Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple
On 5 October 2019, during the 189th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson announced that a temple will be built in Moresby, Papua New Guinea. The Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple will be the island nation's first temple.
Port Moresby is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. Members currently fly to the Fijian islands to participate in temple ordinance work at the Suva Fiji Temple. The Port Moresby Branch, the nation's first congregation, was organized on 10 October 1979. The Papua New Guinea Port Moresby Mission was created on 13 February 1992.
There are approximately 35,000 Latter-day Saints in 87 congregations in Papua New Guinea.[1] In a six-minute video, Church members in Papua New Guinea share their reactions to the welcomed announcement of a temple in their country.
On Wednesday, 15 September 2020, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the location of the Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple and released an exterior rendering showing the planned design for the new temple. The temple will be constructed on Muniogo Crescent in the Badili neighborhood of Port Moresby on the site of an existing meetinghouse that overlooks beautiful Walter Bay. Plans call for a single-story temple with a single attached end spire 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 demolished.
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Groundbreaking Announced
Groundbreaking services will be held on Saturday, April 22, 2023. Elder Peter F. Meurs, General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, will preside at the event.
