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40th temple dedicated
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Dedication of the Denver Colorado Temple
In 1975, the Littleton Colorado Stake started regular stakewide drives to the Manti Utah Temple, despite residing 350 miles away. “Before we started the bus trips, members in our stake were doing only 200 endowments a year,” later recalled President Raymond A. Kimball, who was serving as stake president at the time these trips started. “I told them if they wanted a temple in Colorado, they had to prove they were ready for it. One way was to increase our number of endowments.”A bus left from the stake center to Manti on the third Thursday of each month. Every seat was usually taken. With these efforts, Latter-day Saints in the stake multiplied their temple efforts and performed around 2,000 endowments each year.
These bus trips to the temple continued in the stake until 1986, when Colorado received a temple of its own — a house of the Lord adjacent to Littleton. And President Kimball was called as the temple’s first president.
The Denver Colorado Temple was dedicated in 19 sessions from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, 1986. President Ezra Taft Benson, President of the Church, offered the dedicatory prayer in the first session, Oct. 24. He was joined by his counselors in the First Presidency — President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson.
The Prophet also spoke in the two other sessions that first day, while President Hinckley and President Monson offered the dedicatory prayer in the next two sessions. President Benson returned to Salt Lake City after the first day of dedications, then President Hinckley read the dedicatory prayer in sessions held Oct. 25-26, and President Monson offered it Oct. 27-28.
The temple district at the time comprised about 85,000 Church members in Colorado, as well as parts of South Dakota, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Wyoming. Latter-day Saints came from as far as Bismarck, North Dakota — a 13-hour drive — to attend the dedication. Members began lining up before sunrise for the first dedicatory session.
Why have these Saints made such sacrifices to attend the temple? To gather in holy places away from the adversary’s influence. During the temple’s cornerstone ceremony, which preceded the first dedicatory session, President Benson said, “Though we live in a fallen world — a wicked world — holy places are set apart and consecrated so that worthy men and women can learn the order of heaven and obey God’s will. I testify that temples are places of personal revelation.”
He invited listeners, “Let us make the temple a sacred home away from our eternal home. This temple will be a standing witness that the power of God can stay the powers of evil in our midst.”
Dedicatory prayer excerpt: “Touch the hearts of Thy people that they may look to this temple as a refuge from the evil and turmoil of the world. May they ever live worthy of the blessings here to be found. May they be prompted to seek the records of their forebears and to serve here in their behalf, under the plan which Thou hast revealed for the salvation and exaltation of Thy children of all generations.”
Read the dedicatory prayer of the Denver Colorado Temple here.
Timeline of the Denver Colorado Temple
March
31
1982
Announced
A temple was announced for Denver, Colorado, by President Gordon B. Hinckley — a counselor in the First Presidency — during a press conference held March 31, 1982. He made the announcement representing the First Presidency of the Church, including Church President Spencer W. Kimball; President N. Eldon Tanner, first counselor; and President Marion G. Romney, second counselor.
May
19
1984
Groundbreaking
Ground was broken for the Denver Colorado Temple on May 19, 1984. President Gordon B. Hinckley, second counselor in the First Presidency, presided over the ceremony, which was attended by some 3,000 people.
September
08
1986
Open house
The public was invited to tour the house of the Lord from Sept. 8 to Sept. 27, 1986. Approximately 140,000 visitors attended the open house during this period.
October
24
1986
Dedication
The Denver Colorado Temple was dedicated from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, 1986, in 19 sessions. Members of the First Presidency — President Ezra Taft Benson, President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson — took turns offering the dedicatory prayer. Some 28,300 Latter-day Saints attended a dedicatory session, nearly a third of the temple district’s 85,000 members.
The Denver Colorado Temple was announced March 31, 1982, by President Gordon B. Hinckley. Just over two years later, a groundbreaking ceremony was held May 19, 1984, with President Hinckley presiding.
After a public open house from Sept. 8 to Sept. 27, 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson and his counselors — President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson — dedicated the Denver temple from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, 1986.
In addition to the baptistry and celestial room, the temple has four ordinance rooms and six sealing rooms. The interior includes detailed carved walnut, extensive hand-painted mortices on the walls and ceiling, cherry-wood interior trim, multicolored glass windows, Swiss wall coverings, and intricate gold-leaf work performed by Danish craftsmen.
This house of the Lord, said President Raymond A. Kimball — the temple’s first president — to the Church News in 1986, was exceptionally well built and may feature the best workmanship of any building in Colorado.
