Furthermore, this plan for the city of Zion came at a time when the organization of priesthood quorums was still being unfolded. Significantly, the names to be given to the 24 temples emphasize the roles of various priesthood officers in these sacred structures. These officers corresponded precisely to those who were to occupy the tiered pulpits at the two ends of the temple's main rooms (Figure 4).
But the temple in Zion was not to be built at that time. Anti-Mormon violence flared in Jackson County, and the Saints' press at Independence was destroyed on 20 July, less than one month after the Prophet had drawn up his plat for the City of Zion. By late fall, the Saints had to flee their homes in the chosen land. During the years following their expulsion they empathized with the ancient Israelites who sat down by the rivers of Babylon and "wept when [they] remembered Zion" (Ps. 137:1). In 1838, Joseph Holbrook, a Latter-day Saint then living in northern Missouri, returned to Jackson County on business: "At Independence I saw the temple lot that had been dedicated and consecrated to the Lord of hosts by the Prophet Joseph Smith, Jr. as the capital of Zion in the last days and now the Saints are driven from Jackson County and their inheritance laid waste and no Mormon is safe in this county, if known…. When shall we build the[temple[?]" Holbrook mused. "The Lord must truly work a work upon this land before this can be fulfilled so Lord, let it be."[fn9]
Interest Continues Following the Exodus
Even after Brigham Young led the Mormon pioneers to Utah in 1847, their hope to build this center place and its future glorious temple remained bright. "When Zion is established in her beauty and honor and glory," declared John Taylor in 1858, "the kings and princes of the earth will come, in order that they may get information and teach the same to their people."[fn10]
The following year, Elder Charles W. Penrose explained that at the Second Coming, the Savior will first appear at the New Jerusalem. "He will come to the temple prepared for him, and his faithful people will behold his face, hear his voice, and gaze upon his glory. From his own lips, they will receive further instructions for the development and beautifying of Zion."[fn11]
Once, while Brigham Young was walking through the Temple Block in Salt Lake City, his thoughts turned to Jackson County. He described what he thought the great temple might look like: Each building would have its own tower, and in the center of the "temple complex" there would be a "high tower" and a square beautified by "hanging gardens" where the people could meet.[fn12]
The importance of the Saints' preparation was emphasized early. "When will Zion be redeemed?" asked Brigham Young in 1861; only "as soon as the Latter-day Saints are ready and prepared," he insisted.[fn13] His stressing the need for hard work reflected the immediate demands on the pioneers: "Where is the man that knows how to lay the first rock for the wall that is to surround the New Jerusalem?" God will not do the work for us which we should do for ourselves, President Young emphasized, unless we "let him work by, through, and with us,…we shall fall short and shall never have the honor of building up Zion on the earth."[fn14]
The Saints in Utah were naturally interested in the prospects of returning to Jackson County, many assuming that the time of the return was not distant. In 1862, Brigham Young declared that he wanted to push construction of the Salt Lake Temple as far as possible before returning to Jackson County. "The way things are going," he believed, "the way will soon be clear." In fact, President Young hoped that it would be his privilege to see the temple in Jackson County finished before any other temple.[fn15] Other events, however, would alter the Saints' timetable.
During the Civil War, the Mormons felt secure in the relative isolation of their Rocky Mountain stronghold. They viewed the destruction which the North and South were heaping on one another as just recompense for the nation's earlier mistreatment of the Latter-day Saints and supposed that this desolation would open the way for their return to Jackson County. When this failed to materialize, the Saints looked to a more distant return.
