Are people who build Mormon temples really Mormon themselves?

13 comments

1. Who do you mean specifically?

   The owners? yeah, probably.

   The architect, construction manager, contractors and actual people laying the bricks? Not necessarily.

2. …huh? I’d assume that yes, it’s Mormons deciding that they want to build a Mormon temple. I’d guess that it’s pretty rare for a group of, say, Catholics, to decide “hey, let’s build a Mormon temple!”

   Or are you asking about the construction workers who literally build the temple?

3. I am sure the people that want a Mormon temple are typically Mormon. As for everyone else that is needed to build one, I doubt that matters.

4. Family story is that a family member who was an artist was commissioned to paint some of the murals on the main temple in Salt Lake City before the temple was blessed or consecrated or whatever they call it when they finish it and close it to non-Mormons. This would have been the late 19th or early 20th century.

   The man was definitely a Catholic, a muralist who studied art in Germany, and probably did work on religious buildings out west, but I would not be surprised to learn that the details of exactly where had been changed across the generations.

   But it’s definitely true that Mormon temples are open to the public before they close.

5. Unless the Mormons have a rule about only Mormons building their temples, probably not. I would think they’d just use whatever builders are available and affordable. I really don’t know if they have that kind of rule, though.

6. do they need to be?

7. I really doubt everyone swinging a hammer or pouring concrete is a Mormon. I’m sure there are contractors, subcontractors, and laborers of different backgrounds.

8. Most likely? Seems silly to take the financial burden to build something you don’t believe in.

   Or do you mean the actual builders themselves? Yeah, most likely not. They’re probably just the lowest bidder.

9. Highly doubtful. I doubt a construction crew taking on such a task is going to go without their non-Mormon co-workers, especially in places without a significant Mormon population.

10. As far as the actual construction

    [no the builders do not have to be Mormon](https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/mormon-temple-building-process)

    They do have exacting standards for the contractors and prohibit drinking and smoking on site. They really vet the quality of the contractors.

11. In my experiences, *most* (but not all) work done for most churches *in general* is done by companies owned by people who go to those churches whenever possible.

    When I worked for a landscaping company, for example, I did the landscaping for the owner’s church. I got paid for the work, but he somehow “donated” or “tithed” the cost to pay me and all that to the church. He said it was all considered a charitable donation by the government, but I never got into the details of how that worked.

    If a church can get someone within it’s community to donate, or reduce the cost, of the work, they’re going to do so, and they seem to have a lot of leeway in how they go about classifying that work and getting reduced tax burdens for it.

    So, I’d say, often times the person paying the paychecks of the people building the temples are likely Mormon, but the employees actually doing the work may or may not be.

12. Some but not all I would guess. If there is a contractor in the area who is LDS they will probably get the contract, both because tithing is huge with Mormons and they would probably provide a low bid to help out the church and maybe count towards their tithing quota, and also because Mormons like to support each other’s businesses.

    But I *guarantee* you the people who build synagogues aren’t Jews lol.

13. Most of the time, yes