User:Rich jj/Sandbox/Tabernacles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, also called the LDS or Mormon Church, a tabernacle is a building with a large assembly hall used for larger religious and community gatherings. They were built with varying architectural styles from the mid-19th-century to the mid-20th-century, primarily in the Mormon Corridor and western United States. Unlike typical meetinghouses of wards, or local congregations, tabernacles were often used by a stake, comprising around ten wards, and were larger, more stylish, and fewer in number. Today, the function of tabernacles has been largely replaced by stake centers, which also include classroom and recreational facilities. Many tabernacles no longer exist, although several, such as the famous Salt Lake Tabernacle, have been renovated and remain in active use. Many buildings have been referred to as tabernacles, though historians dispute whether some qualify for the term.

Named for Moses' tabernacle. Instead of classroom instruction or temple ceremony, Tabernacles were intended for large religious meetings, assemblies and conferences. It was common for a stake to build its own tabernacle.

Until their decline in the mid-twentieth century, tabernacles were a distinct form of Mormon architecture, along with temples and ward meetinghouses, distinguishable in size, style and function.

Although the word "tabernacle" comes through Christian heritage, it has a different connotation in LDS usage.

Early tabernacles

 * Far West tabernacle - Built by early settlers for religious meetings, but Joseph Smith had wanted a temple. Issue dropped in 1839 after the Mormon exile.
 * Cloth tabernacle at Nauvoo
 * Religious gatherings were outdoors in the Grove, east of the uncompleted Temple. Exposed to weather.
 * Requested by Smith in Spring 1844 and after his death, Young continued the plan.
 * Would attach to the Temple's west side, with wood frame and canvas top, stretched in an ellipse
 * Rope and 4000 yards of canvas arrived in 1845.
 * Project postponed to finish the temple and abandoned during the exodus.
 * Inspired trail (log) tabernacles?
 * Also inspired a Strangite tabernacle and RLDS tabernacles.


 * Log Tabernacles
 * Kanesville and the new First Presidency
 * Other derivatives in Iowa


 * Bowery
 * Three boweries built in Salt Lake City
 * Boweries used for large gatherings in other places, such as Parowan and Willard.
 * Bowery used for summer and held 8000 (?).

How are they different from Assembly Halls?

Other unusual "tabernacles":
 * Willard Richards' home in Winter Quarters: the "Doctor's Tabernacle"
 * "tabernacle" on wheels in Nome, Alaska: 1907
 * miniature Tabernacle on Treasure Island in the San Francisco Bay, California (1939-1940) for the Golden Gate International Exposition. Seated 50 and used for missionary presentations.

Utah tabernacles
Criteria
 * Always had a stand, unlike early meetinghouses
 * Must be built by multiple congregations, with a few exceptions.
 * Tabernacles served a larger community, and therefore raised greater funds than for ward meetinghouses.
 * Architecture similar to meetinghouses but larger, seating up to 3,000 or more.
 * Few classrooms and may have baptismal fonts, stages, kitchens and adjunct amusement halls.
 * Use: Stake or community assemblies, not ward services. Often used as civic center and courthouse.
 * Often took 2-5 years to complete


 * Salt Lake Tabernacle
 * Mormon Tabernacle Choir


 * Early Utah settlers built large, elaborate chapels for worship by local congregations. By around 1856, these were frequently called "tabernacles" and were later also used for stake conferences.  Frontier Mormon settlements often centered around these buildings.
 * Stake tabernacles
 * other tabernacle choirs
 * Cedar City Tabernacle Choir
 * Logan Tabernacle Choir
 * Ogden Tabernacle Choir
 * Provo Tabernacle Choir?
 * Richfield Tabernacle Choir
 * Sevier Stake Tabernacle Choir
 * St. George Tabernacle Choir
 * Vernal Tabernacle Choir


 * Not built in Mexico, possibly because churches are state property?
 * The transition associated with the priesthood reorganization of 1877 introduced several changes in the priesthood quorums. ...

