The Kirtland Temple: A short ecclesiastical history

As today, 27 March, is the day upon which the first House of the Lord built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was dedicated, The Mormon Eagle shall give some short ecclesiastical history of the building, from its visionary beginnings until today.

The Kirtland Temple, Kirtland, Ohio

Concerning the floor plan and layout of the Temple, the Lord showed the First Presidency in vision how it was to look.  Frederick G. Williams, then a counselor in the First Presidency, recalled,

Joseph received the word of the Lord for him to take his two counselors, Williams and Rigdon, and come before the Lord, and He would show them the plan or model of the house to be built.  We went upon our knees, called on the Lord, and the building appeared within viewing distance: I being the first to discover it.  Then all of us viewed it together.  After we had taken a good look at the exterior, the building seemed to come right over us; and the make-up of this hall seemed to coincide with what I there saw to a minutia (in Marvin E. Smith, “The Builder,” Improvement Era, Oct. 1942, 630).

West (Melchizedek) Pulpits, Lower Court, of the Kirtland Temple

Construction on the Temple began in June 1833.  President Hyrum Smith, that dutiful servant of the Lord, had such a desire to build the Lord's House.  Hyrum Smith was so eager to build the Temple that on the first day of construction, he, with scythe in hand, dashed outdoors, exclaiming, "We are preparing to build a house for the Lord, and I am determined to be the first at the work" (“The History of Lucy Smith, Mother of the Prophet,” 1844–45 manuscript, book 14, pp. 1–2, Church Archives).

Even before the House was dedicated, the Lord showed marvelous visions within its walls.  The vision now known as D&C 137 is only a partial account of it.  Immediately after the end of what is now D&C 137, the vision continues on:

I saw the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb, who are now upon the earth, who hold the keys of this last ministry, in foreign lands, standing together in a circle, much fatigued, with their clothes tattered and feet swollen, with their eyes cast downward, and Jesus standing in their midst, and they did not behold Him.  The Savior looked upon them and wept.

I also beheld William E. M'Lellin [sic] in the south, standing upon a hill, surrounded by a vast multitude, preaching to them, and a lame man standing before him supported by his crutches; he threw them down at his word and leaped as a hart, by the mighty power of God.  Also, I saw Elder Brigham Young standing in a strange land, in the far south and west, in a desert place, upon a rock in the midst of about a dozen people of color, who appeared hostile.  He was preaching to them in their own tongue, and the angel of God standing above his head, with a drawn sword in his hand, protecting him, but he did not see it.  And I finally saw the Twelve in the celestial kingdom of God.  I also beheld the redemption of Zion, and many things which the tongue of man cannot describe in full (History of the Church, 2:381).

After the dedication of the House of the Lord, Brother Truman O. Angell, later the chief architect for the Salt Lake Temple, recorded that he and Elder Brigham Young were walking by the Temple one night, at which time other Brethren inside were engaged in prayer.  Angell wrote, 

We walked out towards the [Kirtland] Temple, approaching the building on the side which was used for the Prophet Joseph and his counselors, a portion of the attic on the east being especially appropriated to their use.  In the said attic, and right over the stand where the brethren were praying in the hall below were two windows in the gable end to help give light to his compartment or room, the windows being 12 or 14 feet apart, and unusually high from the floor; being nearly 4 feet to the bottom of the lower sash.

When about ten rods distant we looked up and saw two personages; before each window, leaving and approaching each other like guards would do.  This continued until quite dark.  As they were walking back and forth, one turned his face to me for an instant; but while they walked to and fro, only a side view was visible.  I have no doubt that the house was guarded, as I have had no other way to account for it (quoted in Hawkins, Chad S., Holy Places: True Stories of Faith and Miracles From Latter-day Temples, Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Company, 2006, 23).

