Temple LdsEdit
Temples are among the most distinctive and enduring features of the Latter-day Saint movement. They are not ordinary chapels where weekly services are held, but sacred houses set apart for rites that the church teaches bind families together forever and mark a person’s life before God in a covenantal sense. Temples are built around the world, in cities large and small, and their presence signals a commitment to eternal family ties, genealogical work, and the church’s distinctive view of salvation.
As the church expanded from a largely American and frontier-based community into a global church, the temple program grew with it. Temples are operated by the church and funded by members through tithing and donations. Access to a temple is restricted: members must hold a temple recommend, be in good standing with church doctrine and practices, and participate in preparatory rites that prepare participants for temple worship. The temple program emphasizes sacred ordinances performed for the living and for the dead, reinforcing a theology in which family relationships extend beyond mortal life.
History
The roots of temple worship in the Latter-day Saint tradition go back to the church’s earliest years, with prominent temples built in Nauvoo in the 1840s and later in Utah. The Nauvoo temple, completed after the church’s exodus west, established the pattern of temple rites that emphasize covenants, instruction in the gospel, and sealing families together. Over the following decades, temple architecture and ritual would evolve as the church moved from a primarily western frontier context to a global faith. Nauvoo and the early temple program are often cited in discussions of how the church’s sacred practices developed.
The 19th and early 20th centuries also featured significant political and social pressures, including conflicts over polygamy and the church’s relationship with state authorities. Polygamy, which the church officially began to abandon in the late 19th century, was a flashpoint that shaped perceptions of the church in American public life and influenced how temples and temple rites were viewed in broader society. The church’s eventual repudiation of the practice and the issuance of Official Declarations helped integrate the temple program into a more mainstream religious life in the United States and abroad. For deeper context, see Polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement and Official Declaration 2.
In the late 20th and into the 21st century, the temple program expanded dramatically. Temples were built in many nations, bringing the church’s sacred rites into areas with large Latter-day Saint populations and into regions where church leadership saw opportunities to serve families and genealogical research. The temple-building era has often been framed by debates about religious liberty, secular law, and the proper relationship between church life and public policy. The expansion also prompted discussions about the accessibility of temple rites and the church’s decisions about who may participate and under what circumstances. See Temple for a broader discussion of how these buildings are conceived within the faith.
Beliefs and practices
Temples serve a set of sacred purposes that the church describes as essential to its doctrine of eternal families and salvation. The rites performed in temples include endowment, sealing of families, and baptisms for the dead. The endowment is understood as a spiritual instruction and covenantal ceremony that teaches participants about the purpose of mortal life, the plan of salvation, and the promises God offers to those who keep their covenants. For readers seeking more on the theological details without revealing sensitive instruction, see Endowment (Latter Day Saint movement).
The sealing ordinance binds spouses and families together beyond mortal life, reinforcing the church’s emphasis on family as the basic unit of eternity. See Sealing (Latter Day Saints) for a fuller explanation of this practice and its significance within the church. The church also emphasizes genealogical work, encouraging members to research their ancestry so that temple ordinances can be performed on behalf of deceased relatives. This genealogical focus connects the living with past generations in a concrete way and informs temple practice. See Genealogy for how this work feeds into temple rites.
Access to temple rites is restricted. Members must obtain a temple recommend from church leaders, which requires adherence to church teachings and standards of conduct. Because temple worship is considered sacred, the church does not publish full public descriptions of the rites; it emphasizes that they are covenant-based and designed to strengthen personal faith and family bonds. See Temple recommend for a sense of how members are prepared to participate.
Architectural and ceremonial elements of temples are often rich with symbolism drawn from restoration-era religious thought and broader Christian and Judeo-Christian imagery. The iconic exterior and interior motifs are intended to reflect the church’s teachings about eternity, covenantal relationship with God, and the centrality of families. The angel Moroni, a recurring figure on temple spires, serves as a traditional emblem linked to divine revelation in Latter-day Saint tradition. See Moroni for more on this symbol and its role in temple architecture.
Architecture and locations
Temples are designed to communicate sacred purpose through their architecture as well as through their rites. Exterior design ranges from the starkly modern to the richly traditional, but the interior remains focused on the sequence of ordinances and covenants the church teaches are essential to exaltation. The distribution of temples worldwide reflects the church’s global reach: temples are sited to serve members across continents, including areas with growing membership where the church has established a strong community presence. See Temple for a general discussion of temple architecture and purpose, and Temple Square for an example of the church’s urban presence in a single city.
The church often assigns temple locations to cities that have significant historical connections to its growth, such as early settlements and former frontier hubs. This has reinforced a sense of continuity between the church’s early Pioneer heritage and its contemporary, global footprint. See Nauvoo and Utah for historical context about the church’s development in North America, and Mormonism for a broader discussion of the faith’s historical landscape.
Controversies and debates
The temple program, like other aspects of church life, has faced scrutiny and critique from various perspectives. From a historical standpoint, the church’s past policies on race and priesthood have drawn substantial discussion. The church formally disavowed racial restrictions on priesthood in 1978 with a revelation now known as Official Declaration 2, a pivot that many people view as a necessary alignment with broader civil rights progress while others argue about the timing and context of the change. See Race and the Priesthood and Official Declaration 2 for more detail on these issues and their implications for temple access and ecclesiastical life.
Some observers criticize the church’s temple rites as being secretive or opaque to outsiders. Proponents of religious liberty argue that sacred rites belong to the church’s internal life and are appropriately restricted, while critics say transparency would improve understanding and reduce suspicion. The church maintains that temple ceremonies are sacred and symbolic, designed to foster a covenantal relationship with God, not to convey public doctrine in a straightforward, expository manner. See Endowment (Latter Day Saint movement) for a discussion of the rite and its place within the faith.
Historically, the church’s past practice of polygamy and its end of that practice under pressure from civil authorities influenced how temple life was perceived in wider society. The shift away from polygamy and the move to a mainstream social and political position in the United States and abroad shaped temple-building strategy and the public’s understanding of temple rites. See Polygamy in the Latter Day Saint movement and Official Declaration 2 for context on these shifts.
In contemporary debates, some critics argue that the church’s stances on social issues are out of step with mainstream cultural trends. Defenders of the church contend that religious institutions have a legitimate right to preserve and explain traditional beliefs and rituals, while suggesting that critics sometimes misunderstand the church’s theology or underestimate the importance of religious liberty in pluralistic societies. From a conservative perspective, critics who frame religious tradition as inherently oppressive risk mischaracterizing the church’s teachings about family, faith, and voluntary association, and they may underestimate the church’s role in fostering stability in communities that value work, family, and charitable service. See Same-sex marriage and Religious freedom for related discussions.