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‘Mormon Land’: LDS temple rituals have changed again and again. How and why?

Efficiency, technological and social revolutions and more mean that today’s temple experience is a much different one than under faith founder Joseph Smith.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A sealing room in the Manti Temple. The ceremony, designed to unite couples for eternity, is just one that has seen changes since it was first introduced.

(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) A sealing room in the Manti Temple. The ceremony, designed to unite couples for eternity, is just one that has seen changes since it was first introduced.

By https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/b23adb51-3a3c-4c38-8a46-5a9db80696a1.png Tamarra Kemsley  and https://s3.amazonaws.com/arc-authors/sltrib/f3e9e416-7f19-42ab-bb72-56a51e519a6f.png David Noyce
 | Oct. 29, 2025, 6:00 a.m.
| Updated: 8:11 a.m.

If there is a constant in the history of Latter-day Saint temple worship, it is change. Language used, covenants made, clothing worn and meaning ascribed to all of it — each has evolved since the early 1830s, when Joseph Smith introduced the idea of sacred rituals beyond baptism and confirmation.

In his newly published book, “Holiness to the Lord: Latter-day Saint Temple Worship,” historian Jonathan Stapley explores those changes in greater detail than any other work to date.

(Jonathan Stapley) A Latter-day Saint historian, Stapley offers a detailed and respectful look at the faith's temple liturgy in his latest book, available now.

Those changes have not only practical but also theological implications, he argues, for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the past and the present.

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Tamarra KemsleyReligion reporter

Tamarra Kemsley has been a reporter at The Tribune since 2021 but has been covering religion and politics since 2019. Her work has appeared in Religion News Service, the New York Post, and Religion & Politics. She holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Brigham Young University and a master’s in Islamic studies from Hebrew University.

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David NoyceSenior Managing editor

David is a managing editor at The Tribune, where he has worked since 1984. He oversees coverage ranging from local government and west-side issues to growth, development and housing. In addition, he directs religion reporting, co-hosts the award-winning “Mormon Land” podcast and writes the Mormon Land newsletter.