# Washington D.C. Temple

The Washington D.C. Temple (originally known as the Washington Temple, until 1999), is the 16th operating temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Located in Kensington, Maryland, just north of Washington, D.C., and near the Capital Beltway, it was the church's first temple built east of the Mississippi River since the original Nauvoo Temple was completed in 1846. At 160,000 square feet (15,000 m$^2$), it is the church's third-largest temple.
The temple's construction was announced by church president David O. McKay on November 15, 1968. Construction was completed in 1974 at a cost of some $15 million (about $152 million today). More than 750,000 people attended a seven-week open house before its dedication, an attendance record at the time for a temple open house. On November 19, 1974, church president Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the temple.
Designed to blend mid-century modern elements with traditional temple architecture, the building includes six gold-tipped spires modeled after the Salt Lake Temple. The three eastern spires represent the Melchizedek priesthood, with the three western spires representing the Aaronic priesthood. Standing 288 feet (88 m) tall, the temple's central eastern tower was the church's tallest at the time of its dedication. It supports an 18-foot (5.5 m) gilded statue of the angel Moroni. The temple's 57-acre (23 ha) wooded site has historical significance, with ties to early American settlement, Native American lands, and events related to the Civil War. Its site was chosen to make it a landmark along the Capital Beltway, and traffic reports often refer to it as "the temple".
Since 1978, the temple has hosted the annual Festival of Lights, drawing thousands to see live performances and millions of holiday lights, with a foreign ambassador as guest speaker each year. The temple is accessible to church members with a current temple recommend. Following renovations from 2018 to 2022, the temple was again opened for a public tour, welcoming thousands of visitors. Artwork commissioned for the renovation reflects the church's emphasis on diversity, aligning with efforts by church president Russell M. Nelson, who performed the rededication, to represent the church's global membership.

