XI
ARCHITECTURE
1.
Peculiar needs of Mormon ward meeting houses have forced the evolution of a distinctive, utilitarian architecture that differs greatly from that of the church of the average non-Mormon community.
Due to the fact that even the most remote Mormon hamlet has several members who are returned missionaries from far places of the earth, members who have seen and studied the church buildings and other edifices of many faiths, the average level of architectural beauty appreciation among these people is very high.
Two other factors influence the evolution of Mormon ward chapel design. One of these is an ironclad rule of the church that the meeting place must be made to harmonize with the terrain and community in which it is located. The other is the fact that Mormons have their own ideas about the purposes for which a religious meeting house ought to be built.
Each ward chapel is designed by a local architect who is familiar with the ground upon which the building is to be erected, the surrounding structures, the materials available at the construction site, and all other data necessary for his producing a set of plans that ought to be a masterpiece for that particular location.
Before actual construction is begun, the plans are forwarded to the architectural office in the presiding bishop's department at Salt Lake City. Here the plans are checked by experts for their structural and functional adequacy and for the beauty of the building that would result from following through.
Architects have put their souls into Mormon religious structures, with the result that all of Mormondom is becoming dotted with exquisitely designed, built and landscaped edifices. There is no quicker and no surer way of raising the standard of any residential community than to secure the construction of a Mormon ward meeting house there.
There are four kinds of non-commercial structures that are common to the Lattter-day [sic] Saints social organization. These are the temple, the ward chapel, the bishop's storehouse and school buildings.
Temples are few. The finest artistry and skills and great amounts of loving labor are put into their erection. The Mormon temple at Logan, Utah, is one of the most exquisitely located buildings that I have ever found in travels that have taken me across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and into many foreign countries. Its commanding location and the virile spirit captured by its hard stone are typical of this powerful faith of the Latter-day Saints.
Chapels are designed to house the worship, public recreation, and religious instruction needs of the ward community, which may number as many as 600 people.
The word "congregation" does not fit the body of believers who belong to a Mormon ward. They are much more than a congregation that gathers on Sundays to fill the collective religious needs of its members. They are a complete community, living out a way of life that is their own, in which all of their social, philosophical, educational and recreational activiites are closely inter-twined and unified. There is nowhere on earth a social parallel that can be used for adequate comparison with this Mormon quality of gregariousness. It has to be seen to be appreciated, and has to be felt to be understood.
Just so, the words, "church," "chapel," "meeting-house," in their accepted usage cannot describe the nature of the ward chapel. It has a church-style auditorium that primarily is used for worship, but which is not consecrated solely to the purpose of worship, and in a tight situation might be used by the practical Mormons for almost any of their community affairs. It also has a recreation hall that possesses a good dance floor big enough to accomodate all members of the ward at once. Many classrooms are provided for the various age and interest groups that pursue regular courses of study or social activity. Most wards have gymnasiums that are put up as part of the community religious building, and many have adjoining open-air tennis courts, playgrounds, or areas that can be flooded for ice-skating. The Mormon community edifice is designed to facilitate growth of the body, as well as the soul, and the development of well-rounded, thoroughly socialized human beings, as well as the cultivation of religious ideas. A Mormon priest can, and does, often demonstrate a better sermon by fair-play in a basketball game than he could by talking to a congregation.
At the time of the writing of this book, the bishops' storehouses are the weakest link in Mormon architecture. For the most part, they are improvised structures that have been utilized wherever they could be found to fit emergency needs of the church welfare plan. They are old barns, abandoned residences, converted warehouses, former garages - any sort of housing that could be obtained to protect the stores of food, clothing, and other basic articles that are set apart in anticipation of the requirements of the poor, the temporarily distressed, or unemployed, of the ward for at least a two-year period - in advance.
The welfare plan was put into full effect in the latter part of the depression that preceded World War II. Since that time, this system of social succor has become a permanent operating feature of Mormonism, but there has as yet been no widespread opportunity to convert the many temporary style storehouses of the bishops into permanent structures. When the postwar housing shortage passes, however, and when some members of the Mormon wards again become unemployed, their bishops will put them to erecting permanent buildings for the ward welfare storehouses. Thus the wealth of the Latter-day Saints church, and of the nations in which it is located, will in the course of the next few years be solidly increased to the extent of another sound new building in almost every ward.
