1964 Dedication of the Oakland California Temple
The dedication of the Oakland California Temple was a long time in the making. In 1934, President David O. McKay first visited the site where the house of the Lord would be built, 17 years before he would become the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
President McKay flew over to the San Francisco Bay Area for the groundbreaking of the temple in 1962. Flying in and back the same day, he was accompanied by his counselors in the First Presidency — President Henry D. Moyle and President Hugh B. Brown — and President Joseph Fielding Smith, President of the Council of the Twelve Apostles. Other Church officials also accompanied President McKay to the groundbreaking.
The open house in October of 1964 was so well attended that local Church leaders extended the open house for an additional week. Over the course of the four-week open house, approximately 347,000 people toured the newly constructed house of the Lord, exceeding the expectations of the temple committee. Over 4,000 local Latter-day Saints served in various capacities in the four-week span, some 400 a day needed to keep the open house moving smoothly.
In addition to the general tours that were given, there was a special tour given to Japanese speakers visiting the area. Two other tours also took place for people with hearing impairments. On the first Saturday of the open house, 24,000 visitors came to the temple.
As the dedication of the Oakland California Temple drew near, President McKay was deemed medically able to travel for the dedication, having recently suffered a stroke. Surprising those in attendance, he was able to deliver the dedicatory prayer while standing.
Accompanying President McKay on the trip were over 120 general authorities and their spouses, an extremely large number at that time. A dinner was held before the dedication for all of the Church leaders in attendance.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Help all, O Father, to realize more keenly and sincerely than ever before that only by obedience to eternal principles and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ may loved ones who died without baptism be permitted the glorious privilege of entrance into Thy kingdom. Increase our desire, therefore, we pray Thee, to put forth even greater effort toward the consummation of Thy purposes to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of all Thy children.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Oakland California Temple here.
2019 Rededication of the Oakland California Temple
After the 16-month renovation process, the prominent San Francisco Bay Area temple was ready to be rededicated. President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, rededicated the renovated temple and was accompanied by his wife, Sister Kristen M. Oaks, and Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who was also with his wife, Sister Susan Bednar.
Of the opportunity to come to the rededication, Elder Bednar said, “Happy does not begin to describe how it makes me feel. I think it is one of the ultimate tender mercies.” The moment was made so sweet, as Elder Bednar grew up in the Bay Area and was at the dedication of the Oakland California Temple in 1964. Elder Bednar received his temple endowment at the Oakland temple as well.
While the beauty of the temple was immense, Elder Bednar said the focus should be — and always is — on the ordinances and the covenants of the temple, rather than the edifice itself.
President Oaks spoke of the renovations of the 50-plus-year-old temple. “It is not just a restoration of the physical facilities, but it is a rehabilitation of people who have strayed from the covenant path and who will be inspired to get back on by this wonderful house of the Lord.”
Preceding the rededication was a youth devotional the night before with the Oakses and the Bednars. President and Sister Oaks both spoke from the pulpit, then Elder and Sister Bednar led a youth panel in the 1,600-seat auditorium of the Interstake Center, adjacent to the temple.
The rededication sessions of the Oakland California Temple were among the Church’s first to have speakers selected from outside the traditional group, being general authorities and general officers, their spouses, and the temple presidency and temple matron and her assistants.
President Oaks emphasized how the service should be not only a rededication of the temple building but also of the members themselves. “It is a unique opportunity to rededicate ourselves to the Lord’s work,” President Oaks said, “and to extend to members of our family an understanding of temple work and the purposes of the temple as well as to reach out to people who we think will be interested in the restored gospel.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “In this day of selfishness and wickedness, when men’s hearts fail them in perplexities and turmoil, we pray that Thou will blunt the powers of evil against Thy work and Thy children, and bless Thy covenant people with protection and strength to persist in the works of righteousness.”
Read the rededication prayer of the Oakland California Temple here.
Timeline of the Oakland California Temple
The temple was originally announced on Jan. 23, 1961, by President David O. McKay. President McKay also presided over the groundbreaking on May 26, 1962, with the open house happening a little over two years later. Accompanied by the remainder of the First Presidency and President Joseph Fielding Smith, President McKay dedicated the Oakland California Temple on Nov. 17, 1964.
The temple renovations started in February 2018, with the open house running from May 11 to June 1, 2019. The rededication of the Oakland California Temple was performed by President Dallin H. Oaks, who was accompanied by Elder David A. Bednar.
Architecture and Design of the Oakland California Temple
The house of the Lord in Oakland stands as a beacon for the San Francisco Bay Area, featured prominently in the lower foothills overlooking Oakland. The location allows for the temple to have easy visibility during the day across the bay, as well as during the night, when lit up.
Eugene Hilton, who led the original site committee and was Oakland’s stake president at the time of the land’s purchase, wrote: “The hill stands apart from the noise of the city and yet is ideally located among the millions it will serve. ... The view from afar as the predicted ‘ensign’ on the hills to the east of San Francisco can never be obstructed.”
Before the construction of the temple, a large interstake center was constructed in 1959. Inside the center is a 1,600-seat auditorium, stage and gym, along with the traditional cultural hall, chapel, classrooms and offices.
A 35-feet-by-13-feet bas relief of granite panels depicts the Savior with the disciples both in the Holy Land as well as His time in the Americas after His Resurrection. A reflection pool and waterfall, restored during the renovation, also adorn the site.
The five-spired temple is approximately 95,000-square-feet, with the central tower reaching a height of 170 feet in the air. The temple has four ordinance rooms and seven sealing rooms.
Interior Photos of the Oakland California Temple
