Temple (Latter Day Saints)

In the Latter Day Saint movement, a temple is a building dedicated to being a house of God and is reserved for special forms of worship. A temple differs from a church meetinghouse, which is used for weekly worship services.^[1] Temples have been a significant part of the Latter Day Saint movement since early in its inception. Today, temples are operated by several Latter Day Saint denominations. The most prolific builder of temples of the Latter Day Saint movement is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The LDS Church has 350 temples in various phases, which includes 195 dedicated temples (188 operating and 7 previously-dedicated, but closed for renovation^[2]), 7 scheduled for dedication, 43 under construction, 4 scheduled for groundbreaking,^[3] and 101 others announced (not yet under construction).^[4] Several others within the movement have built or attempted to build temples. The Community of Christ operates one temple in the United States, which is open to the public and used for worship services, performances, and religious education.^[5] Other denominations with temples are the Apostolic United Brethren, the Church of Christ, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.