“The Lord is hastening His work to gather Israel. That gathering is the most important thing taking place on earth today. Nothing else compares in magnitude, nothing else compares in importance, nothing else compares in majesty. And if you choose to, if you want to, you can be a big part of it”

— President Russell M. Nelson

Monthly Temple and Family History Conference Talk

Richmond Virginia Temple Schedule

Effective January 1, 2025

TUESDAY

Endowment:   5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

Initiatory:    Sessions every half-hour from 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Baptistry:    5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

WEDNESDAY

Endowment:   8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 pm; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

Initiatory:    Sessions every half-hour from 8:00 to 11:30 am; 12:30 to 4:30 pm; 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Baptistry:    8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 pm; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

THURSDAY

Endowment:   8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

Initiatory:    Sessions every half-hour from 8:00 am to 12:00 pm; 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Baptistry:    8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

FRIDAY

Endowment:   8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 pm; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

Initiatory:    Sessions every half-hour from 8:00 to 11:30 am; 12:30 to 4:30 pm; 5:30 to 8:30 pm

Baptistry:    8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 am; 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 pm; 5:30, 6:30, 7:30 pm

SATURDAY

Endowment:   7:30, 8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 10:30, 11:00 am; 12:30, 1:00, 1:30, 2:30, 3:00 pm

Initiatory:    Sessions every half-hour from 7:30 to 11:30 am; 12:30 to 4:00 pm

Baptistry:    7:30, 8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 am; 12:30, 1:30, 2:30, 3:30 pm 

Ward Temple and Family History Leaders:

Ward Temple and Family History Leader: Rick Perkins

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Judy Amos

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Judy Gaskin

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Carol Johnson

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Dean Johnson

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Nancy McCarty

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Shelece Nance

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Martha Powers

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Suzie Romans

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Curt Rowland

Ward Temple and Family History Consultant: Pat Watson

Temple Preparation Class Teacher: Marcello Silvério & Luciana Silvério

Church Announces Adjustments to Temple Schedule Procedures

Latter-day Saints who would like to attend the temple to perform proxy ordinances will have the option to either reserve an appointment or attend without an appointment, where space is available. As priority will be given to patrons with appointments, those who attend the temple without a reservation may be asked to wait for an opportunity to participate. As it has always been, appointments will still be necessary for all members who come to receive their own ordinances (endowment and sealing).

What's Below?

Lots to see and read below. The remaining sections contain: links to some online temple and family history resources, a detailed section on the Richmond Virginia Temple, family history activities, what are temples and why we build them, what happens in a temple, preparing for your temple visit, the true power of temple work, and a short history about our stake. Enjoy!!

A Look at the Richmond Virginia Temple

Symbols Found In the Richmond Virginia Temple

The dogwood flower can be seen throughout the temple.

The Octagon Is also a symbol of Christ and is also found in both the Inside and outside of the temple.

A little Richmond Virginia Temple History

Announcement:  1 April 2018

Groundbreaking and Site Dedication:  11 April 2020 by Randall K. Bennett - Click Here to view or download the story of the groundbreaking.

Public Open House:  25 March–15 April 2023

Dedication:  7 May 2023 by Dallin H. Oaks

Dedicatory Prayer:

Our Father in Heaven: As Thy grateful children we approach Thee in prayer on this great occasion when, by the power of Thy Holy Priesthood, we will dedicate this Richmond Virginia Temple unto Thee and Thy beloved Son, for Thy work and Thy glory.

We thank Thee for the plan Thou hast established for the eternal life of Thy children. We thank Thee for Thine Only Begotten Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, for His Atonement for our sins, His resurrection for our immortality, and His experiencing our pains and infirmities that He may strengthen us in our infirmities. We thank Thee for the Holy Ghost, Thy Holy Spirit, who testifies of Thee and Thy Son and who leads us into truth.

We thank Thee for the restoration of the gospel, beginning with Thy appearance with Thine only Begotten Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith whom Thou hast called to bring forth the Book of Mormon as another witness of Thy Son and of Thy plan of happiness for Thy children. We thank Thee for the restoration of the authority and keys of the Holy Priesthood by which we proclaim Thy word and perform Thy prescribed ordinances of salvation.

