Columbus Ohio Temple
The Columbus Ohio Temple is the 60th operating temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Ohio was the site of the first Latter-day Saint temple built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Under the direction of the prophet Joseph Smith the Kirtland Temple was dedicated in 1836. Not long after the temple's dedication, the persecution of the early Saints grew too severe and the Latter-day Saints were forced to abandon their temple in Kirtland. From 1880 until March 5, 2024, the building was owned and maintained by the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, renamed Community of Christ. On March 5, 2024, responsibility and ownership for the Kirtland Temple "officially transferred from Community of Christ to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for an agreed-upon amount."[1]
For years there were few members of the Church in the state of Ohio, but after World War II many Latter-day Saint soldiers and their families went to Ohio for school and then stayed on. Since then the Church has grown steadily, with about 46,000 members in the year 2000. By the end of 2022, there were more than 63,000 members of the Church in Ohio, in 15 stakes and 125 congregations.[2]
Now a new temple is located about 150 miles southwest of Kirtland in Columbus, Ohio. The Saints of Ohio are once again blessed to have a temple within their midst. President Gordon B. Hinckley said, "Our people are more accepted now. It is a new day of opportunity. The struggles of Kirtland are past." [1]
Teri McGlaughlin, a member since she was a child said, "I never thought that in my lifetime we would have a temple so close by. I grew up thinking temples were only in Utah and you went there to get married." [2] Now Ohio Saints can receive the blessings of a Latter-day Saint temple marriage in Ohio. Smaller temples, like the Columbus Ohio Temple, with its marble exterior and art glass windows, are being built all over the world. It is part of President Gordon B. Hinckley's plan to bring the temples to the people.
President Hinckley dedicated the Columbus Ohio Temple on 4 September 1999. About 11,000 members attended the six dedicatory sessions. About 30,000 people attended the open house prior to the dedication.
In his dedicatory prayer, President Hinckley quoted verses from Joseph Smith's dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, "that thy church may come forth out of the wilderness of darkness, and shine forth fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners; and be adorned as a bride for that day when thou shalt unveil the heavens." [3]
President Hinckley also said, "We pray for Thy cause in all the earth. Bless the faithful tithe payers throughout the Church whose consecrated offerings have made this structure possible. Shower blessings upon them, and increase their faith as they give of their means to the building of Thy kingdom." [4]
At its dedication, the Columbus Ohio Temple had a total of 10,700 square feet, two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
Contents
The Columbus Ohio Temple Closes for Renovations
The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the closure of the Columbus Ohio Temple for extensive renovation.
In late March 2020, the Columbus Ohio Temple was closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, with an unknown date for reopening. During the three weeks that the temple was open under Phase 2, well over 100 people were given the opportunity to attend the temple for the first time.
At the conclusion of ordinance work on Saturday, 15 August 2020, the Columbus Ohio Temple closed for a major renovation project that would last approximately two years. The renovation will alter the interior and exterior of the temple in a similar fashion to recent renovations in Memphis, Oklahoma City, Raleigh, and Baton Rouge but with some distinct differences. On December 9, 2021, the angel Moroni statue was reinstalled on the steeple of the Columbus Ohio Temple during renovation. The statue, which had originally faced east, was rotated to face southwest over the temple entrance.
Latter-day Saints in the Columbus Ohio temple district were encouraged to attend the Indianapolis Indiana Temple and Detroit Michigan Temple during the renovation.
Another temple in Ohio will be built in Cleveland.
Picture Gallery of Columbus Ohio Temple
The front entrance of the Columbus Ohio Temple
A waiting area inside the Columbus Ohio Temple
The baptistry inside the Columbus Ohio Temple
The font of the Columbus Ohio Temple rests on the backs of 12 oxen
An instruction room inside the Columbus Ohio Temple
An instruction room inside the Columbus Ohio Temple
The bride's room of the Columbus Ohio Temple
The celestial room of the Columbus Ohio Temple
One of the sealing rooms of the Columbus Ohio Temple
The spire of the Columbus Ohio Temple
The Columbus Ohio Temple
The exterior of the Columbus Ohio Temple
Open House and Rededication of the Columbus Ohio Temple
After a media day (April 24, 2023) and a private open house for invited guests (April 25–28, 2023), a public open house began Saturday, April 29 and continued through Saturday, May 13, 2023 (Sundays excluded). More than 20,000 people toured the temple during the open house, including Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine.[3]
On Sunday, June 4, President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, rededicated the Columbus Ohio Temple, located 160 miles southwest of Kirtland.
"Every temple displays the words, 'Holiness to the Lord. The House of the Lord,'” President Ballard said. “I testify that the temples are the houses of the Lord. It is here where Heavenly Father instructs His children and helps us prepare to return to His presence. It is here where we receive personal revelation, make covenants with Heavenly Father, the Savior, and participate in eternal ordinances.”[4]
President Ballard said he hopes Latter-day Saints will “see the temple as a place of refuge, a place of peace, a place where people can commune spiritually just by being in a dedicated house of the Lord. … “Heaven is as close as it can be in the temple because it is the house of the Lord.”[5]
Joining President Ballard in rededicating the temple were Elder Kevin R. Duncan, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department, and his wife, Sister Nancy S. Duncan; Elder Allen D. Haynie, a General Authority Seventy and North America Northeast Area president, and his wife, Sister Deborah H. Haynie; and Elder Gary B. Sabin, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the North America West Area presidency, and his wife, Sister Valerie P. Sabin.
The two sessions were broadcast throughout the temple district, which includes stakes across Ohio to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Charleston, West Virginia.
The renovated and rededicated Columbus Ohio Temple is now 11,745 square feet and sits on five acres in central Ohio. The single-story structure is 77 feet high, including a statue of Book of Mormon prophet Moroni atop the temple.
Notes
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 109.
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 110.
- Doctrine & Covenants 109:73-74.
- “News of the Church,” Ensign, Nov. 1999, 109.
See also
External Links
- Official Columbus Ohio Temple page
- Columbus Ohio Temple page
- Columbus Ohio Temple dedicatory prayer, 1999
- Columbus Ohio Temple dedicatory prayer, 2023
- Mormon Temple Worship - BBC Religion & Ethics
- Mormon Temples and Secrecy
- History of Mormon Temples - Lightplanet
