 |
| (Image Source: Church History Library) |
 |
| (Image Source: Church History Library) |
The building has been kept in good shape, and it still has a commanding presence in Spanish Fork.
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Spanish Fork 5th Ward
Built in the mid-1930s, the Spanish Fork 5th Ward has a unique floor plan that gives it a more ornate appearance than most LDS chapels (especially for the time period in which it was built).
With ornamentation befitting its art deco style, the building has two wings (one was a chapel, another was a cultural hall) spreading out at a 90-degree angle from a central tower. It gives the building a towering appearance on Spanish Fork's Center Street.
Unfortunately, this building was sold at some point, but it is still used as the Chillon Reception Center, so it continues to serve as a venue for weddings and other events.
The building has been kept in good shape, and it still has a commanding presence in Spanish Fork.
The building has been kept in good shape, and it still has a commanding presence in Spanish Fork.
Sunday, April 22, 2018
A History of LDS Temple Architecture: Part 2 - Endowment Development
Note: This is Part 2 in a series on the history of the development of LDS temple architecture. This series is based on my personal research and is a looser, less detailed, and less formal version of a paper that was presented at the 2015 BYU Religious Education Student Symposium. For a complete list of posts in this series, click here.
When the Saints left Nauvoo and the hastily completed temple behind, they were also leaving behind the last permanent temple structure that they would be able to use for 30 years. The needs of moving thousands of Saints across the prairie, settling on the rim of the Great Basin, and colonizing the Mormon corridor were simply too consuming to be able to focus on building another temple for quite a while.
Temple ordinances were still administered during this time, but temporary locations were used. Ensign Peak, just north of Salt Lake City, was where Addison Pratt received his endowments on July 21, 1849. Little is known about the details of this unique event of administering the endowment ordinance in an outdoor setting. How were the garden of Eden, the lone and dreary world, or the terrestrial and celestial kingdoms represented? No information is known.
The same goes for the Council House in Salt Lake City, which was also used to administer endowments. We don't know if separate rooms were used, or if the entire ordinance was given in one room. One thing is for certain; since these were temporary locations, it is likely that much less emphasis was placed on the architecture and setting of the endowment in these places.
This means that a mere decade after the ordinance was introduced, its relationship with its surrounding architecture was already threatened and minimized, more out of necessity than anything else. Fortunately, the construction of an Endowment House on the same square where the Salt Lake Temple was being built reemphasized the importance of this relationship, and ultimately cement it for decades to come.
Ensign Peak was used once, and the Council House was used from its construction until this building was completed in 1855. It was designed by Truman O. Angell, church architect, who would also design the St. George and Salt Lake temples. Originally designed just for endowments and sealings, it would later have a baptistry added on a year later.
The Endowment House was the first building to have specific rooms to represent the story of the Endowment. (For more information on the Endowment House, its history and floor plan, see here.) After a room designed to administer initiatory rites, patrons entered a combined creation/garden room with a pastoral mural by William Ward, added about a year after the building's completion. Many sources indicate that this was one of the most visually impressive features of the building. One patron described it later:
"The four sides of this room were painted in imitation of trees, flowers, birds, wild beasts, etc. . . . The ceilling [sic] was painted blue, dotted over with golden stars; in the centre of it was the sun, a little further along the moon, and all around were stars. In each corner was a Masonic emblem. In one corner is a compass, in another the square; the remaining two were the level and the plumb. On the east side of the room, next [to] the door, was painted an apple tree."
The room also had potted plants and fruit hanging from the plants, thus combining visual ideas from the Red Brick Store and the Nauvoo Temple.
The remaining rooms were not nearly as decorated: the world room was unpainted and dark, with heavy curtains on the windows. The prayer circle room (which likely also served as the terrestrial room) was similarly not decorated.
At this point, patrons then ascended a staircase, a clear symbol of progression that had not been present in any iteration of the endowment up to this point. An instruction room (really, a "veil room") was at the top of this staircase, followed by the celestial room. This room was decorated similar to its predecessor in the Nauvoo Temple, with carpet, furniture, and paintings on the walls.
