Yet the proceedings inside the 60,000-square-foot neoclassical structure will be a mystery to most outsiders - much like the faith itself.
Area Mormons will continue to worship in their local churches on Sundays, with the temple reserved for the most sacred rituals, or "ordinances." These include elaborate "endowment" ceremonies that bestow on followers the secret names by which God will call them on Resurrection morning.
It also will be the venue for initiation rites for the two orders of priesthood, "sealing" ceremonies that bind marriages for eternity, and baptisms for the spirits of the dead, usually performed in a pool set atop 12 life-size statues of oxen.
Not just any Mormon will have entrée.
A "temple recommend" from a hierarch is typically granted only to those adults active in their "wards," or congregations, and who tithe 10 percent of their income; eschew alcohol, tobacco, and caffeine; revere marriage and family; and fully subscribe to a theology well outside mainstream Christianity.
Membership growth impelled the decision to build the nation's 77th temple here, Mormon leaders say. Since 1990, the rolls of the baptized have gone from about 18,000 to 31,000 in the 45 counties of the new Philadelphia Temple District, encompassing the eastern half of Pennsylvania, all of Delaware, New Jersey's six southern counties, and portions of northern Maryland. The region has 90 congregations; about two-thirds have their own churches.
'Clarity of message'
Ahmad S. Corbitt, president of the Cherry Hill Stake, a diocese-like territory comprising South Jersey, attributes the growth to "shifting values [toward conservatism], maybe the clarity of our message, and our emphasis on individual salvation through Christ and the family."
