Wilford Woodruff performed a private dedication on May 17, 1888.[2] On May 1, 2021, Russell M. Nelson announced that the temple would close for renovation on October 1, 2021.[3]
The Manti Utah Temple (formerly the Manti Temple) is the fifth constructed temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The temple construction was completed in 1888.[5] Located in the city of Manti, Utah, it was the third Latter-day Saint temple built west of the Mississippi River, after the Mormon pioneers trekked west. (The St. George and Logan Utah temples preceded it.) The Manti Temple was designed by William Harrison Folsom, who moved to Manti while the temple was under construction. The temple dominates the Sanpete Valley and can be seen from many miles. Like all Latter-day Saint temples, only church members in good standing may enter. It was previously one of only two remaining Latter-day Saint temples in the world where live portrayal was used in the endowment ceremony (the other was the Salt Lake Temple). All other temples use a film in the presentation of the endowment, a practice that will also be used in Manti beginning in 2024 following renovation.[6][7] It is an early pioneering example of four rooms representing the journey of life.[8]
Church presidentBrigham Young announced the decision to build a temple in Manti on June 25, 1875, and dedicated the site on April 25, 1877. On the day of the dedication, Young took Warren S. Snow to the southeast corner of the temple site and told him, "Here is the spot where the Prophet Moroni stood and dedicated this piece of land for a Temple site, and that is the reason why the location is made here, and we can't move it from this spot."[9]
The Salt Lake Temple had been announced in 1847, but construction was still underway and not finished until 1893. The Manti Temple was built, along with the St. George and Logan temples, to satisfy the church's immediate need for these structures. The site for the temple was the Manti Stone Quarry, a large hill immediately northeast of town. Early pioneer settlers in the area prophesied that this would be the site of a temple. When Young announced the building of the temple, he also announced that the 27-acre (110,000m2) plot would then be known as "Temple Hill."[9]
The temple was completed in 1888, and a private dedication was held on May 17, 1888, with a prayer written by Wilford Woodruff. Three public dedications were held on May 21–23, 1888, and were directed by Lorenzo Snow.[10]
Manti Temple dedication admission, signed by Wilford Woodruff
The Manti Temple was the location of the Holy of Holies until the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated. The room was then used for sealings until it was closed in the late 1970s.
A 1966 study found that 52 percent of temple work was being done in either the Salt Lake, Logan, or Manti temples, even though there were 13 operating temples by that time. This led to the building of the Ogden and Provo temples to relieve the strain on the older pioneer-era temples.[11]
Art
The temple includes murals by several Latter-day Saint artists, including C. C. A. Christensen (Creation Room, 1886–87), Minerva Teichert (World Room, 1947, assisted by Frank Stevens[12]), Robert L. Shepherd (Garden Room, 1946), John Hafen, J. B. Fairbanks, and Dan Weggeland.[13][14][15][12] Some of the original murals, having been damaged and unable to be saved, had sail canvas placed over them in order for new murals to be painted. The temple houses the only pioneer-era mural to survive inside a of a temple.[16] For instance, Weggeland's Garden Room mural still exists underneath Shepherd's original.[12]
The temple is also filled with other paintings. The mix of paintings has changed over time, but among the paintings originally intended for the building include two by Christensen. One of those depicts the hill where the temple would later sit with a Native American encampment in the foreground, with the other being the temple itself and its landscaped grounds.[17]
Minerva Teichert's work on the World Room
Minerva Teichert was commissioned to create the World Room mural by church president George Albert Smith.[18][19] She was the first woman in the church to be commissioned to paint. She was given $4,000 for the project. At the time of creating the murals, Teichert was suffering from the effects of lead poisoning, which can cause difficulties including nausea, abdominal pain, and optic neuritis.[19] She created a deadline of a month to finish the project, and would occasionally give a whole day just to a specific section.[20] She was known to ask for prayers for her health and would pray extra during times of difficulty working on the painting.[19]