The Endowment House differed greatly from the St. George Temple, which seemed to have been built without any thought for the endowment rooms at all, in spite of the fact that both buildings were designed by the same person. Like the Nauvoo Temple, the St. George Temple had two assembly halls on its ground and second floors. This meant that rooms in the basement had to be used for the endowment, which included some type of murals on its walls. Not very long after the temple's dedication, the main floor was used for the terrestrial and celestial rooms. Not until the 1930s would the temple's main floor be partitioned into smaller rooms that could hold the entire endowment ceremony, rooms that still remain today.
Meanwhile, the endowment house would not last past 1889, when, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants' first Official Declaration, it was torn down after it was the setting of a polygamous marriage that caused bad press for the Church, just as its leaders were beginning to move away from polygamy altogether.
Still, the endowment house and the St. George temple both had an enormous influence on the future of temple architecture. The Endowment House solidified the relationship between the Endowment ceremony and its surrounding setting, after a decade where the relationship was weakened. This included the use of murals, potted plants, and stairs to symbolize progression. The St. George Temple marked the return of permanent temples where the endowment ordinance could be administered. Ultimately, in terms of interior design, the Endowment House won out over the St. George Temple. Future temples would mirror the Endowment House in their floor plan and layout, but they would be accompanied by an increase in quality and beauty. Some of the Church's best temples were yet to come.
Next Week: Part 3 - Expansion & Progression
 |
| (Image Source) |
When the Saints left Nauvoo and the hastily completed temple behind, they were also leaving behind the last permanent temple structure that they would be able to use for 30 years. The needs of moving thousands of Saints across the prairie, settling on the rim of the Great Basin, and colonizing the Mormon corridor were simply too consuming to be able to focus on building another temple for quite a while.
Temple ordinances were still administered during this time, but temporary locations were used. Ensign Peak, just north of Salt Lake City, was where Addison Pratt received his endowments on July 21, 1849. Little is known about the details of this unique event of administering the endowment ordinance in an outdoor setting. How were the garden of Eden, the lone and dreary world, or the terrestrial and celestial kingdoms represented? No information is known.
 |
| (Image Source) |
The same goes for the Council House in Salt Lake City, which was also used to administer endowments. We don't know if separate rooms were used, or if the entire ordinance was given in one room. One thing is for certain; since these were temporary locations, it is likely that much less emphasis was placed on the architecture and setting of the endowment in these places.
 |
| (Image Source) |
#/media/File:SLC_(Utah)_Council_House_in_1869.jpg){kind=link}
This means that a mere decade after the ordinance was introduced, its relationship with its surrounding architecture was already threatened and minimized, more out of necessity than anything else. Fortunately, the construction of an Endowment House on the same square where the Salt Lake Temple was being built reemphasized the importance of this relationship, and ultimately cement it for decades to come.
 |
| (Image Source) |
The Endowment House was the first building to have specific rooms to represent the story of the Endowment. (For more information on the Endowment House, its history and floor plan, see here.) After a room designed to administer initiatory rites, patrons entered a combined creation/garden room with a pastoral mural by William Ward, added about a year after the building's completion. Many sources indicate that this was one of the most visually impressive features of the building. One patron described it later:
"The four sides of this room were painted in imitation of trees, flowers, birds, wild beasts, etc. . . . The ceilling [sic] was painted blue, dotted over with golden stars; in the centre of it was the sun, a little further along the moon, and all around were stars. In each corner was a Masonic emblem. In one corner is a compass, in another the square; the remaining two were the level and the plumb. On the east side of the room, next [to] the door, was painted an apple tree."
The room also had potted plants and fruit hanging from the plants, thus combining visual ideas from the Red Brick Store and the Nauvoo Temple.
