Dedication of the Layton Utah Temple
Just a mile from the first reservoir built in Utah, Latter-day Saints in Layton draw closer to the “fountain of living waters” (1 Nephi 11:25) through ordinances and covenants in the nearby house of the Lord.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the Layton Utah Temple on June 16, 2024, and encouraged those who will worship and serve in it to establish and strengthen a “covenant connection” with Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, through what they learn there.
Before the dedication, Elder Bednar told the Church News that the house of the Lord is not meant to be an escape from the world. Rather, it’s where individuals can receive the instruction and edification needed “to overcome the world.”
“Based on what we can learn in those sacred settings and places and times,” he said, “we are better able to receive spiritual strength and fortify our homes.”
Elder Bednar was accompanied by his wife, Sister Susan Bednar; Elder Brian K. Taylor, General Authority Seventy and second counselor in the Utah Area presidency; and his wife, Sister Jill Taylor; and Elder Kevin R. Duncan, General Authority Seventy and executive director of the Temple Department; and his wife, Sister Nancy Duncan.
The land had been owned by Mark and Elaine Morgan, who — according to their daughter, Marsha Richins — said the piece of ground was special and they hadn’t wanted to develop it like much of the land that surrounded it. Joseph Morgan and Hannah Weaver Morgan settled this land in 1854 when they arrived from England after converting to the Church there. The property stayed with the family until the Church selected it to be the location of a house of the Lord in Layton.
To prepare for the dedication, the Mecham Meadows Ward, Layton Utah Layton Hills Stake, made a chart of the temple that ward members would fill in with their names each time they went to the house of the Lord.
“It reminded us that it’s important for us to go and that as a ward family we go,” said Jason Sam, bishop of the Mecham Meadows Ward. “It is individual, but exaltation is for all of us, and we all have to support one another on that path.”
Having served as the executive secretary for the temple’s open house and dedication committee, Wade Dummer of the Maple Way Ward, Layton Utah Holmes Creek Stake, said he will always remember how he saw Heavenly Father’s influence on individuals as they came to the house of the Lord in Layton.
“The thing that will always stand out to me is how the Lord’s hand was in the lives of people as they would come,” he said. “He was always there to help people meet up with other people they needed to meet so that they could have a positive experience.”
When a website portal was opened for volunteers to sign up for the open house, more than 10,000 volunteers signed up in the first hour.
“I think that shows the excitement that people had for this house of the Lord,” said Elder Tom Checketts, a Utah Area Seventy. He and his wife, Sister Lynette Checketts, served as the co-chairs for the open house and dedication committees.
Elder Checketts continued: “The consecrated efforts of the many have been blessed by the Lord to help others feel of His love and feel His power. And that has been a grand experience.”
Sister Checketts said of the open house and Sunday dedication, “Everywhere I could feel the manifestation of the presence of Heavenly Father’s and His Son’s love for their people.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “May all people who shall enter upon the threshold of this temple feel Thy power — and feel constrained to acknowledge that Thou hast sanctified this house as a place of holiness. May the spiritual lessons learned in this sacred place bless and transform individuals, families, homes and communities.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Layton Utah Temple here.
Timeline of the Layton Utah Temple
The Church acquired the property two days before plans to construct the temple were announced in general conference. An exterior rendering was released on Oct. 19, 2019. On May 23, 2020, the groundbreaking ceremony was held on an 11.8-acre site at the corner of Oak Hills Drive and Rosewood Lane.
After a public open house from April 19 to June 1, 2024, the Layton Utah Temple was dedicated June 16, 2024, by Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Architecture and Design of the Layton Utah Temple
This house of the Lord with twin towers is a three-story building of 93,539 square feet. It’s a steel-frame structure with cast-in-place concrete shear walls, precast exterior concrete panels and repeated, arched windows. The architectural style is European art nouveau or “secessionism architecture” that features organic shapes, floral and foliage motifs, and curving lines.
Inside, the art nouveau style continues, with similar motifs including cherry blossoms and fruit tree leaves and blossoms visible in the recessed millwork and art glass. A highlighted art glass piece is found at the entrance of the second-floor patron waiting area — an early 20th century Tiffany Studio window called “The Resurrection,” which was purchased from a United Presbyterian Church in Amenia, New York, prior to the building’s demolition in 2015.
The grounds include a fountain on the west terrace, made of beige granite and tiered basins. The bridal plaza is located on the temple’s north side. Landscaping consists of a range of trees, mountain plants and shrubs — some 400 shade, flowering and evergreen trees, with thousands of shrubs and perennials.
Interior Photos of the Layton Utah Temple
