First Mormon temple coming to Charlotte, as church membership surges. What to know

Gordon Rago
Updated ·3 min read
13

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has chosen Charlotte for one of its new temples, seeking to bring a location closer to a growing number of Mormon church members in western North Carolina.

Once built, the temple would be only the second in North Carolina. The church built a temple outside Raleigh in 1999, a $5 million structure in Apex that sits on 12 acres. Members have to travel to Columbia, about an hour and a half drive from Charlotte, for the nearest temple.

Temples represent significant sites for the Mormon faithful. They are considered “houses of the Lord,” or sacred places where couples get married and only members who are in good standing can enter, according to the church.

Church membership has been on the rise in the past decade.

Between 2013 and last year in western North Carolina, the LDS church saw membership increase from 24,808 to 30,436, according to church spokeswoman Kristen Anderson. That’s a growth rate of 23%.

The western Carolina area generally includes Mooresville and Huntersville to the north, Gastonia to the west, Fort Mill, S.C., to the south, east to Waxhaw and back north to Kannapolis.

There are roughly 94,000 members in North Carolina across nearly 180 congregations. In the Charlotte area, there are 45 congregations with about 16,300 members as of last year, according to the church.

Charlotte was among a list of 15 new locations for temples announced April 2 by church president and prophet Russell M. Nelson. The other locations span the globe, from Germany, Brazil, Guatemala and Bakersfield, Calif.

Mormon temple details not clear yet

The Charlotte temple could take around two years to build, Anderson told The Charlotte Observer.

Details on location and size have not been determined, she said. The temple will likely need anywhere from 5 to 10 acres, based on the size of others across the country.

While anyone can enter and attend services at a Mormon meetinghouse, the same does not apply to temples: only members of the church who are in good standing can enter there. Temples are places where the church’s teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism and other sacred ordinances focusing on the eternal potential of family relationships.

A rendering of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Knoxville, Tenn. The temple sits on about 5 acres and will be 30,000 square feet. The temple is under construction.
A rendering of a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Knoxville, Tenn. The temple sits on about 5 acres and will be 30,000 square feet. The temple is under construction.

Temples are typically larger than the meetinghouses where Sunday services are held.

The Salt Lake Temple, for example, sits on 10 acres, has 170 rooms and includes 253,000 square feet of space. A temple in Bentonville, Ark., is on about 9 acres and has 25,000 square feet. That temple was announced by the church in October 2019 and broke ground in November 2020.

At the recent opening of a temple in Satoga Springs, Utah, the church tweeted this description about the temple’s import: “A temple is a symbol,” said Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Temple Department. “Wherever one is, it’s a symbol that Jesus Christ is there. Inside, we learn about who we are and our eternal potential.”