Temple Dedications Accelerate in 2026

The rate at which new temples are being dedicated has accelerated in 2026 compared to recent years to near-record levels. So far in 2026, there have been six temples dedicated:

• Burley Idaho Temple — January 11, 2026
• Alabang Philippines Temple — January 18, 2026
• Harare Zimbabwe Temple — March 1, 2026
• Davao Philippines Temple — May 3, 2026
• Lindon Utah Temple — May 3, 2026
• Bacolod Philippines Temple — May 31, 2026 

The Church has already scheduled an additional 12 temple dedications between June and November 2026. The current schedule includes the following temples:

• Yorba Linda California Temple — June 7, 2026
• Willamette Valley Oregon Temple — June 7, 2026
• Belo Horizonte Brazil Temple — August 16, 2026
• Cleveland Ohio Temple — August 16, 2026
• Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple — August 30, 2026
• Miraflores Guatemala City Guatemala Temple — October 11, 2026
• Ephraim Utah Temple — October 11, 2026
• Managua Nicaragua Temple — October 18, 2026
• Montpelier Idaho Temple — October 18, 2026
• Cody Wyoming Temple — October 25, 2026
• Wichita Kansas Temple — November 1, 2026
• San Luis Potosí Mexico Temple — November 1, 2026

This brings the total number of temples dedicated or scheduled for dedication in 2026 to 18. If all currently scheduled dedications occur as planned, 2026 will become the year with the second-highest number of temple dedications in Church history. The most temples ever dedicated in a single year was in 2000 when 34 temples were dedicated. Aside from the record-setting year 2000, the only years with comparable numbers of temple dedications have been 2024 (16), 1999 (15), and 2023 (11). Additionally, there are nine more temples where construction has been completed or is nearly finished that may be dedicated in late 2026 or early 2027:

• Fort Worth Texas Temple
• Knoxville Tennessee Temple
• Modesto California Temple
• Neiafu Tonga Temple 
• Pago Pago American Samoa Temple 
• Port Moresby Papua New Guinea Temple 
• Ribeirão Preto Brazil Temple 
• Smithfield Utah Temple 
• Torreón Mexico Temple

The schedule is remarkable not only because of the number of temples being dedicated, but also because of the frequency at which dedications are occurring. Between June 7 and November 1, the Church has scheduled 11 temple dedications in a span of just 148 days. This equates to one temple dedication approximately every 2 weeks. There are seven temple dedications scheduled during a span of just 22 days between October 11 and November 1.

Another notable feature of the current schedule is the increasing prevalence of simultaneous temple dedications. Five separate weekends currently feature two temple dedications occurring on the same day. Such scheduling would have been highly unusual in previous decades when temple dedications were relatively infrequent and often represented major Churchwide events. The current pace suggests that the Church is adapting its operational approach to accommodate a rapidly growing number of temples reaching completion.

The accelerating pace of temple dedications also reflects the maturation of the Church's temple construction program. During the past decade, Church leadership has announced temples at an unprecedented rate. While much attention has focused on the growing number of announced temples, less attention has been given to the increasing number of temples now reaching completion and entering operation. The current schedule indicates that many of the temples announced during recent years are now beginning to come online in substantial numbers.

Another noteworthy trend is the broad participation of members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in temple dedications. Elder D. Todd Christofferson, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Elder David A. Bednar, Elder Patrick Kearon, Elder Gerrit W. Gong, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, and Elder Dale G. Renlund have all been assigned to dedicate temples during the coming months. The increasing involvement of members of the Quorum of the Twelve likely reflects the practical necessity of conducting multiple dedications in close succession across several continents.

The rapid increase in temple dedications suggests that the Church's temple-building program is entering a new phase. For much of the past decade, attention has focused on the unprecedented number of temple announcements. However, the more significant development may now be the growing number of temples reaching completion and becoming operational. If current trends continue, temple dedications may become increasingly frequent during the next several years as the large number of temples currently under construction progress toward completion.

