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Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints purchases Kirtland Temple

A three-story white building stands alone with bushes and trees surrounding it.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
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The church says the Kirtland Temple in Northeast Ohio was the first temple built by the Mormons.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has purchased the Kirtland Temple, a significant piece of its early history. The church announced in a press release it has acquired the property, artifacts and other historic sites in Illinois from the Community of Christ Church for $192 million.

Nathan Johnson is the president of Kirtland Stake, where he oversees programs for the Mormon church in Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties. He said that the buying of the temple came with a lot of emotions.

“Certainly, I’m thrilled,” Johnson said. “I think this is an event that has been prayed for for years, but we are also close friends with the Community of Christ Church, and we recognize that for them this is very difficult. So we’re sort of mourning with them, while we’re celebrating.”

Johnson said that temples are different than the typical meeting houses where the church has Sunday worship. He said temples are for performing sacred and special ordinances. According to Johnson, the Kirtland temple is sacred due to a variety of events that happened when the building was first built.

“We believe that following the dedication of the temple, that there was an appearance of Jesus Christ in the building,” Johnson said. “And the restoration of certain priesthood keys and authority that allowed the church to continue forward with its work.”

According to the Kirtland Temple website, the site was originally built between 1833 and 1836 and is three stories tall. Johnson said the Community of Christ Church, a branch of the Mormon religion, bought the temple in 1901 and worked to preserve and maintain the sacred landmark.

“I think there’s a desire by many churches to ensure that sacred sites like these are preserved and maintained,” Johnson said. “We felt that it was being well maintained by the Community of Christ, but we were very interested in making sure that the preservation of the site would continue.”

Johnson said that the church will not serve as a site of worship but instead be to the public beginning March 25.

“It will also not be a meeting house, but a historical building,” Johnson said. “We have some other historic sites in the city of Kirtland and elsewhere. It will be maintained that way, so tours will be given, and other special events will be held there.”

Four other sites were also part of the purchase, along with multiple sacred objects: including an original portrait done of the founder of the religion, Joseph Smith. The Community of Christ Church was also founded by Joseph Smith.

“For Latter Day Saints in this area and throughout the world, this is a deeply significant religious site,” Johnson said, “We’re just very grateful that it will be able to be preserved and maintained so that we can continue to enjoy it and tell others about it.”

Des Torres is an intern at Ideastream Public Media.