New LDS Fort Worth Texas Temple opens Nov. 5 for free public tours

Three years after breaking ground in Burleson, the temple measuring more than 120 feet in height, clad in limestone, quatrefoil motifs, and a golden dome and spire, basked in beams of sunlight. 

The building, recently completed, is the Fort Worth Texas Temple. The sacred structure is the second in North Texas for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

And for a few weeks, it will be open to the community. 

From Nov. 5 through Nov. 21, excluding Sundays, the general public will be able to visit the Fort Worth Texas Temple. Tours are free with no reservation required. The open house provides an opportunity for people to learn about the purpose of the sacred structures and practices of the faith. 

“We believe fully that a temple is literally where heaven meets earth,” Elder Michael A. Dunn, president of the U.S. Southwest area, said during a tour Monday. “This is an opportunity to really come and focus and find that peace and hope that all of us hope that we can find as a result of our religious observances.”

If you go: 

What: Fort Worth Texas Temple public open house

When: Nov. 5-21, excluding Sundays

Where: 1851 Greenridge Drive, Burleson 

For more information, visit fortworthtexastemple.org

The temple will serve members of the faith who live in Tarrant, Parker and Johnson counties as well as surrounding cities. 

Latter-day Saint temples differ from meetinghouses and chapels, where members regularly gather for Sunday service and community events. 

Each temple is considered a house of the Lord, where Jesus Christ’s teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances uniting families eternally. Temples are considered the only place where ceremonies such as baptisms and eternal marriages can be performed.

Anyone, regardless of religion, may enter a Latter-day Saints meetinghouse and attend services. After a dedication ceremony, only members of the church can enter, and for the Fort Worth Texas Temple that date is Jan. 10.

Justin Piepgrass, president of the Burleson stake — a grouping of church congregations — said he hopes people in the community will take the rare opportunity to visit the temple and learn more about sacred practices within the faith. The tours mark the first open house in Fort Worth-Dallas in the past 42 years. 

“It’s much more beautiful than the building. What happens in that building is what makes this building just amazing,” Piepgrass said. 

A look inside 

In terms of their uses and purposes, temples are the same worldwide. But when one is built, it is designed to complement the surrounding area, Elder Jeremiah J. Morgan, one of the church’s senior leaders based in Salt Lake City, said during the tour. 

The Spanish Colonial-style structure in Burleson is the only Latter-day Saint temple adorned with lace-inspired detailing and ornamental metalwork on the exterior, Morgan said. 

Agave plants and silver, feathery shrubs known as powis castle fill the south entrance. Benches and open grass occupy the remainder of the space for people to sit and view the temple from the outside. 

On the inside, shades of canyon clay reds and olive greens decorate the quatrefoil-designed rugs, upholstery and in delicate floral designs painted on the coffered ceilings. 

Inside the temples, church members change into simple, modest white clothing, symbolizing purity and equality before God, according to the church. 

The interior of Latter-day Saints temples consist of a number of rooms designed to accommodate certain functions such as marriages, baptisms and religious instructional sessions. 

The reasons for going to the temple can vary from visiting for instructional time, connecting with God or performing major religious ordinances such as marriages or baptism. 

Hallways weaving into each room hold framed artwork reflecting Jesus Christ, along with two original pieces of art — one illustrating a Texas river and another depicting cattle on an open field dotted with bluebonnets and other wildflowers. 

A baptismal pool in the center of the room is elevated on the backs of a dozen oxen statues, symbolizing the 12 tribes of Israel.

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are baptized at 8 years old in local meetinghouses, Morgan said. At the temple, families who research an ancestor can perform a baptism on their behalf. 

Inside the temple are two instruction rooms with chairs facing the front of the space where a curtain covers a screen that plays an audiovisual presentation for members to learn about the mission of Jesus Christ. 

“We learn the answers to three important questions: Where did we come from before we were born? Why are we here? And where are we going after we die?” Rebecca McDavitt Morgan, Jeremiah’s wife, said during the tour. 

Members also make promises to God, called covenants, in the instruction room. A green altar rests in front of the curtain, meant to be a symbolic reminder of the sacrifices Jesus Christ made, Morgan said. 

Those looking for a quiet space to think and connect with God may spend time in the celestial room. Considered one of the most sacred places on earth for members of the faith, the space is intended to represent the return to the presence of God. Religious ceremonies are not performed in the celestial room, Morgan said.  

Cushionlike cream carpet hugs each footstep made in the celestial room for members who make their way to any of the couches with botanical designs, olive green fabric chairs or wooden chairs with buttermilk colored cushions. Light from a crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room bounces off of the golden framed mirrors hanging on the walls, illuminating the space.  

Marriages are performed inside the temple’s sealing room, illuminated by three towering, arched stained-glass windows. Green chairs line both sides of the room, one for the bride’s family and the other for the groom. At the center is an altar where the bride and groom kneel across from one another and hold hands. 

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes that couples are married eternally through temple sealing, a practice that ensures death cannot separate loved ones, according to the church. Children and parents can also participate in the ceremony to be sealed as a family unit.

A closer temple  

Bela McKinney is a junior attending Burleson Centennial High School. Before construction of the Fort Worth Texas Temple, the 17-year-old would have to make the tough decision whether to miss practice to visit the temple in Dallas or miss out practicing her faith with kids her age to stay on top of her extracurriculars. 

Soon, McKinney won’t have that problem any more. The new temple will be walking distance from her home. 

“If I’m having a bad day, I can just like come to the top. It’s so cool,” McKinney said. 

McKinney invited friends who are not members of the church to tour the temple while it is still open to the public to learn. 

She hopes they feel the love of Christ there, McKinney said. She also hopes they come back even after the temple is dedicated to enjoy the grounds.

For Lydia Holt, the relief society president and leader of the women’s ministry in the Burleson stake, temples are the place where she finds comfort, peace and refuge. 

Sitting in the celestial room and drawing her eyes up to the heavens brought her to joyous tears, she said. 

She moved to North Texas in the early 2000s and would drive an hour to go to the nearest temple in Dallas. 

Soon, she will exchange the time she took commuting to spending more time in the temple. 

“I’m just so happy to have one so close,” Holt said. “I plan on coming here as often as I can.”  

Marissa Greene is the faith and fellowships editor at the Fort Worth Report. You can contact her at [email protected].

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