Church gives first look at temple for Moses Lake

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a rendering of its planned Moses Lake Washington Temple.

The 20,000-square-foot temple, which was announced by the church’s president, Russell Nelson, at the church’s April 2019 General Conference, is to be built on 17 acres the church bought on the south side of Yonezawa Boulevard. The structure will have a center spire, according to a church press release.

“We’re very excited that it’s moving forward,” said Ryan Tulley, president of the church’s Moses Lake Stake.

The Moses Lake Stake has about 4,300 members, Tulley said, many of them descendants of settlers who migrated to the Columbia Basin even before the Columbia Basin Project brought irrigation water to the region.

According to the church press release, detailed design plans for the temples are still in process and a groundbreaking date has not been set. The planned Moses Lake Washington Temple will join temples in Richland, the Seattle area and Spokane to become the church’s fourth temple in Washington state.

“Latter-day Saints consider temples to be the ‘house of the Lord’ and the most sacred places of worship on the earth,” the press release said.

Charles H. Featherstone can be reached at cfeatherstone@columbiabasinherald.com.