Even after nearly a half century, President David O. McKay is often associated with “every member a missionary” and his reaffirmation of J.E. McCulloch’s “no success in life can compensate for failure in the home.”

Perhaps less known are his interest in and emphasis on temples and temple work in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temples of President McKay’s administration, either completed or announced, included: temples away from North America that could accommodate patrons who speak different languages; temples on the East and West coasts of the United States; temples in Utah that, in the words of President McKay, were to be “economical and functional” (see "David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism," by Gregory Prince and Robert Wright, University of Utah Press, p. 260-271).

In addition to the challenge of multiple languages, temples in the first group were announced in places where stakes of the church did not yet exist. These included Switzerland, England and New Zealand. The endowment presentation would no longer utilize live officiators in the traditional manner, but would utilize a movie-type format that could be adapted to multiple languages.

The second group included temples in Los Angeles and Oakland, California, in the West and the Washington D.C. Temple in the East, which was not completed during President McKay’s lifetime.

With regard to the third group, architect Emil Fetzer recalled the prophet’s directive to construct temples in Ogden and Provo that were less expensive to build and could accommodate greater numbers of patrons. At that time, the Salt Lake Temple accounted for one-third of all temple ordinances being done. Immediately following their completion (after the death of President McKay), the Ogden and Provo temples each accounted for significantly more ordinances being performed than Salt Lake (see "David O. McKay and the Rise of Modern Mormonism").

President McKay’s directives altered the manner in which future temples were designed.