Groundbreaking announced for first temple in Kansas

The groundbreaking ceremony for the Wichita Kansas Temple will take place on Sept. 7.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced the news in a press release. Elder Steven R. Banger, First Counselor in the North America Central Area Presidency, will preside at the event.

The Wichita Kansas Temple will be the first in the state.

The temple is located on a 6.42-acre site on North Meridian Avenue in the Moorings Plaza development in the northern part of Wichita. It will be a single story temple. According to the Church of Jesus Christ , there are around 40,000 Latter-day Saints in Kansas across about 75 congregations. The first branch in the state was organized in 1882.

Right now the closest temple to many members is the Kansas City Missouri Temple. Members of the Church of Jesus Christ consider temples special places of worship. Temples allow faithful members to participate in ordinances that unite family members together forever.

President Russell M. Nelson of the Church of Jesus Christ first announced the Wichita Kansas Temple in an April 2022 general conference talk .

“Positive spiritual momentum increases as we worship in the temple and grow in our understanding of the magnificent breadth and depth of the blessings we receive there,” said President Nelson. “I plead with you to counter worldly ways by focusing on the eternal blessings of the temple. Your time there brings blessings for eternity.”