The functions of buildings devoted principally to educational activities are described in the chapter on Education.
Use of native materials is an outstanding feature of Mormon architecture, wherever it happens to be located. The interior of the main church office building in Salt Lake City is finished in beautifully polished marble of an unusual saffron color and intricate natural grain and design, which was quarried in mountains of eastern Utah.
Mormon taste for dignified ornamentation provides an outlet for the work of sculptors, stone-cutters, and other artists and artisans. This religion does not appear to be a restrictive, or repressive one in any sense, and therefore, it places no ban upon the "making of graven images." However, there also is no tendency whatever toward idolatry.
Due to the fact that even the most remote Mormon hamlet has several members who are returned missionaries from far places of the earth, members who have seen and studied the church buildings and other edifices of many faiths, the average level of architectural beauty appreciation among these people is very high.
Two other factors influence the evolution of Mormon ward chapel design. One of these is an ironclad rule of the church that the meeting place must be made to harmonize with the terrain and community in which it is located. The other is the fact that Mormons have their own ideas about the purposes for which a religious meeting house ought to be built.
Each ward chapel is designed by a local architect who is familiar with the ground upon which the building is to be erected, the surrounding structures, the materials available at the construction site, and all other data necessary for his producing a set of plans that ought to be a masterpiece for that particular location.
Before actual construction is begun, the plans are forwarded to the architectural office in the presiding bishop's department at Salt Lake City. Here the plans are checked by experts for their structural and functional adequacy and for the beauty of the building that would result from following through.
Architects have put their souls into Mormon religious structures, with the result that all of Mormondom is becoming dotted with exquisitely designed, built and landscaped edifices. There is no quicker and no surer way of raising the standard of any residential community than to secure the construction of a Mormon ward meeting house there.
There are four kinds of non-commercial structures that are common to the Lattter-day [sic] Saints social organization. These are the temple, the ward chapel, the bishop's storehouse and school buildings.
Temples are few. The finest artistry and skills and great amounts of loving labor are put into their erection. The Mormon temple at Logan, Utah, is one of the most exquisitely located buildings that I have ever found in travels that have taken me across both the Atlantic and Pacific oceans and into many foreign countries. Its commanding location and the virile spirit captured by its hard stone are typical of this powerful faith of the Latter-day Saints.
Chapels are designed to house the worship, public recreation, and religious instruction needs of the ward community, which may number as many as 600 people.
The word "congregation" does not fit the body of believers who belong to a Mormon ward. They are much more than a congregation that gathers on Sundays to fill the collective religious needs of its members. They are a complete community, living out a way of life that is their own, in which all of their social, philosophical, educational and recreational activiites are closely inter-twined and unified. There is nowhere on earth a social parallel that can be used for adequate comparison with this Mormon quality of gregariousness. It has to be seen to be appreciated, and has to be felt to be understood.
Just so, the words, "church," "chapel," "meeting-house," in their accepted usage cannot describe the nature of the ward chapel. It has a church-style auditorium that primarily is used for worship, but which is not consecrated solely to the purpose of worship, and in a tight situation might be used by the practical Mormons for almost any of their community affairs. It also has a recreation hall that possesses a good dance floor big enough to accomodate all members of the ward at once. Many classrooms are provided for the various age and interest groups that pursue regular courses of study or social activity. Most wards have gymnasiums that are put up as part of the community religious building, and many have adjoining open-air tennis courts, playgrounds, or areas that can be flooded for ice-skating. The Mormon community edifice is designed to facilitate growth of the body, as well as the soul, and the development of well-rounded, thoroughly socialized human beings, as well as the cultivation of religious ideas. A Mormon priest can, and does, often demonstrate a better sermon by fair-play in a basketball game than he could by talking to a congregation.
At the time of the writing of this book, the bishops' storehouses are the weakest link in Mormon architecture. For the most part, they are improvised structures that have been utilized wherever they could be found to fit emergency needs of the church welfare plan. They are old barns, abandoned residences, converted warehouses, former garages - any sort of housing that could be obtained to protect the stores of food, clothing, and other basic articles that are set apart in anticipation of the requirements of the poor, the temporarily distressed, or unemployed, of the ward for at least a two-year period - in advance.
