Mormons’ Temples Reflect Faith’s Aura

As Winter Olympics visitors contemplate the primacy of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City, they cannot help but be drawn to the dominant architectural symbol of both the city and the church: the Salt Lake Temple, with its six stately spires reaching toward the heavens.

In a church with a history and practice that spark curiosity and often off-the-mark speculation, the Mormon temples around the world are one of the religion’s most intriguing features. They are buildings so architecturally interesting that they can slow traffic.

Adding to the intrigue is the fact that non-Mormons can never see what goes on inside the temples. After construction of a temple is completed, there is an open house, where anyone may visit and tour the inside. Until Feb. 16, for example, tours of the faith’s latest temple were held in Snowflake, Ariz. But once a temple is dedicated, only a card-carrying Mormon (and they do have cards) is admitted.

Temples are not places where Mormons worship on a weekly basis. In fact, all temples are closed on Sunday so members can attend services in local meetinghouses as part of a ward, or congregation.

Mormons perform only the most sacred rites of the church in their grandiose buildings: eternal marriage of husband and wife, the “sealing” of families to one another for eternity and proxy baptism of one’s ancestors.

In each temple there is a reception desk, where Latter-day Saints, as members of the church prefer to be called, present a card called a “recommend,” which attests that they are Mormons in good standing. That standing is determined annually in an interview with the president of the local ward, equivalent to the pastor of a local congregation, and with the president of their stake, analogous to the bishop of a diocese. These religious leaders are not theologically trained clergy but laypeople who volunteer their services.

In that interview, the church officials affirm that the member is paying the required 10% tithe (of gross income), adhering to the Mormon health code--which includes refraining from alcohol, tobacco and stimulants such as caffeine--and wearing the sacred undergarments required of members.

(The sacred garments, which members receive at an “endowment” ceremony that is analogous to a confirmation or bar mitzvah, have several varieties, but a typical garment is a one-piece white cotton or nylon undergarment with a V-neck and short sleeves. There are sacred insignia sewn into four places, over the breasts, the navel and the right knee.)

After showing their card, the Latter-day Saints go to a locker room to change into the white clothing (which they bring or rent at the temple) that is required inside the sacred building.

Inside, the temple is not a cavernous building, like a cathedral, but divided up into many rooms where the sacred rites, called ordinances, are performed. There are usually several ordinance rooms, where the endowment ceremonies are conducted, and several sealing rooms, where husband and wife are sealed to each other for all eternity. Families may also be sealed to one another for eternity, which many converts, particularly those who have lost a family member, mention as an appealing aspect of Mormonism. There is also always one celestial room, the most sacred space in the temple, which is for quiet contemplation.

The eternal sealing of families is based on the Mormon belief that each person once lived in a pre-mortal state, born of heavenly parents, and comes to Earth to assume a physical body. A person who lives by the moral requirements of the Gospel will once again return to the presence of God to live as an eternal family.

It is also a Mormon belief that those who never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ during their lives may be baptized by proxy and given the opportunity to embrace it--or reject it--after death. These proxy baptisms are performed in a large baptistery in the lower level of the temple.

It has been Mormon practice to scour census and other records to compile lists of people for proxy baptisms. As Richard and Joan Ostling point out in their 1999 book, “Mormon America,” this activity has caused some controversy. Proxy baptisms have been carried out for U.S. presidents, signers of the Declaration of Independence and even some Catholic saints.

As a result of the church’s aggressive missionary efforts, it has seen explosive growth. There were 1 million Mormons in 1947. Today there are more than 11 million Mormons in the world, with one-seventh living in Utah.

At one time, Mormons were encouraged to move to Salt Lake City, or Zion, as the church called it, and become part of the fold. Today Mormons are encouraged to stay where they are. To help the church come to them, temples are being built in every corner of the world. As recently as 1991, temples outside Utah were rare. Now, there are 107 temples in the world, 55 of them outside of the United States. Six of the last 10 temples dedicated are in foreign countries.

Under the leadership of 91-year-old President Gordon B. Hinckley, the chief prophet and apostle of the church, Mormons have embarked on an ambitious temple-building project, which he first announced in 1985 and which is helping to transform the church from a provincial creed into an international religious force.

“I believe that no member of the church has received the ultimate which this church has to give until he or she has received his or her temple blessings in the house of the Lord,” Hinckley told a church-wide meeting in 1997. “Accordingly, we are doing all that we know how to do to expedite the construction of these sacred buildings and make the blessings received therein more generally available.”