## History

The plans to build the temple were announced on November 15, 1968, by church president David O. Mckay. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 7, with Hugh B. Brown presiding, and attended by local church members and community leaders. Land clearing began May 28, 1971.
The temple site is a 57-acre (23 ha) wooded hill purchased in 1962 just north of the Capital Beltway. This site was selected in part due to its longstanding role in the history of America. The land was first inhabited off and on by Native Americans, then by King James I (of England). The 4,220 acres of property changed hands multiple times until it was given to Colonel William Joseph, giving it the nickname "Joseph's Park".
Other parts of the land were sold off, and eventually the remaining 3,182 acres were purchased by Daniel Carroll. Carroll's nephew, John, (who was the first Catholic bishop in the United States, and a delegate to the Constitutional Convention in 1787), built a chapel on a property below the hill. The property later passed to Daniel Carroll's grandson, who built a home a mile from the temple site, which he renamed "the Highlands", and was then used as a tobacco farm. This practice ended due to a lack of knowledge about crop rotation. Although Civil War troops briefly occupied the land, no battles occurred on the site. In addition, the site at the edge of the property was never subjected to clear cutting, so the old growth forest remained. The property eventually passed hands to Clarence Moore, who was a passenger that died on the Titanic. His widow sold the estate, and the site passed between various companies and investors.
In September 1962, plans were underway to transform the site into a shopping center, complete with a supermarket, high rises, and townhomes. However, during negotiations for the temple site, a personal connection developed between church representatives and the Jewish owners of the property. Despite a competing offer, the land was sold to the church at a discounted price, motivated by shared respect for religious history and the sacred nature of the temple's purpose. The proprietors, motivated by the significance of the project, considered their decision a significant gesture to a sacred endeavor.
Only 11 acres (4.5 ha) of the site was cleared to give the area a more remote feeling. The temple was designed by Keith W. Wilcox, Fred L. Markham, Henry P. Fetzer, and Harold K. Beecher, under the direction of Emil B. Fetzer. It was the church's first temple built east of the Mississippi River since the Nauvoo Temple, which was dedicated in 1846.
At the time of its completion, the temple served approximately 300,000 Latter-day Saints in 31 U.S. states and the District of Columbia, seven Canadian provinces, Cuba, Haiti, Puerto Rico, the Bahamas, and the Dominican Republic. Original cost estimates for the temple were about $15 million (about $152 million today). Church members in the temple's district contributed about a third of the cost of construction. Additionally, many of the sites which are important to early church history, such as Nauvoo, Palmyra, and Kirtland, are within the original Washington D.C. Temple district.
On September 17, 1974, during the first week of the temple open house, government officials and diplomats from around the world were taken on special tours through the building, including an invitation to US President Gerald Ford, his family, and his cabinet. While Ford was not able to attend, his wife Betty Ford did and said that the temple was "one of great beauty and a great addition to our surroundings here in Washington."
The temple open house was almost canceled last minute when a fire marshal required an emergency backup generator for the sprinkler system in case of a power outage. Harold Ranquist, a local member and Army Reservist, spent eight hours the day before the event using his military connections to locate a generator. A generator was secured and brought to the site, arriving to be installed just 25 minutes before the open house began, enabling it to proceed as planned. “That day,” Ranquist said, “30 tickets were committed to the various Colonels and Generals with whom I had spoken.”
The open house continued for seven weeks, with over 750,000 people attending. The number of people attending was attributed to the large amount of coverage the temple and the church received as it neared completion. A news conference held on the bridge of the temple introduced its purposes, and church president Spencer W. Kimball. The event included more than 100 reporters and photographers participating in the church's largest news conference to date. Demand for tickets to the open house was high and the tickets were gone before the first day of tours; times were extended to accommodate more people. At a completion ceremony the church's First Presidency buried a time capsule with historical items near a corner of the temple. This included scriptures (the Bible, the Doctrine and Covenants), copies of current newspapers, photos of church leaders, a replica of a statue of Brigham Young, and tickets from the dedication. Ten dedicatory sessions were held between November 19 and 22, 1974 by church president Spencer W. Kimball.
During the temple's dedication, one attendee described it as having a special aura. After the event, they observed a member of their local congregation, who typically walked without difficulty, struggling to reach his car, and being helped by his family. They later learned he reported experiencing a theophany during the dedication. Other accounts also describe individuals feeling the presence of deceased ancestors while participating in temple ordinances, cementing its sacredness in the minds of church members.
Over 40,000 church members attended these dedicatory services. It became the church's 16th dedicated and operating temple.
During a 5.9 magnitude earthquake on August 23, 2011, the temple sustained minor damage to parts of the exterior. The tops of four spires were knocked off and fell to the ground, as did several pieces of marble from the building's facade. No significant damage was reported to its interior or to the neighboring visitors' center. Repairs were made the following month and no disruptions occurred in its normal operating schedule.
On February 23, 2017, the church announced the temple would close for renovations to upgrade the mechanical systems and update finishes and furnishings. The temple closed in March 2018. The renovations were anticipated to be completed in 2020 and the adjacent visitors' center was scheduled to be operational throughout the renovation. In February 2020, the church announced that with renovations nearing completion, a public open house would be held from September 24 through October 31, 2020, with the temple scheduled for rededication on Sunday, December 13, 2020. However, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the church announced on June 17, 2020, that the open house and rededication dates would be postponed until large public gatherings were determined to be safe. On July 20, 2021, the church announced the open house would be scheduled for April 28 through June 4, 2022, with the temple scheduled for rededication on Sunday, June 19, 2022. However, on January 28, 2022, the church announced that the duration of the open house tours would be extended as needed, with the rededication pushed back to August 14, 2022. The church put up banners in the city to promote the event and recorded a virtual tour, led by Gary E. Stevenson and Dale G. Renlund, who serve as members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. During the open house, over 250,000 people visited the temple.
The temple was rededicated by Russell M. Nelson in three sessions on August 14, 2022. The temple served 38 stakes in Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, District of Columbia, and West Virginia at the time of its rededication.

## Location

The temple is located in suburban Kensington, Maryland, north of Washington, D.C. It is accessible mainly from the Capital Beltway (Interstate 495). The temple is considered an iconic local landmark, due in part to its proximity to the Capital Beltway. Maryland Governor Larry Hogan said the temple is an "iconic landmark" and a "beacon of hope". D.C.-area traffic reports often refer to it as "the temple".
In the early 1970s, a graffito message appeared on the CSX railroad bridge near the temple reading "Surrender Dorothy", and The Washington Post said it is "the single most famous graffito in the Washington Area." The phrase, a reference to The Wizard of Oz, linked the temple to the fictional Emerald City. The message was originally created by a group of Catholic schoolgirls in 1974, using wadded newspaper in a chain link fence to promote their school play. Afterword, the message soon reappeared as graffiti. Highway crews periodically removed the graffiti—only for it to reappear shortly after. Deseret News reported that the temple was "known affectionately by locals as Oz."
Author Orson Scott Card, writing for the Deseret News in 2005, explained that the humor of the "Surrender Dorothy" graffiti lay in its unintentional connection to The Wizard of Oz: "This is funny because clearly the (Latter-day Saints) didn't intend their temple to remind anybody of a classic fantasy movie, but once somebody put up the graffiti, it made everybody think of it and laugh." Card noted that the juxtaposition of the temple's architecture with the lush greenery and the clever quote created this unexpected cultural link.
Over the years, other messages have appeared on the bridge, often with political tones aimed at both Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