After a public open house from Sept. 8 to Sept. 27, 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson and his counselors — President Gordon B. Hinckley and President Thomas S. Monson — dedicated the Denver temple from Oct. 24 to Oct. 28, 1986.
Architecture and Design of the Denver Colorado Temple
The 27,006-square-foot Denver Colorado Temple is made of precast stone walls. Standing on a 7.56-acre site, the edifice features a steep spire above the entrance.In addition to the baptistry and celestial room, the temple has four ordinance rooms and six sealing rooms. The interior includes detailed carved walnut, extensive hand-painted mortices on the walls and ceiling, cherry-wood interior trim, multicolored glass windows, Swiss wall coverings, and intricate gold-leaf work performed by Danish craftsmen.
This house of the Lord, said President Raymond A. Kimball — the temple’s first president — to the Church News in 1986, was exceptionally well built and may feature the best workmanship of any building in Colorado.
Quick Facts
Announced
31 March 1982
Dedicated
24 October 1986
Dedicated by
Current President and Matron
Location
2001 E. Phillips Circle
Centennial, Colorado 80122-3264
United States
Appointments
View schedule and book online
(1) 303-730-0220
Additional Facts
Fact #1
This was the first Latter-day Saint temple in Colorado.
Fact #2
Before the Denver temple’s groundbreaking, Mark Ludwig, age 7, wrote a letter to President Gordon B. Hinckley — who would preside over the ceremony — to volunteer his help in breaking ground. President Hinckley later read his letter to those at the event and invited Mark to join him and other leaders as they turned the soil.
Fact #3
During the temple open house period, an adjacent building allowed visitors to view exhibits and talk to missionaries to learn more about the Church after their temple tour. Although only 20% of open-house attendees were expected to come, nearly 60% paid the area a visit. One organizer of the event told the Church News in 1986, “The lines to the exhibits are as long as those to the temple.”
Fact #4
On Oct. 19, 1986 — five days before the first dedicatory session — a heavy frost on the temple grounds killed thousands of flowers that were set to bloom at their peak for the dedication. The grounds crew worked with the temple’s housekeeping, engineering, missionary and office staffs, as well as dozens of local Saints, to remove frost-bitten flowers and replace them in time for the dedication. The new flowers were purchased from nurseries throughout the Denver area.
Fact #5
Its dedication was the first since the Seattle Washington Temple’s dedication in 1980 that all three members of the First Presidency were present.
Fact #6
On Sept. 13, 1997, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley attended a centennial ceremony to celebrate 100 years since the establishment of the first permanent branch of the Church in Denver. He and his wife, Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley, were presented with two Colorado blue spruce trees by the centennial committee. With no way to take the trees home, he gave them to President Russell C. Taylor, the Denver Colorado Temple president at the time, to plant on the grounds, adding, “If you want to call them the Hinckley trees, it's all right with me.”
Additional Facts
Fact #1
This was the first Latter-day Saint temple in Colorado.
Fact #2
Before the Denver temple’s groundbreaking, Mark Ludwig, age 7, wrote a letter to President Gordon B. Hinckley — who would preside over the ceremony — to volunteer his help in breaking ground. President Hinckley later read his letter to those at the event and invited Mark to join him and other leaders as they turned the soil.
Fact #3
During the temple open house period, an adjacent building allowed visitors to view exhibits and talk to missionaries to learn more about the Church after their temple tour. Although only 20% of open-house attendees were expected to come, nearly 60% paid the area a visit. One organizer of the event told the Church News in 1986, “The lines to the exhibits are as long as those to the temple.”
Fact #4
On Oct. 19, 1986 — five days before the first dedicatory session — a heavy frost on the temple grounds killed thousands of flowers that were set to bloom at their peak for the dedication. The grounds crew worked with the temple’s housekeeping, engineering, missionary and office staffs, as well as dozens of local Saints, to remove frost-bitten flowers and replace them in time for the dedication. The new flowers were purchased from nurseries throughout the Denver area.
Fact #5
Its dedication was the first since the Seattle Washington Temple’s dedication in 1980 that all three members of the First Presidency were present.
Fact #6
On Sept. 13, 1997, Church President Gordon B. Hinckley attended a centennial ceremony to celebrate 100 years since the establishment of the first permanent branch of the Church in Denver. He and his wife, Sister Marjorie Pay Hinckley, were presented with two Colorado blue spruce trees by the centennial committee. With no way to take the trees home, he gave them to President Russell C. Taylor, the Denver Colorado Temple president at the time, to plant on the grounds, adding, “If you want to call them the Hinckley trees, it's all right with me.”