The Orem Utah Temple on Sunday, January 21, 2024, the day it was dedicated. (Photo: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints)
SALT LAKE CITY—Leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints dedicated the Orem Utah Temple on Sunday, Jan. 21. The three-story, 71,998-square-foot temple is Utah’s 19th, while another nine temples await dedication or are under construction.
Elder D. Tood Christofferson conducted the dedication during two sessions. The services were broadcast to local congregations.
Elder Christofferson noted that members of The Church first entered the Orem area when Brigham Young sent several dozen families to establish Fort Utah along the Provo River in 1849.
The city wasn’t named until 1919, when “Orem” was chosen in honor of Walter C. Orem, who was president of the electric railroad than ran between Salt Lake and Provo.
Ten years later, Elder Stephen L. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles created Orem’s first stake, the Sharon Stake. “Explosive” population growth led to many more stakes and to the creation of the Utah Orem Mission.
Elder Robert T. Smith, an Area Seventy, said the announcement of a temple in Orem by Church President Russell M. Nelson in 2019 “was a joy and an unexpected, miraculous surprise” for Orem Saints, especially because other temples were nearby.
In Utah, the Orem temple is one of the 28 temples dedicated or under construction or being renovated. The Church will dedicate the Red Cliffs Utah Temple on March 24, 2024, the Taylorsville temple on June 2 and the Layton temple on June 16, 2024.
During the past few years, the Church has been renovating its three pioneer-era temples. The St. George Utah Temple was rededicated on December 10, 2023, and work is continuing on the Salt Lake and Manti temples. The six other Utah temples under construction are Deseret Peak, Ephraim, Heber Valley, Lindon, Smithfield and Syracuse.
Sunday’s dedication was just one week after Elder Christofferson dedicated the Lima Peru Los Olivos Temple.