THE CHURCH IN LOS ANGELES

We'll be posting some interesting history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Los Angeles on this page. If you'd like to contribute, please let us know!

Westwood Chapel

Our beautiful chapel was designed in 1950 by an early 20th-century architect with architectural works throughout the western United States and Canada named Harold William Burton. Burton was one of the most prolific architects of chapels, meetinghouses, tabernacles and temples for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In 1910 he opened an architectural firm with Hyrum Pope (Pope & Burton) in Salt Lake City, Utah. They particularly appreciated Frank Lloyd Wright and the Prairie School architectural style. As young architects, Pope & Burton won design competitions for two of their better-known works, the Cardston Alberta and Laie Hawaii temples. Burton moved to Los Angeles, California in 1927 to set up another office in the firm with Pope. After Pope unexpectedly died in 1939, Burton established a new firm with his son Douglas W. Burton. Together they continued to design many buildings, and in 1955 Harold Burton became the chief supervising architect for the church. One of his final works was the Oakland California Temple. Aside from places of worship, Burton designed civic buildings and homes. Many of his works exist today, some of which are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. (Thanks @wikipedia)

This building has a similar, but not as grand entry as the Las Vegas 9th Ward Chapel, also designed by Harold Burton. Built several years prior to the Los Angeles Temple our building was originally called the Beverly Hills Ward. Note how the Sacrament table is not only centered in the room, but also brought forward as the closest element to the pews. The pulpit is pushed to the side as is the clerk table. This arrangement shows the importance of the sacrament over that of the spoken word. (Thanks ldsarchitecture.wordpress.com)

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Temple

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The Temple Property

The church purchased the temple property on heavily traveled Santa Monica Blvd (which was part of the famed Route 66) for $175,000 in 1937 from silent film star Harold Lloyd.

Here you see temple workmen gathered in front of the Lloyd home (circa 1952/3) which once served as Lloyd’s business offices--then a UCLA fraternity house--before becoming the temple’s construction headquarters.

Many of these workers found building the temple to be a spiritual experience with only about 80% of whom were church members. Most participated in morning prayer and 4 asked to be baptized during construction. The workers felt they were blessed, as construction was completed without serious accident and the weather was accommodating because during a rainy 3 month period it rained almost every weekend and rarely during the work week thus failing to delay the project! (📷 Paul L. Garns)

Here’s a view of the temple site from Overland Avenue (at Santa Monica) in September 1952 (📷Paul L. Garns).

The photos and information I post about the Los Angeles Temple comes from the book Beacon on a Hill by Richard O. Cowan.

Temple Open House

From the beginning of December 1955 to the middle of February 1956 over 700,000 people attended tours of the Los Angeles Temple open house. Visits began in the bureau of information with a briefing from the apostle *Richard L. Evans followed by a 45 minute tour conducted in silence beginning in the baptistry and ending in the 250-foot long assembly room where questions were then answered.

Many visitors shared their reactions to the tours. A couple from LA wrote: “Thank you for the generosity you have shown in inviting the public into your temple. A structure which can keep hundreds of people silent for 45 minutes is an achievement indeed.”

*Evans was the last apostle to have facial hair while in office, wearing a neatly-trimmed mustache until the mid-1960s.

The line for the open house. (📷California International News).

The photos and information I post about the Los Angeles Temple comes from the book Beacon on a Hill by Richard O. Cowan.

Open House

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Fort Moore Memorial

451 N Hill Street
Los Angeles, CA 90012

Looking for a fun, free outing as we approach the holidays? Check out the Fort Moore Pioneer Memorial and learn some history about the Saints in LA!

The Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial is a stone wall honoring the Mormon Battalion, U.S. 1st Dragoons, and the New York Volunteers who raised the American flag on July 4, 1847 — the first Independence Day celebrated in Los Angeles. The city and California became part of the United States following the Mexican-American War.

The large-scale bas-relief and 80-foot waterfall was originally dedicated in 1958. It was restored and re-dedicated in 2019 after being shut down during the 1970s drought.

The top photo: July 3, 1958: Crowd attend the dedication of the Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial on Hill Street north of the Hollywood Freeway. (📷Bruce Cox / Los Angeles Times)

The bottom photo: March 10, 1954: Contractor M. J. Brock Jr., left, and Superintendent Bill Lassetter check the progress of the Ft. Moore Pioneer Memorial. (📷R. L. Oliver / Los Angeles Times)

Read More: Deseret News

Many photos and information I post about the Los Angeles Temple come directly from the book Beacon on a Hill by Richard O. Cowan.

