Temple (LDS Church)

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Latter Day Saint movement place of worship

This article is about temples in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For temples in the broader Latter Day Saint movement, see Temple (Latter Day Saints).

See also:

List of temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord. Temples are considered by church members to be the most sacred structures on earth.

Upon completion, temples are usually open to the public for a short period of time (an "open house"). During the open house, the church conducts tours of the temple with

missionaries

and members from the local area serving as tour guides, and all rooms of the temple are open to the public. The temple is then dedicated as a "House of the Lord", after which only members who are deemed worthy are permitted entrance.

Temples are not churches or Meetinghouses designated for public weekly worship services, but rather are places of worship open only to the faithful where certain rites of the church must be performed.^[1]

The LDS Church has 350 temples in various phases, which includes 189 dedicated temples (with 183 operating and 6 previously-dedicated, but closed for renovation), 52 under construction, and 109 others announced (not yet under construction). There are temples in many U.S. states, as well as in many countries across the world. Several temples are at historical sites of the LDS Church, such as Nauvoo, Illinois, Palmyra, New York, and Salt Lake City, Utah. The importance of temples is often emphasized in weekly meetings, and regular participation in "temple work" is strongly encouraged for all Latter-day Saints (LDS).

Within temples, members of the church make

dispensations

.

History

Biblical references

Latter-day Saints cite various Old Testament references to temple ordinances such as those found in Exodus 29:4–9, Exodus 28:2–43 and Leviticus 8:6–13. The words "HOLINESS TO THE LORD" can be found on LDS temples as referenced in Exodus 28:36.^[4]

Likewise the Tabernacle was considered a "portable temple" by the children of Israel in the Old Testament.^[5]

Caribbean

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Worldwide Temples (edit

)

• = Operating
• = Under construction
• = Announced
• = Temporarily Closed

Latter-day temples

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The first Latter-day Saint temple ceremonies were performed in Kirtland, Ohio, but differed significantly from the endowment performed on the second floor of Joseph Smith's Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois, and the Nauvoo Temple. Kirtland ordinances included washings and anointings (differing in many ways from the modern portion) and the washing of the feet ordinance. For nearly four years, beginning in 1842, Smith's Red Brick Store functioned as a de facto temple—the site of the first washings, anointings, endowments, and sealings. In contrast, the grand edifice known as the Nauvoo Temple was in operation for only two months before the Latter Day Saints left Illinois for the West.

Preparations to initiate the first members of Smith's Quorum of the Anointed,^[6] or Holy Order, as it was also known, were made on May 3, 1842. The walls of the second level of the Red Brick Store were painted with garden-themed murals, the rooms fitted with carpets, potted plants, and a veil hung from the ceiling. All the while, the ground level continued to operate as Smith's general mercantile.

After the early events of the succession crisis, Brigham Young assumed control of the church's headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois. While he and the rest of the Quorum of the Twelve made contingency plans for abandoning the city, he may have hoped that it would not prove necessary. For example, in early 1845, Young convened a conference at the Norwegian colony at Norway, Illinois, and announced a plan to build a Latter-day Saint town there with a temple for the use of the Norwegian Latter Day Saints.^[7]

Meanwhile, Young urged the Latter-day Saints in Nauvoo to redouble their efforts to finish the temple. By the end of 1845, the building was sufficiently finished to allow

Upon reaching the Great Basin, Brigham Young began to build settlements based on the City of Zion plan and designated four of these to contain temples: Salt Lake City (1847), St. George (1871), Manti (1875), and Logan (1877). The St. George Temple was the first to be completed in 1877, followed by Logan (1884) and Manti (1888). The Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to complete because of various setbacks and delays. It was dedicated in 1893.

Latter-day Saint temple building halted until the presidency of Joseph F. Smith, who announced two additional temples: Cardston, Alberta (1913), and Lāʻie, Hawaiʻi (1915). Cardston became the first Latter-day Saint temple dedicated outside of the United States. Smith broke with the previous tradition (established since Kirtland) of building temples with upper and lower courts. Temples previously had been ever larger, but the Laie Hawaii Temple was smaller than the Nauvoo Temple had been.

