Temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (informally known as the LDS Church) are buildings dedicated to be a House of the Lord. They 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 members from the local area and missionaries 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 twelve years of age and older[1] who hold a valid temple recommend are permitted to enter. Weekly worship services are not held in temples, but ordinances that are part of Latter-day Saint worship are performed within temples.
Within temples, members of the church make covenants, receive instructions, and perform sacred ordinances, such as: baptism for the dead, washing and anointing (or "initiatory"), the endowment, and eternal marriage, also referred to as sealings. Ordinances are a vital part of the theology of the church, which teaches that they were practiced by the Lord's covenant people in all dispensations. Additionally, members consider the temple a place to commune with God, seek His aid, understand His will, and receive personal revelation.
In 1832, shortly after the formation of the church, Joseph Smith said that the Lord desired the saints build a temple;[2] and they completed the Kirtland Temple in 1836. After the death of Joseph Smith in 1844, ownership of the temple shifted, eventually resulting in the Kirtland Temple Suit court case 1880. While the court case was dismissed, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (RLDS Church, now Community of Christ) secured ownership of the temple through adverse possession by at least 1901.[3] On March 5, 2024, the LDS Church and Community of Christ announced that ownership of the Kirtland Temple had transferred to the former as part of a $192.5 million acquisition of historic sites and objects.[4] [5] Initially, the church constructed temples in areas where there were large concentrations of members: Utah, Idaho, Arizona, Hawaii (all in the USA), and Alberta (Canada). In the mid-20th century, because of the importance of temples in the theology, the church tried to balance density with the travel requirements attending the temple imposed upon members. Thus, temples were built in Europe (namely, Switzerland dedicated in 1955 and England dedicated in 1958); the Pacific Islands (namely, New Zealand dedicated in 1958); and Washington, D.C. (dedicated in 1974, the first American temple East of Utah since Nauvoo in 1846). All were dedicated at a time when membership in the region alone might not have justified the effort.
In the 1980s, church president Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) directed that smaller temples with similar designs be built[6] allowing temples to be built where there were fewer members. As a result, the first temples in South America (Brazil dedicated in 1978); Asia (Japan dedicated in 1980); and Mexico (Mexico City dedicated in 1983) were built and the number of temples doubled from 15 to 36.
Church president Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) also accelerated the construction of temples through the use of an even smaller standardized base design.[7] In 1998, when there were 51 temples, Hinckley set a goal to have 100 temples in place before the end of 2000.[8] Between the brief building period from 1998 to 2001, 38 of these standardized temples were constructed and dedicated, meeting Hinckley's goal by having 102 dedicated temples before 2000 closed. During Hinckley's service as president, the number of temples more than doubled from 47 to 124.[9]
On October 7, 2018, Russell M. Nelson announced the intent to construct 12 more temples, putting the church's total number of temples operating, under construction, or announced above 200.[10] This high pace of announcement continued and by October 2023, the church's total number of temples operating, under construction, or announced reached 335.
Temples scheduled for dedication are ordered by announced date and time (earliest to most recent). If two or more have dedications at the same scheduled time (GMT), those temples are listed in alphabetical order.
| Image | Nº | Name | Status | Area | data-sort-type=date colspan=2 | Dedication Scheduled | ||
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Temples under construction are listed by groundbreaking date and time (earliest to most recent). If two or more groundbreakings occurred at the same scheduled time (GMT), they are listed in alphabetical order.
Temples scheduled for groundbreaking are listed by scheduled date. If more than one groundbreaking is set for the same date, the temples are ordered by time zone, from east to west starting at the international date line. When two or more temples are on the same date and in the same time zone, they are listed in chronological order (by the time of day the groundbreaking(s) occur).
Temples are listed by the date they were announced. If multiple temples were announced on the same day, they are listed in the order announced.
Temples in this section are closed for extensive renovation (where the closure is anticipated to last at least a year) or where the nature of the renovation work likely will require a subsequent rededication.
Temples scheduled to close for extensive renovations. The closure is anticipated to last at least a year and/or anticipated to reopen after a rededication.
This is a list of temples that had been announced and in some stage of development, but whose construction is not actively being pursued.
| rowhspan=2 | Name | Status | Area | Announced | |||||
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| data-sort-type=date | Date | by | |||||||