Dedication of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple
When the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was announced in April 2017 general conference, Greta Smith — a Latter-day Saint who had lived in Saratoga Springs for decades — was shocked. She recounted, “At first, I gasped, and I just stood in front of the TV, and I was bawling. We cheered and cried, and then the phone lit up.”
Ground was broken for the house of the Lord on Oct. 19, 2019. President Mark B. James, a stake president in the temple district, took an engraved shovel from the event and visited second-hour Church classes in the stake. He testified to Saints that just as shovels soften ground in preparation for a temple, “we need to soften our own hearts. I invited them to prayerfully set a goal of how they needed to prepare for the temple.”
In May 2021, at a local seminary graduation, the seniors were invited to sign their name on an anchor bolt that would be set into the Saratoga Springs temple foundation. This was a symbolic reminder that they would be cemented in Christ as they focused on the temple and covenants made.
Two years later, the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was dedicated by President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, on Aug. 13, 2023.
Other Church leaders in attendance at the event included Elder Kevin R. Duncan, executive director of the Temple Department; Elder Hugo E. Martinez, first counselor in the Utah Area presidency; Elder Adeyinka A. Ojediran, a General Authority Seventy; and Bishop L. Todd Budge, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric.
President Eyring said that Church members in the temple district “have been given this temple as a sign of the Lord’s trust ... and His confidence that [they] will respond with greater faith and energy. ... He knows your desire to be lifted and to become a more righteous people — just as the world becomes more contentious and fallen.”
The region saw rapid residential construction in the decades leading up to the temple dedication; Saratoga Springs and neighboring Eagle Mountain had a combined 3,160 residents in 2000, then the population grew to 103,503 in 2022. In the six years between the temple’s announcement and dedication, the number of stakes in Saratoga Springs, Eagle Mountain and west Lehi grew by 36%
Several stakes in the region set goals to increase the number of Latter-day Saints holding temple recommends. The Saratoga Springs Utah Saratoga Hills Stake, for example, set the goal of having 80% of its endowed members holding a current temple recommend. The day of the temple dedication, the stake had 85%.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “We ask Thee to protect this holy house against any force that would harm or defile it. May it be a physical and spiritual refuge for all who are blessed to come to it. Bless all who even step onto the ground upon which it stands. Bless them to feel Thy presence and to leave with a sense of hope and a desire to draw closer to Thee and to Thy Son.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple here.
Timeline of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple
On April 2, 2017, President Thomas S. Monson announced plans to construct the Saratoga Springs temple during April 2017 general conference. On Oct. 19, 2019, Elder Craig C. Christensen, a General Authority Seventy and president of the Utah Area, presided over the groundbreaking ceremony and offered the dedicatory prayer.
A media day was held on Monday, April 10, 2023, to start off the open house period. On the following day, April 11, private sessions were also held for invited guests to attend. The public open house started on Saturday, April 15, 2023, and lasted until July 8, 2023, excluding Sundays.
The temple was dedicated by President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, on Aug. 13, 2023.
Architecture and Design of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple
The Saratoga Springs Utah Temple was built on a 22.7-acre site within the Beacon Pointe subdivision, west of Redwood Road and north of Meadow Side Drive. The building is three stories high, with an area of approximately 87,000 square feet.
An adjacent 21,000-square-foot meetinghouse is also located on the property. Ward youth groups helped plant flowers around the temple grounds.
Inside this house of the Lord, styles and artwork draw heavily on images and colors representing the nearby Utah Lake and Wasatch Mountains, like hues of purples, blues, greens and golds. Various stylized wildflowers — including the iris, daisy and chrysanthemum — are represented throughout.
Interior Photos of the Saratoga Springs Utah Temple
