When was the kirtland temple dedication

The accounts are charted in the accompanying table. Stephen Post. Brother Stephen Post kept a journal from his baptism in until his death in The entry for March 27—31, , tells of his attendance at the Kirtland Temple dedication and of the testimony Frederick G. Williams bore of seeing an angel:. President F. Edward Partridge. Bishop Partridge also penned a few important lines about the temple dedication in his —36 diary.

Williams, whom Partridge stated was the Savior. Sunday the 27 [March ] Met and dedicated the house of the Lord. Rigdon preached in the forenoon.

Smith Jun made many remarks and delivered the dedication prayer. Williams saw an angel or rather the Savior during the fore-noon service. Newel Knight. Newel Knight, another eyewitness, wrote an entry in his diary that supports the account that Joseph Smith identified the angel as Christ himself.

When he [Williams] had described the dress and personal appearance of the holy visitor brother Joseph said it was Christ himself. This was to me a satisfaction to know that the Lord did come into the house we had labored so diligently to build to his name, and that he had accepted it of his servants.

Lydia Knight. Williams arose and testified that while the prayer was being offered, a personage came in and sat down between Father Smith and himself, and remained there during the prayer. He described his clothing and appearance. Joseph said that the personage was Jesus, as the dress described was that of our Savior, it being in some respects different to the clothing of the angels. George A. Apostle George A. On the first day of the dedication, President Frederick G.

Williams, one of the Council of the Prophet, and who occupied the upper pulpit, bore testimony that the Savior, dressed in his vesture without seam, came into the stand and accepted of the dedication of the house, that he saw him, and gave a description of his clothing and all things pertaining to it.

That evening there was a collection of Elders, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, etc. Many individuals bore testimony that they saw angels, and David Whitmer bore testimony that he saw three angels passing up the south aisle, and there came a shock on the house like the sound of a mighty rushing wind, and almost every man in the house arose, and hundreds of them were speaking in tongues, prophecying or declaring visions, almost with one voice.

Heber C. President Heber C. Kimball recorded in his journal what Frederick said and included many details about the appearance of the messenger. During the ceremonies of the dedication an angel appeared and sat near President Joseph Smith, Sen.

Williams so that they had a fair view of his person. He was a very tall personage, black eyes, white hair, and stoop shouldered, his garment was white, extending to near his ankles, on his feet he had sandals. He was sent as a messenger to accept of the dedication.

Truman O. Angell, who helped to build the Kirtland Temple and later was the designer of the Salt Lake Temple, wrote late in life concerning the angelic visitor that Frederick G. Williams saw and said that Joseph identified the visitor as the Apostle Peter come to accept the dedication.

The Hall was filled at an early hour in the forenoon, I being present among the rest. The Dedicatory prayer was offered Sidney Rigdon being mouth[. At the close of the prayer F. Williams being in the upper East stand Joseph being in the speaking stand next below rose and testified that midway during the prayer an holy angel came and seated himself in the stand. At a meeting of Church leaders in the nearly completed Kirtland Temple, the initiatory ordinances of the endowment were administered.

The participants received visions and revelations, including this one to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Meeting of Jewish expectation and Latter-day Saint tradition concerning the appearance of Elijah. The Lord has always commanded his people to build temples, holy buildings in which worthy Saints perform sacred ceremonies and ordinances of the gospel for themselves and for the dead.

The Lord visits his temples, and they are the most holy of all places of worship. Building and using a temple properly are signs of the true Church in any dispensation, including the restored Church in our day. The Kirtland Temple was the first temple built and dedicated to the Lord in this dispensation.

Priesthood holders called to positions of presidency receive keys from those in authority over them. Priesthood holders use the priesthood only within the limits outlined by those who hold the keys. Quotes Joseph Smith Quotes Joseph Smith explained the need for a temple this way: "We must have all things prepared and call our solemn assembly as the Lord has commanded us, that we may be able to accomplish his great work: and it must be done in God's own way; the house of the Lord must be prepared, and the solemn assembly called and organized in it according to the order of the house of God.

The Saints learned that these offices and quorums were central to establishing Zion and her stakes. Order in the temple was also manifest in the way the Saints carried themselves. At the top of these stairs, in the rooms on the third floor of the temple, many Saints participated in ordinances preparatory to taking the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to all the earth. Intricate woodcarvings adorning window trims, columns, and pulpits reflect the desire of those who labored on the temple to give their very best to the Lord.

Get a glimpse into the lives of two new converts: Eliza R. Snow and Lorenzo Snow. Learn about their interactions with Joseph Smith and their experiences in the Kirtland Temple. Examine the sawmill and ashery in Kirtland, Ohio. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery lowered one of the temple curtains that provided a private place to pray among the pulpits in the Kirtland Temple.

Now, on, April 3, — years ago today — as Christians celebrated Easter and Jews celebrated the Passover, "everything was seemingly set to align the Old and New Testament dispensations with the last great dispensation," says BYU church historian Richard Neitzel Holzapfel. Joseph and Oliver offered a "solemn, but silent prayer to the Most High. We asked six LDS historians and Kirtland-area experts to explain what happened and why, what it meant to the new church then and why it still matters exactly years later.

Joseph and Oliver knelt in prayer behind drawn curtains adjacent to the large pulpits on the west side of the main floor of the Kirtland Temple. After rising from prayer, a remarkable vision burst upon them. First and foremost, Jesus Christ appeared. The three heavenly messengers who then appeared, one after another, laid the foundation for the latter-day establishment of eternal families.

Moses appeared and restored the keys of the gathering of Israel, the formal charge to take the message of salvation to the world and bring people into the restored church through baptism and conversion. Elias appeared and committed to Joseph and Oliver what we know as the Abrahamic Covenant, which includes the power to create eternal family units through the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.

Finally, Elijah appeared and committed the power to bind and seal those families together forever. The keys of the priesthood restored on this occasion opened to the Saints the capstone blessings of the gospel of Jesus Christ; this sacred labor provides purpose and perspective relative to all other gospel principles, covenants and ordinances.

Only two types of church-owned places are dedicated by apostolic authority and never relocated: temples and historic sites. I believe that this longstanding practice reveals a profound connection between these unique places. Church historic sites are the places where eternal promises of this dispensation were revealed through associated spiritual experiences and other sacred events. Temples are the places where these eternal promises are fulfilled through holy ordinances and covenants.

This complementary function explains why temples are connected with historic sites in places that are not centers of church strength — Palmyra, New York; Nauvoo, Illinois; and Winter Quarters, Nebraska. From this perspective, the temple in Kirtland, Ohio, is unique. It is both a sacred House of the Lord and a historic site.

Latter-day Saints honor it as the place of some of the most sublime and significant experiences in our history, especially the revelations, visions and transmission of priesthood keys connected with its dedication years ago this week.

The Community of Christ cares for the temple as a symbol of their concept of an ideal religious community. The two churches work together to assure its preservation, accessibility and understanding as a holy place. Building the Kirtland Temple required the sacrifice of virtually everything of value the Saints had at the time. The Lord accepted of their offering and gave them in return heavenly treasures that they could not possibly have received in any other way.

They yearn to walk where Jesus walked and to be in a place where the guide can say, "This is the spot! At these places, well known in our history, we celebrate important events that made the past have meaning for us today.