Frank Stevens provided assistance with moving scaffolding and creating sketches under Teichert's supervision.[21][22][23] Much of the work of painting took place high up on scaffolding stretching up to 28 feet, and both Stevens and Teichert faced fears about working so high. While working on the Tower of Babel scene, she fell off a scaffold and hurt her arm.[23] After consulting a doctor, she resumed work a few hours later, out on the same ledge as before. The mural features 120 figures, Techert referred to it as a “great pageant.”[24] At the end of the process, she related that she worked ‘very fast’ and that “No mural decorator in America ever beat that – nearly 4,000 square feet (370m2) in 23 days.”[25][26] More work remained on the temple, and she returned at different times to continue touching up the mural, which ended up being about 28 days in total, with the last of the touch ups ending in March 1948.[24]
Renovations
The Manti Temple has undergone various remodeling and renovations. Construction of a great stone stairway leading up the hill to the west temple doors began in 1907.[27] In 1935, the temple was fully lit at night for the first time.[28] In 1940, the stone stairs were removed and work began to beautify the grounds.[27] Between 1944 and 1945 the annex, chapel, kitchen, Garden Room, and men's and women's areas were remodeled. There was once a tunnel beneath the east tower of the temple through which wagons and cars could pass, but it was closed off in the 1960s.[29] Because of that, it was once said that "the Manti Temple is the only temple you can go through without a recommend."[30]
Detail of the north wall of the Garden Room as painted by Minerva Teichert. A window can be seen as a suggestion of scale.
In 1981, church officials decided that the interior of the temple needed extensive remodeling. The renovation took four years, during which murals and original furniture were restored, offices were enlarged and remodeled, a separate door was made to the baptistry, water and weather damage were repaired, an elevator installed, and locker rooms were improved among many other projects. In June 1985, Gordon B. Hinckley, then a counselor in the First Presidency, directed the rededication ceremonies.[31][32] Exterior preservation efforts have also occurred since that time.[33]
Removal of murals
In March 2021, the First Presidency announced significant renovations for the Manti and Salt Lake temples, including ending the live endowment. The decision to end live endowments was rooted in the need for the temples to offer more sessions throughout the day and in different languages; live endowment sessions were only available in English in either temple. To accommodate these changes, it was announced the interiors of the temples would be reconfigured for single-room, multimedia-based endowment sessions as done in other temples, which would also involve the removal of historic artwork in the temples, including Minerva Teichert's murals in the Manti temple.[7] A week following the initial announcement, the church issued an updated statement on the plans for the Manti Temple, stating it would consult with art preservationists about the best way to remove part or all of the Teichert murals, which are canvas affixed to plaster, and preserve them for public display.[34]
On May 1, church president Russell M. Nelson announced that upon reconsideration, although the temple would be updated to use film, care would be taken to preserve the temple's interior, including its art. To increase temple capacity for the area, he announced that an additional temple would be built in Ephraim, Utah.[35][36][37]
Style
The Manti Temple combines the Gothic Revival, French Renaissance Revival, Second French Empire, and Colonial architectural styles. The temple has 100,373 square feet (9,325m2) of floor space, eight sealing rooms, four ordinance rooms, and a Celestial room. The exterior is made of fine-textured, cream-colored oolite limestone from quarries in the hill on which the temple stands. The two towers of the temple are 179 feet (55m) tall, and the open center spiral staircases inside the towers are marvels of pioneer ingenuity.
↑ She said she was so happy that she said she almost had a heart attack, and was overwhelmed by the amount of work that she had to do, and said: “I have the hardest Temple room I have ever seen to do, 21 ft. high, 60 ft. long, and abt. 24 wide. The north side wall looks gigantic.”
↑ Of Teichert, Stevens said: “I've never met a person in my life that even compared with her in her enthusiasm for the gospel and the building of the kingdom and how art could play its part.”
↑ It was said of Teichert that her goal was to please the general authorities of the church, and after finishing the mural, she wrote in a letter about meeting apostle John A. Widtsoe, who was ‘incredulous’ about her completing the mural in 23 days, and that he was wondering how many years it would take her.