At present, there are 52 temples under construction or with a groundbreaking date announced. Consequently, the Church appears well positioned to maintain an elevated rate of temple dedications for the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, there remain 104 temples in the planning stages for which no groundbreaking has yet been announced. Whether the Church can sustain the current pace of temple dedications over the longer term will depend largely on how quickly these planned temples move through the design, approval, and construction process.

Second Baptistry Announced for Salt Lake Temple

In an unprecedented move, the Church announced yesterday that the renovated Salt Lake Temple will include a second baptistry in order to provide "greater capacity and more temple ordinances." This is a major development as the Church has never had two baptistries within the same temple. Significant increases in youth engaging in temple ordinance work, combined with unprecedented numbers of family-file names for temple work, appear likely contributors for this major announcement. This decision may play a role in the decision to include two baptistries in temples perceived as highly utilized by local membership, specifically in the Wasatch Front in Utah or other major urban areas with significant Latter-day Saint populations in the Inter-mountain West. The original article that details the announcement can be found here.

More Temple Renderings Released

The Church released information regarding the square footage and the renderings of several temples, including the Taylorsville Utah Temple and the Red Cliffs Utah Temple (formerly Washington County, Utah Temple), and the Neiafu Tonga Temple and the Pago Pago American Samoa Temple. The two new Pacific temples will each be approximately 17,000 square feet, whereas the Taylorsville Utah Temple will be 70,000 square feet and the Red Cliffs Utah Temple will be 90,000 square feet.

Temple Attendance Trends

I have received dozens of reports over the last couple of months that there have been significant increases in temple attendance in many temples around the world. It appears that the most significant increases have occurred in Utah although I have received reports from temples in places like Australia where there have also been significant increases in attendance. These trends appear augmented by changes at the beginning of the new year but appeared to begin in the latter portion of 2018.

I would like your feedback in terms of what you have seen in your temple. Has there been any changes in temple attendance that you have observed? Please comment.

Graph with Labels - Temple Announcements and Number of Members: Analysis

I am not the greatest making graphs and charts with Excel, but I managed to put labels on for each of the points in the graph I presented in the post for Temple Announcements and Number of Members: Analysis. This way, it is easier to identify trends with when temples are announced by country or geographical area. For example, the Church has announced temples in Latin American countries when there are more members than in countries in other regions of the world. This is likely due to lower member activity rates. See below for the updated graph. Click on the graph so the labels are legible.

Temple Announcements and Number of Members: Analysis

Over the years I have wondered what the relationship between church membership and temple announcements has looked like, particularly in regards to when the Church announces its first temple in a given country. See below for a list of all countries with a dedicated or announced temple current as of October 2018. There are currently 57 countries and territories/dependencies that have a temple dedicated or announced. This list provides the year when the first temple was announced for each country and the number of members who lived in the country at the time the first temple was announced per official membership statistics from the Church (or best estimates for years without membership data available). There has not appeared to be a significant change in the number of members in countries when the first temple is announced. See below for a scatter plot that display these data:

On average, the Church typically announces a temple when there are 32,657 members in a country. However, the median membership for when the Church announces its first temple in a country is 23,326. The countries with the fewest members to have a temple announced was Switzerland in 1952 (approximately 2,000 members), Guam in 2018 (2,500 members), and the United States in 1832 (approximately 2,661 members). The countries with the most members to have a temple announced for the first time include Mexico in 1976 (141,768 members), Honduras in 2006 (116,416 members), and El Salvador in 2007 (98,575 members). The years 1981 and 2018 tie for the most new temple announcements in countries where no temples previously operated as there were seven countries for both of these years where temples were announced for the first time.