Orson Pratt, for example, exhibited this shift in feeling. In 1872, he quoted Joseph Smith's 1832 revelation that the "temple shall be reared in this generation" (D&C 84:4). Noting that most who were living when that revelation was given had passed away, Elder Pratt concluded that "the time must be pretty near when we shall begin that work."[fn16] Just three years later he referred to the same prophecy, but this time emphasized that he believed that God was not "limited to any definite period."[fn17]
During the 1870s a number of Latter-day Saints in Utah engaged in a variety of cooperative ventures known as "united orders." They recalled the 1834 revelation given at Fishing River, Missouri, which specified that the people must be united and impart to the poor according to a celestial law before Zion could be established (D&C 105:3-5). In this setting, Church leaders emphasized the need to live this higher law before the New Jerusalem and its temple could be built. "We are not yet prepared to go and establish the Center Stake of Zion," President Young emphasized. The Lord gathered the Saints to the place where the New Jerusalem would be built and gave them laws concerning the establishment of Zion, "but the people could not abide them, and the Church was scattered."[fn18]
Speaking in 1874, Orson Pratt recalled the Fishing River revelation given 40 years before and declared that if the Saints in their prevailing way of life were to attempt to build the temple on the consecrated spot, "we should be cast out again," because "the Lord would not acknowledge us as his people." Elder Pratt continued: "If we would go back then, we must comply with the celestial law, the law of consecration, the law of oneness."[fn19] "When we go back to Jackson County, we are to go back with power," he declared on another occasion. "Do you suppose that God will reveal his power among an unsanctified people who have no regard nor respect for his laws?"[fn20]
Brigham Young likewise cautioned, "If we are not very careful, the earth will be cleansed from wickedness before we are prepared to take possession of it. We must be pure to be prepared to build up Zion."[fn21] George Q. Cannon insisted that before Jesus will come to his latter-day temple, "the organization of society that exists in the heavens must exist on the earth; the same condition of society, so far as it is applicable to mortal beings, must exist here."[fn22]
Likewise, Wilford Woodruff reminded the people of Enoch's example and stressed that the New Jerusalem will have to be built "by the United Order of Zion and according to the celestial law."[fn23] A portion of the property consecrated to the Lord's storehouse, explained Elder Orson Pratt, "will be used for the building of temples."[fn24]
The opening of the St. George Temple in 1877 sparked a revival of interest in temples and temple ordinances. This, in turn, heightened interest in the future temple of the New Jerusalem. During the next two or three years, Elder Orson Pratt spoke repeatedly on the function and design of this magnificent structure. Citing the 1833 revelation directing that no unclean thing should be allowed to enter and defile the temple (D&C 97:15-17), he emphasized that "there are certain places appointed, and certain provisions to be complied with" in order for the fullness of priesthood ordinances to be made known by which fathers and children as well as the living and the dead are united. "This is the object of Temples," he declared.[fn25]
Elder Pratt then reviewed how the pattern of temple design had unfolded: there had been no provisions for sacred ordinances at Kirtland, but a font was added at Nauvoo. Likewise, the New Jerusalem temple will not be built "according to the pattern of our present Temples." But "there will be, according to the progress of this people, and the knowledge they receive," many features not found in present temples.[fn26] Speaking in the recently dedicated Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, Orson Pratt shared his idea of what the temple would look like. It would be "much larger, very much larger" than any existing Latter-day Saint building. It would not consist of one large hall as in the Tabernacle, but there would be 24 separate "compartments." "When we build these 24 rooms in a circular form and arched over the center [like the building in which Elder Pratt was speaking], we shall give the names to all these different compartments just as the Lord specified through Joseph Smith."[fn27] "The Lord our God will command his servants to build that Temple in the most perfect order," Elder Pratt testified. "When we build a Temple that is never to be destroyed, it will be constructed after the most perfect order of the celestial worlds." For this purpose, he concluded, we must have prophets in our midst who can receive "the whole pattern thereof given by revelation."[fn28]
Elder Wilford Woodruff learned by means of a dream that the glorious latter-day temple would be built with the help of heavenly beings:
I saw a short distance from the Missouri River, where I stood, twelve[men…[whose] hands were uplifted while they were consecrating the ground; and later they laid the corner-stones of the house of God. I saw myriads of angels hovering over them, and above their heads there was a pillar-like cloud. I heard the most beautiful singing in the words: "Now is established the Kingdom of our God and His Christ, and He shall reign forever and forever, and the Kingdom shall never be thrown down, for the Saints have overcome." I saw people coming from the river and from distant places to help build the Temple. It seemed as though there were hosts of angels helping to bring material for the construction of that building.[fn29]
Elder Orson Pratt was also very much interested in the visible manifestation of God's glory at the future temple: "A cloud of glory [will] rest upon that temple by day, the same as the cloud rested upon the tabernacle of Moses…. Not only that, but a flaming fire will rest upon the temple by night." He continued: "You will have no need of any artificial light, for the Lord God will be the light thereof, and his glory will be there, and you will see it and you will hear his voice."[fn30] This conspicuous display of God's glory will have "quite a tendency to strike terror to all the nations of the earth." Elder Pratt expected that its fame would become known worldwide and that people would travel from around the earth to see it.[fn31]
Developments at the "Center Place"
During the later nineteenth century, even though the Saints in Utah gave up the idea of an immediate return to Missouri and anticipated a more distant fulfillment of prophecies concerning the New Jerusalem and its temple, activities in the appointed "center place" did not cease. In 1867, a small group of former Mormons who were now followers of Granville Hedrick, returned to Independence and began the process of quietly purchasing two and one-half acres including the spot where Joseph Smith had placed the temple cornerstone over three decades earlier. This group would form the "Church of Christ, (Temple Lot)." During the 1870s and 1880s, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, followers of Joseph Smith III, also began to return and eventually established their headquarters at Independence.
