Mormon temple expansion plans include Tulsa among 20 cities

Leaders of the church, widely known as the Mormon church, unveiled the new locations during the weekend’s General Conference in Salt Lake City.

Church officials said it’s the second-highest number of new temples announced at one time in the history of the church.

Oklahoma currently has one Mormon temple in Oklahoma City, with 93 individual congregations meeting statewide.

The plans call for six new temples in the United States. Along with Tulsa, the cities include Kahului, Hawaii; Fairbanks, Alaska; Vancouver, Washington; Colorado Springs, Colorado; and Roanoke, Virginia.

The 20 new temples planned also include five in South America, four in Africa and one in Cancún, Mexico.

According to the LDS, temples are reserved as places for special occasional worship services and religious ceremonies. Church members meet for their regular weekly worship services in meetinghouses, or church facilities, in their respective communities.

“Spending more time in the temple builds faith,” said LDS President Russell M. Nelson, who has announced 153 new temples since 2018. “The Lord is directing us to build these temples to help us think celestial.”

The church in September dedicated a new temple in Bentonville, Arkansas, which serves a district that extends into northeastern Oklahoma.

The LDS church reported nearly 52,000 members in Oklahoma as of 2022.

The growth rate of the church has slowed both in the U.S. and worldwide over the past couple of decades. But unlike other denominations, it is still growing overall and boasts some 17 million members.

The church has 177 temples operating worldwide, with another 54 under construction, five in renovations and 99 announced, church officials said.