What to expect when the Mormons Washington D.C. Temple opens to the public

The white and gold spires of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temple in Kensington, Md., are a recognizable sight for many Capital Beltway drivers. Right between Silver Spring and Chevy Chase, they have long been used as a helpful geographical marker.

But the Washington D.C. Temple, as it is officially called, has remained a mystery to many for most of its 48-year existence. Only members of the church, long known by outsiders as Mormons, can enter, leaving passersby to wonder what it’s like inside.

Now, for a limited time, they will have a chance to find out.

From April 28 through June 11, the temple — which has been closed since 2018 for renovations — will be opening to the public. Tours, which will last just under an hour, are free. Tickets need to be reserved for visitors who are parking or taking a special shuttle from the Forest Glen Metro station.

It is a custom of the faith that before a temple is dedicated — or in this case, rededicated following renovations — the space is opened to the public. The last time this happened for the Washington D.C. Temple, which covers more than 150,000 square feet, was in 1974, when it was built. At the time, nearly 750,000 people visited the temple, and church leaders expect the turnout this year to be the same, if not higher.

Once the temple is rededicated on Aug. 14, only LDS Church members will be allowed inside.

In the days before the doors are opened to the public, the church is running private tours. On Monday, media members and guests including Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) took a look inside the marble structure.

“We want you to know that what happens in the temple is not secret, but sacred,” said Reyna Aburto, second counselor for the Relief Society General Presidency, the LDS Church’s women’s organization. Aburto is one of the LDS Church leaders who walked reporters around the building Monday.

In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, temples aren’t usually used for regular Sunday worship services. In fact, they are closed on Sundays, when members go to meeting houses, which are open to any guest who wants to attend a Sunday service. Instead, LDS temples host the faith’s most sacred ceremonies, including baptisms for the dead and marriages.

The Washington D.C. Temple was the first built on the East Coast and remains one of the largest and highest-profile temples in the world. At the time of its opening, the temple’s district — a term the faith uses to organize congregations — included about 20,000 LDS Church members living in the Washington region, as well 280,000 other members across the Eastern United States, Canada, the Caribbean and South America whom the temple served. Its opening, and its growing congregation, reflected the 20th-century expansion of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which is headquartered in Utah.

Today, the temple serves about 150,000 Mormons in the Washington region. There are more than 170 temples around the world serving 16.8 million Church members.

Before entering the temple, guests don shoe covers to help preserve the space. The interior is decorated with gold trim, shining chandeliers and marble structures.

The tour begins by walking across a bridge from the entry room into the temple — a symbol, church leaders said, of leaving the world behind to enter the holy place. The structure is built with such symbolism in mind, intended to reflect the path of growing closer to God and uniting the familial unit.

“It symbolizes a journey,” said David Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, the LDS Church’s highest-ranking elders. “Ultimately, we will end up in a room called the Celestial Room. That’s representative of our heavenly home, returning back to the presence of our Heavenly Father.”

Once inside, guests will be taken downstairs to the baptistery, where the church’s youth members perform baptisms for the dead. The intention is to give ancestors who may not have been baptized while alive an opportunity to be reunited with the family in the afterlife by being baptized in name. Children in the LDS Church are traditionally baptized in their church meeting house at age 8 and then begin baptisms for their ancestors in the temple at age 11. Until then, they are not allowed inside the temple.

Inside the baptism room, a large Jacuzzi-like tub sits on a marble statue of 12 oxen, which represent the 12 tribes of Israel. Behind the tub, a mural of John the Baptist baptizing Jesus stretches across the wall. From this room, guests will climb a staircase lined with rich stained-glass mosaics — each piece of which was carefully removed and polished as part of the renovation.

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Upstairs, guides will take guests through the dressing rooms, where members change into the all-white garments they wear in the temple — a symbol for purity and equality, church leaders said.

“We all dress in white because it represents equality and the desire to be pure before God,” said Kevin Duncan, another church leader who took part in the tours Monday. “So in the temple, you would not be able to tell the oldest member from the youngest member.”

The instruction room is where members view a recorded presentation about how to grow closer to God. Upon completing the instruction, members enter the Celestial Room by passing through a veil — a sacred ceremony known as endowment that LDS Church members first complete when they are at least 18 years old. The Celestial Room is the most sacred space in the temple. One leader said it reflected the “beauty of heaven”; another called it “God’s living room.” Church members ask guests not to speak in the room and instead take in its serenity. The grand room is filled with dozens of chairs and couches for reflecting. Four large, gold-trimmed mirrors line the walls, and 12 crystal chandeliers descend from the vaulted ceiling.

“I’ve made some of the biggest decisions in my life in that room,” said Sharon Eubank, first counselor of the Relief Society General Presidency. “Just trying to quietly think about what should I do next.”

The temple closed in March 2018 to begin the renovations — including the installment of new plumbing and energy-efficient mechanical, electrical and lighting systems. The temple’s reopening was delayed because of the onset of the coronavirus pandemic just as renovations were completed in 2020.

Dan Holt, project manager for the renovation project, said in a news release that the restoration was intended to “bring the building back to its original glory” as a mid-century-modern structure.

Members and LDS Church leaders who had visited the temple before the renovation said the changes were touch-ups to the original structure and design rather than an entirely new interior.

A Gothic arch motif that is designed to direct eyes upward is prevalent in the altars, carpeting, gold leafing and the stained-glass windows. The colors in the glass are lighter the higher up they are, to signify “brighter light we have and the knowledge we receive from the gospel as we learn and grow and ascend to be more like our Heavenly Father,” Holt said in the news release.

Hogan, who first visited the temple in January, said it was special to be welcomed into the building.

“I’ve been driving past it nearly every day since 1974, and [I had] the opportunity to get inside and to see what it’s all about. I mean, it’s not really just about the building, it’s about what goes on in there,” Hogan said.

Church leaders said they hope anyone with questions about the faith will visit the temple. For them, it’s an opportunity to open the doors and share their traditions.

And for the public, it’s an opportunity to finally see inside one of the region’s landmarks.

“It’s an iconic part of the of the Maryland skyline,” Hogan said. “Everybody, whether they’ve been members of the church or they’ve never been inside a church, they certainly know it. It’s something that stands out in the Washington skyline.”

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