Both Cardston and Laie were dedicated under church president Heber J. Grant, as was a temple in Mesa, Arizona. George Albert Smith dedicated the next temple in Idaho Falls, Idaho. David O. McKay dedicated five additional temples including one in Bern, Switzerland—which was the first temple dedicated in Europe and the first temple to use film recording of the endowment rather than live actors. Joseph Fielding Smith dedicated a temple in Ogden, Utah and Harold B. Lee dedicated its twin in Provo, Utah.

Spencer W. Kimball began a plan to build many more smaller temples according to standardized plans. Twenty-one temples were dedicated during his presidency, including the tiny Papeete Tahiti Temple—which has a floorspace of less than 10,000 square feet (900 m²). This trend has continued. Nine additional temples were dedicated in the presidency of Ezra Taft Benson and two in the brief presidency of Howard W. Hunter.

Under church president Gordon B. Hinckley, the church dedicated 77 temples. In 1997, Hinckley introduced a standardized, smaller temple plan designed to bring temple services to smaller or remote congregations at a reduced cost. The first of this new generation of temples was completed in 1998 with the Monticello Utah Temple. The original plan called for 6,800 square feet (630 m²), later increased to 10,700 square feet (990 m²). Subsequent revisions to the standard design further increased the size and complexity of the temples. The majority of the temples dedicated under Hinckley's tenure were of the smaller design, but one particularly noteworthy achievement was the rebuilding of the temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, known as the Nauvoo Illinois Temple.

Hinckely's successor, Thomas S. Monson, dedicated 26 temples during his time as church president. His counselors in the First Presidency also dedicated a number of temples during Monson's administration.

As of October 2018, Monson's successor, Russell M. Nelson, has dedicated the Concepción Chile Temple. The LDS Church has 350 temples in various phases, which includes 189 dedicated temples (with 183 operating and 6 previously-dedicated, but closed for renovation), 52 under construction, and 109 others announced (not yet under construction). It has been suggested that recent temple construction represents an attempt by church leadership to “re-energize” congregations in the face of flat numerical growth.^[11]

Symbolism in the temple

Most temples are built facing east, the direction from which Jesus Christ is prophesied to return.^[12] The spires and towers on the east end of multi-spired temples are elevated higher than spires and towers on the west side for this same reason, and to represent the Melchizedek, or higher, priesthood.

Some temples, such as Salt Lake, Chicago, and Washington D.C., have triple spires on each side of the temple representing three different offices in both the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthood.^[13]

A statue of the Angel Moroni, stands atop many temples built after the Salt Lake Temple. The statue design represents the Latter-day Saint belief that Moroni was the angel spoken of in Revelation 14.^[14]

Temple ordinances

LDS Church members perform rituals (termed

• Baptism and confirmation on behalf of the dead
• Melchizedek priesthood ordination on behalf of deceased men
• Washing and anointing (also known as the "Initiatory" ordinances)
• The endowment
• sealing
  ordinances (for opposite-sex couples and for parents and their children)

Most ordinances are performed by proxy only on participants who have already completed the ordinance. Similarly, most ordinances are completed only one time for a participant in a lifetime and all subsequent temple ordinance participation is seen as acting for a dead individual. Baptism, confirmation, and priesthood ordination are usually performed in temples only when on behalf of the dead. The initiatory, endowment, and sealing ceremonies are today performed only within a temple.

The sealing ordinance can be performed on behalf of dead couples; so long as the two living participants are of opposite sex they need not be married. It is also performed on behalf of living couples who wish to be legally married. In this manner, the ordinance is typically performed as a celestial marriage, with the idea the marriage bond lasts after their death, or for "time and all eternity". A "time only" modification can be made to the ordinance, such as when the surviving widow of a celestial marriage wishes to legally remarry.^[15]

In addition to the ordinances listed above, 19th-century temples were host to other ordinances that are no longer practiced such as the baptism for health and baptism for renewal of covenants.^[16] In 1922, Heber J. Grant discontinued the practice of baptisms for health in the church. The second anointing is a rare, but currently practiced ordinance for live participants,^[17][18] and (less commonly) vicariously for deceased individuals,^[19] though, it is usually only given in absolute secrecy to a small number of members after a lifetime of service.^[20]

Entrance requirements