Nearly 64 years after the doors of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple first opened and nearly four years after it was closed for an extensive renovation, the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced dates for the temple’s upcoming open house and rededication.
Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will rededicate the Hamilton temple on Sunday, Oct. 16, 2022, with three sessions scheduled for 9 a.m., noon and 3 p.m.
The announcement was first published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The temple’s open house period begins Monday, Aug. 22, with the first day set aside for media tours and interviews, followed by tours for invited guests over the following three days.
Public tours begin Friday, Aug. 26, and run through Saturday, Sept. 17, excluding Sundays Aug. 28, Sept. 4 and Sept. 11.
A youth devotional will be held the day before the rededication on Saturday, Oct. 15.
The first temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to be built in the southern hemisphere and the second — after the Bern Switzerland Temple — outside of the United States and Canada, the Hamilton New Zealand Temple was originally dedicated on April 20, 1958, by President David O. McKay.
Announced in 1955, the temple became the Church’s 13th constructed and 11th operating temple.
Located in Temple View, a suburb outside of Hamilton, the temple served Latter-day Saints in the Pacific for six decades before closing in July 2018 for renovations.
At the time of its closing, the Church released interior and exterior renderings of what the temple would look like after the project’s completion.
During the renovation and before COVID-19 pandemic travel restrictions set in, Church members in the area traveled to temples throughout the Pacific — in Australia, Fiji, Samoa, Tahiti and Tonga — to worship. It was a reversal from the decades that Latter-day Saints from those Pacific area nations traveled to the Hamilton New Zealand Temple for their temple ordinances and worship.
Changes with the renovations include seismic strengthening and significant upgrades to its mechanical, plumbing and electrical systems. Other changes include a new roof and an accessible entrance to the baptistry. The inside furnishings will receive a refresh, as well as the landscaping and parking lot.
The temple is one of the buildings constructed by “labor missionaries” — volunteers with experience and young missionaries who were called to assist in building the temple. More than 1,500 labor missionaries helped build the temple, along with many locals — many of whom were not members of the Church.
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple
Because of the historical nature of the building, all renovations have met strict heritage standards.
The First Presidency first announced the Hamilton temple renovation plans and closure in January 2018.
Since the closure of the Hamilton temple, President Russell M. Nelson has announced two additional temples for New Zealand.
Announced at October 2018 general conference, the Auckland New Zealand Temple is currently under construction following its June 13, 2020, groundbreaking. And at the recent April 2022 general conference, a temple was announced for Wellington, New Zealand.
New Zealand is home to nearly 117,000 Latter-day Saints in 30 stakes and almost 230 congregations. In 1854, Martha Holder of Karori became the first person baptized in New Zealand. Her son Thomas, who had previously been converted during Australia’s gold rush, was among New Zealand’s first missionaries.
