An Aug. 16 dedication date has been set for the Cleveland Ohio Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside at the 10 a.m. dedication, which will be broadcast to all units in the temple district. The ceremony will be rebroadcast later that day, at 2 p.m.
Prior to the dedication, a public open house will be held June 18 through July 3, excluding Sundays. A media day will also be held Monday, June 15, and invited guests will tour the building June 16-17.
These dates, announced by the First Presidency, were first published in a March 9 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The Cleveland temple will be a single-story building of approximately 9,900 square feet, built at Brecksville Road, south of Longano Drive, in Independence, Cuyahoga County, Ohio.
Its location pins it about 20 miles southwest of the historic Kirtland Temple — the first temple built in this dispensation, no longer in operation as an active temple where ordinances are performed and covenants made.
About the Cleveland temple
The Cleveland temple was announced April 3, 2022, by then-Church President Russell M. Nelson. It was one of 17 temple locations he identified at the conference, totaling 100 temples announced by the Church President through that time.
On June 1, 2024, ground was broken for the Cleveland temple. Elder Vaiangina Sikahema — a General Authority Seventy and then first counselor in the Church’s North America Northeast Area presidency — presided over the ceremony.
“So many of you are pioneers in this area and have made this day possible, and we thank you,” said Elder Sikahema to community leaders and Church members at the groundbreaking.
Ohio has one operating temple, the Columbus Ohio Temple, dedicated in 1999 by then-Church President Gordon B. Hinckley. It was later rededicated in 2023 by President M. Russell Ballard, then acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In addition to the soon-to-be-dedicated Cleveland temple, a third house of the Lord was announced for Cincinnati in 2024 by President Nelson.
Ohio’s rich Church history
The Midwestern U.S. state holds a robust place in the pioneer history of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Missionary work began in Ohio in October 1830, just six months after the restored Church was established.
In December 1830, Joseph Smith received a revelation guiding the Church to gather in Ohio (see Doctrine and Covenants 37), which the section heading describes as “the first commandment concerning a gathering in this dispensation.”
Kirtland, Ohio, served as Church headquarters from 1831 to 1838. The first stake of the Church was created there in 1834. Sixty-five of the revelations published in the Doctrine and Covenants were received in the state.
Ohio saw great strides in structuring the Church. The First Presidency was organized in Kirtland in March 1832, followed by the Kirtland High Council in February 1834, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in February 1835, and the First Council of the Seventy also in February 1835.
Construction began on the Kirtland Temple on June 5, 1833, and the completed structure was dedicated by the Prophet Joseph Smith on March 27, 1836. The dedicatory prayer is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 109.
After tensions rose in the community, Church members left Kirtland in 1838 to gather with other Saints in Missouri. Community of Christ preserved the Kirtland Temple, then stewardship was transferred to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in March 2024.
Today, Ohio is home to almost 66,000 Latter-day Saints across nearly 130 wards and branches.