Moroni

The Angel Moroni

The 15 1/2 foot figure of the angel Moroni, as well as the baptismal font and oxen for the Los Angeles Temple, were sculpted by Millard F. Malin, “a well-known Intermountain sculptor, especially noted for his work in marble.” He first made a small model that was approved by the First Presidency in 1953. The first step was to construct a strong “armature”—the structural framework or skeleton that would support the two-ton weight of the plastilina soft modeling clay.

Moroni’s cloak is of Mayan design and compliments the architecture of the Los Angeles Temple. He stands on a ball 33” in diameter. His right hand, which includes a lightning rod, raises the 8-foot trumpet, and in his left arm he carries the gold plates from which the Book of Mormon was translated. Malin did not use a living model, but he consulted freely with other artists, particularly with painter Arnold Friberg.

After being cast in aluminum in New York, the 2,100 pound statue was trucked across the continent and after being hoisted to the roof and surrounded in scaffolding, the gilding process began. First zinc oxide, then lead. Next the layer of 23-karat gold was carefully brushed onto the sticky surface and burnished to produce the desired shine. When the statue was to be hoisted into place, President David O. McKay came to witness the event in person. He noted that it took “ten men two and half hours to move [the angel] up inch by inch..." It was placed facing southeast. President McKay asked to have him moved facing due east. This eastward orientation may be symbolic of watching for the Lord’s Second Coming, which has been compared to the dawning in the east of a new day. It took three months to move him that direction and it is where he faces today!

First Photo: Inspecting the angel Moroni (Scrapbook)

Second Photo: Moroni being lifted to the fourth floor roof, October 6, 1954 (Howard Winn)

Third Photo: On the temple roof preparing for gilding (Howard Winn)

Many photos and information I post about the Los Angeles Temple come directly from the book Beacon on a Hill by Richard O. Cowan.

Anniversary

Westwood Chapel 68th Anniversary

The very first meetings held in the Westwood Chapel was on December 15th, 1953!

Ward members worked hard to raise their share of the $200,000 cost. An outstanding event was a show staged at the noted Carthay Circle Theatre, which netted $11,000.00 The chapel was constructed by Jackson Brothers contractors, headed by ward members Harold and William Jackson; volunteer labor was also used extensively. In 1952 the name of the ward was changed from Beverly Hills to Westwood to be consistent with the chapel’s location. The 17,000 square-foot building was dedicated on April 12, 1953 by Elder Harold B. Lee of the Twelve.

READ HAROLD B. LEE'S DEDICATORY PRAYER OF THE WESTWOOD CHAPEL.

VIEW THE CHAPEL'S 50TH ANNIVERSARY BOOKLET FROM 1989!

I will be taking a hiatus from posting articles on church history in LA during the month of December--See you back in 2022!

Image: Westwood Chapel, 1991.

Preparing

Preparing for the Los Angeles Temple Dedication

Prior to the 8 dedicatory sessions between March 11 and March 14, 1956, oxalis weeds had infested the temple lawn during the open houses and the only way to eradicate them was by pulling them out by hand. Seminary students from the Brentwood, Westwood, and Wilshire Wards were recruited to accomplish this task. One of them later reflected; "What an extraordinary sight it must have been to passers-by on Santa Monica Blvd. to see hundreds of youth kneeling on the lawn in sqares marked off by string. They probably thought it was some peculiar ritual associated with the strangeness of Mormonism."

As President David O. McKay was about to board a train to Los Angeles from Salt Lake City, he declared the dedication of the Los Angeles Temple to be "one of the significant events in the entire history of the Church."

Government leaders sent proclamations congratulating the Church on this occasion. California's governor, Goodwin J. Knight, insisted: "This temple truly reflects the profound devotion and dynamic force of your faith on the side of justice, morality, of faith and human dignity. The entire aspect is indeed one of grace, solidarity, harmony and serenity."

The dedications of these sacred houses of the Lord have always been eagerly anticipated spiritual events. In Old Testament times, temple dedications were special occasions too. When the tabernacle of Moses was completed, "a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle." These manifestations of God's accepting presence were so powerful that even "Moses was not able to enter." (Exodus 40:34-35).

