Menu

The path to 200 houses of the Lord: An introduction and compilation

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will exceed 200 operating temples later this year, but more important than the number are the increased opportunities for spiritual blessings for Latter-day Saints worldwide

Editor’s note: The Church News is highlighting the first 200 operating houses of the Lord of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with a compilation weekly of 20 temples in chronological order over a 10-week period.

Later this year, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will dedicate its 200th operating temple, one of 350 total houses of the Lord worldwide that are operating, under construction or announced and in planning.

While the 200-temple benchmark is both noteworthy and impressive, it’s easy to get caught up in the numbers of temples — overall around the globe or in a specific country, state or city. It’s just as easy to get caught up in the physical periphery of temples — sizes and dimensions, designs and motifs, features and materials.

Church leaders have counseled that the focus on temples should be a spiritual one, seeing them as houses of the Lord where ordinances are performed for oneself and deceased ancestors, covenants are entered into, and instruction and worship draw one closer to Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

More temples mean more temple blessings and worship for more Latter-day Saints in more locations worldwide.

A listing of the Church News’ weekly compilations of the 200 operating temples — 20 per week over 10 weeks — is provided below:

Counsel from the Prophet

After announcing new temple locations in his concluding message of the April 2024 general conference, President Russell M. Nelson underscored the importance of temple worship and temple work.

“The temple is the gateway to the greatest blessings God has in store for each of us. The temple is the only place on earth where we may receive all of the blessings promised to Abraham,” he said. “This is why we are doing all within our power, under the direction of the Lord, to make temple blessings more accessible to members of the Church.”

President Nelson provided Church members worldwide with invitations and promises to now rejoice in the gift of priesthood keys, especially those that deal with temple worship and temple ordinances of salvation and exaltation.

He invited his listeners to read the Prophet Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple — found in Doctrine and Covenants 109 — and called it “a tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers you and me to meet the challenges of life in these last days.”

Those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord, he added, “can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge and increased power.”

The 2 before the 200

The Kirtland Temple stands in Kirtland, Ohio, on Sunday, June 16, 2024. | Isaac Hale, Deseret News

The Church’s growing list of operating temples doesn’t include the first two houses of the Lord built and dedicated in the latter-day dispensation — the Kirtland Temple and the Nauvoo Temple.

The Kirtland Temple was the first, dedicated in 1836; rather than hosting temple ordinances like those of today, the Kirtland Temple was a house of worship and instruction. It was also where Jesus Christ “appeared in glory”(see Doctrine and Covenants 110), accepting the edifice as His house, with ancient prophets Moses, Elias and Elijah also appearing to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.

Less than two years later, Church leaders were forced to flee Kirtland because of increasing persecution. The Church recently reacquired the Kirtland Temple, which will remain a historical site.

Unable to complete three planned temples in Missouri after relocating there, Latter-day Saints settled in Commerce (later Nauvoo), Illinois, in 1839. Before being forced out in 1846, they had erected a magnificent temple, and during its construction, Joseph Smith had introduced proxy baptisms for the dead, marriages for eternity and the temple endowment.

The temple’s attic was dedicated in December 1845 for the purpose of administering marriage sealings and the endowment. The temple was dedicated on May 1, 1846, although some portions remained unfinished. The building was burned by an arsonist in 1848 and then toppled by a tornado in 1850.

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Saturday, May 29, 2021.
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple in Nauvoo, Illinois, on Saturday, May 29, 2021. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

A new Nauvoo Illinois Temple was announced in 1999 and dedicated in June 2002, with the exterior patterned after the original Nauvoo Temple, with the interior adapted to the needs of modern temple worship.

The path to 200

The two most-recently dedicated houses of the Lord — the Salta Argentina Temple and the Layton Utah Temple — represent the expansion to 200 temples over the past century and a half, from the four pioneer-era temples in present-day Utah in the late 1800s to a global expansion across the inhabited continents. The Salta and Layton temples are the Church’s 194th and 195th dedicated and operating temples.

People line up for the dedication of the Salta Argentina Temple.
People line up for the dedication of the Salta Argentina Temple in Salta, Argentina, on Sunday, June 16, 2024. | Kristin Murphy, Deseret News

By the end of 2024, additional houses of the Lord will be dedicated — the Pittsburgh Pennsylvania, Mendoza Argentina, San Pedro Sula Honduras, Casper Wyoming, Salvador Brazil, Deseret Peak Utah and Tallahassee Florida temples. That will push the total over 200.

The first 20 operating temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints took more than a century to be built and dedicated — from the 1877 dedication of the St. George Utah Temple to the 1981 dedication of the Jordan River Utah Temple.

And while seven of the first 20 houses of the Lord are found in Utah, the start of a global expansion was apparent as well, with temples dedicated across North America, in Europe, in the South Pacific, in South America and in Asia.

By the end of 2024, the total operating temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will go from that first 20 temples dedicated between 1877 and 1981 to more than 200 — with Nos. 181 to 200 being dedicated in a span of just 12 months.

Layton Utah Temple on Sunday, June 16, 2024. | Scott G Winterton, Deseret News

Read weekly compilations about the 200

Related Stories
Temples – The Church News Almanac
A midyear look at temple milestones for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Newsletters
Subscribe for free and get daily or weekly updates straight to your inbox
The three things you need to know everyday
Highlights from the last week to keep you informed