 Visitor
and Spiritual Formation Center Dedication
Three hundred people gathered in Kirtland, Ohio, on a glorious June day to
dedicate the new Kirtland Temple Visitor and Spiritual Formation Center. The
festivities began Friday, June 8, and ran through the weekend. The weekend
featured many events, including a reception honoring the site’s volunteers and
interns, comments from President Emeritus Wallace B. Smith and other
representatives of the church and local community, a hymn festival, and a
showing of the new orientation video.
The dedication and ribbon cutting took place in front of the new center on
June 9. President Stephen M. Veazey gave an address, conveying his joy at the
project’s completion. President Veazey also announced the creation of a new
position, Spiritual Formation specialist, who will facilitate spiritual
formation programming in Kirtland. His remarks were followed by the dedicatory
prayer delivered by Presiding Evangelist David R. Brock [see pages August 2007
Herald 22–23 for full text].
 As
the service concluded, the congregation moved to the front doors of the center
for the ribbon cutting ceremony with JR and Carol Shaw, representing those who
generously responded to the call to support the project financially, clipping
the ribbon for the grand opening. President Veazey expressed “deep appreciation
to the individuals and charitable organizations that provided financial and
material support to this project.” The crowd then poured in to the nearly
12,000-square-foot building to explore the interactive museum exhibits,
classrooms, chapel, and museum store.
Called back to the temple Sunday morning by the ringing of the bell, the
congregation gathered to listen to President Veazey discuss the importance of
temple ministries in the life of the church. “It is our hope that the Kirtland
Temple, in addition to welcoming and educating visitors, will become a choice
destination for Community of Christ members, families, and friends who are
seeking encounter with the Creator today.”
As in the 1830s, two services were required to accommodate all those who
wanted to attend. Symbolizing the connection of our past with our present and
future, both services concluded with enthusiastic renditions of “The Spirit of
God Like a Fire is Burning,” but for the first time during the weekend, the
adapted original sixth verse of the hymn was used: “How blessed the day when the
lamb and the lion / Shall lie down together in peace with a child. / With one
heart and mind may the Lord call us ‘Zion’; / A people of justice, by God’s love
inspired!” If we can stay connected to the Spirit, which prevailed throughout
the weekend, that blessed day just might become reality.
As President Veazey remarked, “By our actions here today, we pay homage to
those of yesteryear whose vision, devotion, and sacrifice raised the Kirtland
Temple. We also send a message of hope, welcome, and hospitality to all those
who will trek here in the future to hear and experience the powerful story of
the temple and the faith community it helped forge.”
—Lach Mackay with Tom Anderson
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