The remaining rooms were not nearly as decorated: the world room was unpainted and dark, with heavy curtains on the windows. The prayer circle room (which likely also served as the terrestrial room) was similarly not decorated.
 |
| (Image Source) |
At this point, patrons then ascended a staircase, a clear symbol of progression that had not been present in any iteration of the endowment up to this point. An instruction room (really, a "veil room") was at the top of this staircase, followed by the celestial room. This room was decorated similar to its predecessor in the Nauvoo Temple, with carpet, furniture, and paintings on the walls.
 |
| (Image Source) |
The Endowment House differed greatly from the St. George Temple, which seemed to have been built without any thought for the endowment rooms at all, in spite of the fact that both buildings were designed by the same person. Like the Nauvoo Temple, the St. George Temple had two assembly halls on its ground and second floors. This meant that rooms in the basement had to be used for the endowment, which included some type of murals on its walls. Not very long after the temple's dedication, the main floor was used for the terrestrial and celestial rooms. Not until the 1930s would the temple's main floor be partitioned into smaller rooms that could hold the entire endowment ceremony, rooms that still remain today.
Meanwhile, the endowment house would not last past 1889, when, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants' first Official Declaration, it was torn down after it was the setting of a polygamous marriage that caused bad press for the Church, just as its leaders were beginning to move away from polygamy altogether.
Still, the endowment house and the St. George temple both had an enormous influence on the future of temple architecture. The Endowment House solidified the relationship between the Endowment ceremony and its surrounding setting, after a decade where the relationship was weakened. This included the use of murals, potted plants, and stairs to symbolize progression. The St. George Temple marked the return of permanent temples where the endowment ordinance could be administered. Ultimately, in terms of interior design, the Endowment House won out over the St. George Temple. Future temples would mirror the Endowment House in their floor plan and layout, but they would be accompanied by an increase in quality and beauty. Some of the Church's best temples were yet to come.
Next Week: Part 3 - Expansion & Progression
Sunday, April 8, 2018
A History of LDS Temple Architecture: Part 1 - Endowment Beginnings
Note: This is Part 1 in a series on the history of the development of LDS temple architecture. This series is based on my personal research and is a looser, less detailed, and less formal version of a paper that was presented at the 2015 BYU Religious Education Student Symposium.
Part 1: Endowment Beginnings
Part 2: Endowment Development
Part 3: Expansion & Progression
Part 4: The Building & the Ceremony
Part 5: "Bring the Rooms to the People"
Part 6: Remodels & Revision
Part 7: The Return of Progression
The Mormon Church is known for its uniformity and correlation, even as it has grown into an international Church with thousands of stakes in hundreds of countries. Its buildings largely look the same. Its meetings, no matter the country or the culture, follow the same outline and structure. And so perhaps one of the most surprising facts of the Church is this: the temple endowment is not the same in every temple.
To be clear, the ceremony itself is the same--word for word.* This is essential. However, the setting can be different--very different--and that can make the ceremony a completely different experience. The Mormon Church is not known for its architecture (a misconception this blog seeks to address), and that may be because only one ordinance was highly dependent on its surrounding architecture for its efficacy--the temple endowment.
Why is there such variation among the temples? Was it by accident or design? And what does this look like for future temples that are being built around the world? This series of blog posts seeks to answer these questions by diving into the history of temple architecture, focusing on the changes, adjustments, and re-adjustments that have been made over time.
As a final note to this introduction, while these posts will discuss the architecture of the endowment ceremony, and thus make references to the ceremony itself, it will not discuss the endowment ceremony in detail. Those who are interested in learning more about LDS temple ordinances may want to visit https://ldstempleprep.blogspot.com for more information there.
***
The introduction of the endowment ceremony (as Latter-day Saints know it today) took place in Nauvoo in 1842. While revelations up to that point had hinted about the endowment ordinance, and also that its setting should be in the temple, the prophet Joseph Smith began to administer the ordinance in the second story of his red brick store.
In preparation for this ordinance, the Prophet apparently arranged plants around the room and had several men paint a mural of a pastoral scene in the northwest corner. Thus, from its inception, the setting of the endowment ceremony was critical--its purpose was to more fully envelope the Saints in the story of the ordinance.** Patrons symbolically became Adam and Eve; the temple became their stage, world, and journey.
