title


DIRECTORY
Home
General LDS Information
Basic LDS Beliefs
LDS Videos
Critics' Questions
Submitted Questions
Scriptures/LDS Literature
Genealogy/Family
LDS Temples
Missionary
Music and Arts
LDS Online Stores
Priesthood, Humor, Miscel.
Site Map

Suggest a Site
Now accepting banner ads!

Bookmark and Share



MOBIO - Why shouldnt we submit and perform proxy temple ordinances for celebreties or famous personalities that we admired or liked?

JOEL - The purpose of Genealogy and the performance of Temple ordinances has always been to make salvation available to our own ancestors:

"Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord:
And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse." (Mal 4: 5-6)

The hearts of the children are turned to their fathers through genealogy and the performance of Temple ordinances. This is why we have been instructed by our church leaders to limit our performance of such ordinances for our own ancestors. Church policy instructs that we should only submit for temple ordinances the following individuals:

- Immediate family members.
- Direct-line ancestors (parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and so on, and their families).
- You may also submit the names of the following individuals who have been deceased for at least one year:
- Biological, adoptive, and foster family lines connected to your family. Collateral family lines (uncles, aunts, cousins, and their families).
- Your own descendants.
- Possible ancestors, meaning individuals who have a probable family relationship that cannot be verified because the records are inadequate, such as those who have the same last name and resided in the same area as your known ancestors.
Do not submit the names of persons who are not related to you, including names of famous people or names gathered from unapproved extraction projects, such as victims of the Jewish Holocaust.
You may submit the names of individuals with whom you shared a friendship. This is an exception to the general rule that members should not submit the names of individuals to whom they are not related. Before performing ordinances for a deceased individual who was a friend, you should obtain permission from the individual’s closest living relative. (Member's Guide to Temple and Family History Work)

If members were allowed to submit the names of unrelated celebrities there would no doubt be multiple submissions of such names leading to unnecessary repetition of those names in the Family History files and temple ordinances performed for them. The policy also helps prevent the submission of other improper historical or fictional figures ( eg. Hitler, Mickey Mouse, Homer Simpson, etc)

Return to top
Return to Questions
HOME