Significant changes also occurred in the relationship between the stake leaders and the General Authorities and in the role and jurisdiction of the stake presidency. Beginning in 1877 all stakes were to hold regular quarterly conferences at which General Authorities would visit. Stake presidencies and high councilors were to visit wards frequently and systematically. Furthermore, stakes were to hold monthly priesthood meetings. To accommodate these priesthood meetings and other meetings, stake tabernacles were to be built. Since the Salt Lake Stake could hold its conferences in the Tabernacle on Temple Square, they needed a smaller building for priesthood meetings. This requirement resulted in the construction of the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
 * Southern Utah Mission under Apostle Erastus Snow "continued until 1877, when a general reorganization of stakes of Zion took place and the creation of a number of new stakes was accomplished. This was in the last year of Pres. Young's administration."
 * The 1877 reorganization lifted Salt Lake Stake's predominance over other stakes so wards and stakes could direct their own building programs. Most tabernacles were constructed after these changes.  Communities with boweries began tabernacles, with architectural styling distinct from previous tabernacles.
 * The quantity and grandeur of tabernacles increased after 1877, when the number of stakes was greatly expanded.
 * Priesthood reformation of 1877 shifted autonomy from church leadership to local ward and stake leaders.
 * In the 1880s many stakes built tabernacles and operated academies.
 * "Any building that was especially large in scale and seating capacity and was spectacular in form and detailing might be called a tabernacle, even though stake meetings were seldom held in the building."
 * In Mormon city planning, the tabernacle became part of the city center, along with courthouses, jails and social halls. They were also placed on prominent sites, visible to the community.
 * Mormon village pattern descends from Joseph Smith's City of Zion ideas.
 * Church leaders in Salt Lake City directed some tabernacles to be built where important central communities were developing. Tabernacles were also built by individual wards (as large elaborate meetinghouses), and they were commonly built by stakes.
 * Tabernacles were an expression of boosterism and indicated maturity of the general community. Even some non-Mormons in the community donated to the construction and used the buildings for community purposes.
 * Some buildings were called or referred to as "tabernacles" but don't meet the usual definition, since they weren't built by multiple congregations or used for stake meetings.
 * "In the nineteenth century any Mormon town with pretensions of importance had to have a tabernacle..."
 * Distinctive styles reflect their English or New England craftsman.
 * Exhibit elements of vernacular architecture, such as faux-painted hardwood and marble. Building plans could significantly change while construction was already underway.
 * The Wayne Stake Tabernacle contained "a prayer circle room. Many of the early tabernacles, particularly those in out-of-the-way locations, had such rooms where sacred services usually confined to the temples were performed. This practice was discontinued many years ago." Also in current Sevier Stake Tabernacle.
 * Stylistic precursors of meetinghouses
 * Church headquarters committed to a portion of the construction costs and the remainder was raised in the local community. Much of the community contribution was non-cash, such as labor and donated building materials.
 * "the end of Mormon isolationism brought an increase of artistic individualism to church architecture, even in the smaller communities." Examples include Nebo Stake Tabernacle

Modern era

 * Continued use or replacement
 * Alan Roberts's inventory in 1974 reported that of 43 tabernacles, 22 were demolished and 21 remained, many of which were renovated.
 * 70 stake tabernacles constructed between 1852 and 1956. Used for quarterly stake conferences and cultural events.  Replaced by stake centers, or stake houses, which also house the stake offices and facilities for two to four wards.
 * build about 74 tabernacles over 163 years, ending with Ogden.
 * at least 30 still in Utah by 1997
 * Proposed Arizona tabernacle in 1962
 * In 1906 adults were included in Sunday School along with their children, which led to increased need for classrooms.
 * Often too small. Sometimes retrofitted for new use, restored for occasional meetings & tourism, or sold to city.
 * Sometimes need retrofits for building code compliance, like number of exists and bathrooms or sprinkler systems.


 * Stake centers
 * "Starting around 1920, the larger stake meetinghouses ceased to be called tabernacles except in outlying communities like Atlanta, Georgia and Honolulu, Hawaii."
 * In the 1930s and 1940s the church moved for "larger, more practical buildings with advanced construction techniques" and materials. Shorter, less stylistic stake centers were adopted.
 * The name "stake center" became common in the early 1960s, following construction of the large "Inter-stake Center" in Oakland, CA.
 * Stake centers are more cost effective & efficient, yet nondescript


 * Historical recognition
 * Tabernacles are honored for the legacy of sacrifice of ancestors & pioneers who built them


 * Preservation
 * around half of the tabernacles have been razed or sold
 * many in poor condition
 * 10 temples and 20 tabernacles on the church's list of 58 valuable historic buildings still in ecclesiastical use. These receive special preservation effort and will probably never be sold or demolished.
 * To be preserved, must be functional, not just pretty
 * Publicity and negativity from Coalville made big impact in attitudes toward preservation.
 * Communities strongly in favor of preservation
 * Some still prefer to see buildings destroyed than preserved in poor disrepair.
 * Center of religious life in certain communities