred places of worship on the earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples, however, is for faithful members of the Church to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriages that unite families forever and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity while living.
In this six-minute video, Church members in Papua New Guinea share their reactions to the welcome announcement of a temple in their country.