Admiring The Old Buildings...They Don't Make Them Like That Anymore

Yesterday, while doing a little web surfing, I came across a social media post on X that intrigued me. The thread asked the question about LDS meetinghouses. Many posted pictures of amazing and unusual Latter-Day Saint chapels throughout the country and in other parts of the world.

They were beautiful.

So much so, I'd love to see them all. I know, of course, that these were but a drop in the bucket of LDS chapels across the globe. I decided to add a couple of photos of the meetinghouse I attend--one indoor, one outdoor--for I believe it belongs in the discussion of amazing and unusual. 

Last week I attended a church in Brigham City where my son, daughter-in-law, and new baby call their own. It's not one of the newer, utilitarian models. It's actually a split-level.

Cool.

Many people enjoy visiting old churches. I think my appreciation comes from the fact that I attended for almost all my life a church that has great historical significance in our religion. It's the Old Rock Church in Farmington. If you know, you know. I loved that old building that had several additions over the decades.

When I see an old church, it's a testament to those who built it. It's a physical representation of their faith, and us attending is a physical representation of ours.

I'd love to visit them all.

The Liberty Idaho LDS Chapel...Amazing

I saw the building at a distance as I drove Donk the Subaru though rural Southeastern Idaho. I'd seen the building only once before...a church on the small town's main road (appropriately enough named Church Street...). On the way in I admired it as I drove just under the posted speed limit. But on the way back...

I stopped and took a picture.

Maybe it's because I attended a historical church growing up, and I attend another one now.

Unfortunately, I was unable to go inside and look around. It might have been opened on a Saturday morning. Maybe some 20 - 30 somethings were playing a pick-up basketball game in a vain attempt to capture lost youth, or maybe some families were inside fulfilling their promise to help clean the building. 

But, this is in a rural area where members of the congregation may have morning chores and no one was there. When I drove passed in the late afternoon, the chances were most likely slimmer anyone was there. Too bad...I'm sure it's fascinating inside.

What I really would have liked to do was meet with someone who knows the building's history, knows what the community was like before it was built and what it meant to them after its dedication. Those stories are amazing. You can know and understand a people by looking at what they build and what they feel is a priority.

I don't know...maybe one day I'll step inside the unusual church. Then again, even if I don't, just seeing the building atop the crest of a small hill conveyed something to me...

Something good.

Lost And Found...An LDS Chapel Staple

My daughter had a dance performance earlier this week and I attended (I provided transportation, but I still wanted to watch my daughter dance--you know, for support...). Like many of her performances, this one was held in a Latter-Day Saint chapel. We live in Utah, and there are places where LDS chapels can literally be across the street from each other--same religion, different congregations.

After a certain point in time, probably around the 1980s, most LDS chapels follow a similar design. Basically, the buildings are one big rectangle. Very smart. Take off the roof and you'll see the chapel on one half, and a basketball court (sometimes with a stage...) on the other half. Surrounding those two sections are classrooms and church offices. Once again, very smart.

There are things you'll find in every one of these church buildings. There's bishopric offices, a place for the nursery (or nurseries...), rooms for meetings of children, the men, and the women for their classes.

There's also a place--in every building, except this place is not found on any of the blueprints. It's a space for the Lost and Found. I snapped the above picture while the kids ballroom danced in the gym. What struck me--and why I took the picture--is I almost expected some of the Lost and Found stuff to be mine, as if things I misplaced at our church building magically appeared in this one thirteen miles away.

I thought that because the things in this particular Lost and Found were the same things found in all the other buildings. Scriptures, church manuals, water bottles, articles of clothing, eyeglasses--though I don't see any in this picture, there's usually small toys, Matchbox cars, or little action figures in the Lost and Founds.

As our kids have aged, fewer and fewer of our items have found their way into our Lost and Found. I don't know if any research has been done as to any direct correlation between age and forgetfulness. I imagine it's an inverse bell curve, high for the very young, and the perhaps the elderly. And if that's true, I guess we'll be searching in the Lost and Found more in the future.

Foyer Time Adventures...

Yesterday was Father's Day and because of our friend's dogs, I found myself sitting in the foyer during our first meeting. It's a long story. I didn't mind sitting outside the congregation. I mean, I wasn't sitting with my family, which was a bit of a bummer, but I did get to see things I usually never see.

Our family arrives to church early, and we've done so for years. Even when they change the times of our meetings (this happens because several congregations share the same building so we rotate our times each year), we arrive early. If our church begins at 9am, 11am, or 1pm, it doesn't matter--we're usually between 20-30 minutes early. We mostly arrive early we we can sit in the same place each Sunday. I know it's a bit childish, but it was because of a child we began sitting there in the first place.

Since we're usually sitting in our usual spot, we don't see the things I saw yesterday. We don't see the families that arrive late and usually spend the first meeting in the foyer. Some arrive only a few minutes late. Others take a little longer to get everyone ready for church. Our kids are older so we no longer have to get them ready ourselves, which is a major help in getting to church on time.

I watched as three little kids were banging on the door as if demanding to be released from some type of prison. I watched as kids made friendships and jumped around. I watched as parents "shushed" their children in an attempt to maintain some sort of reverence in the building. Sometimes they were successful.

Because it was Father's Day it's tradition for all the children to go to the front of the chapel and sing a few songs to fathers and grandfathers. It's cute. Next Father's Day I won't have any children participating stopping a ten-year tradition for me. All the parents in the foyer craned their necks to get a good look at their little ones.

Yes, just moving from one space to another, you can see a lot of interesting things.