One of five new temples announced this weekend by Thomas S. Monson, president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will be built in the greater Kansas City area.
Since the early 1830s, Missouri has played an important role in Church history when the Latter-day Saints established communities in Independence and Far West. Kansas also saw early pioneer settlements, but these were abandoned when members of the Church moved to Nauvoo, Illinois, and eventually Utah.
The Church maintains visitors’ centers and commemorative markers in Independence, Liberty, Far West and other historic locations.
As the Church has spread throughout the United States congregations have been established in every major city in the Midwest. In Missouri and Kansas there are approximately 100,000 members. The first Latter-day Saint stake (a stake is similar to a diocese) was established in Kansas City in 1956. In Kansas, the first stake was organized in Wichita in 1962. Today there are also Stakes in Independence, Liberty, Springfield, St. Louis, Platte, Topeka, Salina, Derby, Lenexa, and elsewhere.
More details concerning architectural design and the exact location of the temple will be announced as they are available.