The welfare plan was put into full effect in the latter part of the depression that preceded World War II. Since that time, this system of social succor has become a permanent operating feature of Mormonism, but there has as yet been no widespread opportunity to convert the many temporary style storehouses of the bishops into permanent structures. When the postwar housing shortage passes, however, and when some members of the Mormon wards again become unemployed, their bishops will put them to erecting permanent buildings for the ward welfare storehouses. Thus the wealth of the Latter-day Saints church, and of the nations in which it is located, will in the course of the next few years be solidly increased to the extent of another sound new building in almost every ward.
The functions of buildings devoted principally to educational activities are described in the chapter on Education.
Use of native materials is an outstanding feature of Mormon architecture, wherever it happens to be located. The interior of the main church office building in Salt Lake City is finished in beautifully polished marble of an unusual saffron color and intricate natural grain and design, which was quarried in mountains of eastern Utah.
Mormon taste for dignified ornamentation provides an outlet for the work of sculptors, stone-cutters, and other artists and artisans. This religion does not appear to be a restrictive, or repressive one in any sense, and therefore, it places no ban upon the "making of graven images." However, there also is no tendency whatever toward idolatry.
2.
Depression time is construction time for the Mormons. All of their church and community buildings are erected with an absolute minimum outlay of cash money for materials. Labor, both skilled and common, usually is furnished by members of the ward, or its stake, who might otherwise be unemployed.
Throughout Mormondom, a huge building program has been fully planned and financed, but is being held in abeyance at the time this book is put to press for two reasons: (1) The Mormons feel that it would not serve the best interests of society if they undertook a grand plan of expansion while materials are scarce and needed so badly for veterans' housing; (3) [sic] The building program is the mainstay of the Mormon system of social insurance, and guarantee against unemployment for members of the church. When Mormons lose their normal employment in sufficient numbers to begin to be a social problem in any ward or other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the building plans for that community, which already have been fully formulated for years, are put into effect.
A tremendous expansion of the church's membership in the past decade has made it necessary to lay out a building schedule that, conservatively, within five years from the time it actually is begun, will add as much as 100 percent to the number and value of Latter-day Saints ward, stake, welfare region and temple area structures. This estimate is my own, based upon personal observation of the needs of rapidly-expanding Mormon communities.
In the more heavily populate areas of Salt Lake City, many sets of ward buildings are housing two different Mormon wards, or congregations. Their "Mutual" meetings are held on different nights of the week, so that membership of the two wards will not get in the way of each other. The schedule of Sunday meetings is staggered, so that both wards might use the church facilities to care for their long routine of Sunday gatherings. When visiting such communities, if I happened to arrive a few minutes later, or a few minutes earlier, than I was supposed to, I found myself in an entirely different congregation than the one I'd set out to visit, and caught up in such a swirl and melee of changing classes, with hundreds of people going this way and that way, that I became confused. After such an experience, I sometimes found it refreshing to visit a Presbyterian church in which the front five rows of pews are always empty, and the quietness of the congregation is due in part to its lack of size, more than to its possession of a great amount of reverence.
With the sizes of both wards growing steadily, there obviously must be a limit to the amount of service that eager Mormons can demand from one set of buildings. Shortage of materials or no shortage, construction of many L.D.S. ward meeting houses must begin to take place soon, else the walls of their existing structures will bulge to the bursting point. This expansion I found to be in marked contrast to the hundreds of churches of other faiths which I've recently seen boarded up, or abandoned, or torn down in all parts of America.
A policy was established early in the welfare plan that church structures of whatever nature should be built so far as practicable with the labor of the otherwise unemployed members of the Latter-day Saints church. These were not to be selected primarily for their skills, but for their fidelity, their worthiness and their needs. The supply of money needed to finance a church building is to be located, on a cost-sharing plan that compares to the manner in which state and federal governments jointly finance public highways. A condition which the general authorities lay down for participation is that the work, except for technical supervision and particular skilled requirements, must be done on the welfare plan, that is, on a donated basis, first by the unemployed and then by others in the jurisdiction. Allowance is made on account of the local contribution for the value of the work so furnished, thus minimizing the local cash requirements.
Whenever the erections of meeting houses and other church buildings are contracted, a clause of the contract requires the use of the same kind of labor. The contractor certifies the number of men needed and the work to be done. The designated representative of the church unit that is contracting the work supplies the demand of the contractor. Only in the event of the failure of the supply of this labor is the contractor at liberty to recruit from another source. This policy has enabled outlying stakes with comparatively small memberships to put up buildings that they otherwise could not have procured.
