The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced the groundbreaking date for the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, will preside at the temple groundbreaking. Attendance at the event is by invitation only.
The Red Cliffs Utah Temple will be built on a 14-acre site located northeast of 3000 East 1580 South in St. George, Utah. The temple will be a three-story building of approximately 90,000 square feet.
The new temple will be St. George’s second temple. The St. George Utah Temple, which was dedicated in 1877 and is the oldest operating temple of the Church, closed for renovation on November 4, 2019. The temple is expected to reopen in 2022.
The Red Cliffs Utah Temple was announced in October 2018 by Church President Russell M. Nelson as the Washington County Utah Temple. On June 19, 2020, the First Presidency changed the official name of the temple to the Red Cliffs Utah Temple.
Utah has two dozen temples announced, under construction, under renovation or in operation. The temples serve more than 2.1 million Latter-day Saints in Utah.
Latter-day Saint temples differ from meetinghouses or chapels, where members meet for Sunday worship services. Each temple is considered a “house of the Lord” where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through baptism and other ordinances that unite families for eternity. In the temple, Church members learn more about the purpose of life and make covenants to follow Jesus Christ and serve their fellow man.