Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Temple Facts

The Bentonville Arkansas Temple was the first temple built in Arkansas.

Temple History

Announcement

On October 5, 2019, President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct the Bentonville Arkansas Temple at the 189th Semiannual General Conference.¹

Site

On April 23, 2020, the location of the Bentonville Arkansas Temple was announced as an 8.8-acre site behind the stake center for the Bentonville Arkansas Stake. The building would stand on I-49 near its junction with Highway 72, providing excellent access to members living throughout the region.²

Rendering

On August 28, 2020, an official exterior rendering of the Bentonville Arkansas Temple was released.

Groundbreaking Ceremony

Presiding from a remote location, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles dedicated the site for the Bentonville Arkansas Temple at a small groundbreaking ceremony held on November 7, 2020. "This is a moment that for most of my life, I never could have imagined would occur even in this moment," said Elder Bednar. "It's also a moment that I wish would never end." Elder Bednar, who was once a professor at the University of Arkansas, has assisted in the organization of two Arkansas stakes including the Bentonville Arkansas Stake. The 25,000-square-foot temple will be constructed on a field next to the stake center.³

Open House and Dedication

A media day was held for the newly constructed Bentonville Arkansas Temple on Monday, June 12, followed by tours for invited guests from Tuesday, June 13, to Friday, June 16, 2023. The public was invited to tour the temple from Saturday, June 17, through Saturday, July 1, with no tours held on Sundays. Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, who lived in Arkansas for approximately 14 years, presided at the dedication of the temple on Sunday, September 17 in two sessions held at 10:00 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. The dedicatory sessions were broadcast to all units in the temple district.⁴

Temple Design

Exterior

The temple is a steel-frame structure with a precast exterior. Structural steel was fabricated and installed by B&B Erectors of Dallas, Texas. The exterior precast was fabricated and installed by Gate Precast of Hillsboro, Texas.

The exterior art glass was designed by Bovard Studio of Fairfield, Iowa, in conjunction with VCBO Architecture. Holdman Studios of Lehi, Utah, fabricated the art glass. The primary designs of the art glass include the dogwood blossom, one of the first spring flowers in the area. Sunbursts and diamond designs are also featured, recognizing Arkansas as home to the only diamond mine in the United States. Red, yellow, and blue patterns are reminiscent of a quilt, speaking to Bentonville’s small-town American heritage.

The primary tree planted on the grounds is the dogwood tree, along with other local trees and shrubs. The landscape architecture was provided by Ecological Design Group (EDG), located in Rogers, Arkansas. The landscape contractor is Superscapes of Carrollton, Texas.

Interior

Soft, gold broadloom carpets designed by Mannington Mills of Salem, New Jersey, are used for the general areas and instruction rooms. Wall-to-wall wool rugs designed by Rugs International of Georgia are used in the celestial, sealing, and bride’s rooms. Area rugs are rendered in blues, greens, golds, and hints of pink. The general stone used for the flooring is vagnelia marble quarried and fabricated in Turkey and installed by Peritia Stone of Waterloo, Iowa.

Decorative interior painting, designed by VCBO Architecture of Salt Lake City, Utah, features soft blues, greens, and golds, with a touch of pink for the dogwood blossoms. It includes several patterns reminiscent of quilting and lace tatting to evoke Bentonville’s small-town American feel. The decorative paint was done by Iconography of Salt Lake City, Utah.

The interior art glass was designed by Bovard Studio of Fairfield, Iowa, in conjunction with VCBO Architecture and fabricated by Holdman Studios. The interior art glass is similar to that of the exterior, using the same patterns and colors.

The temple’s decorative light fixtures are made of glass, bronze, and crystal. The crystal fixtures were designed by Schonbek (Swarovski) in Plattsburgh, New York, and the bowl fixtures throughout the temple were designed by VCBO Architecture.

Decorative wood inlay repeats the dogwood blossom, diamond, and quilting motifs found throughout the temple. Millwork was fabricated by Masterpiece Millwork of Lindon, Utah.

Font railings are turned vertical posts, reminiscent of early American furniture. The materials are bronze with an antique brass finish and glass. Railings were fabricated by Smith Design and Manufacturing of Gunter, Texas.

The exterior entry doors are bronze with a center art glass panel and were fabricated by Ellison Bronze of Falconer, New York. The interior doors are mahogany and use bronze hardware with an antique brass finish. The dogwood blossom motif is used here as well. Masonite International of Tampa, Florida, fabricated the doors, and decorative hardware was designed by VCBO Architecture and manufactured by Luna Bronze of Heber City, Utah.

Ceilings were constructed of gypsum board, acoustic ceiling tile, and additional fiberglassreinforced gypsum. Crown moldings found throughout the temple were fabricated by Masterpiece Millwork. All ceilings were designed by VCBO Architecture.

The temple’s original artwork includes “Falls in Springtime” and “A Sunlit Distant Shore” by Brad Aldridge and “Obedient unto the Commandments of the Lord” by Dan Wilson.

Church History in Arkansas

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints first came to Arkansas when missionaries Henry Brown and Wilford Woodruff arrived there from Clay County, Missouri, on January 28, 1835. Jonathan Hubble and his wife were the first Arkansas converts. They were baptized on February 22, 1835.

For the next several decades many of the area’s new members chose to join the main body of the Church in the American West, but eventually a permanent presence in Arkansas was established. In 1914, a branch (a small congregation) was organized in Barney, Faulkner County, with over 100 members who had gathered to the city from the northern half of the state. Descendants of those early members still worship in local Latter-day Saint congregations today.

By 1930, Arkansas had three formally organized congregations, with other small groups of individuals and families worshipping throughout the Ozarks. The next three decades were difficult years due to the United States’ economy, weather conditions, and World War II. These challenges slowed the Church’s growth in Arkansas, but small gatherings continued. There were members in Fayetteville starting in 1930, and by 1952 a short-lived Bentonville branch had been created. Church members in Bentonville met in a home just two blocks from the city square. A permanent congregation was organized in Fort Smith in 1955.

The first stake (a geographical grouping of multiple congregations, similar to a diocese) in northwest Arkansas was organized in Fort Smith in 1978. Congregations followed in Siloam Springs, Springdale, Huntsville, Alma, Rogers and Bentonville. The Rogers Arkansas Stake was formed in 1991, and David A. Bednar, who currently serves as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for the Church, was called as its first stake president. By the year 2000, Arkansas Church membership had passed 20,000. Today there are more than 35,000 members in 73 congregations, with a high concentration of those Latter-day Saints living near Bentonville.

Church members strive to follow Jesus Christ by prioritizing service and love for their fellow men and women. They serve in community and government positions, and youth and adults donate significant time and resources to their communities’ charitable organizations. The Church helps alleviate hunger in Arkansas through humanitarian aid and the distribution of truckloads of dairy and dry goods to local food banks and pantries. Local Latter-day Saints have also given thousands of volunteer hours in response to natural disasters, such as the 2011 Joplin tornado and the 2019 flooding in the Fort Smith area.

Historically, members of the Church in Arkansas have traveled long distances and sacrificed much to attend the temples in Salt Lake City, Mesa and Dallas. Currently, members travel to Oklahoma City and Kansas City. In October 2019, Church President Russell M. Nelson announced plans to construct Arkansas’s first temple in Bentonville. The Bentonville Arkansas Temple will serve Latter-day Saints in Arkansas and Missouri.