Temple (LDS Church)

The temple is then dedicated as a "House of the Lord", after which only members who are deemed "temple-worthy" by their congregational leaders are permitted entrance.

Several temples are at historical sites of the LDS Church, such as Nauvoo, Illinois, Palmyra, New York, and Salt Lake City, Utah.

Ordinances are a vital part of the theology of the church, which teaches that they were practiced by the Lord's covenant people in all dispensations.

For nearly four years, beginning in 1842, Smith's Red Brick Store functioned as a de facto temple—the site of the first washings, anointings, endowments, and sealings.

In contrast, the grand edifice known as the Nauvoo Temple was in operation for only two months before the Latter Day Saints left Illinois for the West.

The walls of the second level of the Red Brick Store were painted with garden-themed murals, the rooms fitted with carpets, potted plants, and a veil hung from the ceiling.

After the early events of the succession crisis, Brigham Young assumed control of the church's headquarters at Nauvoo, Illinois.

A small crew remained in the city and continued to work on the temple until April 30, 1846, when it was formally dedicated in a private ceremony[12] by Joseph Young,[13] the senior of the Seven Presidents of the Seventy.

In the late 1880s and in 1890, a desire to continue the ordinance work in temples was a significant consideration preceding Wilford Woodruff's decision (announced in his Manifesto of September 1890) that the church would discontinue its practice of polygamy.

In 1887 the US Congress passed the Edmunds–Tucker Act, which disincorporated the church and directed federal officials to begin seizing its assets, potentially including its temples.

After a conversation with Woodruff, Logan Temple president Marriner W. Merrill stated that the contemplated public announcement prohibiting additional polygamist unions was "the only way to retain the possession of our temples and continue the ordinance work for the living and dead which was considered of more importance than continuing the practice of plural marriage for the present.

Smith broke with the previous tradition (established since Kirtland) of building temples with upper and lower courts.

Twenty-one temples were dedicated during his presidency, including the tiny Papeete Tahiti Temple—which has a floorspace of less than 10,000 square feet (900 m2).

[18] It has been suggested that recent temple construction represents an attempt by church leadership to “re-energize” congregations in the face of flat numerical growth.

The sealing ordinance can be performed on behalf of dead couples; so long as the two living participants are of opposite sex they need not be married.

The second anointing is a rare, but currently practiced ordinance for live participants,[25][26] and (less commonly) vicariously for deceased individuals,[27] though, it is usually only given in absolute secrecy to a small number of members after a lifetime of service.

The person is interviewed by their bishop, during which the candidate is asked a series of questions to determine worthiness to enter the temple.

For about 130 years (between 1847 and 1978) all LDS endowment-related temple ordinances were denied to all Black women and men in a controversial race-based policy.

[39][40][41] To qualify for a temple recommend, an LDS Church member must faithfully answer the following questions which affirm the individual's adherence to essential church doctrine:[42] A list of questions were first introduced in 1857 and used to qualify whether an individual could enter the Endowment House, before the first temple in Utah was built.

They reflected the context of the times, including questions about ones belief in polygamy, branding an animal that one did not own, and using another person's irrigation water.

Temples may offer introductory tours to new local firefighters and emergency medical technicians during regularly scheduled maintenance periods.

In many nations outside the United States, a civil ceremony, where required by the law of the land, has been immediately followed by a temple sealing.