Four temples were dedicated in June 2000 during a six-country overseas tour by President Gordon B. Hinckley — one in Japan, two in Australia and the Fiji Suva Temple.
Also this month, a trio of temples have June 1 dedication anniversaries: the Atlanta Georgia Temple, the St. Louis Missouri Temple and the Curitiba Brazil Temple.
Here is a little about each of the 18 temples dedicated in June — plus the anniversary of the rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple — with links to previous Church News coverage and the dedicatory prayers.
June 1: Atlanta Georgia Temple (1983)
The Atlanta Georgia Temple was the 21st operating temple when it was dedicated in 1983 by President Hinckley. It’s been rededicated twice — after the baptistry remodel in 1997 and after a more extensive remodel in 2011. In the 2011 dedicatory prayer, President Thomas S. Monson called the temple “a haven of peace.”
Find coverage of the 2011 rededication, including the ‘southern lights’ youth celebration and the rededicatory prayer, and the 1983 dedicatory prayer
June 1: St. Louis Missouri Temple (1997)
Dedicated by President Hinckley, the St. Louis Missouri Temple is the Church 50th dedicated temple. President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, said there was “an almost unprecedented welcome” from those in the area.
Learn more about the dedication, open house visitors and the dedicatory prayer
June 1: Curitiba Brazil Temple (2008)
At the dedication, President Thomas S. Monson referred to the Curitiba Brazil Temple, and other temples in the country, which at the time were Sao Paulo, Recife, Porto Alegre and Campinas, and one announced for Manaus, as “the crown” of Church growth in Brazil.
Explore the ‘Interesting, inspiring experiences’ from the open house, temples facts and the dedicatory prayer
June 2: Fortaleza Brazil Temple (2019)
Dedicated by Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he is the first Apostle from outside the United States to dedicate a temple in his home country. And he dedicated the Church’s seventh temple in Brazil — and 164th worldwide — in Portuguese, his native tongue.
See how the dedication became a historic event, how the temple quickly had an impact and the English translation of the dedicatory prayer
June 4: Montreal Quebec Temple (2000)
Four floral emblems that are part of the interior and exterior design motifs represent the four main European ethnic groups that settled in the area in the 19th century. A fleur-de-lis honors the French, a rose the English, a thistle the Scots and a shamrock the Irish.
Dedicated in 2000 by President Hinckley, the Montreal Quebec Temple was rededicated in 2015 by President Henry B. Eyring after renovations due to extensive water damage.
Here is coverage of the dedication and the dedicatory prayer and the rededication and the prayer of rededication
June 4: San José Costa Rica Temple (2000)
Dedicated by President James. E. Faust, it is the Church’s 87th temple and the first one in southern Central America. One member said that he previously had to cross three international borders to visit the temple. With a temple in Costa Rica, he now had a 15-minute drive.
Read more about the “landmark by shining seas,” history of the Church there and the dedicatory prayer
June 7: Preston England Temple (1998)
President Hinckley, who had served in Preston, England, as a young missionary, helped break the ground for the temple and also offered the dedicatory prayer. It’s the second temple in England.
Great Britain’s first converts were baptized in the nearby River Ribble in 1837.
Find out more about the Preston England Temple, its architecture and the dedicatory prayer
June 7: Payson Utah Temple (2015)
At the groundbreaking ceremony, then-Elder Dallin H. Oaks shared about his ties to the Payson, Utah, area. After his father died, his family lived with his Harris grandparents, whose farm was less than a half-mile from the temple site. He was baptized in Payson and, as a teenager, would help his grandfather during the summers and play in the band.
Dedicated by President Eyring, the Payson Utah Temple is the Church’s 146th operating temple.
See why the youth celebration was delayed, more about President Oaks and other Church leaders’ roots in the area and read the dedicatory prayer
June 10: Manaus Brazil Temple (2012)
Prior to a temple in Manaus, a city isolated by major rivers and rainforests, members traveled by caravan to attend the temple in Sao Paulo, Brazil, — a 15-day round trip journey by boat and bus — and then Caracas, Venezuela, — an eight-day journey by bus.
Dedicated by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, the temple is the Church’s 138th worldwide and sixth in Brazil.
Read about the first temple trips from Manaus, the dedication, open house and groundbreaking, along with the dedicatory prayer
June 11: Fukuoka Japan Temple (2000)
The Fukuoka Japan Temple is on the southern end of the country and on the island, it’s nestled next to a forested hill. The site previously had a meetinghouse and mission home on it. President Hinckley dedicated the temple, which was the second in Japan. It was the first of four temples President Hinckley dedicated during one overseas tour.
