Today the Ogden, Utah temple will be rededicated (it went through a significant renovation process — see some photos here or videos here and here).

Following is information about temples and temple dedications that we posted a couple of years ago. We hope these links can give an appreciation for what the temple means to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (“Mormons”). For more information, you can also read more about why Mormons build temples and what happens inside the temple. And learn more about how temples differ from the thousands of meetinghouses we have all over the world.

Open House: Inside a Mormon temple

Before a temple is dedicated, the public is allowed to tour the temple, to see what the inside of Mormon temples look like, and to learn a little more about the significance of temples in our doctrine and religious practice. You can see a slideshow of photos from inside the Brigham City temple here at the Mormon Newsroom. To learn more about the different rooms and their purposes, see this article.

Hear from an artist who helped create the mural in the endowment room in the Brigham City, Utah temple. Very often, the decor and art in the temple reflect the local heritage and landscape so that, as this artist explains, the temple will feel like home to the local people who worship there.

Mormon Temple Worship has Ancient Roots

Our beliefs about temples have ancient roots connected to Old Testament teachings. “[T]he Lord told the Israelites to build a portable tabernacle that would be their temple while they traveled in the wilderness (see Exodus 26-27; 40:35). Additional Old Testament references to temples are found in 2 Chronicles 5:1-14; 7:1-2 [and] Ezra 3:1-13; 6:3.” We also share a love for the prophet Elijah. (You can read more about his role in our beliefs here and here.)

Ancient records that are part of our canon of scripture talk about other ancient temples, such as the one built by Nephi, an ancient prophet. One of the most sacred events recorded in ancient scripture was the visit of Jesus Christ to people who had gathered — at the temple — in a land called Bountiful, as recorded in 3 Nephi 11 in the Book of Mormon.

The temple was also important to the Savior, Jesus Christ, and for us, the temple is a place where we can learn more about Him and His role as Creator, Savior and Redeemer of the world.

This video explains more of the ancient roots of temples in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints:

Mormon Youth Celebrate the Temple

Last night, nearly 5,000 youth living in the area of the Ogden temple participated in a cultural celebration — which has been a tradition for years in the Church. These cultural celebrations allow the youth to recognize the history and heritage of their area and of Church members who have gone before them, making the blessing of a temple possible in their area. They also help the youth feel a connection to the temple.

The cultural celebrations always include a lot of music and dancing, with bright, colorful costumes, as well as historical narrative about the area. A temple dedication is a joyful time for Mormons!

Here is a video clip about the Kiev Ukraine cultural celebration that captures some of what youth in that temple area did for their celebration. You can also hear some of their expressions of faith and gratitude as they had a temple built in their midst.

Dedication of the Temple

In the areas where a temple is being dedicated (or, in this case re-dedicated), no regular church meetings are held in the church meetinghouses. (These are rare Sundays when LDS meetinghouses in those areas are not open to the public.) Instead, church buildings during those couple of hours become an extension of the temple. Church members in good standing (and children ages 8 and up) are able to attend a closed-circuit satellite broadcast of one of three dedicatory sessions for the temple. Temple dedications include the singing and performing of sacred music, speakers addressing the dedication attendees, a special dedicatory prayer, singing of the hymn The Spirit of God, and the Hosanna Shout (read more about the history of temple dedications here).

Hosanna is a word from Hebrew that means “please save us.” As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints participate in this temple dedication, this becomes our plea to our Heavenly Father and to His Son, Jesus Christ. Again, the Hosanna Shout has ancient roots.

As explained in the LDS Bible Dictionary:

[Hosanna] is used in praise and supplication.

At the Feast of Tabernacles, which celebrated the Lord’s deliverance of Israel into the promised land, people chanted the words of Psalm 118 and waved palm branches. At the Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, the multitudes cried “Hosanna” and spread palm branches for Jesus to ride upon, thus demonstrating their understanding that Jesus was the same Lord who had delivered Israel anciently (Ps. 118:25–26; Matt. 21:9, 15; Mark 11:9–10; John 12:13). These people recognized Christ as the long-awaited Messiah. The word Hosanna has become a celebration of the Messiah in all ages (1 Ne. 11:6; 3 Ne. 11:14–17). The hosanna shout was included in the dedication of the Kirtland Temple (D&C 109:79) and is now a part of the dedication of modern temples.

In the Book of Mormon, the people who were visited by the Savior, Jesus Christ, after His resurrection were able to feel the prints in the nails in His hands and feet. After each of them had that personal experience with the Savior, they all cried out, “Hosanna! Blessed be the name of the Most High God!”

The temple Hosanna Shout allows us to reaffirm our faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ, and in our absolute reliance on Him for our salvation.

The post About Mormon temples and temple dedications appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

Editor’s note: This is a question that we addressed a few years ago, but since there is another temple dedication today in Kansas City, we thought some readers might be curious about what happens at a Mormon temple dedication. We’re reposting the information from this archived post. For more information about the significance of temples to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, see the website Mormon Temples, or see links to other articles on our site at the bottom of this post.  