Unfortunately, the Saints were driven out by apostates in 1838.  During his mission to the East in 1844, President Brigham Young wrote in his journal for Sunday 9 June 1844, "I preached in the temple in the morning, and Brother F[ranklin] D. Richards in the afternoon.  I lectured in the evening on the subject of the location of Nauvoo; the Saints were dead and cold to the things of God" (Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1801-1844, ed. Elden Jay Watson (Salt Lake City: Smith Secretarial Service, 1968).   

An apostate group (the Community of Christ) now owns the building, which is no longer a House of the Lord, but an unholy building, as per President Brigham Young's statement, which states, "The Temple at Kirtland [has] fallen into the hands of wicked men, and by them been polluted, . . . and consequently it [is] disowned by the Father and the Son" (Journal of Discourses 2:32).  Notwithstanding the fact that the Community of Christ is in possession of the building, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is in possession of the Priesthood Keys, the which Keys and Priesthood no other religion possesses.  I hope that one day, the Kirtland Temple will be back in the hands of the Latter-day Saints.  God only knows the time and season.

A Virtual Tour of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple

The newly rebuilt Nauvoo Illinois Temple is a marvel to behold.  It is the only Temple in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to have a bell tower.  The bell in the tower was cast in Holland, and is programmed to strike with the timing of the clock.

The recommend desk is at the front of the temple, where patrons show their recommends to enter the temple.

After showing the temple recommends, patrons can look into the Assembly Room.  I was told by a Temple Worker that the Assembly Room takes up approximately three-quarters of the ground floor of the temple, can seat 500 people, and is used twice a year for devotionals, and also on special occasions as directed by the President of the Church.  Below is pictured the East Pulpits of the Assembly Room on the first floor.  When the temple was dedicated on 27 June 2002 President Hinckley and Monson sat on the brown bench at the lowest West pulpits ("Dedication of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple", Lisle Brown, users.marshall.edu).  The East Pulpits are pictured below, but the West are identical. 

After the Assembly Room has been seen in all its magnificence, the Spiral Staircase is then ascended.  The first tier of circular windows (the second floor) is where the dressing rooms are located.  After one is dressed, the Spiral Staircase is ascended again, this time to the second tier of arched windows where the Endowment Rooms are located.

The Spiral Staircase from just above the Second floor

On the Third floor is located all the Endowment Rooms.  The following are the rooms in order as seen during the Endowment.

Creation Room

Garden Room

World Room

Unfortunately, I could not find a picture of the Terrestrial Room for the Nauvoo Temple.  If anyone knows where I can find one, the help would be much appreciated.

Here is the Celestial Room.  Notice the Pentagrams and Morning Stars carved into the walls.  Also, a variation of the Sunstones are carved here, too.  If you look closely on the table in the center of the Room (with the flower as the centerpiece), you will notice that the feet of the table are rams' heads.  On a side note, when the Latter-day Saints rebuilt this temple, care was taken to ensure that the furnishings were as close to the look of the 1840s as possible. 

The Nauvoo Illinois Temple holds the prize as having the largest Baptistry out of all the Temples because the LDS Church simply reconstructed it as it was in 1846.

I hope the reader has gained a greater appreciation of the House of the Lord, the Endowments found therein, and Jesus the Christ.

LDS Temples and their Priesthood Assembly Rooms

There are 8 temples built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that have Assembly Rooms, and 7 temples whose Assembly Room is used at least once a year.  Temples with Assembly Rooms of some kind are located, in order of construction: Kirtland, Ohio; Nauvoo, Illinois; St. George, Utah; Logan, Utah; Manti, Utah; Salt Lake City, Utah; Los Angeles, California; and Washington D.C.

KIRTLAND TEMPLE: Kirland, Ohio (1833-1836)

The Kirtland Temple was constructed from the Summer of 1833 to Spring 1836.  It is the first temple to have Assembly Halls of any kind in this dispensation.  One was on the bottom floor, used for worship services.  The second was on the top floor, used for educational classes.  The lower court is pictured above.

