The groundbreaking ceremony was held on a gloomy, rainy Friday afternoon on a site overlooking the many university and student buildings on Manchester’s busy Oxford Road. In contrast to the weather, the new building will become a beacon of light, learning, and peace for those who congregate there. It is scheduled for completion in early summer of 2013 and will house the second young single adult ward in Europe and also the Centre for Young Adults for the Ashton and Manchester Stakes.
| Temple Square is always beautiful in the springtime. Gardeners work to prepare the ground for General Conference. © 2012 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved. | 1 / 2 |
Elder Kopischke presided at the groundbreaking ceremony and was joined by Area Seventies Elder Stephen C. Kerr and Elder George Donaldson. Also in attendance were stake presidents Kevin Fletcher of the Ashton Stake and Daniel Liptrott of the Manchester Stake, England Manchester Mission President Robert Preston, Joseph Wirthlin, Jr., the director of temporal affairs for the Europe area, and many excited members and young single adults from the two stakes.
During the ceremony Elder Kopischke recounted the journey that local and general leaders have taken to arrive at this point. He cited the inspirational guidance and vision provided by Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve, who often commented that the future strength of the Church in Europe would be among the age group 18 to 30. Elder Kopischke described his feelings when he entered the old building that previously occupied the site: “With my spiritual eyes I could see spiritual light coming and influencing thousands of students who are studying within walking distance of this facility. I will never forget what I felt when I first inspected the building.” As part of the ceremony Elder Donaldson spoke of the wonderful place of learning this facility will become and President Liptrott spoke about the building itself bearing testimony of the power of receiving a vision. The ceremony concluded with Elder Kerr offering a blessing on the site and the upcoming construction before the ground was broken by Elder Kopischke.
In conclusion, Elder Kopischke said to all those in attendance that “every young single adult is a member of a family, and while as young people you might be the first to embrace the gospel, you need to proactively invite your parents, brothers, sisters, and other family members and friends to hear the gospel message. If you do so in faith, the vision of Elder Perry will unfold in its full dimension.”