New LDS temple set to be built in Lethbridge

LETHBRIDGE, Alta. -

Lethbridge is one of 15 cities around the world recently announced to be getting a temple from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.

Local members of the church feel its been a long time coming.

“We were just over the moon excited and since then we've had a lot of conversations with people in the community. We have about 10,000 members of the church in Lethbridge. They're very excited to have their own temple right here in our city,” said Richard Low, co-director for the LDS church in southern Alberta along with his wife, Gayle.

Temples act differently from typical meeting houses.

They’re used for special events and aren’t open for weekly services.

“We do different things," said Richard Low. "More sacred ordinances. We participate in marriages, marriage ceremonies. Baptisms on behalf of deceased."

FOURTH IN ALBERTA

The Lethbridge temple will be the 10th in Canada and the fourth in Alberta.

The nearby Cardston temple was the first in Canada, opening in 1923.

Despite the proximity to Cardston, LDS members in Lethbridge have long wanted their own temple.

“We have church members all over southern Alberta so this Lethbridge temple will be a temple for people in Taber as far as Medicine Hat, as far as High River to Crowsnest Pass to Cranbrook," Gayle Low said. "So we'll have lots of people.”

Lethbridge’s nine meeting houses won't be impacted by the new temple. The Lows say they’ll be needed for weekly services and other activities.

“Our chapels and our buildings will still continue to be just as busy. We have different youth activities. There's different wards or parishes that go to the buildings. And the buildings are not just used on Sunday, they're used during the week as well,” said Gayle Low.

Details are still being worked out on the temple, so far there’s no word on when or where the temple will be built.