MONTPELIER — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced Bart Orr Christensen and Cherie Lynn Bullock Christensen as president and matron of the upcoming Montpelier Idaho Temple.

The Christensens are members of the Grace Idaho Stake, Third Ward.

Born in Soda Springs, Bart Christensen is a temple sealer and former stake president, bishop and high councilor.

Cherie Christensen, a Salt Lake City native, is a temple worker and former ward Relief Society president, ward Young Women president and ward Primary presidency councilor.

Then-church President Russell M. Nelson announced the Montpelier Idaho Temple on April 3, 2022, during the faith’s general conference, along with 16 other temples.

Elder Ryan K. Olsen of the Quorum of the Seventy presided over the temple’s groundbreaking ceremony June 17, 2023. More than 600 attendees, including area leaders and church members, were present.

“At the end of the day, it really draws back to our individual relationship with the Savior, Jesus Christ,” Olsen said. “As much as this is a community event, and the neighbors will drive by and see this beautiful edifice, at the end of the day when individuals are able to go in, it’s all about their personal relationship with Heavenly Father and His Son.”

When completed, the 27,000-square-foot temple will be a two-story structure on a 2.6-acre site at the northeast corner of Washington Street and Sixth Street in Montpelier. The exterior will feature a brick-like pattern, rectangular windows on the sides, and tall arched windows and entryways at the front. A tower on a square base, with an arched window on each side and an arched roof, will top the building.

According to the church’s website, Montpelier was settled in 1864 by Latter-day Saint pioneers. President Brigham Young later gave the city its name after the capital of his birth state of Vermont. When dedicated, the Montpelier Idaho Temple will be the ninth Latter-day Saint temple in Idaho — and both the easternmost and southernmost in the state.