Public to Tour New Temple in Medford, Oregon Open House Scheduled March 24-31; Dedicatory Services, April 16 The public is invited to tour the newly completed Medford Oregon Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The First Presidency of the Church has announced that public tours will begin on Friday, March 24 and continue through Friday, March 31, 2000. No tours will be offered on Sunday, March 26. Latter-day Saint temples are considered "houses of the Lord" where the Savior's teachings are reaffirmed through marriage, baptism, and other sacred ordinances that unite families for eternity. Following the public open house, the temple will be formally dedicated on Sunday, April 16, 2000, making it the 79th Church temple worldwide. There will be four separate dedicatory sessions in order to accommodate as many as possible of the 27,000 Latter-day Saints who reside in the temple district. Church President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed his desire to make the blessings of the temple more accessible to Latter-day Saints, many of whom must currently travel considerable distances. In announcing the concept of building many smaller temples, President Hinckley explained that these temples will be open "according to local demand, maybe only one or two days a week," but will offer the full range of temple ordinances. Plans call for 100 temples to be operating by the end of the year.