The Church of Jesus Christ Celebrates the 20th Anniversary of the Accra Ghana Temple Dedication

On 11 January 2004, President Gordon B. Hinckley of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the Accra Ghana Temple as the 117^th temple of the Church, and the second on the African continent; the Johannesburg South Africa Temple was dedicated in 1985.

The Accra Ghana Temple recently celebrated the 20^th anniversary of its dedication.  The anniversary gives the members of the Church in the Africa West Area the opportunity to remember the great sacrifices made by early Church members and to reflect on the great blessings that have come to them by overcoming the many obstacles to building the House of the Lord in Accra.

While being interviewed at the dedication, the President Hinckley said that the dedication of the Accra Ghana Temple represented “the dreams, hopes and prayers of many people” and that the dedication was considered the dawning of a new day for West Africa.

“There’s just a euphoria that has gone through our membership here in appreciation for this great and significant thing,” said President Hinckley. At the end of the dedicatory sessions, he noted that “this is not the end. ... This is the beginning for the Saints in this area.”

20 years later the Prophets words have been fulfilled as the Africa West Area has recognized incredible growth and the enthusiasm for the temple has continued unabated.  When the temple was dedicated, there were approximately 25,000 members of the Church in Ghana. Today there are 105,000 members meeting in 370 congregations in Ghana.  The temple continues to see members from throughout Ghana and from the neighboring nations in the temple district, which includes Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire, Togo, Benin, Senegal, Mali, and the Gambia, flock to the Accra to receive the blessings of the temple.

Building the temple did not come without many challenges. The search for a temple lot in Ghana began in 1993 and continued until 1998, when President Hinckley found a spot in Accra.  After the announcement of a local temple was made to a group of people at Independence Square, everyone burst into applause. The temple was announced on 16 February 1998.

“That began the long, long journey of getting a permit and getting the temple built,” President Hinckley said. “It’s a miracle, really. This beautiful building is a miracle. I think it’s the finest thing in West Africa. The construction, the woods inside are so beautiful, and the marble. Everything is beautiful; we’re grateful to have it.”

The long-awaited groundbreaking for the Accra Ghana Temple was held 16 November 2001 with Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve turning the first ceremonial shovelful of soil.

Elder Nelson, noticing the joy of the members at the groundbreaking ceremony said, “ We hope all of you will return to an even happier day when this temple will have been completed. We will have a public showing. We invite you to return and look it over carefully and thoroughly. We have nothing to hide in these temples. But once they are dedicated, they then become sacred unto the Lord, and we so regard them and care for them. At that later time of dedication, prophets and apostles will return to Accra, and here they will invest this temple with the necessary authority to seal families together forever and fulfill the great plan of our Creator. This temple will then stand not only as a symbol of our membership in the Church, but as a sign of our faith in life after death and as a sacred step toward eternal glory for us and our families."

That joyous day came on 11 January 2004 with the dedication ceremonies.  The temple was opened to the community for an Open House that was held from 3-20 December 2003, which over 17,000 people attended.  The attendees included many government and traditional leaders, including Ghanaian President John A. Kufuor and Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama.

On 10 January 2004, approximately 1800 children and youth sang and danced at a cultural celebration titled ‘A Day of Celebration’ the afternoon before the temple dedication. This performance was the largest Church youth activity ever held in Africa up to that point.

The dedication was held in three separate sessions.  President Hinckley was joined by his wife, Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley, and Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.  The Prophet expressed gratitude "for the brotherhood that exists among us, that neither color of skin nor land of birth can separate us as thy sons and daughters of God.”

In an interview with the Deseret News and KSL-TV, President Hinckley spoke of the dedication of the temple in Accra as “a new day in West Africa,” the fulfilment of hopes, dreams, and prayers of many people.