What is all the temple for for Mormons?

Answer 1

There are two different types of worship buildings for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly called the "Mormon" church) - Temples and churches.

Churches are also called meetinghouses. Mormon church buildings are used in much the same way as any other Christian church - they host Sunday worship services, Sunday School, youth groups, women's and men's groups, congregation activities, scout troops, community events, and more. Mormon churches generally consist of a large meeting area (the 'chapel') and several smaller classrooms, as well as offices for congregation leadership. Anywhere from one to four congregations may be assigned to share a single church building. Mormon churches and the services and activities held in them are open to the public, and there are over 17,000 Mormon church meetinghouses worldwide.

Temples are especially sacred worship buildings which have no parallel in other modern faiths. As of 2013, there were 140 Mormon Temples worldwide, with several under construction. Unlike church meetinghouses, Temples and the services held in them are open only to practicing adult Mormons who have recieved a recommendation card from their Bishop. (except when Temples are newly built or renovated when public tours are available) Rather than holding regular weekly services, Temples are used only for performing certain sacred ordinances which are generally held on weekdays and Saturdays. Mormons with a Temple recommend card may participate in these ordinances whenever and as often as they wish. The Temple consists of many smaller rooms, rather than one large meeting room. Each room has a specific purpose -

- Dressing rooms are used by almost everyone entering the Temple to change into simple modest white clothing. The only exception is wedding guests, who need only to remove their shoes.

- The Baptistry is usually in the basement or ground floor. It consists of a large baptismal font on the backs of twelve oxen. This baptismal font is used only for performing baptisms in behalf of one's deceased relatives. (baptisms of living people are held in church baptismal fonts or other bodies of water)

- Confirmation rooms are located near the baptistry, where confirmations in behalf of one's deceased relatives are performed.

- Ordinance rooms are on the ground or upper floor. Ordinance rooms consist of theatre-style seating with an altar at the front of the room. In these rooms, participants recieve instruction about God's plan and commandments and make covenants with God to follow these commandments. This is often called the "endowment ceremony". Some Temples use only one ordinance room, and others use a multi-room format, but the ceremony is always the same.

- Sealing rooms are typically on the upper floor. They have an altar in the middle of the room surrounded by chairs for witnesses and guests. Sealing rooms are where weddings are performed. They used to 'seal' couples together in eternal marriages and to 'seal' children to their parents to form eternal famlies.

- the Bride's room is a special dressing room for brides to prepare for their wedding/sealing ceremonies.

- the Celestial room is usually located on an upper floor. It is used only for quiet meditation and prayer, and is supposed to resemble heaven as closely as possible. The Celestial room consists of chairs and couches and looks much like a large living room.

- waiting rooms, instruction rooms, and offices are also found in Temples, and serve for their obvious purpose - waiting for your chosen service to begin, instructing first-time visitors, and performing administrative work.

Check out the "related links" below to learn more about Mormon churches and Temples.