Hamilton-New-Zealand-Temple
Aerial view of the Hamilton New Zealand construction site circa 1958.2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
The story of the Hamilton New Zealand Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints begins long before ground was broken in 1956. As early as 1830, Māori matakite (seers) from several tribes had foreseen the coming of religious messengers who would be distinct from the Christian missionaries their people had already encountered. Describing various signs by which these new messengers could be recognised, the seers urged their kindred to look for them and then accept their teachings as the true word of God.
During the 1880s, many Māori who were familiar with the matakites’ prophecies identified missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the foretold messengers. In the Book of Mormon, published in te reo Māori in 1889, Māori found teachings that resonated with their own traditional beliefs. As a result, whole villages converted and were welcomed into The Church of Jesus Christ. Between 1885 and 1905, Church membership in New Zealand increased by 500 percent, to about 5,000.
Ham
Missionaries ride bicycles in Hamilton, New Zealand.2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Recognising the need for more educational opportunities for its younger members, the Church established two schools in New Zealand during the 20th century. The Māori Agricultural College near Hastings operated from 1913 until 1931, when the campus was destroyed by an earthquake. After World War 2, the Church developed plans to build another school near Hamilton. Building materials and skilled labour were in short supply, so the general leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, headquartered in Salt Lake City, Utah, U.S.A., offered to provide materials, equipment, and experienced construction managers if New Zealand Saints, then numbering about 12,000, would agree to provide volunteer labour as well as supplies to support the workers.
The construction of the Church College of New Zealand was well underway in 1955 when David O. McKay, president of the Church of Jesus Christ, travelled from Salt Lake City to several countries in the South Pacific. President McKay’s itinerary included a visit to the Hamilton construction project. At the time, only a few knew that he also was seeking a site for a new temple to serve the 40,000 Latter-day Saints then in the South Pacific. Wendell B. Mendenhall, a consultant on the CCNZ building project, took President McKay to the hilltop next to the college site, and later reported: “President McKay looked at this area, saw this beautiful hill, and said, ‘This is the place where the temple should be.’"
Hamilton-New-Zealand-Temple
Construction workers at the Hamilton New Zealand Temple site.2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
Hamilton-New-Zealand-Temple
Visitors file into the Hamilton New Zealand Temple in 1958.2022 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.
In 2017, the Hamilton Temple closed for renovations to comply with current seismic resistance standards. The following year, the Church announced plans to construct another temple in New Zealand to help serve the country’s 115,000 Latter-day Saints. Now under construction, the Auckland Temple is scheduled for completion in 2024. In the meantime, New Zealand Saints look forward to the reopening of the Hamilton Temple, a holy place where they can learn more about our eternal nature and divine potential as children of God.