## Design and architecture

The Washington D.C. Temple has a distinctive architectural style, blending elements of mid-century modern architecture with a traditional Latter-day Saint temple design. The temple's modern six-spire design was modeled after the Salt Lake Temple, with three towers to the east representing the Melchizedek priesthood and three to the west symbolizing the Aaronic priesthood. This similarity in design was intentional to make it easy to recognize the building as a temple of the church.
The temple has seven floors and a mid-century modern architectural style. The central eastern tower reaches a height of 288 feet (88 m), the tallest of the church's temples at the time of its dedication. The temple has a total floor area of 160,000 square feet (15,000 m$^2$), making it the church's third largest. The temple includes one baptistry (for baptisms for the dead), six ordinance rooms and fourteen sealing rooms. The angel Moroni statue, standing on the tallest tower, is 18 feet (5.5 m) tall and weighs 2 tons. This was one of the first to depict the angel holding a set of golden plates. The Washington D.C. Ward meetinghouse previously displayed a similar statue before its relocation to the Church History Museum. The building is made of reinforced concrete and structural steel, the outer walls are covered in white Alabama marble, and the spires are coated in 24-carat gold. There are two large stained glass windows on the eastern and westernmost spires. Although there appear to be no other windows, the marble was shaved to 0.625 inches (1.59 cm) thick over window openings, thin enough to be translucent.
During the restoration began in 2018, an architectural glass firm meticulously restored the original art glass on the temple's east and west sides by taking charcoal rubbings before cleaning and recasting it in resin to match the original design. The design includes symbolic elements representing core tenets of Latter-day Saint faith to reflect the temple's religious significance. The bridge between the entry room and the temple represents leaving the world behind to enter the holy house of the lord. The verticality of the temple and its Gothic arches are intended to symbolize the spiritual journey toward the celestial kingdom, culminating in the celestial room. The interior of the celestial room in the Washington D.C. Temple features gold leaf-adorned walls, a central crystal chandelier accompanied by twelve smaller chandeliers, and a modern furniture design.
Church apostle David A. Bednar observed that there were "no shadows" in the temple; during a media tour, he noticed that the media crew was amazed by the lighting, and that extra lighting tools for photos were unnecessary due to the building's carefully balanced lighting. The bright, even light throughout the temple represents the light of Christ. Additionally, the doors to the temple "feature medallions with seven different symbols: a star, a planet, concentric circles representing eternity, the sun (complete with a face like the Nauvoo sunstone), the earth, seven concentric pentagons representing seven dispensations, and the moon." The interior includes a stained-glass depiction of the Tree of Life, a significant symbol in the Book of Mormon that represents Jesus Christ.
Architects, including lead architect Keith W. Wilcox, intentionally placed the temple sixty feet closer to perfectly align with the Capital Beltway, ensuring it would be visible from the interstate. Wilcox explained that church leaders intended the temple's design to inspire curiosity about the faith, seeing it as a "beacon" that "glows with the spirit of enlightenment", inviting people toward truth and lasting happiness. One leader commented that the temple seems to "float above the trees," emphasizing its visual impact and sense of elevation.
The temple occupies a 52-acre site, with only 11 acres developed in order to physically and visually separate the temple from the surrounding area. The landscaped areas feature gardens, walks, fountains, and a reflecting pool.