We thank Thee for Thy blessings to this nation and pray that Thou wilt inspire and strengthen those who seek to preserve our constitutional form of government. We pray especially for its leaders and for all that reside here that we may qualify for Thy promises that if we will serve Thee and keep Thy commandments we will prosper in the land.

We pray for the youth of Zion — the rising generation — that they may manifest the truths of thy gospel in wise choices and activities. We pray for Thy blessings on our missionaries, young and older.

We thank Thee for the members of Thy Church whose faithful payment of tithes has made possible the construction of this beautiful temple.

We pray for the millions of Thy children who contend for freedom and those who have been displaced from their homes by the ravages of war to become refugees in other nations and places. Please bless them and all who seek to relieve their suffering and give them hope.

We pray for the fulfillment of Thy prophecies for the gathering of Israel, that the way may be opened for Thy servants and Thy work to be established and blessed in all the world.

Please bless the presidents of Thy temples who hold the keys for the sacred work in these houses of the Lord. And please bless the counselors and matrons and assistant matrons and all who work under their direction as they exercise the authority of Thy Holy Priesthood in these sacred ordinances and covenants. Please bless all who worthily serve in Thy holy temples that they may participate with joy and understanding that thy work will go forward in power to fulfill Thy purposes for all Thy children.

We pray that Thy Spirit will always be present in these holy spaces to enlighten and guide and bless all who are here and all that is said and done here.

We pray that Thou wilt protect this temple and all of its surrounding facilities from every destructive influence of any kind.

Now, Beloved Father in Heaven, by the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood, we dedicate and consecrate unto Thee this Richmond Virginia Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We dedicate unto Thee every part of this sacred structure and its surroundings for its holy purposes, including the grounds and ancillary facilities and the landscaping and decorations. We dedicate all of this temple’s structural parts from its foundations to its crowning steeple. We dedicate the baptistry, the ordinance rooms, the sealing rooms, the celestial room, and all the other locations in this Holy House to perform their sacred functions.

And now we renew our expressions of love and thanks to Thee as we dedicate this temple unto Thee and Thy sacred work and pray for these blessings in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Story of the Dedication

Click Here to view or download the story of the temple dedication.

Site:  12 acres  |  4.9 hectares

Architectural Features:  Single attached end spire with an angel Moroni statue

Ordinance Rooms:  Four instruction rooms, three sealing rooms, and one baptistry

Total Floor Area:  39,202 square feet  |  3,642 square meters

Elevation:  280.71 feet  |  85.56 meters

Open House and Dedication

The open house for the Richmond Virginia Temple begins with a media day on Monday, March 20, followed by tours for invited guests from March 21–24, 2023. The general public is invited to tour the temple from Saturday, March 25, through Saturday, April 15, 2023 with no tours held on Sundays or Saturday, April 1 (during general conference). The temple will be dedicated on Sunday, May 7, 2023 with President Dallin H. Oaks of the First Presidency presiding. The dedicatory sessions will be broadcast to all units in the temple district at 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.1

Click Here to view or download the story of the temple dedication.

Temple Locale

The Richmond Virginia Temple sits on a 12-acre wooded site at the corner of Staples Mill Road and Mountain Road near Glen Allen in Henrico County. The temple design reflects a blend of Georgian, Federal, and Jeffersonian architecture. The paths, lighting, and landscaping draw inspiration from the gardens and grounds of historic Williamsburg, Virginia. Local varieties of trees, hedges, and flowers were selected for the temple grounds including dogwood, magnolia, white oak, boxwood, and Virginia bluebells. The dogwood, Virginia's state tree and flower, is featured in patterns inside and outside the temple.

Missionaries for the Church first arrived in Virginia in the early 1840s. By 1841, approximately 80 people had joined the Church in Virginia. There are now nearly 100,000 members across the state, which had previously been the state with the most members without a temple. Richmond is the capital of Virginia, and its central location will serve the members in Virginia well.

Temple Facts

The Richmond Virginia Temple was the first temple built in Virginia.