• United States - 1832 - 2,661 members
• Canada - 1913 - 10,000 members
• Switzerland - 1952 - 2,000 members
• United Kingdom - 1953 - 8,000 members
• New Zealand - 1955 - 14,000 members
• Japan - 1975 - 27,516 members
• Brazil - 1975 - 45,747 members
• Mexico - 1976 - 141,768 members
• Samoa - 1977 - 21,890 members
• French Polynesia - 1980 - 6,600 members
• Tonga - 1980 - 18,563 members
• Australia - 1980 - 37,537 members
• Argentina - 1980 - 60,972 members
• Chile - 1980 - 63,658 members
• Sweden - 1981 - 6,410 members
• South Africa - 1981 - 8,394 members
• Guatemala - 1981 - 22,234 members
• South Korea - 1981 - 23,400 members
• Germany - 1981 - 26,177 members
• Peru - 1981 - 40,646 members
• Philippines - 1981 - 56,717 members
• Taiwan - 1982 - 8,679 members
• Ecuador - 1982 - 30,386 members
• Colombia - 1984 - 45,800 members
• Hong Kong - 1992 - 18,000 members
• Spain - 1993 - 25,000 members
• Dominican Republic - 1993 - 47,000 members
• Venezuela - 1995 - 73,000 members
• Bolivia - 1995 - 83,500 members
• Ukraine - 1998 - 5,000 members
• Fiji - 1998 - 12,000 members
• Ghana - 1998 - 16,000 members
• Uruguay - 1998 - 70,000 members
• Denmark - 1999 - 4,600 members
• Netherlands - 1999 - 7,627 members
• Costa Rica - 1999 - 29,000 members
• Finland - 2000 - 4,403 members
• Nigeria - 2000 - 42,746 members
• Paraguay - 2000 - 44,632 members
• Panama - 2002 - 39,559 members
• Honduras - 2006 - 116,416 members
• El Salvador - 2007 - 98,575 members
• Italy - 2008 - 22,886 members
• Portugal - 2010 - 39,031 members
• Democratic Republic of the Congo - 2011 - 30,435 members
• France - 2011 - 36,403 members
• Thailand - 2015 - 19,665 members
• Haiti - 2015 - 20,414 members
• Cote d'Ivoire - 2015 - 27,052 members
• Zimbabwe - 2016 - 27,825 members
• Kenya - 2017 - 13,189 members
• Guam - 2018 - 2,500 members
• India - 2018 - 13,570 members
• Cambodia - 2018 - 14,600 members
• Cape Verde - 2018 - 14,700 members
• Puerto Rico - 2018 - 23,234 members
• Russia - 2018 - 23,252 members
• Nicaragua - 2018 - 98,534 members

Currently, there is only one country, Papua New Guinea, which has more than the median number of members for when the Church announces its first temple in a country.

Houston Texas Temple Flooded

The Houston LDS Temple Facebook page is reporting that flood waters in Houston have entered the Houston Texas Temple and damaged the interior. Although I do not usually report about news stories regarding operating temples or natural disasters, I decided to make a post about this incident because I believe it is the first time that an operating temple has ever been significantly damaged by a natural disaster. Please comment if you have information about any other instances when the Church has ever had an operating temple damaged or destroyed by a natural disaster.

Statistical Profiles on cumorah.com

We will be posting country-by-country LDS statistical data on cumorah.com in the weeks and months ahead.  Here is a sample graph displaying the growth in the number of temples announced, under construction, or operating in the United States from 1847 to 2011.  These statistical profiles will be integrated with other church growth-related resources such as the LDS International Atlas on Google Maps (see cumorah.com homepage) and church growth country profiles and case studies.

Bringing the Temple to the Saints

During President Monson's opening remarks of the 179th Semiannual General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, he noted that 83% of Church membership lived within 200 miles of a temple. Using membership totals for the end of 2008 would indicate that about 11.2 million people live within 200 miles of a temple whereas the remaining 2.3 million do not live this close to an operating temple.

Where do the majority of these 2.3 million members reside? As of the end of 2008 there were 492,424 members residing in countries in which there was no temple operating, under construction or announced. Members of the Church living in nations where a temple was announced or under construction totaled 266,584 for the same year. This brings the total to 759,008 for members of the Church who live in nations where there is not an operating temple for countries for which the Church publishes membership totals. These members account for a third of those who live further than 200 miles from a temple.

The majority of members of the Church who live more than 200 miles away from a temple live in nations which already have operating temples. Most of these members live in the countries which have the largest Church memberships. This would mainly include the United States, Mexico, Brazil, the Philippines, Chile, Peru, and Argentina. As the Church continues to build and announce temples in these nations we will likely see a greater percentage of Church members closer to temple.

