090616_Kirtland Temple

After the Visitors' Center, we moved on to the Kirtland Temple, currently owned by the Community of Christ for many years.  It was a very special opportunity to visit the site and the temple.  To stand in the same places that Joseph Smith and many other of the original leaders of the church stood.  To stand in areas of the temple that Heavenly messengers stood and delivered Heavenly Father's direction for us mere mortals.  Quite a wonderful opportunity.

First off, the CofC does not allow you to take any pictures inside the temple at all.  In fact, they point to an 1830 directive that says you must have someone with you at all times as a guide in order to look at the building.  So, you will see no inside pictures.   Our guide never left our side, not even once.  Very knowledgable about the temple, though.  But, very rehearsed.

The local sign near the temple entrance.

Here's the Community of Christ' sign next to the temple.

The front of the Kirtland temple with that gal I've been driving around with...note the green doors.  At one time they used to be red and they changed the color but our guide couldn't really tell us why the color change.  The roof at one time was red also.

This is one of the steps into the temple.  Note that these steps have an almost identical pattern to the steps in the Nauvoo temple.  Well, of course they would, now wouldn't they?

Over the threshold of the entry doors.  At the time the church was known as "The Church of the Latter-Day Saints" and it had not been revealed, yet, to include Jesus Christ in it's title.  It was also called the "House of the Lord" and not referred to as a "Temple" in those days.

From the front, including the sign.  I couldn't quite get everything in the picture.  There is a weathervane on the top and no angel or other figure.  After the turn of the 20th century, they had to replace the original weathervane with something that was in better shape as the original one was in pretty poor condition.

A better shot from the front.  You can see the weathervane in this one.  Note all three floors.

This is, more or less, the shot that everyone typically sees of the Kirtland Temple, from the side.

Here is a shot no one shows from the back of the temple.  It's pretty dense in the back so this one is a lot harder to get but you can see the upper story where they have the study area and classrooms.

One of the things I learned, that I did not know, was that the 2nd floor is nearly identical to the first floor with the same East and West facing arrangements of 4 rows of seats that are tiered up to the top, both sides.  The 2nd story is a kind of study area and had drop down desk to use in the pews or seating areas, most of them put in around the late 1880's.  The 1st floor is what you see in all the inside pictures of the temple and is quite grand and well finished.  The 2nd floor is not nearly as well finished but is very similar in seating.  The third floor is kind of an afterthought as it was put in between the ceiling joist then walls were put in with doors between each joist to close off the rooms.  There are several different rooms but each room is identical in size and shape as one would expect if you added these later.

The guide was very knowledgeable and almost made my ears bleed from her well rehearsed tour voice  She's done this about a million times and it was obvious.  Not to take away from that but it was what I would call very routine.  She had answers for everything, and that's a good thing.  I mentioned I was working in the Nauvoo Temple as a building engineer and it almost registered something with her.  She mentioned that if I had called ahead, we may have been able to arrange a tour of the basement, bell tower, and other areas reserved for "special" visitors.  Well, I guess I'll chalk that up as a missed opportunity in my lifetime.  They ring the bell 50 times on Sunday as a call to worship.  I don't think they worship in the building but I am not sure.  I'm betting the neighbors are thrilled with that...

Like I said, I was forbidden to take pictures inside.  This is a standard procedure at all historical sites of the C of C church.  However, they have no problems selling you, at a "modest fee", a book that will have pictures in it.  Our guide described that as "filthy lucre" but the allusion was lost on me...I was too busy looking at stuff.

All in all, the musty, moldy smell as you walked into the building spoke of some serious issues with the building.  Peeling paint everywhere, split wood, very old building issues were everywhere.  It's apparent they are not spending a lot of money on upkeep and it was sad to see it in such condition.  The denial of inside pictures is always an issue with me but I do need to respect their feelings, I suppose.  There were some pretty interesting mechanical items that are not in the book we bought, that I thought were of interest to me and me alone.  I would really have liked to get pictures of them.  Not gonna happen as long as they own the building.  It was, however, the place that Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and accepted the building of the temple.  What a marvelous and remarkable place to be at!  All in all, a humbling experience and well worth the time and effort.