Announcement that Temples are being Shut Down Permanently

[JustAnAustralian]

50 minutes ago, bluebell said:

In there temple, it's not a break room but a cafeteria common room that everyone in the temple has open access to.

The Melbourne (Australia) one has a waiting room outside the recommend protected area with chairs, tables, sink, mini fridge etc.

Melbourne is one of the "standard design" temples, so I'm not sure if that's part of the design or just how they did it.

Sydney has a proper eating area but it's BYO (and technically behind the recommend desk).

Edited November 9, 2021 by JustAnAustralian

[bluebell]

11 minutes ago, JustAnAustralian said:

The Melbourne (Australia) one has a waiting room outside the recommend protected area with chairs, tables, sink, mini fridge etc.

Melbourne is one of the "standard design" temples, so I'm not sure if that's part of the design or just how they did it.

Sydney has a proper eating area but it's BYO (and technically behind the recommend desk).

Every temple that I've been in so far has had a waiting area off to the side.  I've never seen a sink or mini fridge in one though.  Maybe they are there but hidden?  All the ones I've been in have looked like a fancy living room but with more seating than normal.  

[Duncan]

2 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

How would that work? Would you bring a sack lunch in your temple bag?

i'm guessing so and leave it in your locker or something

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, bluebell said:

Every temple that I've been in so far has had a waiting area off to the side.  I've never seen a sink or mini fridge in one though.  Maybe they are there but hidden?  All the ones I've been in have looked like a fancy living room but with more seating than normal.  

Draper has a waiting area to the side as part of the lobby, but it would seem to me very awkward — even irreverent — to have it used as a dining area. 

[Scott Lloyd]

18 hours ago, Duncan said:

There's a Liquor Mart across the street from our temple hahhaha! to some people it's a liquid lunch🍺🍺🍺

I know your temple is new. Did the liquor store open before or after the temple site was announced? 
 

I ask, because I know the Church takes pains to preserve the wholesomeness of the environment around its sacred spaces. It would amaze me if they deliberately selected a temple site in such close proximity to a liquor store. 

[Duncan]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I know your temple is new. Did the liquor store open before or after the temple site was announced? 
 

I ask, because I know the Church takes pains to preserve the wholesomeness of the environment around its sacred spaces. It would amaze me if they deliberately selected a temple site in such close proximity to a liquor store. 

it was there prior to them building the temple but not there, as far as I can recall, prior to them picking the site. Also somewhat interesting is the Church bought the whole piece of land that the chapel and temple now sit but didn't build on one part of it and they sold that part and so now someone is building something literally across the road from the chapel-whatever they are building I hope it's something decent!

[Mike Drop]

On 11/9/2021 at 4:43 PM, Scott Lloyd said:

 because I know the Church takes pains to preserve the wholesomeness of the environment around its sacred spaces. It would amaze me if they deliberately selected a temple site in such close proximity to a liquor store. 

I’m sorry, I had to laugh at what you wrote. I’m starting to understand why I’m such a crappy Mormon. Because if I was in charge, I would put the temples smack dab in the middle of the crappiest part of the neighborhood. 
 

    Are you tellin me the Gospel of Christ, aka, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is so fragile the brethren are worried about Liquor stores being in the same proximity as a temple? From reading the Bible most of my life I would say if Jesus came back to earth he would probably be hangin around liquor stores, brothels, casinos and so on.  He would befriend everyone that would welcome him. Jesus would take thegospel where it was needed the most. So why should his houses of worship be “protected” from the people and establishments he would be hangin around?? Makes no sense! 

[JAHS]

6 minutes ago, Mike Drop said:

I’m sorry, I had to laugh at what you wrote. I’m starting to understand why I’m such a crappy Mormon. Because if I was in charge, I would put the temples smack dab in the middle of the crappiest part of the neighborhood. 
 

    Are you tellin me the Gospel of Christ, aka, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is so fragile the brethren are worried about Liquor stores being in the same proximity as a temple? From reading the Bible most of my life I would say if Jesus came back to earth he would probably be hangin around liquor stores, brothels, casinos and so on.  He would befriend everyone that would welcome him. Jesus would take thegospel where it was needed the most. So why should his houses of worship be “protected” from the people and establishments he would be hangin around?? Makes no sense! 

