Ground was broken for the Memphis Tennessee Temple on January 16, 1999. The temple serves more than 20,000 members in Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Missouri.[3] On April 23, 2000, James E. Faust dedicated the building for its religious use. The $2 million temple was the second temple to be announced in the state, after the Nashville Tennessee Temple.[4]
The Memphis Tennessee Temple has a total floor area of 10,700 square feet (990 m2), two ordinance rooms, and two sealing rooms.
On April 10, 2017, the LDS Church announced that the temple would close in October 2017 for renovations that would be completed in 2019.[5] As the renovations neared completion, the church originally announced there would be no open house, but an update on April 11, 2019, indicated there would be an open house from April 13 to April 20, excluding Sunday.[6] The temple was rededicated on May 5, 2019, by Jeffrey R. Holland.[7][8]
In 2020, like all the church's other temples, the Memphis Tennessee Temple was closed in response to the coronavirus pandemic.[9]
