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After the first stake was organized in Minnesota in 1960, Elder Thomas A. Holt, an Area Seventy and resident of Minneapolis, helped pick a site for a second stake center in Minnesota to accommodate the growth of the Church in the state. He said at the St. Paul Minnesota Temple groundbreaking in 1998 that he had “looked at several sites and felt nothing,” until he came to one “beautiful site heavily wooded with oak trees,” which would become the location of the stake center.
Nearly 40 years later, the same site he helped choose would be home to the first house of the Lord in Minnesota as well. On Sept. 26, 1998, at the groundbreaking ceremony prior to the temple’s construction, Elder Holt said that “the Lord chose this place” for the temple.
More than 8,000 Latter-day Saints from the temple district gathered to watch Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicate the St. Paul Minnesota Temple on Jan. 9, 2000.
One of the first patrons who attended the temple on its first day of operation said, “I went to the first session, and it was wonderful. Everything went so smoothly. For years, I’ve been saying to my husband that I want to move to Salt Lake City, where I could be close to a temple. Now, I have no excuse to move. I’m 10 minutes away. We’ll stay here.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We pray for all who shall come as patrons, that they may ever look upon this service as a labor of love performed in the spirit of the Redeemer, who gave His life for all mankind. May the wonder and the majesty of that great act of atonement enter the minds and hearts of all who serve here in behalf of those beyond the veil of death.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the St. Paul Minnesota Temple here.
A temple for the Minneapolis/St. Paul area in Minnesota was announced by the First Presidency of the Church — at the time consisting of Church President Gordon B. Hinckley and his two counselors, presidents Thomas S. Monson, first counselor, and James E. Faust, second counselor — via letters to priesthood leaders in the temple district July 29, 1998.
Ground was broken for the St. Paul Minnesota Temple on Sept. 26, 1998. Elder Hugh W. Pinnock, president of the North America Central Area, presided over the ceremony, and approximately 3,500 local Latter-day Saints attended.
The public was invited to tour the completed house of the Lord from Dec. 18-31, 1999. Some 27,042 visitors attended the temple during its open house.
The St. Paul Minnesota Temple was dedicated by President Hinckley on Jan. 9, 2000. More than 8,000 Latter-day Saints from the temple district attended one of four dedicatory sessions.
A temple for Minnesota was announced by the First Presidency of the Church on July 29, 1998. The groundbreaking ceremony for the house of the Lord was held Sept. 26, 1998.
Some 27,042 visitors toured the temple during its open house from Dec. 18-31, 2000. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the St. Paul Minnesota Temple on Jan. 9, 2000.
The 11,411-square-foot St. Paul Minnesota Temple was built on 7.5 acres of land, which it shares with an adjoining meetinghouse. A light-gray granite veneer makes up the exterior finish.
The temple interior features two instruction rooms and two sealing rooms.
29 July 1998
9 January 2000
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This was the first Latter-day Saint temple in Minnesota.
In preparation for the temple open house, Latter-day Saints in St. Paul coordinated with a local newspaper to include an insert in the paper that explained the teachings of the Church and its history in Minnesota. Half a million copies were distributed to homes and businesses in Minnesota.
Community support for the temple open house included coat racks donated by a local high school and bleachers for the choir donated by the city.
The St. Paul temple was dedicated the same month as the Kona Hawaii Temple, dedicated Jan. 23, 2000.
It was the first temple dedicated in the year 2000.
This was the first Latter-day Saint temple in Minnesota.
In preparation for the temple open house, Latter-day Saints in St. Paul coordinated with a local newspaper to include an insert in the paper that explained the teachings of the Church and its history in Minnesota. Half a million copies were distributed to homes and businesses in Minnesota.
Community support for the temple open house included coat racks donated by a local high school and bleachers for the choir donated by the city.
The St. Paul temple was dedicated the same month as the Kona Hawaii Temple, dedicated Jan. 23, 2000.
It was the first temple dedicated in the year 2000.