Northeastern Ohio Latter-day Saints

I haven't posted on this before, but the better half and I are very interested in U.S. history, with a keen interest right now in Joseph Smith and the Mormons (the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and other churches in the Restoration tradition). We're not saints, but we find the movement an interesting one on a variety of levels, religiously and sociologically.

Today we toured some of the important LDS sites in NE Ohio. As some of you may know, Joseph Smith moved the church to NE Ohio, specifically Kirtland, Ohio, in the 1830s. This was one of the church's many moves to escape angry mobs before settling in the valley of the Great Salt Lake. (We are planning a trip to Utah later this month.)

There are a number of sites in NE Ohio:

(1) The original Mormon temple, the Kirtland Temple, completed and dedicated in 1836. It's truly an impressive structure, on top of a hill, restored and renovated in amazing detail. If you live in the C-Town area, this is definitely something that you should see--it's about one mile south of I-90 on OH 306. Very interesting, from an architectural standpoint, and an interesting history lesson, including a short film.

Highlights: the inner courts, with their white pulpits with gold lettering of church officials; the beautiful wordwork; the oval windows. One of the more beautiful churches I have ever been in, no doubt.

The Kirtland Temple is owned by the Community of Christ, formerly the Reorganized LDS church, one of many splitter groups off the main LDS branch (about 250,000 members).

(2) The John Johnson House, in Hiram, owned by the LDS church. The tour here is much more proselytizing, although Elder Shively (our tour guide) was not overly evangelical. The Johnson house is an important one in LDS doctrine, because the Prophet had a number of important revelations there, in the aptly named Revelations Room.

As someone raised in the Protestant tradition--evangelical, but pretty typical--the idea of sitting in a room, which is a sacred space because of the revelations experienced there, is somewhat alien. It raises all sorts of questions about faith and belief, rationalism and evidence. Maybe when I'm not so tired, I might expand on that.

The house was restored by the church just a few years ago, and it is really something to see. Worth a stop, and the tour is free. They will even give you a Book of Mormon.

Interior details: the paint in each room has been restored to close-to-original color and design. There is some interesting detail on doors and trim in the keeping roon (main kitchen), very organic. The trim in the Revelations Room is pinkish, maybe a melon. Lots of period furniture.

(3) Historic Kirtland, including a reproduction of the ashery and sawmill. Plus, a twenty-plus minute video, definitely of sociological and religious interest. I will post a few additional thoughts on that, when I'm not so exhausted. This, again, is free, but expect to be proselytized--again, gently.

As a bonus, we had lunch at Mary Yoder's Amish Kitchen in Middlefield, and we splurged on the family style baked chicken dinner. Everything is homemade and delicious. If you are in the area, eat here. The desserts are absolutely amazing. One would think that the Amish would abstain from coconut cream pie!

Also a walk at the Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park, which is a smallish park but with two interesting waterfalls.

A full day, and one that I am a little too tired to expand upon now. More later. Maybe some photos, if I can get the blogger-compatible software to post photos.