ST. GEORGE, UTAH — Elder Matthew S. Holland, a general authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, stood in a small “Sealing Room” at the church’s just-renovated St. George Utah Temple and spoke about a ritual that connected decades of his family’s history.
“There is not a more sacred spot on the earth than this altar in this room,” Mr. Holland, a political scientist and former Utah Valley University president, said. In this room, he was “sealed” in marriage to his wife Paige, making him the fifth generation in his family — on his late mother’s side — to have that ceremony there.
Those who aren’t members of the 17 million-member church would not usually be in this room. Only church members who carry a “recommend,” issued by a local bishop and attesting to a person’s “worthiness” to enter the temple are allowed once the building is dedicated, something due here on Dec. 10.
Before that event comes four weeks of public tours. Mr. Holland was among officials leading a group of journalists through the 146-year-old temple, which went offline in November 2019 for repair, refurbishing and expansion.
Church officials reverently describe the St. George Temple as a “Pioneer Temple,” one of the earliest constructed by Latter-day Saints, popularly known as Mormons. The 143,669-square-foot building, made of red sandstone painted white to suggest purity, sits on 6.5 acres in this southern Utah city, once a dusty outpost now bustling with entrepreneurs, outdoor enthusiasts, college students and retirees attracted to the warm climate here.
According to Richard E. Turley, Jr., a former church historian and co-author of “Vengeance is Mine: The Mountain Meadows Massacre and its Aftermath,” the effort to construct the building here began in 1871 in a town without paved roads or railroad access, meant “very intense” labor by members who’d come to settle the area and, in fact, all of Utah.
“They had various groups of people from the [Utah] territory who came in and dedicated their time,” Mr. Turley said. “This was during an era in which everyone was expected to have their tithing donations also include time, and not just financial resources.”
The historic significance of the St. George Temple was not lost on officials who spoke at the press preview.
“This is the longest operating temple we have in the church,” Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a general authority and Utah area president, said. “This temple was the first time that ordinances were done for the ancestors of members of the church. In many ways, the St. George temple became the pattern by which temple work would later take place in other temples across Utah and now across the world.
“We don’t build buildings like this for show or to demonstrate anything of any kind to the world,” he said. “We build them to demonstrate to the Lord that we love him, that we follow the Savior and that we want to be close to them and to live the way the Savior taught us to live.”
Church Elder Erich W. Kopischke, also a general authority and assistant executive director of the church’s Temple Department, said understanding the temple’s function is key to grasping the faith’s meaning.
“If you really want to understand the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you will have to understand their temple worship,” he said. “You will have to understand why they built these houses of the Lord, what they do in the house of the Lord and what binds them to Christ. This is the only way we can really understand the devotion.”
Today, the Latter-day Saints have 315 temples worldwide that are either in operation, under construction or renovation, or have been announced by its current president, Russell M. Nelson.
Temples are not used for weekly worship or the baptism of new members; those functions are assigned to local churches called meetinghouses.
LDS Church members believe marriage and family are meant to last forever, hence the concept of “sealing” a couple “for time and eternity.” A church website says the sealing concept comes from Jesus’ words in Matthew 16:19 about what Peter would “bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.” They believe this authority extends to Mr. Nelson and those he designates.
The church says children born of such marriages are considered “automatically sealed” to their parents, while couples who join the church after marriage can be sealed in the temple and have their children sealed at that time.
Temples, such as the St. George facility, are where the church’s sacred ordinances, such as sealing, proxy baptism for deceased relatives, and endowments, where the “knowledge and understanding of gospel principles” are performed.
And for local church members, the connections run deep and are emotional.
“My great-great-grandfather Milo Andrus was sent here by Brigham Young from Salt Lake, and he worked on this temple,” said JJ Abernathy, editor at St. George City Lifestyle magazine.
Seeing the refurbishment is “a very emotional experience,” she said.
“I actually worked in this temple before it was closed and with my husband, who was really into architectural detailing; he passed away a year ago,” Ms. Abernathy said. “I just looked at everything and thought he would love the detailing.”
She paused for a moment and said of her late spouse, “Maybe he’s here.”
Correction: An earlier version of this article stated an incorrect number of LDS Church temples. Also, following publication, JJ Abernathy contacted The Times to clarify that the ancestor who helped build the temple was her great-great-grandfather.
• Mark A. Kellner can be reached at mkellner@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.