Explore more about the history of the Church there, the dedication and the dedicatory prayer
June 13: Manhattan New York Temple (2004)
Referred to by local members as the “miracle in Manhattan,” the building the temple is in was previously a stake center and renovated to create the temple on the first, second, fifth and sixth floors, with the chapel, classrooms and administrative offices on the third and fourth.
The Manhattan New York Temple became the Church’s 119th temple, and the 100th temple dedicated since President Hinckley was called into the First Presidency in 1981.
Visitors from more than 50 countries attended the open house, plus see the dedicatory prayer
June 13: Cebu City Philippines Temple (2010)
Three of the four missionaries who helped open Cebu for missionary work in 1963 returned to the island for the Cebu City Philippines Temple dedication. President Monson dedicated the temple, which is the Church’s 133rd and the second in the Philippines, calling it “a beacon on the hill.”
Here is more about the dedication, the pioneering missionaries and the dedicatory prayer
June 15: Adelaide Australia Temple (2000)
President Hinckley dedicated two temples in Australia in June 2000 — one in Adelaide on Thursday, June 15, and one in Melbourne on Friday, June 16. During the same Asia and Pacific Island tour, he dedicated the Fukuoka Japan Temple on Sunday, June 11, and the Fiji Suva Temple dedication was scheduled for Sunday, June 18. He also visited members in Darwin, the capital of Australia’s Northern Territory, Thailand and the islands of New Caledonia and American Samoa.
Read how the rain stopped during the groundbreaking, more about the dedication and the dedicatory prayer
June 15: Brisbane Australia Temple (2003)
The site for the Brisbane Australia Temple, the fifth temple in Australia, is on a site known as Kangaroo Point, overlooking the Brisbane River. It’s built on the site of a stake center that was constructed in 1956. It’s the Church’s 115th temple and the 80th to be dedicated by President Hinckley.
See how five temples circle Australia, the groundbreaking ceremony and the dedicatory prayer
June 16: Melbourne Australia Temple (2000)
“What a great season in the life of the Church in Australia,” President Hinckley said to Church leaders during his visit in 2000. He noted a visit in 1997 when the felt the “the large distances which Church members have to travel to visit the House of the Lord.”
Melbourne Australia Temple is the third temple in Australia and the Church’s 90th. It was the third of four temples dedicated by President Hinckley on an overseas trip.
Explore more about the dedication, the overseas tour and the dedicatory prayer
June 18: Suva Fiji Temple (2000)
President Hinckley dedicated the temple during a 3 ½-hour layover in the country, which was experiencing political unrest. About 60 people attended the dedication. Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, then the Pacific Islands Area president, later recalled that the dedication was “simple and spiritual.”
The temple was rededicated by President Erying in 2016 hours after Tropical Cyclone Winston had pounded the island nation.
Here is coverage of the dedication, Elder Cook shares about the dedication at the rededication, the open house and rededication, history of the Church in the country and the prayers of dedication and rededication
June 21: Trujillo Peru Temple (2015)
It was Father’s Day when Elder Uchtdorf, then second counselor in the First Presidency, dedicated the Trujillo Peru Temple. It’s the Church’s 147th temple and second in Peru, dedicated 29 years after the Lima Peru Temple.
Read more about the dedication on Father’s Day, the groundbreaking and dedicatory prayer
June 27: Nauvoo Illinois Temple (1846; rebuilt 2002)
When the rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple was dedicated, the dedication ceremonies were broadcast to some 2,300 locations in 72 countries and at the time, it far exceeded the reach of any previous satellite broadcast by the Church. The dedication was also translated into 38 languages.
Members in areas of Japan, Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji, Tonga, Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Thailand, Armenia, Bulgaria, Ukraine and Russia watched their first-ever Church satellite transmission.
The temple the pioneers built in Nauvoo, Illinois, was unfinished when it was dedicated on May 1, 1846. Portions of it had previously been dedicated in December 1845 so people could be sealed and received the endowment. The temple was burned by an unknown arsonist in 1848, and a tornado toppled the structure in 1850.
Find out more about President Hinckley’s invitation at the end of the dedication, the global audience, groundbreaking, history and the dedicatory prayer
June 29: Freiberg Germany Temple (1985)
When the Freiberg Germany Temple was announced in 1982, the city was part of communist-controlled East Germany. President Monson made several visits to Germany to help lay the groundwork for the temple. President Hinckley dedicated the temple in 1985, and rededicated it after an expansion in 2002 as the temple district also included Poland, the Czech Republic, Romania, Slovakia, Hungary and Moldova. In 2016, Elder Uchtdorf, who lived in the Freiberg area until he was 11, offered the prayer of rededication in German.
