Albuquerque New Mexico Temple

Dedication of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple

Latter-day Saints in New Mexico performed service at the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple grounds even before it was dedicated. H. Vern Payne, vice chairman of the local temple committee, recounted at the 2000 temple dedication that Church members across the state gave countless hours of service at the site of this house of the Lord. Saints cleaned the grounds prior to the building’s 1998 groundbreaking and again before the open house and dedication. Some crews worked past midnight.

Several members from outlying areas drove up to five hours to work a few hours at the temple site, with another five-hour trip back home. The day before the dedication, Payne even found a hundred Saints cleaning a chapel that would show a broadcast of the dedication. The chapel, he said, had not glistened like that since it was brand new.

“The spirit of the temple is growing and brooding over this whole area,” said Payne. “Its influence spiritually will be significant.”

The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was dedicated in four sessions by President Gordon B. Hinckley, 15th President of the Church, on March 5, 2000. He was joined by Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Neil L. Andersen, a General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America Southwest Area presidency.

During a week-and-a-half-long public open house the preceding month, many noticed the fine craftsmanship and unique temple design. Members of other churches commented on the spiritual nature of the edifice. And one visitor described the building in just one word: powerful.

Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Let it be a sanctuary of peace, a refuge from the noise of the world. May it be a house of quiet contemplation concerning the eternal nature of life and of Thy divine plan for Thy sons and daughters as they walk the road of immortality and eternal life. ... May the light of the gospel that emanates from this holy temple be felt throughout the community.”

Read the dedicatory prayer of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple here.

The Albuquerque New Mexico Temple was announced April 4, 1997, by the First Presidency. A groundbreaking ceremony was held almost 15 months later, on June 20, 1998, with Elder Lynn A. Mickelsen presiding.

After a public open house from Feb. 17 to Feb. 26, 2000, the Albuquerque temple was dedicated March 5, 2000, by President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Architecture and Design of the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple

With an area of 34,000 square feet, the Albuquerque New Mexico Temple stands near the towering Sandia Mountain Range to the east. The building’s exterior is made of Deseret Rose precast concrete, with Texas Pearl granite at the base, making the structure look pink in the sunset to match the nearby mountain scene at dusk.

The house of the Lord has a baptistry, a celestial room, two ordinance rooms and three sealing rooms. Grass, native plants and a fountain adorn the grounds, and a distribution center also stands on the 8.5-acre site.