Their extensive building program, coupled with other features of the welfare plan explained in another chapter, gives the Latter-day Saints a solid bulwark against economic reverses. If the rest of the world's population had a system of social insurance as adequate, there would never be another depression anywhere.
Throughout Mormondom, a huge building program has been fully planned and financed, but is being held in abeyance at the time this book is put to press for two reasons: (1) The Mormons feel that it would not serve the best interests of society if they undertook a grand plan of expansion while materials are scarce and needed so badly for veterans' housing; (3) [sic] The building program is the mainstay of the Mormon system of social insurance, and guarantee against unemployment for members of the church. When Mormons lose their normal employment in sufficient numbers to begin to be a social problem in any ward or other ecclesiastical jurisdiction, the building plans for that community, which already have been fully formulated for years, are put into effect.
A tremendous expansion of the church's membership in the past decade has made it necessary to lay out a building schedule that, conservatively, within five years from the time it actually is begun, will add as much as 100 percent to the number and value of Latter-day Saints ward, stake, welfare region and temple area structures. This estimate is my own, based upon personal observation of the needs of rapidly-expanding Mormon communities.
In the more heavily populate areas of Salt Lake City, many sets of ward buildings are housing two different Mormon wards, or congregations. Their "Mutual" meetings are held on different nights of the week, so that membership of the two wards will not get in the way of each other. The schedule of Sunday meetings is staggered, so that both wards might use the church facilities to care for their long routine of Sunday gatherings. When visiting such communities, if I happened to arrive a few minutes later, or a few minutes earlier, than I was supposed to, I found myself in an entirely different congregation than the one I'd set out to visit, and caught up in such a swirl and melee of changing classes, with hundreds of people going this way and that way, that I became confused. After such an experience, I sometimes found it refreshing to visit a Presbyterian church in which the front five rows of pews are always empty, and the quietness of the congregation is due in part to its lack of size, more than to its possession of a great amount of reverence.
With the sizes of both wards growing steadily, there obviously must be a limit to the amount of service that eager Mormons can demand from one set of buildings. Shortage of materials or no shortage, construction of many L.D.S. ward meeting houses must begin to take place soon, else the walls of their existing structures will bulge to the bursting point. This expansion I found to be in marked contrast to the hundreds of churches of other faiths which I've recently seen boarded up, or abandoned, or torn down in all parts of America.
A policy was established early in the welfare plan that church structures of whatever nature should be built so far as practicable with the labor of the otherwise unemployed members of the Latter-day Saints church. These were not to be selected primarily for their skills, but for their fidelity, their worthiness and their needs. The supply of money needed to finance a church building is to be located, on a cost-sharing plan that compares to the manner in which state and federal governments jointly finance public highways. A condition which the general authorities lay down for participation is that the work, except for technical supervision and particular skilled requirements, must be done on the welfare plan, that is, on a donated basis, first by the unemployed and then by others in the jurisdiction. Allowance is made on account of the local contribution for the value of the work so furnished, thus minimizing the local cash requirements.
Whenever the erections of meeting houses and other church buildings are contracted, a clause of the contract requires the use of the same kind of labor. The contractor certifies the number of men needed and the work to be done. The designated representative of the church unit that is contracting the work supplies the demand of the contractor. Only in the event of the failure of the supply of this labor is the contractor at liberty to recruit from another source. This policy has enabled outlying stakes with comparatively small memberships to put up buildings that they otherwise could not have procured.
Their extensive building program, coupled with other features of the welfare plan explained in another chapter, gives the Latter-day Saints a solid bulwark against economic reverses. If the rest of the world's population had a system of social insurance as adequate, there would never be another depression anywhere.
3.
To those who think in more orthodox terms about architectural engineering, it might seem that the Latter-day Saint method of putting buildings together is a "jackleg joinery that produces jerry-built abortions." But nothing could be farther from the truth. Mormon workers of all degrees of skills have wholeheartedly entered into a spirit of community endeavor and conscientiously followed competent technical supervision. The results have been astounding. No religious or social institution anywhere has an architecture that is more consistently beautiful, or a set of buildings any more admirably suited to fill its needs.
