Burley Idaho Temple opens for public tours ahead of January dedication

Public tours of the Burley Idaho Temple, operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will begin this week. The tours are open to the public and free of charge from Thursday, November 6, through Saturday, November 22, 2025, except on Sundays. The temple dedication is scheduled for Sunday, January 11, 2026. The dedicatory session will be broadcast to all congregations within the Burley Idaho Temple district.

A media day was held on Monday, November 3, 2025. Local officials and invited guests toured the temple under the guidance of Elder Steven R. Bangerter, executive director of the Temple Department. Elder K. Brett Nattress and Elder Karl D. Hirst, both General Authority Seventies in the Church’s leadership structure, were also present at the event.

The Burley Idaho Temple was announced by President Russell M. Nelson in April 2021. He stated: “Temples are a vital part of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness,” he said. “Ordinances of the temple fill our lives with power and strength available in no other way. We thank God for those blessings.”

The interior design features colors that reflect local farmland and open skies; stained glass patterns include representations of potato plant blossoms as a nod to local agricultural heritage.

This new building will be Idaho’s eleventh temple for Latter-day Saints. Existing temples are located in Boise, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Pocatello, Rexburg and Twin Falls; additional temples have been announced or are under construction in Caldwell, Coeur d’Alene, Montpelier and Teton River.

Idaho has nearly half a million members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across approximately 1,300 congregations.

Temples hold particular significance for church members as sacred places distinct from regular meetinghouses or chapels where weekly worship occurs. Temples serve primarily as locations for ceremonies such as marriages intended to unite families forever and proxy baptisms performed on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not receive baptism during their lifetimes.