During these years, the Utah Saints lived in relative isolation, but this situation changed with the 1890 Manifesto announcing the end of plural marriages. During the decade of goodwill that followed, mission fields, including Missouri, that had lain dormant for several decades, now began to revive. This led the Saints once again to become more aware of contemporary developments affecting the temple site. In the early 1890s, for example, Utah newspapers covered the major features of the "Temple Lot Case" between the Church of Christ (or Hedrickites) and the Reorganized Church. Interest was particularly high during March 1892, when attorneys from both sides came to Salt Lake City to interview witnesses during a series of formal hearings.[fn32]
Utah interest in Missouri was further enhanced in 1904 when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints began to purchase 20 of the 63 acres originally acquired by Bishop Edward Partridge for the temple and other uses in Independence. In 1907 the Church located headquarters of the Central States mission here, and also established a press, Zion's Printing and Publishing Co., from which millions of missionary tracts, as well as copies of the Book of Mormon and the Liahona magazine were issued.
Latter-day Saints noted the activities of other groups interested in building a temple at the divinely appointed site. As early as 1914, Utah papers reported that the Church of Christ (not to be confused with the larger denomination having the same name) was actively considering temple construction. James A. Hedrick, a descendant of that church's founder, believed that Joseph Smith's declaration that the temple would be built "in this generation" (D&C 84:4) meant the work would need to be completed within 100 years of 1832.[fn33] As the deadline drew closer, a Hedrickite apostle, Otto Fetting, announced a series of revelations commanding that the work proceed, and on 6 April 1929, the Church of Christ "broke the sod" for the temple. An excavation was made for the 90 by 180-foot structure.
Speaking at the October 1929 General Conference in Salt Lake City, Anthony W. Ivins of the First Presidency referred to appeals for funds and to invitations from the Church of Christ for the Utah Church to join them in building the temple. "With all good feelings toward these people," he observed, "you will readily understand the impossibility of such a coalition."[fn34] Referring to these developments, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith affirmed that God had not released the Saints from their responsibility to establish Zion and to build the temple on the designated spot. He insisted that the temple would have to be built by those possessing proper priesthood authority and a knowledge of the purposes of temples and temple ordinances.[fn35] An editorial in the Liahona declared that "all premature, unauthorized movements" to build the temple must inevitably "come to naught."[fn36]
When Fetting's apostasy in 1930 drew away about one-third of the Church of Christ's 4,000 members, progress on the temple project halted. In 1946, the Hedrickites had the excavation filled in, the ground leveled, and the lot seeded in grass. They now view themselves as guardians of this sacred property awaiting the time when all of the followers of Joseph Smith who are "pure in heart" will unite to build the temple.
A More Cautious Interest
Even though the General Authorities spoke of the New Jerusalem temple publicly less often during the twentieth century than previously, their occasional statements did reflect a continuing interest. For example, speaking at the dedication of the beautiful Alberta Temple in 1923, Elder Rudger Clawson anticipated that "the time will come when we shall have much finer temples. That which is to be built in the Center Stake of Zion, in Jackson County, will be far more magnificent than any yet erected."[fn37]
During the 1960s, Elder Alvin R. Dyer, who earlier had been a mission president at Independence, was assigned to take a special interest in the sacred lands of Missouri. Speaking to students at Brigham Young University, he said he envisioned "a temple complex such as has never been known." At its center will be the great temple of the New Jerusalem in which the Lord will make his appearance, and from which he will govern all the earth.[fn38]
Writing about prophesied events, Elder Bruce R. McConkie also emphasized the importance of the temple. He insisted that the New Jerusalem could not be "built up" as "a holy city, a city of Zion," until a temple is erected there. "The Lord will not reign in or send forth his law from a city in which he has no house of his own." Nevertheless, Elder McConkie did not believe that this temple needed to be built immediately: "Because the Saints were `hindered by the hands of their enemies, and by oppression,' the Lord withdrew the time limitation (D&C 124:49-54), and the command now in force is: `Zion shall be redeemed in mine own due time' (D&C 136:18)." [fn39]
