Church Leaders Announce Additional Adjustments Relating to Temple Work

Contributed By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News editor

  • 19 March 2020

Detroit Michigan Temple.

Article Highlights

  • The Church will continue to monitor conditions around the world and make further adjustments as necessary.

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In an effort to minimize community spread of COVID-19, Church leaders have announced additional adjustments relating to temple worship.

  • Temples will accept only appointments for living ordinances from members residing within the local temple district. 

  • In states, provinces, or regions that have multiple temples, those temples can accept appointments for living ordinances from members within the state, province, or region.

  • This applies retroactively to previously scheduled appointments. Temple staff will contact all those affected to answer questions and cancel or reschedule appointments. 

  • Temple staff will also attempt to contact those scheduled for living ordinances the day before their appointment to ensure no members of the patron’s attending party are showing symptoms of COVID-19.

  • Members showing symptoms of COVID-19 should not attend the temple.

These policies are effective immediately and will continue until further notice, according to a statement released by Church leaders on March 18. “The Church will continue to monitor conditions around the world and make further adjustments as necessary.” 

As the Church continues to take precautionary measures against the spread of COVID-19, the list of temple closures on Newsroom is frequently being updated.

As of Wednesday evening, March 18, the following 44 temples are temporarily closed:

United States and Canada

  • Detroit Michigan Temple

  • Fresno California Temple

  • Hartford Connecticut Temple

  • Los Angeles California Temple

  • Louisville Kentucky Temple

  • Manhattan New York Temple

  • Newport Beach California Temple

  • Oakland California Temple

  • Portland Oregon Temple

  • Redlands California Temple

  • Sacramento California Temple

  • San Diego California Temple

  • Seattle Washington Temple

  • Toronto Ontario Temple

Toronto Ontario Temple.

Latin America

  • Arequipa Peru Temple

  • Asunción Paraguay Temple

  • Caracas Venezuela Temple

  • Guatemala City Guatemala Temple

  • Guayaquil Ecuador Temple

  • Lima Peru Temple

  • Panama City Panama Temple

  • Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple

  • San Salvador El Salvador Temple

  • Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple

  • Trujillo Peru Temple

Caribbean

  • Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple

Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple.

Europe

  • Bern Switzerland Temple

  • Copenhagen Denmark Temple 

  • Frankfurt Germany Temple

  • Freiberg Germany Temple

  • Helsinki Finland Temple

  • Kyiv Ukraine Temple

  • Lisbon Portugal Temple

  • Madrid Spain Temple

  • Paris France Temple

  • Rome Italy Temple

  • The Hague Netherlands Temple

Asia

  • Cebu City Philippines Temple

  • Fukuoka Japan Temple

  • Manila Philippines Temple

  • Sapporo Japan Temple

  • Seoul Korea Temple

  • Taipei Taiwan Temple

Africa

  • Accra Ghana Temple

The Hong Kong China Temple, Tokyo Japan Temple, Hamilton New Zealand Temple, Mesa Arizona Temple, Washington D.C. Temple, Salt Lake Temple, and St. George Temple continue to remain closed for renovation. The current status of each temple can be found on the individual temple pages.

Mesa Arizona Temple.

On Friday, March 13, the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced temporary adjustments to temple work in a letter to all Church members.

According to the letter, the following was effective March 16:

  • Where government or other restrictions on public and/or religious gatherings would preclude temple activity, proxy and living ordinances will temporarily be suspended.

  • Where government or other restrictions do not preclude all temple activity, the following temple ordinances for living persons will be accommodated as capacity permits by appointment only: husband-and-wife and child-to-parents sealing ordinances and living initiatory and endowment ordinances. On a temporary basis, proxy temple ordinances will not be performed.

  • All patron housing will be closed.

As a follow-up to the March 13 letter regarding temple worship, the Church released frequently asked questions on March 16 further explaining temporary temple adjustments.

The information regarding temple adjustments answers questions regarding permitted group size for living ordinances, missionaries receiving their endowments, distribution center operations, and names on the prayer roll.

Newport Beach California Temple.

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