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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — This weekend, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will dedicate the faith's newest temple in Kansas City, Mo. It comes at a time when the Church is attracting national interest and publicity.
Over the past month, it's estimated that 90,000 people walked through the Kansas City LDS temple during a public open house. One of them was an Episcopal priest, whose blog about her visit was posted by the Huffington Post, and went viral through social media.
"I am always curious about how other people grow in their relationship with God, and closer to God, and so I know temples are a big part of that for people of the LDS Church," Danielle Tumminio told KSL News Friday.
The Kansas City Temple is also a return to the historical roots of the LDS Church. We'll have a look at that history and tell you about several historical sites the LDS Church has just acquired in Western Missouri from Community of Christ, formerly known as the Reorganized LDS Church.
Tumminio said she jumped at the chance to participate in the rare and limited opportunity to visit the Kansas City Temple in April. She looked forward to touring one of the faith's new temples, before it was dedicated.
"I felt very much like I felt in other sacred places, which is that I am getting this really, kind of unique, intimate ‘God Moment,'" Tumminio said. "And so it was a very powerful, beautiful moment for me."
After publishing her experience, she was overwhelmed by the reaction. She said she has never had a blog post attract such a response, albeit mostly from Mormons.
"They have all been mostly thank-you emails saying thank you so much for taking time to visit one of our sacred sites, and going in with an open mind, and for not judging us," Tumminio said.
From her perspective, Tumminio believes an open discussion with those of different faiths will ultimately help people find common ground.
"People have this assumption about faith, that we can't talk about it because it is going to erupt into an argument or a war," she said. "My experience has been that, in general, people want to share their faith and want to talk openly. And I think this was a great example of that happening in a respectful and edifying way."
