Difference between revisions of "Cedar City Utah Temple"

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Cedar City Utah Temple (Courtesy of Bobby Valero)

On 6 April 2013, at the Saturday morning session of the 183rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President and Prophet Thomas S. Monson announced the construction of a Latter-day Saint temple in Cedar City, Utah.

There are nearly two million Church members in Utah and the Cedar City Utah Temple announced in April 2013 will be the seventeenth in Utah. The 42,657 square foot edifice is located at 280 South Cove Drive in Cedar City on 7.3 acres of land—on the north side of Leigh Hill. It will serve members 17 stakes headquartered in southern Utah and eastern Nevada, an area which includes approximately 50,000 members. One of the great temple hymns, "High on a Mountain Top," was written by Joel Hill Johnson while living in Enoch, Utah, a suburb of Cedar City. Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Cedar City, Utah, currently participate in temple ordinances at the St. George Utah Temple, located approximately 50 miles to the south. At the time of the announcement, the St. George Utah Temple served members from 48 stakes in Southern Utah, Eastern Nevada, and Northern Arizona.

History of Cedar City Utah

Cedar City is north of St. George, Utah, where the first temple in the state was completed (the Salt Lake Temple took 40 years to build). Cedar City is the home of the University of Southern Utah, famous for its annual Shakespearean Festival, and near several national parks and ski ranges, including Zion's National Park and Brian Head Ski Resort.

In 1851, the first settlers arrived in the Cedar City area on an assignment from Church leaders to establish iron works. Although the ironworks were not as successful as they had hoped, iron mining continued, and the addition of the railroad near Cedar City in 1923 aided distribution of mining products. The railroad also introduced the world to southern Utah’s national parks. Today Cedar City has a large Latter-day Saint population, some of whom are descendants of those 19th-century settlers.

Temple District

At the time of its completion, the Cedar City Utah Temple would serve members from 17 stakes located in southern Utah and eastern Nevada: Beaver Utah Stake, Cedar City Utah Canyon View Stake, Cedar City Utah Cross Hollow Stake, Cedar City Utah Married Student Stake, Cedar City Utah North Stake, Cedar City Utah Stake, Cedar City Utah West Stake, Cedar City YSA 1st Stake, Cedar City YSA 2nd Stake, Ely Nevada Stake, Enoch Utah Stake, Enoch Utah West Stake, Escalante Utah Stake, Minersville Utah Stake, Panaca Nevada Stake, Panguitch Utah Stake, and Parowan Utah Stake.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

The ground was broken for the Cedar City Utah Temple on Saturday, 8 August 2015. Elder L. Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy presided. He was joined by Elder Kent F. Richards of the Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department and Elder Dane Leavitt of the Seventy. During his comments, Elder Clayton said, "we remember the founders of Cedar City 167 years ago and remember the broken picks and broken shovels. We stand on their shoulders. They endured much to prepare the area's foundation for a city they would never see."

Services were broadcast live to the 17 stake centers in the temple district, allowing Latter-day Saints across the region to participate in the historic event.

Things to Know about the Cedar City Utah Temple

The Cedar City Utah Temple has been years in the making. The grounds of the lot on Leigh Hill were subdivided into three parcels in September 2012 and the Church of Jesus Christ finalized the purchase of the 21-acre west-side parcel a few months late in November. Construction on the 42,657 square foot building started in 2015 with the angel Moroni placed on the tower in September 2016.

Zwick Construction delivered and signed over the recently completed temple to the owners’ representatives on Friday, 29 September 2017. They oversaw the finishing touches and final preparations for the next four weeks before the public open house began on Friday, 27 October 2017.

Open House

The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced that a free public open house for the Cedar City Utah Temple would begin on Friday, 27 October 2017, and continue through Saturday, 18 November 2017, except for the Sundays of 29 October, 5 and 12 November.

The tours began with a short video presentation on the importance of the temples in the Latter-day Saint faith. Guests were then escorted on a walking tour of the facility.

A Look Inside the Cedar City Utah Temple

The following pictures from LDS Living.com of the inside of the Cedar City Utah Temple are being shared online.