Mormon church building reached a high level during the long deperssion that began in 1929. In many instances, the erection of an excellently engineered new Mormon ward chapel, right in the midst of deepest economic gloom an area had ever seen, was the spark that lifted the spirits of all in the community, and gave both Mormon and non-Mormon a renewed sense of self-respect for humankind.
As the program progressed, the church noted with especial gratification that there were many instances where artisans and laborers, not members of the Saints, volunteered their services to assist the church after the close of their regular day's work, or on their days off.
Two excellent social by-products of this construction system immediately became apparent. (1) It was providing self-sustaining labor for those who needed it, relieving them of the embarrassment of accepting charity. (2) It was training men in manual skills, giving them a better chance in the competitive labor market.
Furthermore, with hardly an exception, the building crafts unions, wherever a part of the church was located, cooperated fully in the L.D.S. program for construcion of buildings to be used exclusively for religious and charitable purposes. Characteristically, Mormon leaders of all degrees lost no time in fully expressing their gratification to the building crafts unions and their leaders.
Not to be outdone by labor, many industrial firms both in the church and outside it have contributed heavily to the Mormon building program, mainly through the selling to the church of materials at cost. Typical of their spirit and attitude is that of one of the largest steel companies in the western part of the United States, the president of which has made a standing request to be allowed to participate in furnishnig any of the products his company manufacturers, [sic] on a basis of strictly material and shop labor costs, his contribution being the furnishing of tools, power, plant overhead and normal profit.
Architects, too, have put their work on a cost basis. Many firms have rendered supervisory assistance free of charge. From what I have seen of the more modern Mormon small church architecture throughout the western part of the United States, I'd say that an architect would be flattered by being asked to design a ward meeting house. He'd be entering a tournament of architecture in which all of his skill would be pitted against results achieved by the best the world has ever known in his field.
The Mormon construction plan is as well suited to the erection of big structures as it is to ward meeting houses. Today a splendid modern grain elevator stands in Welfare Square at Salt Lake City. When the eastern expert who was employed to supervise the construction of this elevator and furnish its equipment heard about the labor plan under which it was to be built, he made a hurried trip to the capital of Mormondom to explain why it could not be done that way.
The higher church officials who were negotiating the contract smiled blandly and told him he might as well go back home. It would be done that way, or not at all, utilizing the servics of men, not because of their skills, but because of their loyalty to the church and their right to request assistance through the welfare plan. To the great astonishment of the eastern expert, the building was completed as expeditiously as any he had ever seen erected. The elevator, used to house grain with which to feed Mormon needy, is a magnificent structure of modern steel and concrete work.
Balking at what it deemed to be usurious rates charged by firms insuring workmen engaged in dangerous demolition tasks, the church established its own insurance system in this field. The normal rate charged for insuring personnel on demolition jobs runs from 25% to 35% of the payroll. The church was able to underwrite its own projects of this nature for about one percent of the payroll. For the grain elevator job alone, which was not especially dangerous, the premium quoted by outside insurance firms was nearly $13,000. The church insurance firm stepped in and accepted the risk at a much lower figure. In the course of the whole job, "green" labor considered, the only accident occurred when a man smashed his thumb with a hammer. Total cost of damages paid: $200!
An example of what can be accomplished by the Mormon construction plan in the field of bigger public buildings is the Joseph Smith building, erected to house the religious and social center at Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah. This edifice undoubtedly is one of the finest examples of modern architecture to be found anywhere.
Mormon church building reached a high level during the long deperssion that began in 1929. In many instances, the erection of an excellently engineered new Mormon ward chapel, right in the midst of deepest economic gloom an area had ever seen, was the spark that lifted the spirits of all in the community, and gave both Mormon and non-Mormon a renewed sense of self-respect for humankind.
As the program progressed, the church noted with especial gratification that there were many instances where artisans and laborers, not members of the Saints, volunteered their services to assist the church after the close of their regular day's work, or on their days off.
Two excellent social by-products of this construction system immediately became apparent. (1) It was providing self-sustaining labor for those who needed it, relieving them of the embarrassment of accepting charity. (2) It was training men in manual skills, giving them a better chance in the competitive labor market.
Furthermore, with hardly an exception, the building crafts unions, wherever a part of the church was located, cooperated fully in the L.D.S. program for construcion of buildings to be used exclusively for religious and charitable purposes. Characteristically, Mormon leaders of all degrees lost no time in fully expressing their gratification to the building crafts unions and their leaders.
