LDS Church announces 5th, 6th temple dedications for 2015

LDS Church announces 5th, 6th temple dedications for 2015

By Tad Walch

March 14th, 2015 @ 9:32am

SALT LAKE CITY The LDS Church now has six scheduled temple openings in 2015, after a new announcement Friday. In October, church President Thomas S. Monson said he anticipated the faith would dedicate or rededicate at least five temples in 2015.

On Friday, the church announced the dates for the rededication of the Mexico City Mexico Temple in September and dedication of the Tijuana Mexico Temple in December.

Five of the openings now scheduled this year are new temples, but all six represent progress on a backlog of construction work and planning. That backlog led President Monson to say last April that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints would concentrate efforts on completing previously announced temples for a time before announcing any more new ones.

At the time, the church had 142 completed temples and 28 previously announced temples that hadn't been started or finished. Two were completed and opened during the remainder of 2014 Fort Lauderdale, Florida; and Phoenix.

With the five new temples scheduled to open this year, the number on the backlog will drop to 21.

"The church seems to be on track," said Brandon Plewe, who follows temple building as part of his statistical work as editor in chief of "Mapping Mormonism: An Atlas of Latter-day Saint History." "With the temples where work is actually under way, things are happening."

The temples scheduled to open this year, with relevant dates (open houses held every day of the week except Sundays), are:

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LDS Church announces 5th, 6th temple dedications for 2015