We do that now as members and missionaries sharing the gospel. There's nothing wrong with having a safe place to go to feel the spirit undisturbed. Jesus didn't like the money changers being in the temple. 
 

[Calm]

You are forgetting what Jesus did once he was within the temple grounds. Not only did he teach, he also kicked out the money changers, sanctifying the temple area for its patrons.
 

It’s about providing an uplifting experience when one attends the temple using beauty and quiet and less distraction from the ideal to the best of the Church’s ability to set the scene, not just from the time you walk through the doors but even before you enter them.  One reason temples are often placed on hills is the beacon effect of the eye being drawn to beauty, to the sense of the sacred as well as the sense of moving upwards towards heaven.
 

 The greater area that is able to be included in the sacred space, the greater amount of time that sense of being set apart, of entering sacred space has to work in one’s heart and mind.

Temples are also for the purpose of serving baptized members and the dead. Outreach to the communities our members live in is approached through other, different processes.  Everything the Church does is not required to serve all the missions of the Church at once. If one tries to be all missions to all people, chances are none of the missions will be done as effectively as they could be if instead select goals are focused on in different efforts. 

Edited November 11, 2021 by Calm

[Mike Drop]

16 minutes ago, Calm said:

 

You are forgetting what Jesus did once he was within the temple grounds. Not only did he teach, he also kicked out the money changers, sanctifying the temple area for its patrons.

 

Maybe that’s why the cafeterias were shut down.

16 minutes ago, Calm said:

It’s about providing an uplifting experience when one attends the temple using beauty and quiet and less distraction from the ideal to the best of the Church’s ability to set the scene, not just from the time you walk through the doors but even before you enter them.  One reason temples are often placed on hills is the beacon effect of the eye being drawn to beauty, to the sense of the sacred as well as the sense of moving upwards towards heaven.

Sorry but that is a very sad way of looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ. Christ entire life was the exact opposite of what you just explained the gospel to be. Christ was all about distraction. He didn’t care about beauty, gee whiz, the guy that baptized him never bathed, wore a camels hair garment, ate locust and honey. Christ hung out with Prostitutes and tax collectors. Matthew 9:10-11 while Jesus was having dinner at Matthews house, mini tax collectors and sinners came and ate with him and his disciples, When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?

31 minutes ago, Calm said:

The greater area that is able to be included in the sacred space, the greater amount of time that sense of being set apart, of entering sacred space has to work in one’s heart and mind.

You should replace the word sacred with safe, because the way you explain the gospel, kinda seems like that’s what you’re looking for. First and foremost the gospel of Christ is all about our brothers and sisters. Chapels and temples are meaningless.  Our brothers and sisters, the ones that hang out in the “less desirable” places like liquor stores, bars, strip clubs and brothels, those are the ones we’re suppose to be coming in contact with, not hiding out in a $30,000,000 palace on a hill. If the gospel is true, it doesn’t need us to protect it, it’s actually a tool and tools are meant to get dirty. 
 

44 minutes ago, Calm said:

Temples are also for the purpose of serving baptized members and the dead. Outreach to the communities our members live in is approached through other, different processes.  Everything the Church does is not required to serve all the missions of the Church at once. If one tries to be all missions to all people, chances are none of the missions will be done as effectively as they could be if instead select goals are focused in different efforts.

LDS temples are used today as big white beautiful hides-holes for all the “righteous”😂 members to go and feel good about what they think they’ve accomplished. Tell me! How many “non sinners” have entered the temples scattered across the earth? 
 

 

[Calm]

4 minutes ago, Mike Drop said:

Maybe that’s why the cafeterias were shut down.

It might have factored into the decision, just as requiring beards was at least in part so as men’s faces not to be as distracting to patrons who still saw beards as a sign of rebellion or something.

I know that there were those that were disturbed by having cafeterias or even clothing rentals in the temples and if it was found the Church was making money off the cafeterias or rentals and not just covering costs and salaries of the cleaning and food service staff, I would be disturbed as well. 

