Dedication of the Fresno California Temple
On March 20, 1999, at the groundbreaking of the Fresno California Temple, Elder John B. Dickson — a General Authority Seventy and president of the North America West Area — said, “We have ... learned that the family is the central unit in Heavenly Father's plan for His children.”
Elder Dickson continued: “This brings us to the purpose of our being here today, for we know not only that families are basic and important, but they can also be eternal. The building that will rise on this sacred piece of property is a building dedicated to the proposition of helping us to establish eternal families.”
Just over a year later, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley dedicated the Fresno temple on April 9, 2000. He was joined by Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder William R. Bradford, a General Authority Seventy.
When President Hinckley stepped outside the temple for its cornerstone ceremony, he said, “What a beautiful morning. I’ve never been in Fresno on a more beautiful morning.”
A total of 10,294 Saints were inside the house of the Lord at the four dedicatory sessions combined, including those who watched it over closed-circuit television in other rooms of the temple. The closed-circuit broadcast was also transmitted to the nearby Fresno California West Stake Center.
Among those in attendance were Higinio Rodriguez, Elva Rodriguez and their three children. The family had investigated and joined the Church just three years prior, and they reflected on their membership amid the temple dedication.
“I took a long time,” Brother Rodriguez reflected. “I was not converted by the elders; I was converted by Alma [in the Book of Mormon]. No one can [knowledgably] say the Book of Mormon is not true. Anybody who says so has not read it.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May its doors be open to all who gather here with clean hands and pure hearts to assist in bringing to pass Thy great work in behalf of the living and the dead. May the work in this house unlock the prison doors beyond the veil, that those who there receive the gospel may rejoice in the vicarious work performed here in their behalf.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Fresno California Temple here.
Timeline of the Fresno California Temple
Church leaders announced a temple for Fresno, California, on Jan. 8, 1999. Two months later, on March 20, 1999, the site was dedicated for construction by Elder John B. Dickson, North America West Area president.
After an open house from the end of March to the beginning of April 2000, the Fresno temple was dedicated April 9, 2000, with Church President Gordon B. Hinckley presiding.
Architecture and Design of the Fresno California Temple
The Fresno California Temple is a one-story building of approximately 10,700 square feet. The exterior is made with Sierra white granite, with rows of circles and rectangular windows surrounding the edifice. A multilevel tower sits above the temple and close to the entrance.
Inside the temple are a celestial room, a baptistry, two ordinance rooms and two sealing rooms. Green trees and grassy fields cover the 2.2-acre site, with a parking lot and meetinghouse north of the building.