During the 1970s, the Saints' attention again turned to Missouri. In 1971, the Church dedicated its visitors center designed to highlight the significance of Independence, both in the past and in the future. However, the Saints' interest in prophesied events has sometimes led them to attach undue significance to present-day developments in Missouri. In 1978, for example, when The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchased over 4,000 acres of land across the river in Clay County, many Mormons concluded that this was somehow a sign of the temple's immediate construction. Church leaders stressed that the purchase was for investment purposes only.[fn40]
Rather than focusing on actually moving to Missouri, the General Authorities have continued to urge the Saints to develop the qualities that must characterize those who build Zion. Elder Harold B. Lee cautioned: "The Lord has placed the responsibility for directing the work of gathering in the hands of the leaders of the Church." He emphasized that the Saints would do well, therefore, to look to the First Presidency for instructions as to when and where they should gather.[fn41]
Consistent with this more cautious emphasis, developments in Missouri received relatively little public attention during the later twentieth century. Even though Utah newspapers covered the sensational story of the arson-caused fire which destroyed the Hedrickites headquarters building on New Year's Day, 1990, they gave little or no attention to a more significant story-the Reorganized Church's beginning construction of their temple across the street during that same year. The new structure featured a 300-foot spiral tower, regarded as a "divinely inspired plan that would speak in a universal language to all persons throughout the world."[fn42]
The "Center Place" as Viewed by a Worldwide Church
The Latter-day Saints' feelings about the land of Missouri have necessarily been affected by the growing emphasis on the Church's broader worldwide mission. Throughout the twentieth century, LDS leaders have urged the Saints to remain in their own lands, strengthen the Church there, and establish stakes of Zion. For example, at the 1972 Mexico City area conference, Elder Bruce R. McConkie again stressed the need to build up the Church in many lands: "The place of gathering for the Mexican Saints is in Mexico; the place of gathering for the Guatemalan Saints is in Guatemala; the place of gathering for the Brazilian Saints is in Brazil; and so it goes throughout the length and breadth of the whole earth. Japan is for the Japanese; Korea is for the Koreans; Australia is for the Australians; every nation is the gathering place for its own people."[fn43]
As part of its broadened focus, the Church has increasingly erected temples in many lands. Latter-day Saints believed these developments began to fulfill prophecies that temple work would accelerate even faster during the millennium. "When the Savior comes," foresaw Elder Wilford Woodruff, "a thousand years will be devoted to this work of redemption; and Temples will appear all over this land of Joseph-North and South America-and also in Europe and elsewhere."[fn44] "To accomplish this work," President Brigham Young explained as early as 1856, "there will have to be not only one temple but thousands of them, and thousands and tens of thousands of men and women will go into those temples and officiate for people who have lived as far back as the Lord shall reveal."[fn45] Likewise, President Spencer W. Kimball looked forward to the time "when the temples will be used around the clock and throughout the year."[fn46]
In an era of international growth and temple building worldwide, what were the Saints to think about Missouri? "Let Israel gather to the stakes of Zion in all nations," exclaimed Elder McConkie. "Let temples arise wherein the fullness of the ordinances of the Lord's house may be administered. But still there is a center place, a place where the chief temple shall stand, a place to which the Lord shall come,…and that center place is what men now call Independence in Jackson County, Missouri."[fn47] Hence, despite the Church's broader view of the gathering and of temple building, the Saints have continued to show a keen interest in the land of Missouri, the center place, and the future temple to be built there. Paraphrasing the ninth article of faith, the Saints are grateful for all that God has revealed concerning Zion, they are excited about what he is now revealing about temples and temple service worldwide, but they are eagerly anticipating what he will yet reveal concerning the great temple of the New Jerusalem.
Figure 4 Temples in Zion
Temple Numbers and Names Pulpits
10-12 House of the Lord, for the Presidency West:
of the High and most Holy Priesthood, after Melchizedek
the order of Melchizedek. Presidency
7-9 Sacred Apostolic Repository, for the Bishopric
use of the Bishop.
4-6 Holy Evangelical House, for the High High Priests
Priesthood of the Holy Order of God.
1-3 House of the Lord, for the Elders of Elders
Zion, an Ensign of the Nations. East: Aaronic
22-24 House of the Lord for the Presidency Presidency
of the High Priesthood, after the Order
of Aaron
19-21 House of the Lord, Law of the Priests
Kingdom of Heaven, Messenger to the
People; for the Highest Priesthood after
the Order of Aaron
16-18 House of the Lord for the Teachers Teachers
in Zion, Messenger to the Church
13-15 House of the Lord for the Deacons Deacons
in Zion, Helps in Government