↑ "[announces LDS church announces temple to be built in Ephraim; Manti Temple renovation plans altered ]" by Genelle Pugmire. Daily Herald. May 1, 2021. Accessed May 1, 2021.
Rasmussen, Victor J. (1988), The Manti Temple, Manti, Utah: Manti Temple Centennial Committee, OCLC18171497
Stubbs, Glen R. (1988) [1976], Temple on a Hill: a History of the Manti Temple (4th (Centennial)ed.), Rexburg, Idaho: Ricks College Press, OCLC24263168
The True and Living Church of Jesus Christ of Saints of the Last Days (TLC) is a breakaway sect of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is headquartered in Manti, Utah, United States, where as of 2004 it maintained a membership of 300 to 500 adherents. The church has a meetinghouse in Manti, and in the past also owned a building in Manti called the Red Brick Store, not to be confused with the Red Brick Store in Nauvoo, Illinois.
The Salt Lake Temple is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Temple Square in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. At 253,015 square feet (23,505.9 m2), it is the largest Latter-day Saint temple by floor area. Dedicated in 1893, it is the sixth temple completed by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo, Illinois, in 1846. The temple was closed in December 2019 for a general remodelling and seismic renovations, which were initially estimated to take approximately four years. Subsequent updates extended the estimated completion to 2026, for a total renovation timeline lasting an anticipated six or seven years.
The Nauvoo Illinois Temple is the 113th dedicated temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The intent to build the temple was announced on April 4, 1999, by church president Gordon B. Hinckley during general conference. It is the third temple built in Illinois.
In the Latter Day Saint movement, a temple is a building dedicated to being a house of God and is reserved for special forms of worship. A temple differs from a church meetinghouse, which is used for weekly worship services. Temples have been a significant part of the Latter Day Saint movement since early in its inception. Today, temples are operated by several Latter Day Saint denominations. The most prolific builder of temples of the Latter Day Saint movement is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The LDS Church has 367 temples in various phases, which includes 197 dedicated temples, 5 scheduled for dedication, 49 under construction, 1 scheduled for groundbreaking, and 115 others announced. Several others within the movement have built or attempted to build temples. The Community of Christ operates one temple in the United States, which is open to the public and used for worship services, performances, and religious education. Other denominations with temples are the Apostolic United Brethren, the Church of Christ, the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, and the Righteous Branch of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Los Angeles California Temple, the tenth operating and the second-largest temple operated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is on Santa Monica Boulevard in the Westwood district of Los Angeles, California, United States.
William H. Clayton was a clerk, scribe, and friend to the religious leader Joseph Smith. Clayton, born in England, was also an American pioneer journalist, inventor, lyricist, and musician. He joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints in 1837 and served as the second counselor to the British mission president Joseph Fielding while proselyting in Manchester. He led a group of British converts in emigrating to the United States in 1840 and eventually settled in Nauvoo, Illinois, where he befriended Joseph Smith and became his clerk and scribe. He was a member of the Council of Fifty and Smith's private prayer circle.
In temples of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, an ordinance room is a room where the ceremony known as the Endowment is administered, as well as other ordinances such as Sealings. Some temples perform a progressive-style ordinance where patrons move from room to room, each room representing a progression of mankind: the Creation room, representing the Genesis creation story; the Garden room represents the Garden of Eden where Adam and Eve lived prior to the fall of man; the World room, where Adam and Eve lived after the fall; the Terrestrial room; and the Celestial room representing the Celestial Kingdom of God, or more commonly, heaven. There is also an additional ordinance room, the Sealing room, and at least one temple has a Holy of Holies. These two rooms are reserved for the administration of ordinances beyond the Endowment. The Holy of Holies is representative of that talked about when the temple is discussed in the bible.
The St. George Utah Temple, formerly known as the St. George Temple, is a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in St. George, Utah. Completed in 1877, it was the third temple constructed by the church and the first in Utah, following the westward migration of members from Nauvoo, Illinois, after the death of church founder Joseph Smith.