Not to be outdone by labor, many industrial firms both in the church and outside it have contributed heavily to the Mormon building program, mainly through the selling to the church of materials at cost. Typical of their spirit and attitude is that of one of the largest steel companies in the western part of the United States, the president of which has made a standing request to be allowed to participate in furnishnig any of the products his company manufacturers, [sic] on a basis of strictly material and shop labor costs, his contribution being the furnishing of tools, power, plant overhead and normal profit.
Architects, too, have put their work on a cost basis. Many firms have rendered supervisory assistance free of charge. From what I have seen of the more modern Mormon small church architecture throughout the western part of the United States, I'd say that an architect would be flattered by being asked to design a ward meeting house. He'd be entering a tournament of architecture in which all of his skill would be pitted against results achieved by the best the world has ever known in his field.
The Mormon construction plan is as well suited to the erection of big structures as it is to ward meeting houses. Today a splendid modern grain elevator stands in Welfare Square at Salt Lake City. When the eastern expert who was employed to supervise the construction of this elevator and furnish its equipment heard about the labor plan under which it was to be built, he made a hurried trip to the capital of Mormondom to explain why it could not be done that way.
The higher church officials who were negotiating the contract smiled blandly and told him he might as well go back home. It would be done that way, or not at all, utilizing the servics of men, not because of their skills, but because of their loyalty to the church and their right to request assistance through the welfare plan. To the great astonishment of the eastern expert, the building was completed as expeditiously as any he had ever seen erected. The elevator, used to house grain with which to feed Mormon needy, is a magnificent structure of modern steel and concrete work.
Balking at what it deemed to be usurious rates charged by firms insuring workmen engaged in dangerous demolition tasks, the church established its own insurance system in this field. The normal rate charged for insuring personnel on demolition jobs runs from 25% to 35% of the payroll. The church was able to underwrite its own projects of this nature for about one percent of the payroll. For the grain elevator job alone, which was not especially dangerous, the premium quoted by outside insurance firms was nearly $13,000. The church insurance firm stepped in and accepted the risk at a much lower figure. In the course of the whole job, "green" labor considered, the only accident occurred when a man smashed his thumb with a hammer. Total cost of damages paid: $200!
An example of what can be accomplished by the Mormon construction plan in the field of bigger public buildings is the Joseph Smith building, erected to house the religious and social center at Brigham Young University, at Provo, Utah. This edifice undoubtedly is one of the finest examples of modern architecture to be found anywhere.
4.
Behind the temple at Salt Lake City, which is described in the chapter on the Capital of Mormondom, is a construction story as romantic and as replete with fascinating detail as any in history.
Brigham Young, wise leader that he was, struck his staff into the ground at a likely spot and solemnly announced, "Here we will build a temple to our Lord." This was only four days after the first band of exhausted emigrants had ended their months-long perilous trek across the plains. Only four days did Brigham allow them to wonder what their future would hold in this land of desolation, this treeless waste of dust and sagebrush. Then he set them a goal that would require further sacrifices. Out here in the wilderness they would erect with their hands, their sweat and their toil, a magnificent temple to God. And around it, they would build a civilization that would make their Zion an example to all the peoples of the earth, and worthy to lead the world to righteousness.
For six years the Mormons whacked out sagebrush, dug canals, planted crops, put up log cabins and adobe houses with their hands and the few simple tools they possessed, painfully, carefully, putting together a social organization that could undertake the drain on its resources that would be necessary in the construction of a multi-million dollar building. Then, in 1853, they began the work.
They dug deep excavations and laid in foundation stone in huge four-ton chunks, heavy granite tugged twenty-two miles in a journey that consumed four days of traveling by oxteam. Prodigious amounts of labor were consumed and costs began to climb. All in Mormondom sacrificed, putting aside the only money they could get their hands upon for the building of their temple. In three and one-half years, they had made considerable progress in the task that was to tax their resources for forty years.
Then a cruel blow struck them. President James Buchanan of the United States of America, who has been recorded as a blundering idiot in his approach to many other affairs of state as well, ordered an army to Utah on the unverified rumor that Mormons were rising in insurrection against the nation. Brigham acted quickly. This temple, still in its embryonic stages, must not be wrecked and desecrated by mobs as the temple at Nauvoo, Illinois, had been! He ordered the foundation trenches filled in, and the ground plowed in smooth furrows over the spot. Mormons dug out the foundations again when the "war" was over, and proceeded toward their goal.
