The public will get its first look inside a new Latter-day Saint temple in the Dallas-Fort Worth area in 42 years when the Fort Worth Texas Temple opens for free tours running November 5 through November 21, excluding Sundays. The single-story temple sits at 1851 Greenridge Drive in Burleson, and once it is dedicated in January, only members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing will be allowed inside.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is encouraging the public to tour the building before that door closes, according to The Dallas Morning News. Janae Baird, speaking with the outlet, said the church wants non-members to see the temple's beauty and learn what makes it sacred. Temples, per the report, are used for instruction, marriages and baptisms, and the church has said each one is considered a house of the Lord where Jesus Christ's teachings are reaffirmed through sacred ordinances meant to unite families eternally.
A Long-Awaited Second Temple for North Texas
Until now, the region's only operating temple has been in North Dallas, and Baird told the outlet that members currently drive two or three hours to reach it. The Fort Worth Texas Temple was announced in 2021 and broke ground in 2023, and construction has moved steadily toward completion since.
Elder Jose L. Alonso, First Counselor in the North America Southwest Area Presidency, presided over the October 2023 groundbreaking, according to the Church Newsroom. The finished building spans roughly 30,000 square feet on a 9.37-acre site, featuring a light-colored stone exterior, classical architectural detailing and a 120-foot steeple, per the same source. Elder Brandon Ellison, who oversees the greater Fort Worth region, told The Dallas Morning News, “Regardless of your faith tradition, we hope you will come take a tour and share a few minutes with us.”
Media Day and Private Tours Precede the Public Opening
Before the public open house begins, the church will host a media day on November 2, followed by two days of private tours for invited guests on November 3 and 4, according to ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org. The temple's formal dedication is set for Sunday, January 10, 2027, and will be broadcast live to all Latter-day Saint congregations across the Fort Worth temple district, the site notes. After that dedication, the church has invited the public to continue visiting the temple grounds, even though the building's interior will be reserved for members in good standing.
Explosive Membership Growth Across North Texas
The new temple reflects a wave of growth that has reshaped the church's footprint statewide. North Texas Latter-day Saint membership has quadrupled since the Dallas Texas Temple was dedicated in 1984, and the Dallas-Fort Worth area now contains about one quarter of all Texas church members, per Dallas News. Statewide, membership has swelled to roughly 400,000 people, according to the outlet's report.
That growth trajectory isn't new. The Dallas Texas Temple, dedicated in October 1984 as the first Latter-day Saint temple in Texas, needed a major expansion within three years of opening, doubling its floor space to 44,207 square feet due to high attendance, according to ChurchofJesusChristTemples.org. Statewide, Latter-day Saint membership grew from approximately 210,000 members in 2000 to over 385,000 across roughly 750 congregations by 2024, the site reports.
Part of a Broader Statewide Building Push
Fort Worth's temple is one piece of a much larger expansion. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints temples are also located in Houston, San Antonio, Lubbock and McAllen, and the statewide footprint now includes nine operating, under-construction or announced temples, stretching to Austin, Fairview and Fort Bend County.
Not every project has gone as smoothly as Fort Worth's. In nearby Fairview, church representatives and town officials reached a mediated agreement in November 2024 to scale down a proposed temple from 43,000 square feet with a 174-foot spire to a 30,000-square-foot building with a 120-foot tower, following local zoning disputes, according to WFAA. The Fairview Town Council approved the revised conditional use permit in April 2025, and that project remains under construction.
The church's Texas expansion extends beyond temple buildings themselves. Property Reserve Inc., the church's real estate investment arm, acquired nearly 2,900 acres of the historic Nance Ranch along the Blanco River near Kyle in January, as Hoodline reported at the time, part of a pattern of land holdings that stretches well beyond the church's houses of worship.
A Presence Dating Back to the Republic of Texas
The church's roots in the state run far deeper than the current building boom. Official missionary work in Texas began in 1843, and church founder Joseph Smith sent an envoy to negotiate with Republic of Texas President Sam Houston in 1844 over potential Mormon settlement before Smith's death, according to the Texas State Historical Association. Those early migration plans eventually shifted toward Utah after Smith died, the organization notes.
For now, the Burleson temple offers a rare short-term window: anyone curious about the building, regardless of religious affiliation, can walk through it before the January dedication makes it off-limits to non-members. Free tours run through November 21, excluding Sundays, giving North Texans roughly two and a half weeks to see the temple's interior for themselves.