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  Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Angel Moroni atop the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Baptistry in Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Bride's room in Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Carpet detail in Cedar City Utah Temple

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  A chandelier in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Detail work on a door in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Entrance into the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Entrance into the celestial room

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  Entrance into the chapel

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  Inscription on front of Cedar City Utah Temple

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  An instruction room in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  A lighting feature in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  A sealing room in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  A sealing room in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  A sealing room in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Window detail in the Cedar City Utah Temple

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  Cedar City Utah Temple at Sunset

Cultural Celebration

The two-day celebration, entitled "A Light on a Hill, Iron in our Will," kicked off on Saturday, 9 December 2017, as nine of the 15 members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, along with other general authorities, toured the new temple prior to its dedication.

Nearly 3,600 youth ranging in age from 8-12 years old participated in a cultural celebration featuring music, visual storytelling and choreographed dancing at the America First Event Center (formerly known as the Centrum Arena) at Southern Utah University. The celebration was broadcast live to local stake centers. Seating inside the actual arena was limited to those participating in the program, church leadership, community leaders and other church leaders. A statement from the Church explained that the cultural event "celebrate[s] the heritage and culture of the area while connecting the young and audience to the temple through dance and song." According to The Spectrum.com, "Many of the performances will focus on the Native American people who first inhabited the area, the history of iron within the community, many of the challenges faced by early pioneer settlers, and the founding of Southern Utah University. Images of light, red rocks and iron will be featured heavily throughout the 90-minute event."

The Cedar City Utah Temple Dedication

The temple was dedicated the following day on Sunday, 10 December 2017, in three sessions at 9:00 a.m., 12:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m. A cornerstone ceremony took place outside the temple at 9 a.m. to commemorate the completion of the temple prior to the start of the first dedication session. President Henry B. Eyring told those gathered for the cornerstone ceremony he wasn’t sure if Brigham Young foresaw a second temple in Southern Utah. He commented, "But I know that he’s looking down on us right now, and I think we owe something to him and to the pioneers who must be so aware of this day. We honor them as we now seal the cornerstone."

The three-hour block of meetings were canceled for that Sunday for those congregations to enable members of the Church to participate and focus on this sacred event. Monitors were placed in each room in the temple for members to view the actual dedication occurring in the celestial room on the third floor. The dedication was also be broadcast to each stake center and outlying areas, including Sevier, Wayne, Washington, and Kane counties.

After the temple is dedicated, only Latter-day Saints with "temple recommends" may enter. However, the temple grounds will remain open to the public. The Cedar City Utah Temple is the 17th Latter-day Saint temple in Utah and the 159th in the world. The temple began regular operations on 12 December 2017.

At its completion, the Cedar City Utah Temple accommodated 45,000 members throughout the communities carved out of rocks and ridges by the early Saints, including Parowan, Cedar City, Panguitch, Beaver, Escalante, Enoch, and many others.

Temples in Utah

• Bountiful Utah Temple
• Brigham City Utah Temple
• Cedar City Utah Temple
• Deseret Peak Utah Temple
• Draper Utah Temple
• Ephraim Utah Temple
• Heber Valley Utah Temple
• Jordan River Utah Temple
• Layton Utah Temple
• Lehi Utah Temple
• Lindon Utah Temple
• Logan Utah Temple
• Manti Utah Temple
• Monticello Utah Temple
• Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple
• Ogden Utah Temple
• Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple
• Orem Utah Temple
• Payson Utah Temple
• Price Utah Temple
• Provo City Center Temple
• Provo Utah Rock Canyon Temple
• Red Cliffs Utah Temple
• Salt Lake Temple
• Saratoga Springs Utah Temple
• Smithfield Utah Temple
• St. George Utah Temple
• Syracuse Utah Temple
• Taylorsville Utah Temple
• Vernal Utah Temple
• West Jordan Utah Temple

External Links

• A call to "sparkle" Cedar City
• Why Cedar City and 2 Other LDS Temples Have Stained Glass Windows Rescued from a Presbyterian Church
• Pioneer-style Cedar City Temple is Utah's 17th and the 159th LDS temple worldwide
• "Closer to Heaven": A Non-Mormon Shares His Insights Touring the Cedar City Utah Temple
• Cedar City temple youth cultural celebration — 'A Light on a Hill, Iron in Our Will'
• A 'Southern Utah boy through and through,' Elder Holland returns home for Cedar City temple dedication
• President Henry B. Eyring dedicates Cedar City Utah Temple, the 17th in Utah
• Official Cedar City Utah Temple page
• Cedar City Utah Temple page
• Cedar City Utah Temple dedicatory prayer

Videos of the Cedar City Temple