After the construction on a temple is completed, the Church holds an open house so that anyone interested can walk through and see the inside of the temple, and learn a little more about what happens in temples and why temple worship is so important to us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Once the open house is completed, a dedicatory service is held. The service includes the singing and performing of sacred music, discourses from Church leaders, and a special dedicatory prayer. Members of the Church ages 8 and above are given the opportunity to participate in the services. In a sense, we are presenting the temple — which for Mormons signifies one of the most sacred places on earth — to God and to His Son, Jesus Christ. We ask Heavenly Father to accept the temple and bless those who serve therein.

We bring white handkerchiefs to participate in what is one of the most moving and memorable parts of the service — the Hosanna Shout. This is a sacred moment for us, when we join our voices in unison, praising God and His Son, Jesus Christ. This is reminiscent of the praises voiced at the triumphal entry of the Savior (Matthew 21; Mark 11; John 12). There are also times in the Old Testament that are similar in this spirit of praise, where rejoicing was part of the sacred rituals of the tabernacle. We also see such sacred use of a cry of “Hosanna” when the Savior visited the American continent after His resurrection and ascension in Jerusalem, as recorded in the Book of Mormon.

Temple dedications have always been important to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. At the first latter-day temple dedication in Kirtland, Ohio,

“[h]undreds of Saints came to Kirtland for the dedicatory services; some traveled long distances to attend. There were nearly a thousand seats inside the temple, but many more people wanted to attend the dedication. The Prophet told the people who could not get seats in the temple to hold a separate meeting in the schoolhouse nearby, and the next Thursday the dedication service was repeated so these people could hear it…. [This illustrates the reason that multiple dedicatory sessions will be held, thus allowing many people the opportunity to participate in the sacred event.]

While the Kirtland temple dedication was more extensive than dedicatory services held today (it lasted over seven hours!), reading about it can give an idea of what happens each time a temple is dedicated:

The Prophet Joseph Smith read the dedicatory prayer, which had been given to him in a revelation. This prayer is recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 109. In the prayer the Prophet thanked Heavenly Father for the blessings he had given the members of the Church. Joseph prayed that the temple would be a place of prayer, fasting, faith, learning, glory, and order (see D&C 109:8, 16) and that those who came to the temple would grow in faith and wisdom (see D&C 109:14–15). He asked the Lord to accept the temple and make it a holy place (see D&C 109:4, 12–13). After the prayer the choir sang “The Spirit of God” (Hymns, no. 2), which had been written by William W. Phelps for the dedication of the temple. The congregation then…ended the service by giving the sacred Hosanna Shout: they raised their hands above their heads and shouted three times, “Hosanna, hosanna, hosanna to God and the Lamb, amen, amen, and amen.”

Temples are dedicated today following the pattern of the Kirtland Temple dedication. The prophet (or someone he chooses) gives the dedicatory prayer, “The Spirit of God” is sung, and the entire congregation gives the Hosanna Shout.

(All quotes above were taken from this lesson.)

For more information on our site about the topic of temples, see the following articles:

What can you tell me about Mormon temples?
What the Temple Means to Mormons
Why Mormons Build Temples

***Please note: The answers in “Ask a Mormon Woman” and (other content on this site) reflect the thoughts and perspectives of the administrators at Mormon Women. Although we strive to have our content consistent with the Church’s doctrine and teachings, we do not speak officially for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. For official information about or from the Church, please visit www.mormon.org or www.lds.org.

The post What happens at a Mormon temple dedication? appeared first on Women in The Church of Jesus Christ.

If you are wondering what a temple dedication is like, this personal account about the Gila Valley Arizona Temple dedication is a moving summary of what temple dedications mean to Mormons, and what it’s like to attend a dedication.

You can also read this Mormon Women article for more information: What happens at a Mormon temple dedication?

Prior to the dedication, an open house was held, where the public was able to walk through the temple and learn more about what temples mean to Mormons. (For more information on this topic, see our index entry on Mormon temples.)

The following video was from a press tour of the temple in April and includes photos from the inside of the temple. It also includes a brief interview with Elder William R. Walker of the Church’s First Quorum of the Seventy.

The youth in the area also held a cultural celebration with dance and music.

For a series of photos of the event, see this LDS Church News article:

Youth celebration depicts cultural history of Eastern Arizona

More about the youth celebration:

Youths Celebrate Gila Valley Temple in Arizona

More photos of the temple can be found in the following video:

Read more about Mormon temples in the following Mormon Women articles:

Chapels and Temples: Glimpses inside each and how they differ

What does the inside of the Oquirrh Mountain temple look like?

What the temple means to Mormons?

What does the inside of a Mormon temple look like?

The connection between LDS temple worship and ancient (Old Testament) ordinances

What can you tell me about Mormon temples?

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