[Calm]

7 hours ago, Mike Drop said:

Christ was all about distraction.

Right, he never withdrew from the crowds or went into the wilderness to fast or a garden to pray or an upper room to create some sacred space himself.  

Edited November 12, 2021 by Calm

[Scott Lloyd]

6 hours ago, Calm said:

You are forgetting what Jesus did once he was within the temple grounds. Not only did he teach, he also kicked out the money changers, sanctifying the temple area for its patrons.
 

It’s about providing an uplifting experience when one attends the temple using beauty and quiet and less distraction from the ideal to the best of the Church’s ability to set the scene, not just from the time you walk through the doors but even before you enter them.  One reason temples are often placed on hills is the beacon effect of the eye being drawn to beauty, to the sense of the sacred as well as the sense of moving upwards towards heaven.
 

 The greater area that is able to be included in the sacred space, the greater amount of time that sense of being set apart, of entering sacred space has to work in one’s heart and mind.

Temples are also for the purpose of serving baptized members and the dead. Outreach to the communities our members live in is approached through other, different processes.  Everything the Church does is not required to serve all the missions of the Church at once. If one tries to be all missions to all people, chances are none of the missions will be done as effectively as they could be if instead select goals are focused on in different efforts. 

This is certainly among the best and may in fact be THE best post you have ever made on here. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[Scott Lloyd]

5 hours ago, Calm said:

Right, he never withdrew from the crowds or went into the wilderness to fast or a garden to or an upper room to create some sacred space himself.  

Or went up to the Mount of Transfiguration, where only three of his apostles were allowed to accompany him and experience the vision thereon. 

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

Well, this is shorten how long patrons remain….at least in the short run. Then until they stop remembering to take their lunch home. Shortly thereafter, after a few people forget they left their food in their lockers, then no food can be brought to the Temple. This will seriously limit how long patrons will stay each day. 

[Peacefully]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:35 PM, The Nehor said:

I went to a few places nearby that I cannot figure out how they stay open.

My theory is that they are money laundering operations.

There was a good salad place close by and also La Madeleines. 

[Calm]

1 hour ago, Scott Lloyd said:

This is certainly among the best and may in fact be THE best post you have ever made on here. 

[Scott Lloyd]

15 hours ago, Bill “Papa” Lee said:

Well, this is shorten how long patrons remain….at least in the short run. Then until they stop remembering to take their lunch home. Shortly thereafter, after a few people forget they left their food in their lockers, then no food can be brought to the Temple. This will seriously limit how long patrons will stay each day. 

I don’t know how common it is for a locker in a temple to be permanently assigned to a patron such that the patron is allowed to continue to use the locker and to leave items therein after he or she has left the temple. My sense is such a practice would be extremely rare if it exists at all. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[Bill “Papa” Lee]

6 hours ago, Scott Lloyd said:

I don’t know how common it is for a locker in a temple to be permanently assigned to a patron such that the patron is allowed to continue to use the locker and to leave items therein after he or she has left the temple. My sense is such a practice would be extremely rare if it exists at all. 

I don’t suppose they have an assigned locker, but I am sure they just use whatever locker that is available. These are the lockers I think they might, or will forget and leave food. 

[Calm]

39 minutes ago, Bill “Papa” Lee said:

I don’t suppose they have an assigned locker, but I am sure they just use whatever locker that is available. These are the lockers I think they might, or will forget and leave food. 

It has been too long awhile for me, so I may be wrong, but my memory is we don’t choose our lockers but are directed to a stall which has multiple lockers.  It would seem that the locker room attendant likely checks a stall for an available locker before directing patrons to it, and would have a chance to find left behind items that either go into lost in found or the trash. Since they could easily check all the lockers in each stall as they direct people to them unless there was a huge rush and patrons who weren’t willing to wait, food might be left overnight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the lockers are all checked before they go home. There would be several workers available to do so to make short work of it.  Also custodians must come in at the end of the day to vacuum and clean any marks from that day and clean bathrooms and drinking fountains, wipe down stair rails and that likely includes cleaning of the inside of lockers.

