Groundbreaking of the Wellington New Zealand Temple
Ground was broken for the Wellington New Zealand Temple on Aug. 2, 2025, with Elder Taniela B. Wakolo — a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Church’s Pacific Area presidency — presiding. Recognizing the higher purpose of this house of the Lord and bearing their testimony to the congregation, a choir sang “This Is the Christ.”
In his dedicatory prayer on the site and construction process, Elder Wakolo expressed thanks for the accommodating city officials and New Zealand’s religious freedoms. He added that this temple will stand “not only as a symbol of our membership in the Church, but as a sign of our faith in life after death and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families.”
Timeline of the Wellington New Zealand Temple
The Wellington New Zealand Temple was announced by Church President Russell M. Nelson on April 3, 2022. Ground was broken for the temple on Aug. 2, 2025, with Elder Taniela B. Wakolo presiding.
Architecture and Design of the Wellington New Zealand Temple
According to site plans released by the Church on Nov. 28, 2022, the Wellington New Zealand Temple will be a two-story building of approximately 14,900 square feet. The edifice will stand on a 3.35-acre site in Aotea, Porirua, on the southern tip of the North Island of New Zealand. An ancillary building with both arrival facilities and patron housing will also be built on the site.
Architectural renderings of the house of the Lord show a white exterior surrounded by rectangular windows. Two tall, multilevel towers with rectangular windows stand above the entrance and rear of the building. Trees, flower beds and grass lawns adorn the grounds.