Church historian reflects on 2024 Kirtland Temple purchase ahead of general conference
KIRTLAND, Ohio () — Nearly a year after acquired the Kirtland Temple, a Church Historian reflects on the purchase and the impact it has had on the faith and on the sellers, the Community of Christ.
Why is the Kirtland Temple so significant? And what happens next?
Ahead of the April 2025 General Conference, Senior Managing Historian with the Church History Department, Matthew Godfrey spoke to ABC4.com about Kirtland and the history that Kirtland holds.
Last year, the Salt Lake City-based church from the Community of Christ (formerly the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). Members believe the artifacts purchased were used by Joseph Smith, the first President of the Church, in his translation of the Bible. Just over a year has passed since the historic $192.5 million exchange between the two largest denominations in the Latter-day Saint movement.
'Kirtland is definitely a special area for the Church,' he said. 'It's a place where [Joseph Smith] received the vast majority of the revelations that are in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Kirtland Temple has been a special place because the church had to sacrifice a lot to build it.'
Many Latter-day Saints settled in the Kirtland area after leaving upstate New York due to persecution in 1830 to 'go to the Ohio .' The Kirtland Temple was completed in 1836 and was dedicated on March 27.
Church adherents believe that on April 3, 1836, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery recorded that . Godfrey says that many members of the Church hoped that the temple would be back in their possession.
'I think a lot of church members, over the years, really hoped, that at some point the church would reacquire the Kirtland Temple. So, when that happened there was a lot of excitement among church members,' he said.
He also said that the purchase had some bittersweet notes to it because the Independence, Missouri based church had owned and preserved the temple for over 100 years.
'It was a little bit of a bittersweet thing, because we have good relationships with the Community of Christ,' Godfrey told ABC4.com. 'We understand how important that building was to them.'
This isn't the first time the two churches have made trades of assets and artifacts. One other such time was 2017 when .
LDS Church acquires printer's manuscript of Book of Mormon for $35 million
The two churches also made an agreement in 2012 to purchase the Hawn's Mill Massacre site. That purchase included the Joseph and Emma Smith home in Kirtland.
The Church has launched a new website that will help you plan your visit. The not only lists time slots but gives visitors a brief understanding of the history of the temple.
The April 2025 Conference will mark the 25th anniversary of the first-ever general conference to be held at the Conference Center. Prior to that, conferences were held inside the Salt Lake Tabernacle.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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