Temple History

Announcement

The first temple to be constructed in the state of Virginia was announced by President Russell M. Nelson at the 188th Annual General Conference. "It is a dream come true," said Ruby Barley of the announcement. The 89-year-old and her family were among the first baptized in Spotsylvania County near Fredericksburg, Virginia. Jenni McCall, a Relief Society president in Stafford County was "ecstatic" about the announcement. "This will make such a difference to all of us," she said. Church members traveled to the Washington D.C. Temple to participate in temple services, often enduring heavy stop-and-go traffic.2

Rendering

On August 28, 2019, the official exterior and interior renderings of the Richmond Virginia Temple were released to the public in conjunction with an open house held for Church members, neighbors, and journalists. A site plan showed the orientation of the temple, an adjoining meetinghouse, and a maintenance building.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

A very small but sacred service was held on Saturday, April 11, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. to dedicate the Richmond Virginia Temple site and to formally break ground on the project. Elder Randall K. Bennett, president of the North America Northeast Area, offered the site dedicatory prayer. He was accompanied by his wife, Shelley; newly called Area Seventy, Elder J. Matthew Scott; and Elder Scott's wife, Allyson. To comply with guidelines issued in response to COVID-19, the service was scaled down to a handful of leaders and was not broadcast to stake centers in the temple district as originally intended.

Temple Design

Exterior

The exterior of the temple is clad with Moleanos stone articulated with a Jeffersonian version of a Doric order (found in Greek and Roman architecture). Added to this are interlocking diamond circles and the dogwood flower. These elements are found on buildings throughout the Richmond area, from Williamsburg to Monticello and the University of Virginia.

The art glass was designed by The Richardson Design Partnership in Salt Lake City, Utah. Blue, gold and red glass is used in the design, which pulls from an early American color palette. The design incorporates a diamond motif found in local designs. The window design is reflective of the simple divided light found in historic buildings of colonial Virginia.

Plants chosen for the site were based on precedents taken from colonial-era gardens to match the temple architecture and historic landscapes of the state. Colonial Williamsburg provided insight into early American gardens and helped inform the historic blend between a formal and informal garden style. Landscaping was done with collaboration between landscape architect Loci, located in Salt Lake City, Utah, and local landscape architect LPDA, located in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The site was heavily forested, and much of the existing tree cover was removed to accommodate the proposed improvements to the site. Healthy trees were preserved in several predesignated areas on the site plan. New trees were provided to mitigate the diminished tree coverage along neighboring properties. Several dogwood trees will provide spring flowers near the temple that match interior elements. Evergreen trees and shrubs are also included in the landscaping.

Interior

Blues, reds and golds are used in the carpets and rug designs. The main carpet throughout the building is a royal navy-blue color with an octagon shape pattern repeated throughout. Incorporated within the octagon design is a motif of the dogwood blossom. The carpet was designed and fabricated by Bentley Mills, located in City of Industry, California. The carpet carving in the celestial and sealing rooms is made of an octagon border with a guilloche (interlocking circle) infill, and the dogwood blossom motif is incorporated in the guilloche circles and the corners in the celestial room. The octagon is a familiar form used in Jeffersonian designs. The carpet was carved by Halfmoon Studio in Midvale, Utah.

The marble stone flooring is an adaptation of a diamond parquet pattern found at Monticello. It is made of a combination of Crema Marfil, Emperador Light and Cloudy Beige marble tiles. White oak is used for flooring along the second-floor corridor and the celestial room. The rugs are designed by Rugs International in China and Lisa Ann Interiors in Layton, Utah, and they incorporate both the octagon and dogwood motif.

Blues, pinks, greens and golds are used in the decorative paint designed by The Richardson Design Partnership in Salt Lake City. The design includes octagons with a guilloche (interlocking circle) border accented with the dogwood flower. The decorative paint is found in the baptistry, celestial room, sealing room, instruction room and bride’s room.

The art glass in the entry is a restored piece, “The Good Shepherd,” made by Flanagan and Beidenweg, circa 1920. It came from the collection of Mr. John Hendrickson, Minnesota. The other art glass used in the interior doors match the exterior art glass.

Adapted from catalog period pieces (lantern pendants with candles to reflect early American fixtures), the decorative lighting was designed by The Richardson Design Partnership in Salt Lake City, Utah, and installed by M&E Contractors of Richmond, Virginia. Oil rubbed bronze, glass and crystal are the primary materials of the decorative lighting. The crystal lighting fixtures in the celestial and sealing rooms are Schonbek fixtures manufactured in Plattsburgh, New York. The manufacturers were Hudson Valley Lighting and Rambusch Lighting, both located in New York state.

