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It appears as though my fears of the Kirtland experience changing under church ownership were founded. From Peggy Fletcher Stack in the Salt Lake Tribune ( https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/03/06/new-lds-mission-kirtland-nauvoo/ ” class=”bbcode_url”> https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2024/03/06/new-lds-mission-kirtland-nauvoo/ Quote:The transfer of ownership could dramatically affect how the faith’s early decades may be described to visitors — from a largely historical approach offered by Community of Christ docents (many of whom were college interns with a couple of weeks of training) to a more proselytizing (or at least simplified) approach.
“This is going to change Nauvoo’s story,” said Joseph Johnstun, a Latter-day Saint historian who lives nearby. “A very important part of the history is leaving. We won’t have the presence of those who stayed with Emma Smith Bidamon [founder Smith’s widow] and her family. They will no longer be personally represented, and the stories they told are in danger of being forgotten. That would be sad not just for them but for those of us who are Latter-day Saints, too, because so much of who we are, how we treat history and historic sites, is very much wrapped up with our ‘Prairie cousins.’”
I love the affectionate description of the Brighamite faction as “Prairie Cousins.” :thumbup: I looked up the original cost to build the Kirtland Temple. According to the source I saw, it cost the church $40,000. That was in 1830 dollars.
I know someone with a little bit of inside information about this purchase. They said the Church “overpaid” explicitly to help stabilize the Community of Christ’s financial situation and agreed to keep it open as a historical site primarily to keep it open to the Community of Christ members, specifically. I belief this person, and I hope they are right. It feels like the right thing to do.
I recently heard some scuttlebutt that Denver Snuffer’s group was in talks with the Community of Christ to hold a conference in the Kirtland temple during the eclipse in early April. Looking into it a little, I did see it mentioned that they did have to change venues and ended up having their conference in New York. I couldn’t find any mention from them for what the previous venue was supposed to be. Speculation I’ve seen is that the Church’s real reason for purchasing the temple was to prevent that conference from being held there. I have no way of knowing if that’s true at all, but it’s interesting enough that I figured I’d bring it up here.
Denver Snuffer and his group notwithstanding, the reason the church purchased or was even able to purchase the temple and other properties is quite clear. The CoC is and has been cash strapped and were unable to maintain the temple and the church has wanted it for a very long time. It really is that simple. I hadn’t heard of this Snuffer theory before but it does appear they may have been planning a Kirtland conference and did move it to NY after the purchase. The eclipse was wholly disappointing in NY, especially in the area of the beginnings of the restoration where it was quite overcast. I sincerely doubt the purchase and timing of the purchase had anything to do with Snuffer.
That’s a pretty big deal, especially with the history tied to places like Kirtland and Nauvoo. I’ve always thought those sites were important for understanding the early days of the church, so it’s interesting to see the LDS Church stepping in to preserve them. It’ll be curious to see how they manage the properties and artifacts going forward, and if they’ll open them up for more public access or focus on preservation.
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