The Provo Utah Temple was a temple of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints located in Provo, Utah, just north of Brigham Young University (BYU). The intent to build the temple was announced on August 14, 1967, by Hugh B. Brown and N. Eldon Tanner. The church's temples are a sacred space where church members make covenants and perform ordinances for themselves and their deceased ancestors. The temple was designed by architect Emil B. Fetzer and was dedicated in 1972 as the church's seventeenth constructed and fifteenth operating temple. It was the sixth temple built in Utah, and the first in both Utah County and Provo.
Welcome Chapman was an early leader in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints born in Readsboro, Vermont. Chapman was the leader of the Latter-day Saint settlers in Manti, Utah, from 1854 to 1862, and helped broker peace between the settlers and Chief Wakara's tribe.
The Mormon Miracle Pageant was a Latter-day Saint pageant held in Manti, Utah, until it was discontinued in 2019. An annual outdoor theatrical performance, it was produced by an amateur cast of over five hundred members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The nightly program took place on the south lawn of temple hill at the Manti Temple, usually in June. The two-week pageant would typically draw an average of 15,000 people per night over an eight-night performance.
On December 27, 1832, two years after the organization of the Church of Christ, the movement's founder, Joseph Smith, stated he received a revelation that called upon church members to restore the practice of temple worship. The Latter Day Saints in Kirtland, Ohio were commanded to:
"Establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God."
Minerva Bernetta Kohlhepp Teichert was a 20th-century American artist who painted Western and Mormon subjects, including murals of scenes from the Book of Mormon. She received her art education from the Art Institute of Chicago and the Art Students League of New York, and was a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Religious-themed artwork by Teichert includes Christ in a Red Robe, Queen Esther, and Rescue of the Lost Lamb. She painted 42 murals related to stories in the Book of Mormon which reside in Brigham Young University's (BYU) Museum of Art. Teichert was the first woman invited to paint a mural for an LDS Church temple.
In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, a temple is a building dedicated to be a House of the Lord. Temples are considered by church members to be the most sacred structures on earth.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Utah refers to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and its members in Utah. Utah has more church members than any other U.S. state or country. The LDS Church is also the largest denomination in Utah.
In the theology of the Latter Day Saint movement, an endowment refers to a gift of "power from on high", typically associated with the ordinances performed in Latter Day Saint temples. The purpose and meaning of the endowment varied during the life of movement founder Joseph Smith. The term has referred to many such gifts of heavenly power, including the confirmation ritual, the institution of the High Priesthood in 1831, events and rituals occurring in the Kirtland Temple in the mid-1830s, and an elaborate ritual performed in the Nauvoo Temple in the 1840s.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and a topical guide to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
The Pioneer Style was a popular style of Utahn architecture most utilized during the years 1847 to 1890. The pioneers of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, commonly referred to as Mormons, trekked west into the Utah Territory to seek refuge from religious persecution in the mid-Western and Eastern United States. Because the Latter-day Saints were some of the earliest and significant settlers in the Utah area, the foundational architecture in Utah is largely influenced by these early settlers. Architecture in Utah is highly religious, consisting of temples and church meetinghouses, and European-influenced due to the origins of many of the settlers. Members of the Church valued the institution of education, an idea they carried with them from the Northern States, which resulted in many schools being established for their children. Entertainment was another highly appreciated and valued aspect among the early members of the Church which resulted in the establishment of many theatres and music halls.
The Manti Tabernacle in Manti, Utah is a building built and used by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It no longer functions as a tabernacle but as a regular church building, making it one of three 19th-century Latter-day Saint buildings still used for weekly services. The other two are the Pine Valley chapel in Washington County, Utah, and the tabernacle in Bountiful, Utah. It was restored beginning in 2014, the exterior was to look as it did in 1879 and the chapel as it appeared after the 1921 remodel. The mural that hangs in the chapel is the same as that appearing in the Provo Utah Temple.
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