Apr 6, 2025 - News

15 new Latter-day Saint temples announced

Erin Alberty

Illustration of the Salt Lake Temple with lines radiating from it. — Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced plans for 15 new temples on Sunday.

The big picture: Church president Russell M. Nelson has made temple-building a personal priority, more than doubling the 182 that were built or in planning when he assumed the church's highest office in 2018.

Temples house important ceremonies, and the announcement of a new one typically creates excitement among church members in the cities where they're planned.

Friction point: The temple-building spree has led to zoning disputes in multiple states as the church invokes religious freedom arguments to exceed normal size limits in residential and rural neighborhoods.

Zoom in: Just one of the new temples was planned for Utah, in Spanish Fork.

Three others are in the Mountain West: Caldwell, Idaho; Flagstaff, Arizona; and Rapid City, South Dakota.

Others are planned in:

Greenville, South Carolina
Norfolk, Virginia
Reynosa, Mexico
Chorrillos, Peru
Rivera, Uruguay
Campo Grande, Brazil
Porto, Portugal
Uyo, Nigeria
San Jose del Monte, Philippines
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Liverpool, Australia

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15 new Latter-day Saint temples announced

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