The west pulpits are for the Melchizedek Priesthood, and the east for the Aaronic Priesthood.  This is the same in all other LDS Temples.  The lettering* on the west pulpits is as follows, reading from the top pulpits to the bottom:

M.P.C. (Melchizedek Presiding Council) – First Presidency of the Church or Stake Presidency

P.M.H. (Presiding Melchizedek High Priesthood) – Quorum of Twelve Apostles or Stake High Council

M.H.P. (Melchizedek High Priesthood) – High Priests Quorum

P.E.M. (Presiding or Presidency Elders Melchizedek) – Elders Quorum Presidency

The lettering* on the east side is thus, also from the top pulpits to the bottom:

B.P.A. (Bishop Presiding over Aaronic Priesthood) – Presiding Bishopric or local Bishopric

P.A.P. (Presiding or Presidency Aaronic Priests) – Priest’s Quorum Reps

P.T.A. (Presiding or Presidency Teachers Aaronic Priesthood) – Teachers Quorum Presidency

P.D.A. (Presiding or Presidency Deacons Aaronic Priesthood) – Deacons Quorum Presidency

*The information on the lettering were found here:  Backman Jr., Milton Vaughn, The Heavens Resound: A History of the Latter-day Saints in Ohio, 1830–1838, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983, 160; Black, Harry, Kirtland Temple, Independence, Mo.: Herald House, 1958, 17–18; Cowan, Richard O., Temples to Dot the Earth, Springville, Utah: Cedar Fort Incorporated, 1997, 21–35; and Fields, Clarence L., “History of the Kirtland Temple,” master’s thesis, Brigham Young University, 1963, 28.

NAUVOO ILLINOIS TEMPLE: Nauvoo, Illinois (1999-2002)

The second temple built by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints lies in a town on the banks of the Mississippi River in Western Illinois.

The Nauvoo Temple originally had two large assembly halls, one above another.  General Conference was held in the Assembly Hall on the first floor in October 1845.  This is the first of only three occurrences in which a General Conference was held in a temple.  This temple was gutted by an arson fire in 1848, and then the remaining walls were destroyed by a tornado in 1850.  The temple has since been rebuilt (2002), and the first floor has an assembly hall, albeit on a smaller scale as that found in the original.  The new Assembly Room holds500 people, including in the pulpits.  

Many have wondered what the lettering on the original pulpits stated.  We have two completely different sources giving the answer.  One is J. H. Buckingham, who apparently was a non-Mormon.  He lists the following letters and meanings when he toured the Nauvoo Temple in the late 1840s (Buckingham, Papers in Illinois History and Transactions, 1937; "Illinois as Lincoln Knew It", Illinois State Historical Society, Springfield, Illinois, p. 172).  On the east end of the hall stood the Melchizedek Priesthood pulpits, which had, set in gilded letters, written (from the highest pulpit to the lowest):

P.H.P. - President of the High Priesthood (First Presidency of the Church)

P.S.Z. - President of the Seventies in Zion

P.H.Q. - President of the High Priests Quorum (Stake Presidency)

P.E.Q. - President of the Elders Quorum.  

The second source for the meanings of the gilded lettering of the original Nauvoo Temple pulpits comes from a Latter-day Saint who happened to be in the Temple on 1 May 1846, when it was publicly dedicated.  His testimony agrees with Mr. Buckingham.  The Mormon spoken of was James A. Scott.  He wrote in his journal the meaning of the letters (Journal of James A. Scott, p. 4, LDS Church Archives). 

Above these pulpits, in gilded letters, were the words, The Lord Has Seen Our Sacrifice - Come After Us.

The pulpits on the west were for the Aaronic Priesthood.  The lettering thereon was, according to users.marshall.edu:

P.A.P - President of the Aaronic Priesthood (President Bishopric)

P.P.Q - President of the Priest's Quorum (local Bishopric)

P.T.Q - President of the Teacher's Quorum

P.D.Q - President of the Deacon's Quorum

These initial do not appear in the current Assembly Room's pulpits, unfortunately.  When the temple was dedicated on 27 June 2002 Presidents Hinckley and Monson sat on the brown bench at the lowest West (Aaronic) pulpits, which are the pulpits closest to the reader in the below picture. (Lisle Brown, "Dedication of the Nauvoo Illinois Temple", users.marshall.edu).

