In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church)—Mormonism's largest denomination—there have been numerous changes to temple ceremonies in the church's over-200-year history. Temples are not churches or meetinghouses designated for public weekly worship services, but rather sacred places that only admit members in good standing with a recommendation from their leaders. LDS Church members perform rituals (termed " ;dfn ;ordinances ;/dfn ;") within temples. They are taught that God has deemed these ordinances as essential to achieving the faith's ultimate goal after death of " ;dfn ;exaltation ;/dfn ;" (i.e. becoming like God). They are also taught that a vast number of dead spirits exist in a condition termed " ;dfn ;spirit prison ;/dfn ;" for whom (by proxy) when the temple ordinances are completed will have the option to accept the ordinances and be freed of their imprisonment. These temple ordinances are performed by a living church member for themself and "on behalf of the dead" or "by proxy".
Ordinances performed in the temple include:
Previous rituals no longer performed in the temple include the following (ordered chronologically by year of discontinuation):
Below is a timeline of changes to these ordinances.
References.
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