Lastly I wanted to include a graph which illustrates the average number of stakes per temple. Notice how that currently temples have never been as accessible to the overall membership of the Church since the 1940s as indicated by the lower number of stakes per temple. Currently there is an average of 22 stakes per temple district. The lower ratio of stakes per temple in the 1940s can be attributed to the vast majority of members of the Church living near temples operating at the time, particularly in Utah, Idaho, Canada, and Arizona.

Manaus Brazil Temple Under Construction

The new Manaus Brazil Temple is officially under construction according to the site http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/ . The groundbreaking ceremony was held on the 20th of this month and pictured are available at the above site. The temple was announced a little over a year ago and will serve members of the Church which live in the Amazon River Basin. The new temple will likely serve members not only in Manaus's eight stakes (three of which have been organized since 2005), but also other cities in northern Brazil (like Belem, Porto Velho, and Rio Branco) along with the three stakes in Iquitos, Peru. Missionary work has been very strong in Manaus; the first stake was organized just 20 years ago. More stakes are likely to be created here in the coming years as converts continue to join the Church. Members in the area have had to travel either to Sao Paulo, Recife or Caracas to participate in temple ordinances.

Since this post and the previous post were about Brazil, I will add some more exciting news about the Church in Brazil. The city of Barreiras located in the western part of the state of Bahia received its first branch recently. This is the first city in this region to receive a branch. The city has over 100,000 people and is rapidly growing. Much success has been seen as the Church moves into the interior of the country. Four or five years ago, the city of Caico (near Natal) had only one branch and a neighboring city had a branch as well. No district was organized. A year to two ago a stake was organized in Caico with five wards from a district which was formed during that time. Just last fall, the first stake was organized in the adjacent Brazilian state of Tocantins in Palmas. Hopefully Barreiras will see similar growth, especially with the help of members moving to the area. You can find Barreiras on the map below.

New Temple Announced in Phoenix, Arizona

The First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints has announced plans to build a temple in Phoenix. This will be the 140th temple in operation, announced or under construction and the third new temple announced this year. Church activity and growth is strong in the Phoenix metro area, with some 74 stakes currently assigned to the temple in Mesa. I was very surprised to see another temple announced in Arizona considering President Monson announced the Gilbert Arizona and Gila Valley Arizona Temples last month. This new temple will likely serve members in Phoenix, Scottsdale, Tempe, Glendale, Peoria, Buckeye, and more rural areas like Prescott and Payson. The total number of stakes that could potentially be assigned to this temple would be in the range of around 20 or 30 depending on where the line is drawn between the Mesa Arizona and Phoenix Arizona Temple Districts (each temple has a certain geographical area in which members are assigned to). Today Church membership in Arizona is around 370,000 in 88 stakes. Arizona now has the third most temples in one state (five). Utah has the most temples (13), California has the second most temples (seven), and Texas has the fourth most (four).

Potential Temples in the United States

Predicting where the First Presidency announces temples in the United States can quite difficult. This is evident with yesterday's announcement of the two temples in Arizona. Although most saw two or more new temples likely to be announced in the coming years in Arizona, few anticipated one would be so close to the Mesa Arizona Temple and the other not being in Tucson.

Keeping that in mind, here is a list I have compiled with likely cities to receive temples in the coming 10 years. These predictions are made as a combination of the size of existing temple districts (the number of stakes and districts assigned to a particular temple) as well as number of stakes in a particular geographic region. The first number in the parentheses represents the number of stakes the temple would serve and the second number represents the number of districts the temple would serve. The bold number shows the number of stakes located within the metropolitan area of the named city.

• Indianapolis Indiana (8,0) 3
• Kansas City Missouri (9, 0) 5
• Layton Utah (30, 0) 18
• Miami Florida (7,8) 5
• Milwaukee Wisconsin (6,0) 2
• Pensacola Florida (6,0) 1
• Pocatello Idaho (20, 0) 10
• Price Utah (8,0) 5
• Rogers Arkansas (6,0) 2
• Spanish Fork Utah (26,0) 23

These cities represent regions where a temple is either far away or where there are many members that attend a temple with a large number of stakes in its temple district (75 stakes are assigned to the Ogden Utah Temple for instance).