## Renovations

Over the years, the temple has undergone several renovations to preserve its structural integrity, update facilities, and enhance its spiritual and aesthetic appeal. A major renovation project commenced in 2018.
The renovations focused on several key areas, including the mechanical and electrical systems and the gardens. These changes were made to bring the temple in line with contemporary building standards. Additionally, the updates were designed to meet the evolving needs of the church and its members.
One of the notable aspects of the renovation was the cleaning of the stained-glass windows. This particular enhancement served to improve the lighting within the temple and its external appearance.
Throughout the renovation process, efforts were made taken to preserve the temple's historical significance while incorporating modern advancements. Artisans specializing in architectural glass, drywall, and plastering were employed to ensure that both the renovation was faithful in keeping with the original design while incorporating modern techniques.
The renovated Washington D.C. Temple was rededicated on August 14, 2022, by Russell M. Nelson.

## Artwork

Dan Wilson, a fine arts graduate from Utah Valley University and an artist inspired by Carl Bloch, was commissioned to create an 8-by-12-foot mural titled His Return, depicting the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. Drawing on personal spiritual practices like fasting and priesthood blessings, Wilson devoted over 2,000 hours to the piece, expanding the number of angels from 120 to over 300, aiming to reflect ethnic diversity. The painting replaced John Scott's 1974 mural The Last Judgment in the temple's entryway.
During renovations, which were completed in 2022, temple leaders emphasized commissioning artwork that reflects the church's diverse global membership, aligning with church president Nelson's temple expansion initiative, according to Emily Utt, a church historian. Paintings by Elspeth Young—such as With a Sincere Heart, The Pure in Heart, He Restoreth My Soul, and And Thou Didst Hear Me—showcase figures of diverse ethnicities, including a Filipino woman, a Mestizo woman from Mexico, and an African American woman in prayer.

## Cultural and community impact

The Washington D.C. Temple has made an impact on both the cultural landscape and the local community of Kensington, Maryland. Prior to its 2022 rededication, the temple facilitated the Reverse Open House Series, where local church members visited other religious groups in the DC area to learn more about their beliefs, participate in their religious practices, and aimed to promote interfaith dialogue and understanding.
Since 1978, the temple has annually hosted the Festival of Lights at the visitors' center, officially running from December 2 to January 1. The event attracts thousands of visitors who come to view millions of lights on the temple grounds. The festival features live performances by the Washington, D.C. Temple Choir; a public lighting ceremony; a narrated outdoor nativity scene; and nightly performances from various regional artists and musicians. Beginning in 1989, church leaders began inviting foreign ambassadors to co-host the annual Festival of Lights at the temple's visitors' center. The initiative has continued, strengthening diplomatic relationships and drawing attention to the temple's significance in the community. Each year, a different ambassador to the United States is invited as a guest speaker at the festival's opening lighting ceremony. For example, in 2011, J. W. "Bill" Marriott, Jr. and his wife, Donna, hosted Brazilian Ambassador to the United States Mauro Vieira, with L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles presiding.
The visitors' center adjacent to the temple acts as an educational resource, providing both members and non-members with an in-depth understanding of the role of temples in the church and its unique place in church history. It also offers insights into the role of the temple as a symbol of God.
Other opportunities for education and community involvement are facilitated through the Washington D.C. FamilySearch Center, which helps both members and nonmembers to complete genealogical research and partners with organizations such as the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution and the Afro-American Historical and Genealogical Society.

## Admittance and use

Dedicated in 1974, the temple is a central place of worship and spiritual ceremonies for church members. Entry into the temple is restricted to those who hold a valid temple recommend.
Before the dedication, a seven-week public open house was held. This allowed individuals of all faiths to experience the temple's architecture and learn about the sacred functions it would perform. During the open house over 750,000 people visited the temple, which is approximately 100,000 more people than at any previous temple open house. The event was covered by local journalists who advertised the opportunity to visit the new temple. While many were excited, others expressed trepidation about the new building.
Following a four-year renovation period, a public open house was held from April 28 to June 11, 2022, with over 250,000 visitors to the temple. Prior to the open house, a press conference was held, with 135 journalists from various publications in attendance. The rededication by Russell M. Nelson was held on August 14, 2022.

## Temple presidents

Since its dedication in 1974, the temple has been overseen by temple presidents and temple matrons, each typically serving a term of three years. The president and matron oversee the administration of temple operations and provide guidance and training for both temple patrons and staff.
Notable temple presidents include Franklin D. Richards (1983–1986), David S. King (1990–1993), and F. Melvin Hammond (2005–2008). As of 2024, the temple president is Peter K. Christensen, with Toby E. Christensen serving as matron.