ST. GEORGE UTAH TEMPLE: St. George, Utah (1871-1877)
This temple was built from 1871 to 1877.  It was here in 1877 that a second General Conference of the Church was held in a temple, where on 6 April 1877 it was dedicated by President Daniel H. Wells of the First Presidency.

Aaronic Priesthood Pulpits

LOGAN UTAH TEMPLE: Logan, Utah (1877-1884)

This temple was constructed from 1877 to 1884.  There have been numerous Solemn Assemblies held in this Assembly Room.  In one such Assembly, President David O. McKay developed "Every Member a Missionary!", his trademark phrase.  The Solemn Assembly was given on 21 September 1953.  Also present at this Solemn Assembly were: 1,500 Melchizedek Priesthood holders, Presidents Stephen L. Richards, and Clark; and Elders Joseph Fielding Smith, Lee, Spencer W. Kimball, Petersen, Cowley, Moyle, Stapley, Romney, LeGrand Richards, Bennion, Morris, Evans, and McConkie (The Logan Temple: The First 100 Years, p. 196-197).

Two more Solemn Assemblies of note took place in this House of the Lord.  On 4 May 1967 all Returned Missionaries attending Utah State University and then-Weber State College met in the Assembly Room and were instructed by then-Elder Thomas S. Monson and Elder Hugh B. Brown (Ibid.).

The final Solemn Assembly held in the Logan Temple was on 6 December 1975, wherein 1,340 Priesthood leaders in the Logan Temple District heard sermons from Presidents Kimball, Tanner, and Romney, as well as from Elders Benson and Petersen (Ibid.).

I also have a friend who served in the Utah Ogden Mission in the early 2000s.  He told me that he had the opportunity of having two Zone Conferences in the Assembly Room of the Logan Temple, during which all the missionaries sang "The Spirit of God".

MANTI UTAH TEMPLE: Manti, Utah (1877-1888)
The House of the Lord at Manti was announced in 1875.  I went through this temple for the first time in the summer of 2008.  While there, I asked a temple worker how often they use the Assembly Room.  She told me that the Assembly Room is used at least once a year for a devotional with all the temple workers.

 

SALT LAKE TEMPLE: Salt Lake City, Utah (1853-1893)

The flagship temple in the LDS Church, the Salt Lake Temple was built between 1853 to 1893, being dedicated by President Wilford Woodruff on 6 April 1893.  From ldschurchnews.com, we read, "July 2 [1899] — A solemn assembly was held in the Salt Lake Temple, attended by the Church's 26 General Authorities, presidencies of the 40 stakes, and bishops of the 478 wards of the Church. The assembly accepted the resolution that tithing is the 'word and will of the Lord unto us.'"  During the April General Conference of 1942, "Conference sessions were held in . . . the assembly room of the Salt Lake Temple."  Also, when my father was in the Mission Home in Salt Lake City in 1973, he was instructed by President Spencer W. Kimball in this Assembly Room.  Also, semi-annually, a devotional occurs in this room for all the temple workers.  All General Authorities meet in this room monthly.

LOS ANGELES CALIFORNIA TEMPLE: Los Angeles, California (1951-1956)

Built from 1951 to 1956, the Los Angeles California Temple was the first temple in California, and the tenth in the Church.  Originally it was the largest temple in the Church, but the Salt Lake Temple has had additions that make the LA Temple now number two in size.

WASHINGTON D.C. TEMPLE: Washington D.C (1968-1974)
The temple in which I was endowed, this massive temple is the tallest in the Church, standing 306 feet tall to the top of the Angel Moroni, which Angel Moroni is 18 feet tall.  It is one of five Angel Moroni statues holding the Gold Plates.  It is the last temple in the Church to have an Assembly Room.