The baptistry railings use an interlocking diamond motif found on local traditional architecture. The railing is made of bronze posts with Peruvian walnut wood cap and etched glass panels. The railings were fabricated and installed by Baer Welding of Providence, Utah.

The doors are painted wood doors and the hardware is cast bronze with an oil rubbed finish. The door hardware, inspired by colonial design, includes a small dogwood flower. The doors were fabricated by TruStile Doors of Denver, Colorado, and installed by Gaithersburg Architectural Millwork of Warrenton, Virginia. Luna Bronze of Heber City, Utah, fabricated all the custom hardware in the temple.

The majority of the millwork throughout the temple is painted in an effort to reflect similar techniques seen in early colonial style interior architecture and was fabricated and installed by Gaithersburg Architectural Millwork from Warrenton, Virginia. The different wall coverings were manufactured by Momentum Textiles and Wallcovering in the instruction rooms, Arthouse in the bride’s room and Maya Romanoff in the sealing rooms.

The ceilings are painted gypsum board with painted wood crown molding throughout. Ornamental molded ceiling medallions are located at each decorative light fixture, typical of formal colonial buildings. The decorative ceilings were custom painted by Iconography Studio in Salt Lake City, Utah.

“Shenandoah River” by Brad Aldridge; “The Waters of Autumn” by Adair Payne; “Tidewater Spring” by Adair Payne; “We Do Not Doubt Our Mothers Knew It” by Dan Wilson.

Construction

On November 20, 2019, the Henrico County Planning Commission approved the plan of development and the lighting plan for the Richmond Virginia Temple. 

On August 28, 2019, an open house was held for Church members, neighbors, and journalists where eight interior and exterior renderings of the Richmond Virginia Temple were on displayed. A site plan shows the orientation of the temple, an adjoining meetinghouse, and a maintenance building.

Original Temple Rendering

On August 28, 2019, the official rendering of the Richmond Virginia Temple and renderings of the interior were released to the public in conjunction with an open house held for Church members, neighbors, and journalists.

Temple Design

Preliminary plans for the Richmond Virginia Temple were submitted to Henrico County on March 22, 2019 and proposed a two-story, 36,200-square-foot temple with a large steeple capped with an angel Moroni statue, an adjoining 16,200-square-foot meetinghouse, a maintenance building, extensive landscaping, and a total of 240 parking spaces. An existing two-story home at 4151 Mountain Road will remain as a residence for the Virginia Richmond Mission president and his family.

1. "Dedication Dates Released for Two Temples in United States," The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints News Release, 14 Nov. 2022.

2. Emily Jennings, "Local Latter-day Saints look forward to a new Mormon temple in Richmond," The Free Lance–Star 18 May 2018, 5 Oct. 2018 <https://www.fredericksburg.com/features/religion/local-latter-day-saints-look-forward-to-a-new-mormon/article_75e06594-19d2-5244-8f30-99fb0a01fb1e.html>.

• Index a batch.

• Load the Family Tree App on your mobile device.

• Add a memory to someone in your tree in family search, written, photo, or audio.

• Call a family member and ask about family memories, stories, traditions, etc.

• Share a family story or tradition with friends or family.

• Write part of your personal history.

• Complete 4 generation chart.  Enter it in Family Tree or Family Search.

• Submit a name to the temple for ordinance work.

"Memories is a tool in FamilySearch that allows you to preserve and share your family’s most important moments by adding family photos, documents, audio clips and stories. You can then organize and tag them, attaching them to individuals on your family tree. This turns these treasured moments into heirlooms that can be passed down in your family and easily accessed by even distant family members."

Ready to learn how? Get step by step instructions by reading the rest of the article: "Add Multiple Pictures in FamilySearch Memories—Share Your Family Stories!"

We invite you to watch this introductory video before you visit the temple which explains why we build temples and how our worship there brings comfort and peace to our lives. We hope that preparing to enter will elevate your temple experience. 

"Each temple is a beacon of light and hope. The temple, the House of the Lord, stands as a symbol of our faith in life after death and as a stepping stone to eternal life for us and our families. The temple is a sacred and essential part of God’s plan for our happiness, now and forever."

Russell M. Nelson, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

This website is NOT an official website of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.