Brigham Young would later say that after his first ceremony, Joseph Smith took him aside and told him, "Brother Brigham, this is not arranged right but we have done the best we could do under the circumstances in which we are placed." It is unknown how much the setting was developed in the Red Brick Store, but by the time Brigham Young administered the endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, there were definite spaces for different segments of the endowment--a creation area, an area representing the Garden of Eden, an area representing the telestial world in which we now live, an area representing the terrestrial world (in Latter-day Saint liturgy, a world that is higher and holier in sphere than the world we live in now) and an area representing the celestial world (the highest and holiest of spheres, where God the Father and Jesus Christ dwell).
The Nauvoo Temple did not have specific rooms built for this purpose; it consisted of two assembly halls as its main floors. The attic was used for these ordinances, then--curtains partitioned the main room there into the smaller areas needed for the ceremony. No murals were used, but potted plants and trees were in the garden room, and the Celestial Room was decorated with furniture, paintings, and other items on the walls. In the Garden Room, one plant was draped with raisins and grapevines to represent the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.***
To be sure, the ceremony at this point had some major differences from the ceremony that is practiced today. In general, the ceremony was much more literal, and had much more variation, meaning that its length could vary but generally took much longer. The temple itself also had a variety of uses, including hiding Church authorities from enemies of the Church, or--in at least one case--being used a dance hall, when the furniture in the celestial room was all moved to the sides.****
Just as the ceremony would change over the next few years, the architecture would, as well. But the manner in which Joseph introduced the ordinance cemented the importance of the architecture into the ceremony itself, and therefore every Latter-day Saint temple to be built from that point forward. All that remained was to see what changes would be made.
Incidentally, when the Nauvoo Temple was reconstructed in 2002, the second floor was now used to house the endowment ceremony, rather than the attic. In a tribute to the original temple, all five rooms were built into the temple (creation, garden, world, terrestrial, and celestial). The temple's current celestial room envelopes the temple's original celestial room (as it now takes up the second floor and the attic of the original building), which means that Latter-day Saints who currently attend the Nauvoo Temple stand in nearly the same Celestial Room that Saints stood in during the 1840s, just months before they would flee to the west.
Next Week: Part 2 - Endowment Development
*That is, nearly so--in the live endowment, the ceremony asks patrons to "kindly give your attention," and adds that patrons will be moving from room to room.
**It is well-known that several aspects of the Endowment ceremony are drawn from the Masonic ceremony. The Masons similarly used the setting to set the stage for the ceremony; in their case, the Masonic Lodge symbolically became Solomon's Temple, and objects representing the temple were present, including pillars through which each initiate had to pass. See "Masonic ritual and symbolism," Wikipedia.
***For more information on the Nauvoo Temple and how it was used for temple work, see Lisle G. Brown, “The Sacred Departments for Temple Work in Nauvoo: The Assembly Room and the Council Chamber,” BYU Studies 19, Issue 3 (Spring 1979): 371–72. Available here: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol19/iss3/7/
Part 1: Endowment Beginnings
Part 2: Endowment Development
Part 3: Expansion & Progression
Part 4: The Building & the Ceremony
Part 5: "Bring the Rooms to the People"
Part 6: Remodels & Revision
Part 7: The Return of Progression
 |
| Nauvoo Temple Spiral Staircase |
The Mormon Church is known for its uniformity and correlation, even as it has grown into an international Church with thousands of stakes in hundreds of countries. Its buildings largely look the same. Its meetings, no matter the country or the culture, follow the same outline and structure. And so perhaps one of the most surprising facts of the Church is this: the temple endowment is not the same in every temple.
 |
| (Gilbert Arizona Temple Endowment Room) |
To be clear, the ceremony itself is the same--word for word.* This is essential. However, the setting can be different--very different--and that can make the ceremony a completely different experience. The Mormon Church is not known for its architecture (a misconception this blog seeks to address), and that may be because only one ordinance was highly dependent on its surrounding architecture for its efficacy--the temple endowment.
Why is there such variation among the temples? Was it by accident or design? And what does this look like for future temples that are being built around the world? This series of blog posts seeks to answer these questions by diving into the history of temple architecture, focusing on the changes, adjustments, and re-adjustments that have been made over time.
