President Dallin H. Oaks — President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — will dedicate the Burley Idaho Temple this weekend, on Sunday, Jan. 11.
The ceremony, planned for 10 a.m. MST, will be broadcast to all congregations within the temple district.
Accompanying President Oaks to the dedication will be his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, as well as three General Authority Seventies: Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the Temple Department, with his wife, Sister Susan Bangerter; Elder José A. Teixeira, president of the United States Central Area, and his wife, Sister Filomena Teixeira; and Elder K. Brett Nattress, with his wife, Sister Shawna Nattress.
Information about the dedication was first published in a Jan. 8 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
After this weekend’s dedication, the Burley temple will be the seventh Latter-day Saint temple in Idaho. It will also become the 212th operating temple of the Church and the first house of the Lord dedicated in 2026.
This will be the first house of the Lord dedicated by President Oaks as Church President. Most recently, he dedicated the Urdaneta Philippines Temple on April 28, 2024, as first counselor in the First Presidency.
The Church News will publish more news and updates about the Burley temple following its Jan. 11 dedication.
History of the Burley Idaho Temple
On April 4, 2021, then-Church President Russell M. Nelson announced a house of the Lord for Burley, Idaho. It was one of 20 locations he identified in April 2021 general conference, including temples for five neighboring states.
A groundbreaking ceremony was held June 4, 2022, to commence the Burley temple’s construction phase. The event was presided over by Elder Brent H. Nielson — a Burley native and then of the Presidency of the Seventy — who later received emeritus status in 2024.
A two-story structure of approximately 45,300 square feet, the Burley temple measures 172 feet to the top of the spire. It stands on a 10.12-acre site, approximately half a mile southwest of the Snake River.
Design motifs draw from the local landscapes, including the sugar beet and potato fields that Idaho’s Magic Valley is known for.
The public was invited to tour the house of the Lord from Nov. 6 to Nov. 22, 2025, during a public open house. A media day was also held Nov. 3, and invited guests toured the building Nov. 4-5, 2025.
“You see a warmth,” said Elder Bangerter about guiding media representatives through the temple last November. “And by the time the process is completed and we’ve worked our way through the various ordinance rooms of the temple, and we find ourselves in the sealing room — where the crowning ordinances of the temple are experienced — they feel it, and you can feel it through the light in their eyes.”
About the Church in Idaho
Idaho is home to 11 houses of the Lord in various stages of operation, construction or planning.
Six of those temples are operating — in Idaho Falls (dedicated in 1945), Boise (1984), Rexburg (2008), Twin Falls (2008), Meridian (2017) and Pocatello (2021).
Two houses of the Lord are under construction in Idaho: the Montpelier Idaho Temple, since June 2023, and the Teton River Idaho Temple, since June 2024. The latter will be Rexburg’s second temple.
A final two temples are in planning stages: the Coeur d’Alene Idaho Temple, announced October 2024, and the Caldwell Idaho Temple, announced April 2025.
In 1855, early pioneers of the Church first settled in Idaho at Fort Lemhi, then part of the Oregon Territory. Fourteen years later, the Bear Lake Stake — Idaho’s first — was organized in 1869. Church presidents Harold B. Lee, Ezra Taft Benson and Howard W. Hunter were born in Idaho.
Today, more than 480,000 Latter-day Saints live in around 1,275 congregations in Idaho.
Burley Idaho Temple
Address: 40 S. 150 East, Burley, Idaho 83318
Announced: April 4, 2021, by President Russell M. Nelson
Groundbreaking: June 4, 2022, presided over by Elder Brent H. Nielson of the Presidency of the Seventy
Public open house: Nov. 6 through Nov. 22, 2025, excluding Sundays
To be dedicated: Jan. 11, 2026, by President Dallin H. Oaks
Property size: 10.12 acres
Building size: 45,300 square feet
Building height: 172 feet (including the spire)
See more photos of the Burley temple
