President Hinckley Dedicates Kirtland Historic Sites

By Alan and Teresa Chapman

In an emotional service at the dedication of historic Church sites in Kirtland, Ohio, on 18 May, President Gordon B. Hinckley paid tribute to the early Saints and marked the tremendous growth of the Church. The restoration project was the largest ever undertaken by the Church outside of Nauvoo.

“May this area become a great gathering place for Thy people from over the earth,” said President Hinckley in the dedicatory prayer. He prayed that Church members would “come here, walk about with reverence and memories, … and grow in faith and testimony concerning Thy work and Thy kingdom,” and that Kirtland would become a “place where the stranger will be touched by Thy Spirit and come to know something of … Thy cause and kingdom.”

At the dedication President Hinckley spoke of the Kirtland Ward sacrament meeting he had attended earlier in the day, during which time he said his mind began to wander across the globe to similar meetings being held in 160 nations.

“I thought of the miracle of what has come to pass as this work has spread across the world,” said President Hinckley.

“I think those who walked these roads could not have dreamed—although the Prophet [Joseph Smith] spoke of it—of the marvelous expansion of this great work,” President Hinckley said, then paused to contain his emotion. “We are part of an incomparable miracle. I wish to emphasize that.”

In April 2000 Church leaders announced plans to reconstruct and restore sites in Kirtland, the 19th-century pioneer settlement where the Church’s first temple was built, the priesthood quorums were organized, and extensive missionary efforts began. Kirtland was the headquarters of the Church from 1831 to 1838, when persecution in the area eventually caused the early Saints to move on to Missouri.

Nearly 2,000 Latter-day Saints had settled there by the time of the Kirtland Temple’s completion in 1836. The temple is now owned and operated by the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

The first phase of the restoration project was completed in 2002 when the Church opened the new Historic Kirtland Visitors’ Center, the restored Newel K. Whitney home and store, and the reconstructed John Johnson Inn.

Projects completed for the May dedication include a 170-year-old sawmill that was originally constructed to provide lumber for the temple, the only known restored ashery (which produced potash, then used in manufacturing) in North America, and Kirtland’s first framed schoolhouse.

President Hinckley was accompanied at the dedicatory service by Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Presidency of the Seventy, and Elder Dale E. Miller of the Second Quorum of the Seventy. Other religious, community, and government leaders also attended.

Prior to the dedication, President Hinckley accepted a road marker plaque from Ohio Lieutenant Governor Jennette Bradley. The road marker summarizes the significance of Kirtland to the state of Ohio and is one of more than 340 to be presented around the state as part of Ohio’s bicentennial celebration.

While in Kirtland for the dedication, President Hinckley also held a fireside with members in the Kirtland area. Fifteen hundred Latter-day Saints filled the Kirtland Ohio Stake Center on 17 May to hear President Hinckley commemorate the restoration and reconstruction of Historic Kirtland.

“Kirtland is an unusual place, a remarkable place, an interesting place, and a very important place in the history of this work,” President Hinckley said.

He spoke of Palmyra and Harmony as the birthplaces of the Restoration and of Kirtland as the place where many of the principles that govern the Church today were put into place. In Kirtland the first high priests were ordained, the Word of Wisdom was received, and the first high council and stake were organized. Other important events that occurred there include the organization of the First Presidency, the calling of Apostles who were organized into a quorum, the calling of the original First Quorum of the Seventy, the filling of the office of patriarch, Joseph Smith’s receiving of the Egyptian scrolls that he later translated into the Book of Abraham, and the acceptance of the Doctrine and Covenants revelations by the body of the Church.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell added his testimony and spoke about “the Kirtland cascade,” referring to the revelations and manifestations that occurred in Kirtland during the Church’s time there. “These important revelations connect us to daily life,” Elder Maxwell said.

President Hinckley (center) tours the restored ashery in Kirtland, Ohio. (Photograph by John Luke.)