As a final note to this introduction, while these posts will discuss the architecture of the endowment ceremony, and thus make references to the ceremony itself, it will not discuss the endowment ceremony in detail. Those who are interested in learning more about LDS temple ordinances may want to visit https://ldstempleprep.blogspot.com for more information there.
***
The introduction of the endowment ceremony (as Latter-day Saints know it today) took place in Nauvoo in 1842. While revelations up to that point had hinted about the endowment ordinance, and also that its setting should be in the temple, the prophet Joseph Smith began to administer the ordinance in the second story of his red brick store.
 |
| Reconstructed Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois |
In preparation for this ordinance, the Prophet apparently arranged plants around the room and had several men paint a mural of a pastoral scene in the northwest corner. Thus, from its inception, the setting of the endowment ceremony was critical--its purpose was to more fully envelope the Saints in the story of the ordinance.** Patrons symbolically became Adam and Eve; the temple became their stage, world, and journey.
 |
| View of second story room in reconstructed Red Brick Store, looking North. |
 |
| View looking South |
Brigham Young would later say that after his first ceremony, Joseph Smith took him aside and told him, "Brother Brigham, this is not arranged right but we have done the best we could do under the circumstances in which we are placed." It is unknown how much the setting was developed in the Red Brick Store, but by the time Brigham Young administered the endowments in the Nauvoo Temple, there were definite spaces for different segments of the endowment--a creation area, an area representing the Garden of Eden, an area representing the telestial world in which we now live, an area representing the terrestrial world (in Latter-day Saint liturgy, a world that is higher and holier in sphere than the world we live in now) and an area representing the celestial world (the highest and holiest of spheres, where God the Father and Jesus Christ dwell).
 |
| Nauvoo Temple Floor Plan (Image Source) |
The Nauvoo Temple did not have specific rooms built for this purpose; it consisted of two assembly halls as its main floors. The attic was used for these ordinances, then--curtains partitioned the main room there into the smaller areas needed for the ceremony. No murals were used, but potted plants and trees were in the garden room, and the Celestial Room was decorated with furniture, paintings, and other items on the walls. In the Garden Room, one plant was draped with raisins and grapevines to represent the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil.***
 |
| Original Nauvoo Temple (Image Source) |
To be sure, the ceremony at this point had some major differences from the ceremony that is practiced today. In general, the ceremony was much more literal, and had much more variation, meaning that its length could vary but generally took much longer. The temple itself also had a variety of uses, including hiding Church authorities from enemies of the Church, or--in at least one case--being used a dance hall, when the furniture in the celestial room was all moved to the sides.****
Just as the ceremony would change over the next few years, the architecture would, as well. But the manner in which Joseph introduced the ordinance cemented the importance of the architecture into the ceremony itself, and therefore every Latter-day Saint temple to be built from that point forward. All that remained was to see what changes would be made.
Incidentally, when the Nauvoo Temple was reconstructed in 2002, the second floor was now used to house the endowment ceremony, rather than the attic. In a tribute to the original temple, all five rooms were built into the temple (creation, garden, world, terrestrial, and celestial). The temple's current celestial room envelopes the temple's original celestial room (as it now takes up the second floor and the attic of the original building), which means that Latter-day Saints who currently attend the Nauvoo Temple stand in nearly the same Celestial Room that Saints stood in during the 1840s, just months before they would flee to the west.
 |
| Nauvoo Temple (Image Source) |
Next Week: Part 2 - Endowment Development
*That is, nearly so--in the live endowment, the ceremony asks patrons to "kindly give your attention," and adds that patrons will be moving from room to room.
**It is well-known that several aspects of the Endowment ceremony are drawn from the Masonic ceremony. The Masons similarly used the setting to set the stage for the ceremony; in their case, the Masonic Lodge symbolically became Solomon's Temple, and objects representing the temple were present, including pillars through which each initiate had to pass. See "Masonic ritual and symbolism," Wikipedia.
***For more information on the Nauvoo Temple and how it was used for temple work, see Lisle G. Brown, “The Sacred Departments for Temple Work in Nauvoo: The Assembly Room and the Council Chamber,” BYU Studies 19, Issue 3 (Spring 1979): 371–72. Available here: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/byusq/vol19/iss3/7/
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