{"id":362277,"date":"2026-06-16T03:10:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-16T03:10:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/362277\/"},"modified":"2026-06-16T03:10:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-16T03:10:26","slug":"open-house-dedication-announced-for-modesto-california-temple-church-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/362277\/","title":{"rendered":"Open house, dedication announced for Modesto California Temple \u2013 Church News"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The First Presidency has announced a Sunday, Nov. 22, dedication date for the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/modesto-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Modesto California Temple<\/a> of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">This will be more than five months after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2026\/06\/07\/yorba-linda-california-temple-dedication-president-d-todd-christofferson\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dedication<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/yorba-linda-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Yorba Linda California Temple<\/a> and three months after the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2026\/06\/15\/recently-renovated-san-diego-california-temple-doors-open-tour\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">rededication<\/a> of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/san-diego-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">San Diego California Temple<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2007\/10\/6\/23232563\/elder-quentin-l-cook-apostle-2007-2\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Elder Quentin L. Cook<\/a> of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will dedicate the Modesto temple. Elder Cook had worked as an attorney and business executive in California before being called as a general authority.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Prior to the Nov. 22 dedication, a public open house will be Oct. 16-31, excluding Sundays. A media day is also planned for Oct. 13, and invited guests will tour the sacred edifice Oct. 14-15.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Information about the upcoming dedication \u2014 which will be broadcast to congregations in the temple district \u2014 was announced in a <a href=\"https:\/\/newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org\/article\/news-for-temples-in-california--samoa-and-germany\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org\/article\/news-for-temples-in-california--samoa-and-germany\">June 15 news release<\/a> on <a href=\"https:\/\/churchofjesuschrist.org\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">ChurchofJesusChrist.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"The location of the Modesto California Temple site.\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.83;background-color:#F6F6F6;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/KITICJRMORLPKIFN5UZYMV6IBY.jpg\"  width=\"800\" height=\"438\"\/>The location of the Modesto California Temple site. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints About the Modesto temple<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">On April 3, 2022, then-Church <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/leaders\/2025\/09\/28\/president-russell-m-nelson-dies-101\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">President Russell M. Nelson<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2022\/4\/3\/23217529\/17-new-temples-announced-by-president-nelson-totaling-100-during-his-ministry\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">announced<\/a> a house of the Lord for Modesto, California, one of 17 temple locations he identified in the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2022\/4\/1\/23217651\/lds-general-conference-april-2022-talks-photos-summaries\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">April 2022 general conference<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2023\/10\/9\/23910418\/ground-broken-modesto-california-temple\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Ground was later broken<\/a> Oct. 7, 2023, to begin the construction phase. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/2016\/6\/23\/23222396\/elder-gary-b-sabin-general-authority-seventy-2016\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Elder Gary B. Sabin<\/a> \u2014 then a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America West Area presidency \u2014 presided over the ceremony. This was the day before the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/feather-river-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Feather River California Temple<\/a> was <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2023\/10\/9\/23903934\/elder-ulisses-soares-dedicate-feather-river-california-temple\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">dedicated<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">In his remarks at the Modesto temple\u2019s groundbreaking, Elder Sabin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2023\/10\/9\/23910418\/ground-broken-modesto-california-temple\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said<\/a>: \u201cWe are reminded that temples bring us closer to Christ, and when we come closer to Christ, we are more joyful. We\u2019re so grateful for all the members \u2014 past and present \u2014 whose faith and courage have made this possible along the way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">According to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2022\/10\/10\/23361611\/temple-locations-see-the-newly-announced-sites-for-singapore-modesto-california-temples\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">previously announced<\/a> site plans, the Modesto temple is a single-story edifice of approximately 30,000 square feet. It\u2019s being built on a 17.63-acre site next to an existing meetinghouse at 4300 Dale Road, in Modesto, California.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" alt=\"Elder Gary B. Sabin, center, and his wife, Sister Valerie Sabin, lead invited guests in turning shovels of dirt at the Modesto California Temple groundbreaking on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Modesto, California.\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.50;cursor:pointer\" class=\"c-image\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/X6RF7UAPXNEHN2RCR5VA3R3RKA.png\"  width=\"800\" height=\"533\"\/>Elder Gary B. Sabin \u2014 then a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the North America West Area presidency, center \u2014 and his wife, Sister Valerie Sabin, lead invited guests in turning shovels of dirt at the Modesto California Temple groundbreaking on Saturday, Oct. 7, 2023, in Modesto, California. | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church in California<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Located along the Pacific Ocean coast, California currently has the second-largest number of temples of any U.S. state, with Utah being the first. California currently has 12 houses of the Lord operating, under construction or renovation, and announced.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Nine have already been dedicated: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/los-angeles-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Los Angeles<\/a> (in 1956), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/oakland-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Oakland<\/a> (1964), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/san-diego-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">San Diego<\/a> (1993), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/fresno-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Fresno<\/a> (2000), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/redlands-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Redlands<\/a> (2003), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/newport-beach-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Newport Beach<\/a> (2005), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/sacramento-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sacramento<\/a> (2006), <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/feather-river-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Feather River<\/a> (2023) and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/yorba-linda-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Yorba Linda<\/a> (June 2026) temples.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Of note, the San Diego temple was closed in July 2023 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2023\/7\/31\/23811463\/san-diego-california-temple-closed-extensive-renovations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">for extensive renovations<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/temples\/2026\/03\/02\/san-diego-california-temple-rededication-phnom-penh-cambodia-temple-dedication-announced\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">will soon be rededicated<\/a> on Aug. 23.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/modesto-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Modesto California Temple<\/a> has been under construction since October 2023. Temples are also planned for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/bakersfield-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Bakersfield<\/a> and the San Jose suburb of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thechurchnews.com\/almanac\/temples\/sunnyvale-california\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Sunnyvale<\/a>, both announced in April 2023.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Latter-day Saints first arrived in California on July 31, 1846, in what was then Yerba Buena. The company of around 230 people tripled the population of Yerba Buena and helped build it into the prosperous city of San Francisco.<\/p>\n<p class=\"c-paragraph\">Today, nearly 730,000 Latter-day Saints live in California, meeting in around 600 meetinghouses and more than 1,000 wards and branches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The First Presidency has announced a Sunday, Nov. 22, dedication date for the Modesto California Temple of The&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":362278,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,52607],"class_list":["post-362277","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-temples"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362277","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=362277"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/362277\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/362278"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=362277"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=362277"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=362277"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}