LDS, Unitarians diverge over plaza

At Edison Elementary School on Salt Lake City's west side, members of the city's First Unitarian Church and Latter-day Saint faithful work side by side to tutor academically needy children.

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There, both religions exist peacefully and joyfully by working together for a common goal — to help underprivileged children.

Away from the elementary school, however, the two churches are on separate sides of the city's most contentious issue — the Main Street Plaza.

Still, the minister of the local Unitarian congregation maintains that his church's interest in the plaza is not born out of animosity for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but rather comes from a desire to uphold civil liberties, including free speech and expression.

"We have really enjoyed and flourished with a wonderful relationship with the LDS Church," the Rev. Tom Goldsmith said. "Historically, I don't think we could have survived here (in Salt Lake City) without the support of our Mormon neighbors."

Two Thanksgivings ago, in 2000, Goldsmith was one of several religious leaders invited to speak at an interfaith holiday service at the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square.

There Goldsmith met LDS Church President Gordon B. Hinckley.

"What a charming man," Goldsmith said. "We had a very warm handshake and a delightful conversation."

But the cordial relationship between the two faiths is now being tempered by Main Street Plaza politics.

In fact, the whole Main Street Plaza brouhaha might not have happened if not for Goldsmith's First Unitarian Church, which was founded in Salt Lake City in 1891, five years before Utah became a state.