Blog Fodder

The church history tour Shelley and I took last week has given me enough blog fodder to last a good long time. We drove to SLC on the 21st and flew to Kansas City, MO Monday morning. From there we took a tour bus to historic sites in the midwest. Neither of us had ever been to Missouri (Mah-zuh-rah) so it was an enlightening experience on many levels. The first thing we noticed was that there were no privacy fences between houses, and often no sidewalks. The fence situation seemed to be universal in the midwestern states we drove through. Sidewalks were occasional, but not often handy.
Upon arrival in Independence, MO, the bus drove to a Hometown Buffet which had been alerted that 56 people would be stopping by for lunch. I thought later how appropriate Hometown Buffet was, since there seemed to be a veritable smorgasbord of churches in downtown Independence. On our brief drive through the district we saw churches representing every Protestant denomination imaginable. But the real fun began as we toured the blocks surrounding the temple site. We were greeted by lovely representatives of the Community of Christ, formerly known as RLDS. A 92-year-old pastor showed us around their old stone church, bearing testimony of Joseph Smith and the Book of Mormon. Another guide took us through their auditorium, which seemed to be built much like a tabernacle, seating 6,000. The next day we were able to visit their temple, architecturally inspired by the chambered nautilus sea shell. Photos of these three sites are on my flickr - still can't seem to make the photos appear on the blog. The visit to Independence was great - but warm and muggy. I had no idea there were approx. 100 LDS splinter churches! These are good and sincere people who are doing their best to spread the doctrine they hold dear. It is interesting to note similarities and differences. Tomorrow I will post photos from the Hedrickite (Church of Christ - temple lot) sites.