1877 Dedication of the St. George Utah Temple
After temple ordinances were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the 1840s, the wording was passed down by memory and word of mouth. The dedication of the St. George Utah Temple, originally called the St. George Temple, changed this. President Brigham Young — the second President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — directed that temple ordinances be written down, ensuring wording consistency and long-term availability.
The St. George Utah Temple was dedicated by President Daniel H. Wells, second counselor in the First Presidency, from April 6 to April 8, 1877. The Church held its April 1877 general conference at the St. George temple also from April 6 to April 8, 1877, to coincide with the dedication.
In his dedicatory prayer, President Wells prayed that the temple would “stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain.”
Although the Salt Lake Temple was the first house of the Lord whose construction started in Utah Territory, the St. George Utah Temple was the first dedicated in the area. This makes it the oldest operating temple in the Church.
It was also the first temple where Latter-day Saints could perform all temple ordinances for the dead. Baptisms and sealings of a living person to a deceased spouse had previously been performed, but the St. George temple started vicarious endowments and sealings of two deceased persons.
In the temple’s first year of operation — recorded Elder Wilford Woodruff, the first president of the St. George temple — approximately 25,000 baptisms for the dead, 12,000 endowments and 3,800 sealings were performed.
“This is the first temple in the West,” said Elder Steven E. Snow — an emeritus General Authority Seventy, former Church historian and St. George native — around a century and a half later. “I think Brigham Young was very, very happy that finally a temple had been built in the West before he passed.” The Prophet passed away almost five months after the dedication.
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: "We feel not to multiply words before Thee, for language is inadequate to express the fullness of the feelings and emotions of our souls in being thus privileged to meet before Thee in this sacred, this holy place. ... May it stand as a monument of purity and holiness as long as the earth shall remain, commemorative of Thy great goodness toward us, Thy people."
Read the dedicatory prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.
1975 Rededication of the St. George Utah Temple
The St. George Utah Temple has since been renovated several times. One of these renovations, starting with the temple’s closure on March 2, 1974, enlarged the annex, built to the west-side staircase and added new sealing rooms.
Following the new construction, Church President Spencer W. Kimball rededicated the temple from Nov. 11 to Nov. 12, 1975, three sessions each day. Approximately 4,200 people were seated in the temple for each of the sessions, held in the large priesthood assembly room, including Saints watching the ceremony via closed-circuit television in other rooms of the building.
In his dedicatory prayer, President Kimball applauded early pioneers and their sacrifices to make the St. George temple construction possible: “As we come to rededicate this lovely edifice — newly enlarged, cleansed, refurbished — our memories return to the beginnings when loyal, devout people, who were hardly settled from their long, painful and distressing exodus across the plains, were again uprooted and sent to this desert place to colonize the valleys of the mountains and to build the first temple west of the Mississippi River.”
Rachelle Gordon, a 10-year-old Latter-day Saint from Caliente, Nevada, called this dedication the highlight of her young life and something she would “remember all my life.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Our Beloved Father, let Thy Holy Spirit dwell herein. Let Thine angels minister here, to let Thy statutes be made known unto Thy people and be ever revered herein, that it may be a place of prayer and meditation and sacred instruction, that those who come within the sacred portals may feel to uncover their heads, loose their shoes from off their feet and reverence Thy holy name.”
Read the 1975 rededication prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.
2023 Dedication of the St. George Utah Temple
On April 7, 2019, during the Sunday afternoon session of April 2019 general conference, Church President Russell M. Nelson announced that pioneer-era temples of the Church would undergo renovations. "Efforts will be made to preserve the unique historicity of each temple wherever possible," he said in his address, "preserving the inspiring beauty and unique craftsmanship of generations long-since passed."
The St. George temple — whose closure was first announced in January 2019 — was the first of these pioneer-era temples to start renovation after the Prophet's announcement. On Nov. 4, 2019, the house of the Lord was closed for extensive structural, mechanical, plumbing, electrical and finish renovations.
After these renovations, the temple held a public open house from Sept. 15 to Nov. 11, 2023. Among the nearly 670,000 visitors of the open house were a Jewish friend who found “layers of peace here” and a couple who had been sealed in the St. George temple 80 years prior.
