Temple Work Without Temples

Title

Temple Work Without Temples

Publication Type

Podcast

Publication Date

April 30, 2024

Authors

Woodward, Scott (Primary), and Griffiths, Casey Paul (Primary)

Abstract

Beginning in 1846, thousands of Latter-day Saints left Nauvoo, Illinois and trekked over 1,000 miles west to the Salt Lake Valley. Having of necessity abandoned the Nauvoo temple for which they had worked so hard and sacrificed so much, they were now a temple-centered people without a temple. Now, they certainly would go on to build more temples, the first of which would be the St. George Temple, completed in 1877. But how would they do temple-related work in the meantime? In this episode of Church History Matters, Casey and I walk through the unique story of how temple work continued during that thirty-year season in Utah of no temples, where church leaders used Ensign Peak, a multipurpose building called the Council House, a one-of-a-kind building called the Endowment House, and administrative offices for these purposes. We’ll also highlight some important takeaways from church leaders’ response to the crushing government legislation they faced in the late 1880s when forced with the decision of losing all temples or ending the practice of plural marriage.

Bibliographic Citation

Terms of use

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