Overview[]
On October 7, 2018, President Russell M. Nelson announced the first temple to be constructed in the nation of Cambodia. The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple will make temple ordinances accessible to the over 14,600 Latter-day Saints of Cambodia for whom travel to the Hong Kong China Temple is largely prohibitive. The population of Cambodia is over 16 million. The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple will be the first temple built in Cambodia and the second built in mainland Southeast Asia, following the Bangkok Thailand Temple (currently under construction).
The Phnom Penh Cambodia Temple is the Church's first temple to be announced for Cambodia and the second temple to ever be announced for mainland Southeast Asia after the Bangkok Thailand Temple (announced in 2015). The Church organized its first branch in Cambodia in Phnom Penh in 1994 and created the Cambodia Phnom Pehn Mission in 1997. Rapid membership growth occurred until the mid-2000s followed by moderate or slow membership growth thereafter primarily due to mission leadership emphasis on strengthening local leadership in Phnom Penh and the establishment of stakes and additional districts.
The first two stakes were organized on the same weekend in 2014. The Church reports an official ward or branch in seven cities. Prior to the announcement, Cambodia was the country with the seventh most members without a temple. Today there are more than 14,600 members, one mission, two stakes, four districts, and 29 official congregations (10 wards, 19 branches) in Cambodia. Thus far in 2018, membership has increased by 2.41%. If this rate of membership growth is maintained for the remainder of 2018, church membership for the year will increase by 3.22% - the second slowest annual percentage membership growth ever reported by the Church in Cambodia.[1]
Temple District[]
Temple presidents[]
Notable temple presidents have included:
Access[]
Template:Main article Temple access is available to church members who hold a current temple recommend, as is the case with all operating Latter-day Saints temples. An adjacent visitors center is open to the public. An LDS Church meetinghouse is across the street on the East, which is also open to the public.