The Wichita Kansas Temple — the first house of the Lord in the state of Kansas for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — is now in its construction phase, following a Saturday, Sept. 7, groundbreaking ceremony in Wichita.
Elder Steven R. Bangerter, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America Central Area presidency, presided at the invitation-only event, which was attended by several community, government and faith leaders from the Wichita area. Attendees included Sen. Oletha Faust-Goudeau and Rep. Stephen Owens from the Kansas Legislature.
Elder Bangerter offered remarks as well as a prayer dedicating the temple site and the construction process for the new house of the Lord.
“Please bless us this day, as we turn this dirt as a symbol of a new beginning, that we may feel Thy Holy Spirit within our hearts as a manifestation of the divine mission of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that we may each feel a new beginning with renewed commitment to live our lives according to His teachings and filled with His love,” Elder Bangerter prayed.
During the services, Thomas Dayley of the Wichita Kansas Stake spoke of how the knowledge he has gained in the temple has strengthened him through trials, including the death of his mother.
“I learned of how Christ gave His life for me within the temple,” Dayley said, “so I strive to give my life to Him,” Dayley said.
John Bazzelle, a sixth-generation Latter-day Saint from Wichita whose ancestors helped establish the Church in Kansas, spoke about the temple’s significance for local Church members.
“With each succeeding generation, temple blessings came ever closer to us,” he said. “Now, we stand on sacred ground, able to see the house of the Lord rise before our very eyes.”
The temple — planned as a single-story building of approximately 9,950 square feet — is being 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.
The groundbreaking services were first reported on Monday, Sept. 9, on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
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.
An exterior rendering of the temple was released less than two months ago, on July 22, when the groundbreaking date was announced.
The Church’s history in Kansas is long. In 1831, just a year after The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was formally organized, members of the Shawnee and Delaware tribes in the Kansas area welcomed missionaries. 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; the first stake in Kansas was organized 80 years later, in June 1962. 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 about 160 miles north of that house of the Lord.
