{"id":130746,"date":"2026-01-24T22:46:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:46:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/130746\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T22:46:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:46:12","slug":"ground-broken-for-jacksonville-florida-temple-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/130746\/","title":{"rendered":"Ground broken for Jacksonville Florida Temple \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today\u2019s groundbreaking for the Jacksonville Florida Temple<\/a> has been long anticipated \u2014 for 79 years, actually.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 19, 1947, Elder Charles A. Callis and Elder Harold B. Lee of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles organized Florida\u2019s first stake<\/a> in Jacksonville. It was also the first stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the South.<\/p>\n

\"ElderElder Massimo De Feo, a General Authority Seventy, speaks at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jacksonville Florida Temple on Jan. 24, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/p>\n

When Elder Callis created the stake, \u201che prophesied that many other stakes would be organized in this land,\u201d recounted Elder Massimo De Feo<\/a> at the Jacksonville temple\u2019s groundbreaking on Jan. 24. \u201cAnd he actually said that one day, a house of the Lord would be built here.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI want to thank the members, you dear brothers and sisters, for your faithfulness, because you are making this possible \u2014 because you are allowing the Lord to fulfill His promises because of your faithfulness.\u201d<\/p>\n

Elder De Feo \u2014 a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the United States Southeast Area presidency \u2014 presided over the Jacksonville temple\u2019s groundbreaking, the first of 2026.<\/p>\n

Information and photos of the livestreamed<\/a> ceremony were published Jan. 24<\/a> on ChurchofJesusChrist.org<\/a>. Later in the day, ground was also broken for the Jo\u00e3o Pessoa Brazil Temple<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis house of the Lord will be a beacon for the community. It will be a symbol of Jesus Christ,\u201d said Elder De Feo. \u201cIt will be a symbol of peace, a symbol of unity, a symbol of interfaith dialogue, a symbol that we are all children of Heavenly Father, who loves all of us, regardless of our beliefs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ChurchChurch and community members gather at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jacksonville Florida Temple on Jan. 24, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/p>\n

In his dedicatory prayer on the site, Elder De Feo pleaded that this future house of the Lord would bless members and nonmembers for years to come.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pray to bless this community that surrounds us and that the temple may radiate light, hope and truth for all those who visit or even only see it,\u201d he said. \u201cWe pray that they may recognize the Light of the Savior, feel hope in the Savior and know the truth about the Savior as they humble their hearts in reverence for this place.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Jacksonville temple\u2019s groundbreaking comes just five months after another groundbreaking in Florida, for the Tampa Florida Temple<\/a> \u2014 marking the first time that two Florida temples are in their construction phase at the same time.<\/p>\n

\"ElderElder Massimo De Feo, a General Authority Seventy, fourth from left; and his wife, Sister Loredana De Feo, third from left, join local Church members to break ground for the Jacksonville Florida Temple on Jan. 24, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints About the Jacksonville temple and the Church in Florida<\/p>\n

Planned<\/a> as a single-story structure, the Jacksonville temple will be approximately 29,000 square feet. It will be built on a 6.6-acre site at 3323 Loretto Road, Jacksonville, Florida.<\/p>\n

The late President Russell M. Nelson<\/a> announced<\/a> a temple for Jacksonville, Florida, on Oct. 2, 2022. It was one of 18 temple locations<\/a> he identified during October 2022 general conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Of Florida\u2019s five houses of the Lord in various stages, three have been dedicated: the Orlando Florida Temple<\/a> (1994), Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple<\/a> (2014) and Tallahassee Florida Temple<\/a> (2024). The Orlando temple was temporarily closed<\/a> in July 2024 for renovations.<\/p>\n

\"LocalLocal stake presidents and their wives break ground for the Jacksonville Florida Temple on Jan. 24, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/p>\n

In addition to the Jacksonville temple, the Tampa Florida Temple<\/a> is under construction. Elder Neil L. Andersen<\/a> of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presided over the Aug. 23, 2025, groundbreaking<\/a>, offering a prayer dedicating the temple site and construction process.<\/p>\n

After missionaries first arrived in Florida in 1845, growth of the Church started slowly<\/a> in the state. Florida\u2019s first Latter-day Saint branch, the Hassell Branch, was created<\/a> on May 9, 1897, in Jefferson County. By 1904, the state had 1,230 Church members.<\/p>\n

Today, Florida is home to more than 176,000 Latter-day Saints in about 280 congregations.<\/p>\n

\"AA multistake youth choir of members from the Jacksonville area sing \u201cLet Zion in Her Beauty Rise\u201d at the groundbreaking ceremony for the Jacksonville Florida Temple on Jan. 24, 2026, in Jacksonville, Florida. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints \"ExteriorExterior rendering of the Jacksonville Florida Temple. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Today\u2019s groundbreaking for the Jacksonville Florida Temple has been long anticipated \u2014 for 79 years, actually. On Jan.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":130747,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117,27722],"class_list":["post-130746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news","tag-temples"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130747"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}