Pres. Hinckley lauds rebirth of Kirtland

KIRTLAND, Ohio — The multimillion-dollar restoration of buildings that played a major role in the early days of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entails much more than re-creating a historic village, church President Gordon B. Hinckley said Saturday in Kirtland.

"Here in this place there has been brought to life something of the spirit of God at work in the hearts of faithful people," President Hinckley said.

He opened his remarks praising the generosity of several church members, including Bob Gay of Bain Capital in Boston, who gave $25,000 — and then also donated a "blank check, except for the signatures." Other familiar donors included Steve Young and Alan and Karen Ashton. He said their financial contributions, in combination with church funds, made the restoration of what is being called "Historic Kirtland" a reality.

President Hinckley will dedicate the restored village today at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time.

Speaking in a broadcast from the Kirtland Stake Center to groups of Latter-day Saints gathered in chapels across Ohio, President Hinckley said many will view the church's re-creation of Historic Kirtland "as a restoration of historic Americana.

"But this is more than Americana," he said, noting those gathered had returned to Kirtland "in love and peace."

Thousands of early church members were persecuted and several church leaders apostatized following the collapse of the Kirtland Safety Society, a short-lived bank established by church founder Joseph Smith in 1837 that was felled by a national financial panic. The tumult resulted in heavy financial losses for members who either left their property outright or sold it for mere cents on the dollar as they followed Joseph Smith from Kirtland to new settlements in Missouri.

The financial carnage was an evil counter to the spiritual outpourings church leaders and members experienced in Kirtland, President Hinckley said, as land speculation and greed turned residents against their neighbors.

Still, the church was nurtured beyond infancy here. The faith's first temple was built, its priesthood quorums organized and the missionary effort for which it is known today had its genesis in Kirtland, the church's headquarters from 1831 to 1838.