The United States currently has 67 temples operating, under construction or announced. No other country in the world comes close to accommodating Church membership in such a way (because the lack of members or inactivity). Because of this, it is unlikely that many new temples will be announced in the United States until further growth is experienced in conversions and reactivation. However, the small, 10,700 square foot temples can be built to accommodate just two or three stakes (The Colonia Juarez Temple serves only two stakes and two districts and Bismarck North Dakota Temple serves three stakes and one district). As I mentioned in an earlier post, these temples tend to be located in isolated areas.

Perhaps rising gasoline prices may help to initiate temple construction in the United States in other cities such as Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania or Augusta, Maine.

Two New Temples Announced in Arizona

The First Presidency recently announced that two new temples will be built in Arizona, The Gila Valley and Gilbert Temples. Church member density and activity is rather high in the Gilbert area and is rapidly developing (this is in the same vicinity as Queen Creek, where five stakes have been organized in the past six years). The number of stakes assigned to this temple will probably be around 30-40, depending on whether the stakes in Tucson will be assigned to this temple or the Gila Valley Temple. The Gila Valley Temple will likely serve less than five or six stakes if the stakes in Tucson are not in the temple district. However, the Gila Valley is home to Mormon colonies established in the 1870s and have been far away from a temple for some time (The Colonia Juarez Temple is another example of how Church members living in an isolated region for over a hundred years get a temple). The size of the temples has not been specified yet, but I imagine that the Gila Valley Temple will be one of the small, 10,700 square foot temples the the Gilbert Temple being a large, 60,000 square foot temple.

I have not created any posts on potential temple sites in the United States, and will do so in the coming weeks.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints: An International Church

I wanted to take time to write concerning the demographics of the Church and what Church Leaders have said concerning its status internationally. President Hinckley and other General Authorities have in recent years declared that the Church's demography is spread all across the globe. President Monson stated in the past week in a press conference, "How grateful we are for the dedication, the faith and the strength of the people of this Church who now number more than 13 million in 176 nations and territories throughout the world. Our membership continues to grow steadily." Clearly the Church has spread itself accross the majority of the countries of the world. However, Church membership is by no means evenly distributed across the countries of the world.
Now for some statistics. A little over 84% of Church membership resides in North and South America (including the Caribbean) and almost 86% of the Church's stakes. Out of the 125 currently operating temples, 31 are outside of North and South America. The Church has established itself in every country in the Western Hemisphere (excluding Cuba) and the Southern Hemisphere (except East Timor, Rwanda, Burundi, The Seychelles, and Comoros). In Europe, the Church has a presence in every country except Macedonia and Bosnia (from what I have found).
This post is by no means criticizing anything Church leaders have said, but rather I am making a point that although we do have members residing in most of the countries of the world, most of the members live in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Something I have found interesting is how well the Church has grown in island nations. For example, the country in Africa with the highest percentage of members is Cape Verde and is around 2% and the country with the second highest is less than 0.2%. The countries which have the highest percentage of members are island nations concentrated in the South Pacific like Tonga (46%) and Samoa (36%). The Church has grown the most in Europe in the British Isles with over 100,000 members more than the country in Europe with the second most members (Spain with around 41,000 members). The Philippines has the most members out of any of the countries in the Eastern Hemisphere with around 600,000. I believe this is a fulfillment of prophesy in 1 Nephi 19:16, "Yea, then will he remember the isles of the sea."

Here is a list of all of the countries in the Northern part of the Eastern Hemisphere with no Church presence. I define this as meaning no branches established and no membership reported. Countries in italics means that the country is predominantly Muslim (which tend to not allow other religions to proselyte or publicly practice).

ASIA

Afghanistan
Azerbaijan
Bhutan
Iran
Iraq
Kuwait
Kyryzstan
Maldives
Oman
Qatar
Syria
Turkmenistan
Yemen
Myanmar
Brunei
North Korea
Uzbekistan

Africa

Algeria
Burkina Faso
Chad
Eretria
The Gambia
Guinea
Guniea-Bissau
Libya
Mali
Mauritania
Morocco
Niger
Senegal
Somalia
Sudan
Tunisia