MONTPELIER — Leadership of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced open house and dedication dates for the Montpelier Idaho Temple.

A media day will be held Sept. 8, followed by private tours for invited guests Sept. 9. Public tours will run Sept. 10 through Sept. 26, excluding Sundays.

The dedication will be held at 10 a.m. Oct. 18, with a rebroadcast at 2 p.m. The dedicatory session will be broadcast to all units in the Montpelier Idaho Temple district.

The Montpelier Idaho Temple will be the eighth dedicated temple in Idaho, joining those in Boise, Burley, Idaho Falls, Meridian, Pocatello, Rexburg and Twin Falls.

Three additional temples are planned for Idaho. The Teton River Idaho Temple is under construction, and the Caldwell and Coeur d’Alene Idaho temples have been announced.

Idaho is home to more than 482,000 Latter-day Saints worshipping in over 1,300 congregations, according to a church news release.

Temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints differ from meetinghouses and chapels, where members gather for weekly worship.

According to church teachings, temples are considered houses of the Lord, where members make covenants and participate in ceremonies — including marriages and baptisms — that the faith holds unite families eternally.

At a recent general conference, President Dallin H. Oaks spoke about God’s plan for His children and the role temples play in it, according to the church.

“God’s plan, founded on eternal truth, requires that exaltation can be attained only through faithfulness to the covenants of an eternal marriage between a man and a woman in the holy temple, which marriage will ultimately be available to all the faithful,” Oaks said.