Groundbreaking and Site Dedication:
2 November 2024 by Jeremy R. Jaggi
Groundbreaking Ceremony
The First Presidency has announced that a groundbreaking ceremony for the Tarawa Kiribati Temple will be held on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Elder Jeremy R. Jaggi, Second Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, will preside at the event. The temple will be constructed on a 0.8-acre site located across from the Kiribati House of Parliament. Plans call for a single-story temple of approximately 10,000 square feet. Ancillary facilities, including a meetinghouse and patron housing facility, will be located about a quarter mile west of the temple site.
Temple Announcement
In the final session of the 190th Semiannual General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct the Tarawa Kiribati Temple. Kiribati is a nation comprised of 32 atolls and one island with half of the population living on Tarawa atoll where Church-operated Moroni High School is located. There are nearly 21,000 Kiribatian Latter-day Saints, approximately one-sixth of the population, belonging to two stakes and three districts. The Saints of Kiribati currently travel well over 1,000 miles (1,600 km) to participate in ordinance work at the Suva Fiji Temple.3
Temple Design
Plans for the Tarawa Kiribati Temple call for a single-story building of approximately 10,000 square feet with a single spire. Additional ancillary facilities will be located 450 meters west of the temple site. Plans for a meetinghouse and patron housing facility are in development.
Temple Rendering
On May 19, 2021, an official exterior rendering was released for the Tarawa Kiribati Temple.
Temple Site
On May 19, 2021, the location of the Tarawa Kiribati Temple was announced as a 0.80-acre site located at Ambo, South Tarawa, Kiribati. It will stand across from the Kiribati House of Parliament.2
Site:
0.8 acres | 0.3 hectares
Architectural Features:
Single attached end spire
Ordinance Rooms:
One instruction room, one sealing room, and one baptistry
Total Floor Area:
10,000 square feet | 929 square meters
Elevation:
25 feet | 8 meters
Temple Facts
The Tarawa Kiribati Temple will be the first temple built in Kiribati and the second built in Micronesia, following the Yigo Guam Temple (2021).
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