Harare Zimbabwe Temple Open House: A New Era for Southern Africa

Since 1985, Latter-day Saints in this region of Southern Africa have traveled to Johannesburg for temple ordinances. The Harare Zimbabwe Temple will now serve over 46,000 Latter-day Saints who reside in Zimbabwe, as well as members in surrounding areas. When this temple was announced in 2016 by President Thomas S. Monson, there were 150 temples in operation throughout the world. Now, nearly 10 years later, there are 383 temples dedicated, under construction or announced across the globe. “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is constructing temples all over the world,” President Dallin H. Oaks said in 2024. “Their purpose is to bless the covenant children of God with temple worship and with the sacred responsibilities and powers and unique blessings of being bound to Christ they receive by covenant.” The temple features design elements that celebrate the surrounding area, including a floral motif in the stained-glass windows that represents Zimbabwe’s national flower, the flame lily. Throughout the building, more flora native to Harare can be found in paintings and rug designs, including Aloe ballii, Yoruban bologi, African lettuce, Terracotta gazania, Aspilia mossambicensis and Wentzel’s sugarbush. Latter-day Saints consider each temple a house of the Lord and the most sacred place of worship on earth. Temples differ from the Church’s meetinghouses (chapels). All are welcome to attend Sunday worship services and other weekday activities at local meetinghouses. The primary purpose of temples is for faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ to participate in sacred ceremonies such as marriages, which unite families forever, and proxy baptisms on behalf of deceased ancestors who did not have the opportunity to be baptized while living. Media Kit: Temple Facts, History of The Church of Jesus Christ in Zimbabwe