Image: Temple president Benjamin L. Bowring with the First Presidency (Scrapbook)

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The Stained-Glass Windows of the LA Stake Center (Part 1)

I want to go through the significance of the windows found in our LA Stake Center, but let's first start with a brief history of stained-glass.

Throughout art history, stained-glass windows have been used as an adornment as well as a way to teach. The origins of stained glass are not certain, but ancient Egyptians were probably the first people to discover glass while making their vessels; the oldest examples of man-made glass are Egyptian colored glass beads from around 2700 BC. Stained glass windows were first used by well to do Romans in their homes in the first century AD. Early examples of stained glass windows can also be found in some of the palaces and mosques in the Middle East. In Jarrow, England at St. Paul’s Monastery, some of the oldest pieces of a stained glass window from 686 AD were found; the earliest stained glass piece presenting a picture is a head of Christ from the 10th century, discovered at the Lorsch Abbey in Germany.

Stained-glass art flourished in Europe during the 10-12th centuries and was mostly utilized in Christian churches--a way to convey (to the illiterate masses) important doctrines and theological ideas that the church wanted its congregations to see, think about and understand.

Changes in architectural styles (from Romanesque to Gothic) allowed architects and masons to better utilize stained-glass windows with more open interior space and larger windows. Additionally, without electricity, churches ended up being dark spaces lit only by candle-light. Artists found that these windows filtered light beautifully into the space and illuminated both the mind and spirit of the viewer.

So they were visually appealing and functional in both their lighting capabilities as well as their capacity to teach those who could not read the scriptures, but let's jump forward a few hundred years and look at the use of stained-glass windows in Temples and meeting houses of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

The following article explains better than I could, so continue reading here and next week I'll start breaking down the stained glass windows in our own LA Stake Center and their symbolic and spiritual significance.

Image: Main window of Christ Knocking found at the LA Stake Center.

Bible

The Bible

Doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is rich in symbolism. Matthew B. Brown and Paul Thomas Smith, in their book Symbols in Stone: Symbolism on the Early Temples of the Restoration explain that "Symbols are an integral part of the gospel and their study can open up a new dimension of personal understanding for those who have eyes to see.”

It’s important to note that the Bible was chosen as one of 12 symbols to adorn the Stake Center’s stained-glass windows that run along the side of the chapel. It is also interesting to note that 12 symbols were chosen to be depicted as the number twelve can be seen as symbolic of the priesthood as well as the 12 tribes of Israel.

The first stained-glass window at the LA Stake Center that we'll discuss, is that of the Bible. We have been taught in the scriptures that "Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.” (Matthew 4:4) We know that the scriptures contain the word of God and Latter-day prophets counsel us to study the scriptures daily both individually and with our families. Studying the scriptures can help us know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, give us power to resist temptation, and strengthen us in our challenges.

It is within the pages of our scriptures, and the Bible in particular where we confront a large amount of symbolic language like imagery, figurative expressions, parables, allegories, types, shadows, similes, and hyperbole. To some, this imagery is clear and powerful, and to others, it seems baffling and strange. Approximately 27% of the 1,184 pages of the Old Testament is made up of prophetic writings, or what the people at the time of Christ called simply “the prophets.” (See, for example, Luke 24:27, 44.) At almost any point in those writings we are immediately confronted by symbolic language. This penchant for figurative language is possibly partially due to the fact that the Bible is the product of cultures from the Eastern part of the world—where people are much more prone to use imagery than are those from Western cultures.

How fitting that one of the first symbols we encounter in the Stake Center is that of the Bible. It is our privilege and blessing to learn to understand the similitudes and images, the symbols and metaphors designed by a wise and loving Father to more effectively teach his children. The imagery of the prophets was meant to be understood by the faithful and those who search his word with diligence. If we pay the necessary price, the writings that were so filled with life and power when first uttered by these inspired men can and will once again be filled with life and enter with great power into our minds and hearts.

Orson F. Whitney wrote, “The Universe is built on symbols, lifting our thoughts from man to God, from earth to heaven, from time to eternity…God teaches with symbols; it is His favorite way of teaching."

Image: Bible window found at the LA Stake Center.

WESTWOOD WARD

OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS

THE CHURCH IN LOS ANGELES