However, I have always gone to large temples who seem to have workers in practically every corner preventing any wrong turns and such and which have high enough traffic that even as well kept as everyone is, there would need nightly cleaning to keep in the pristine condition the temples have always been in. 

Edited November 12, 2021 by Calm

[Scott Lloyd]

1 hour ago, Bill “Papa” Lee said:

I don’t suppose they have an assigned locker, but I am sure they just use whatever locker that is available. These are the lockers I think they might, or will forget and leave food. 

So you’re saying the patron would change back into street clothes, remove the bag containing his/her temple clothing but walk off and leave a lunch bag or something in the unlocked locker? Could happen, I suppose, but I don’t envision it being frequent enough to be a chronic or nettlesome problem. 
 

There are currently many temples in the Church — perhaps a majority — that have never had cafeterias. Temple patrons in those districts get by just fine without a cafeteria. I anticipate that those who are now accustomed to them will learn to live without them as well. 

Edited November 13, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[Raingirl]

5 hours ago, Calm said:

It has been too long awhile for me, so I may be wrong, but my memory is we don’t choose our lockers but are directed to a stall which has multiple lockers.  It would seem that the locker room attendant likely checks a stall for an available locker before directing patrons to it, and would have a chance to find left behind items that either go into lost in found or the trash. Since they could easily check all the lockers in each stall as they direct people to them unless there was a huge rush and patrons who weren’t willing to wait, food might be left overnight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if the lockers are all checked before they go home. There would be several workers available to do so to make short work of it.  Also custodians must come in at the end of the day to vacuum and clean any marks from that day and clean bathrooms and drinking fountains, wipe down stair rails and that likely includes cleaning of the inside of lockers.

However, I have always gone to large temples who seem to have workers in practically every corner preventing any wrong turns and such and which have high enough traffic that even as well kept as everyone is, there would need nightly cleaning to keep in the pristine condition the temples have always been in. 

I’ve only ever been to one temple, but there was never anyone directing us to lockers. You just went up and down the rows looking for a locker that still had a key hanging from it.  The key obviously signaled that the locker was available and you just choose any locker you want from the available ones. 

[Scott Lloyd]

On 11/12/2021 at 9:42 PM, Raingirl said:

I’ve only ever been to one temple, but there was never anyone directing us to lockers. You just went up and down the rows looking for a locker that still had a key hanging from it.  The key obviously signaled that the locker was available and you just choose any locker you want from the available ones. 

We direct people to booths but never to a specific locker therein; they choose one on their own. 
 

We do it sequentially. This serves a practical purpose, mitigating the possibility that we’ll be stacked up with one or more patrons waiting for a specific booth to be free so he/she can return to the locker he/she is using. 
 

Also, we don’t make a practice of inspecting the locker after the patron has left. There’s never been an apparent need for that. 
 

I suppose such things are determined by local circumstances — and perhaps by the size of the temple. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by Scott Lloyd

[Calm]

20 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

We direct people to booths but never to a specific locker therein; they choose one on their own. 
 

We do it sequentially. This serves a practical purpose, mitigating the possibility that we’ll be stacked up with one or more patrons waiting for a specific booth to be free so he/she can return to the locker he/she is using.

This is what I remember, you explained it much better.  Except I remember one temple used to have a locker door open, inviting use.

20 minutes ago, Scott Lloyd said:

Also, we don’t make a practice of inspecting the locker after the patron has left. There’s never been an apparent need for that. 

Good to know.

Edited November 14, 2021 by Calm

[InCognitus]

On 11/9/2021 at 1:20 PM, bluebell said:

Every temple that I've been in so far has had a waiting area off to the side.  I've never seen a sink or mini fridge in one though.  Maybe they are there but hidden?  All the ones I've been in have looked like a fancy living room but with more seating than normal.  

I just toured the newly renovated Arizona Mesa Temple today, and in the place of where the cafeteria used to be, they now have a wedding waiting area with a sink and mini fridge and a kids table and chairs.  I am glad that we went and did baptisms for the dead with the youth at the Mesa Temple just prior to it closing for renovations, and we ate breakfast in the cafeteria, since we'll never have the opportunity to do that again.