The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released both a groundbreaking date for the Wichita Kansas Temple and an exterior rendering of the house of the Lord, the first in the state of Kansas.
Elder Steven R. Bangerter, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America Central Area presidency, will preside at the Sept. 7, 2024, groundbreaking services, an invitation-only event.
The temple — planned as a single-story building of approximately 9,950 square feet — will be built on a 6.42-acre site at Lot 1 Block 1 of The Moorings Plaza Fourth Addition, Wichita, Sedgwick County, Kansas. The First Presidency announced the site on June 20, 2023.
Every effort is made to construct temples in an expeditious manner. At times, various reasons may delay a temple’s completion and dedication.
President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Wichita on April 3, 2022. It was one of 17 new temple locations he identified at the conclusion of April 2022 general conference.
The groundbreaking date and rendering were first released Monday, July 22, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The Church’s history in Kansas is long. The Atchison, Kansas, area — located in the state’s northeastern corner — was an important layover site for many Church members emigrating from Europe to the Salt Lake Valley in the mid-1800s.
The state’s first congregation was organized in 1882. Today, Kansas is home to nearly 40,000 Latter-day Saints comprising about 75 congregations.
Currently, Church members in Kansas travel to neighboring states such as Oklahoma or Missouri to worship in and do ordinance work in temples. The Kansas City Missouri Temple, which borders eastern Kansas, is the closest to much of the state and sits 185 miles northeast of Wichita, which itself is in the Oklahoma City Oklahoma Temple district and is about 160 miles north of that house of the Lord.
