Temples roll forth
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The first temple of the current dispensation still operating was dedicated April 6, 1877, in St. George, Utah. For a century after that, faithful members often traveled far to make temple covenants for themselves and for the dead.
Now, with 125 operating temples around the world, the latest being the Rexburg Idaho Temple dedicated Sunday, Feb. 10, many faithful members are filling nearby temples.
A century after the St. George Temple opened, there were 16 operating — six in Utah, two in California, with one each in Idaho; Arizona; Hawaii; Washington, D.C.; Alberta, Canada; England; Switzerland and New Zealand.
Not long after he became president of the Church, President Spencer W. Kimball announced that South America's first temple, the Church's 17th, would be built in Brazil.
At a Regional Representatives Seminar on April 2, 1980, President Kimball said, "There now begins the most intensive period of temple building in the history of the Church." He added, "We look to the day when the sacred ordinances of the Church, performed in the temples, will be available to all members of the Church in convenient locations around the globe."
By the time of President Kimball's death, 19 more temples were dedicated, bringing the total number to 36. There were then temples on every continent where Church members resided, as well as several Pacific islands.
Under the leadership of President Ezra Taft Benson and President Howard W. Hunter, 11 more temples were dedicated.
This acceleration of temple building around the world continued after President Gordon B. Hinckley became the Church's leader in March 1995.
Speaking during the priesthood session of the October 1997 general conference of ongoing temple building, President Hinckley mentioned that the Church's 50th temple had been dedicated in St. Louis, Mo., the previous June. He spoke of other temples near completion, under construction and announced, and announced two more.
Then he said, "But there are many areas of the Church that are remote, where the membership is small and not likely to grow very much in the near future. ... We will construct small temples in some of these areas, buildings with all of the facilities to administer all of the ordinances."
The fulfillment of that prophetic pronouncement is manifest in the current number of temples operating, with a dozen more currently under construction or announced.
E-mail: ghill@desnews.com
