Temple opens doors to public

Michael Miller

For the next month, local residents can tour parts of the Newport

Beach California Temple and can participate in one of the sacred

traditions of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: the

three-part ascent toward the holy spirit.

And they won’t even need church membership to do it. From now

until Aug. 20, neighbors can tour the instruction rooms of the temple

and walk the rising path of the religion’s faithful -- regardless of

their personal ideology.

“The fact that each room is brighter and the fact that there’s a

slight incline from one room to the next is symbolic to us of man’s

journey through life,” said Ronald Rasband, executive director of the

temple department for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints.

The climb begins in a tiny instruction room, featuring a few dozen

chairs and a video screen at the front. On the walls, a painted mural

depicts the shore of Newport Beach as it might have looked in earlier

times, but with a lion perched among rocks on a cliff. The theme here

is timelessness, and the room represents the first part of a journey

-- the notion of human souls emerging from the presence of God.

Afterward, the ascent continues to a room with high arched

ceilings and stained glass windows that let in sunlight. During

services, the topic of discussion changes in this room as well; after

covering creation in the first installment, the elders move on to the

influence of Christ in everyday life.

One more ramp leads to the final stop, a spacious area known as

the celestial room. Here, a domed ceiling and chandelier, along with

white furniture and walls, give a sense of purity. By rule, no one

speaks inside.

These are the three phases of service in a Latter-day Saints

temple, held every week in 122 locations around the world. On

Tuesday, after years of preparation, the Newport Beach California

Temple became the newest site on that list.

In past years, Orange County members of the church -- some 50,000

in all -- have ventured to the temples in Los Angeles, San Diego and

Redlands for special events. This week, the opening of the

17,800-square-foot site on Bonita Canyon Drive changed that.

“I’ve recently gone through the temples in L.A. and San Diego, and

driving seven minutes from our house instead of through the hectic

traffic, it’s unbelievable,” said church member Danny Rasmussen of

Irvine, who volunteered at the opening on Tuesday before departing

for a two-year mission to Zimbabwe.

Church leaders will host open houses in the new temple from July

23 through Aug. 20, except Sundays. After the temple is officially

dedicated on Aug. 28, it will be open only to selected church

members. Until then, the general public can visit the streamlined

interiors, including the instruction rooms, the baptismal pool and

the sealing rooms for marriage.

For local church members who attend the chapels in Newport Beach

and surrounding cities, seeing the new temple Tuesday was a

transcendent experience.

“It’s beautiful,” said Lisa Clayton, whose husband is president of

the Newport Beach stake of the church. “It’s wonderful to have this

island of serenity in the community.”

Rasband said that Gordon B. Hinckley, the president of the Church

of Latter-day Saints, personally selected Newport Beach for an Orange

County location because of its high population of church members. The

temple, featuring a pink granite exterior and a statue on top of the

angel Moroni, represents the end of nearly two years of construction.

In addition to the temple itself, the 8.8-acre site contains two

fountains, 24 stone benches and more than 54,000 plants.

Groundbreaking for the structure took place in August 2003. Lloyd E.

Platt, a church member from Salt Lake City, Utah, served as the main

architect for the project.

Unlike a chapel, which offers Sunday worship services and weekday

activities, a Mormon temple is considered a sacred place separate

from the outside world. Among the events held only in temples are

baptisms of the dead, in which church members submerge themselves in

the pool for ancestors who were not baptized during their own lives.

Worshippers, Rasband said, can also go through the three-part

services in place of their deceased relatives.

“You might come through one session for your own self, and then do

it again for Aunt and Uncle Jones,” he explained.

* MICHAEL MILLER covers education and may be reached at (714)

966-4617 or by e-mail at [email protected].