The design of the temple is symbolic of much Mormon theology, and gives embodiment to many of their ideas about the organization of infinity's countless universe. Fifty stones that form a layer around the temple at ground level represent the earth. They weigh three tons each. Another fifty stones that represent the moon in many phases encircle the building half-way up. Sun stones, also fifty in number, are found nearer the top. Windows are curiously shaped and set deeply into the thick walls.
Six tall spires rise from the pile, three at the eastern end and three at the western end. Each of these is surrounded by twelve smaller spires. All are representative of offices in God's holy priesthood.
The front doors of the temple are decorated in a symbolic pattern of exquisite artistry. Among the many figures represented can be seen three big circles, one above the other, on each door. These represent the Latter-day Saints' belief that man lives through three stages of existence.
In this work of granite, this sacred temple to the Lord, this wealth of symbolic detail moulded solidly into stone and bronze by privations of the founders of Zion, it can be seen that these Mormons are the possessors of a mighty faith, are brothers in a powerful new religion that shapes their lives, their culture, their business, their architecture, and can make or remake the very social structure of a city, a state, a nation, or maybe even a world.
Give it time.
Next: Education
Brigham Young, wise leader that he was, struck his staff into the ground at a likely spot and solemnly announced, "Here we will build a temple to our Lord." This was only four days after the first band of exhausted emigrants had ended their months-long perilous trek across the plains. Only four days did Brigham allow them to wonder what their future would hold in this land of desolation, this treeless waste of dust and sagebrush. Then he set them a goal that would require further sacrifices. Out here in the wilderness they would erect with their hands, their sweat and their toil, a magnificent temple to God. And around it, they would build a civilization that would make their Zion an example to all the peoples of the earth, and worthy to lead the world to righteousness.
For six years the Mormons whacked out sagebrush, dug canals, planted crops, put up log cabins and adobe houses with their hands and the few simple tools they possessed, painfully, carefully, putting together a social organization that could undertake the drain on its resources that would be necessary in the construction of a multi-million dollar building. Then, in 1853, they began the work.
They dug deep excavations and laid in foundation stone in huge four-ton chunks, heavy granite tugged twenty-two miles in a journey that consumed four days of traveling by oxteam. Prodigious amounts of labor were consumed and costs began to climb. All in Mormondom sacrificed, putting aside the only money they could get their hands upon for the building of their temple. In three and one-half years, they had made considerable progress in the task that was to tax their resources for forty years.
Then a cruel blow struck them. President James Buchanan of the United States of America, who has been recorded as a blundering idiot in his approach to many other affairs of state as well, ordered an army to Utah on the unverified rumor that Mormons were rising in insurrection against the nation. Brigham acted quickly. This temple, still in its embryonic stages, must not be wrecked and desecrated by mobs as the temple at Nauvoo, Illinois, had been! He ordered the foundation trenches filled in, and the ground plowed in smooth furrows over the spot. Mormons dug out the foundations again when the "war" was over, and proceeded toward their goal.
The design of the temple is symbolic of much Mormon theology, and gives embodiment to many of their ideas about the organization of infinity's countless universe. Fifty stones that form a layer around the temple at ground level represent the earth. They weigh three tons each. Another fifty stones that represent the moon in many phases encircle the building half-way up. Sun stones, also fifty in number, are found nearer the top. Windows are curiously shaped and set deeply into the thick walls.
Six tall spires rise from the pile, three at the eastern end and three at the western end. Each of these is surrounded by twelve smaller spires. All are representative of offices in God's holy priesthood.
The front doors of the temple are decorated in a symbolic pattern of exquisite artistry. Among the many figures represented can be seen three big circles, one above the other, on each door. These represent the Latter-day Saints' belief that man lives through three stages of existence.
In this work of granite, this sacred temple to the Lord, this wealth of symbolic detail moulded solidly into stone and bronze by privations of the founders of Zion, it can be seen that these Mormons are the possessors of a mighty faith, are brothers in a powerful new religion that shapes their lives, their culture, their business, their architecture, and can make or remake the very social structure of a city, a state, a nation, or maybe even a world.
Give it time.
Next: Education