One Latter-day Saint youth toured the temple early in the open-house period and said to her youth leaders, “I’m going to get a temple recommend — I’m going to get worthy.” Toward the end of the open-house period, she returned with that recommend, which had allowed her to perform ordinances in the Cedar City Utah Temple, an hour’s drive away.
Dana Moody — who chaired the open house and rededication committee for the St. George temple with her husband, Russ Moody — said, “I feel that as people walk through the temple, they can’t help but feel the Spirit that is there, and they’re touched by it. Sometimes they don’t even realize what they’re feeling.” Russ Moody agreed the Spirit was strong in the house of the Lord: “As you look around this magnificent temple, you can’t help but recognize that this is a place that has been prepared for the presence of God.”
The St. George temple was rededicated during two sessions on Dec. 10, 2023, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. President Holland, a native of St. George, had been baptized as an 8-year-old in the temple’s baptismal font, the only font in the area at the time.
Returning to rededicate the temple, he said, was “one of the sweetest and most rewarding assignments” he had been given as a general authority. The Apostle added, “I could not love any other spiritual home more than I love this one.”
Attendees of the two rededicatory sessions admired the temple’s renovations, which upgraded it with modern features while keeping the building’s historic appearance. Elevators and better stairs, walkways and hallways were added for greater accessibility; a new baptistry entrance and bride’s exit were added; and the north and west additions were rebuilt to match original architecture.
“I think the pioneers who built this would be pleased with our work,” said Andy Kirby, director of the Church’s historic temple renovations. “They would be satisfied that we preserved their efforts and the beauty and the intent of their work.”
When the St. George temple was announced in 1871, only 1,100 Saints lived in St. George. A cause of that growth, President Holland pointed out, has been temple worship: “There is a wonderful flood of faithfulness, revelation and righteousness that is affecting the whole Church. We are a stronger Church — we are better people — for having been in the temple.”
He promised that correlation between Church growth and temple worship will continue, saying, “The more we can get to a temple, the closer we are in living worthy of it, the better this Church is going to be and the stronger we as a people are going to be for eternity.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Father, we acknowledge that the hallowed masterpiece in which we gather was originally built by weary but believing pioneer hands. ... Father, we desire to be more like those Saints of the historic Cotton Mission, who moistened these stones with their tears and lifted these beams with their strength. We know they did that in part for us and also for the legions of kindred dead who yet wait for us, the living, to see that their eternal possibilities are realized.”
Read the 2023 rededication prayer of the St. George Utah Temple here.
Timeline of the St. George Utah Temple
The St. George temple was announced by President Brigham Young on Jan. 31, 1871. The temple’s groundbreaking was held Nov. 9, 1871, with President Brigham Young presiding.
This house of the Lord was originally dedicated twice: First, a preliminary dedication to dedicate parts of the unfinished temple for usage. Second, a formal dedication three months later. President Daniel H. Wells, second counselor in the First Presidency, formally dedicated the St. George temple on April 6, 1877.
The temple has since been renovated more than 10 times, some renovations larger than others. It was rededicated by President Spencer W. Kimball on Nov. 11, 1975. After renovations, it was rededicated again on Dec. 10, 2023, by President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Architecture and Design of the St. George Utah Temple
The 143,969-square-foot St. George temple was built in an area with swampy ground, so early Saints packed the site with volcanic rock, using a cannon as a pile driver, to create a sturdy foundation. Walls were built with sandstone and a white plaster exterior, and in later renovations, drywall and new plaster were added to repair some exterior sections. The outside walls are surrounded with two rows of long, arched windows and two rows of small, circular windows. Atop the temple is an octagonal tower with a domed cupola above it.
Inside the house of the Lord, arched doorways are decorated with millwork from maple and poplar wood. White Tuscan columns are spread around the temple in close proximity to one another, either inside open spaces or within the walls. Modern improvements — like a new elevator and upgraded electrical systems — have been added in renovations while keeping the original style of the historic temple.
Several plazas and grassy areas adorn the 6.5-acre temple grounds, with hundreds of shrubs and trees, including rows of palm trees. An annex is joined to the temple’s south side. On the southeast corner of the site is a public visitors’ center with a replica of Bertel Thorvaldsen’s Christus statue.
Interior Photos of the St. George Utah Temple
