Project Zion Podcast

ES 80 | What's Brewing | Temple Tuesday

September 29, 2020 Project Zion Podcast
Project Zion Podcast
ES 80 | What's Brewing | Temple Tuesday
Show Notes Transcript

Latter-day Seeker Ministries has a new project that explores the purpose of the Temple in Community of Christ. Weekly video take us into some of the most familiar and unfamiliar places at the Temple and remind us what it means to be a people of the Temple, dedicated to peace.

To watch all of the Temple Tuesday videos, visit Latter-day Seeker's Facebook Page or find them on our Youtube Channel

Host: Carla Long
Guest: Karin Peter

Thanks for listening to Project Zion Podcast!
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Intro and Outro music used with permission:

“For Everyone Born,” Community of Christ Sings #285. Music © 2006 Brian Mann, admin. General Board of Global Ministries t/a GBGMusik, 458 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, GA 30308. copyright@umcmission.org

“The Trees of the Field,” Community of Christ Sings # 645, Music © 1975 Stuart Dauerman, Lillenas Publishing Company (admin. Music Services).

All music for this episode was performed by Dr. Jan Kraybill, and produced by Chad Godfrey.

NOTE: The series that make up the Project Zion Podcast explore the unique spiritual and theological gifts Community of Christ offers for today's world. Although Project Zion Podcast is a Ministry of Community of Christ. The views and opinions expressed in this episode are those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Community of Christ.

Carla Long :

You're listening to an extra shot episode on the project Zion podcast, a shorter episode that lets you get your project Zion fixed in between our full length episodes. It might be shorter time wise, but hopefully not in content. So regardless of the temperature at which you prefer your caffeine, sit back and enjoy this extra shot. Hi, everyone, and welcome to the Project Zion podcast. I'm your host, Carla Long. And today I'm here with someone that will whose voice you might find a little recognizable. I'm here with KarIn Peter, who's also a host for Project Zion. Hi, Karin.

Karin Peter :

Hi, Carla.

Carla Long :

Excited to be here, Karin?

Karin Peter :

I do not like being on this end of the interview. But yes, kind of because I'm excited about what we're talking about.

Carla Long :

Oh, that's good. So Karin, I think most people know who you are. But why don't you do a short intro introduction just in case they don't.

Karin Peter :

So I am one of the voices you hear on Project Zion. And so I do a Cuppa Joe on church history and some other interview series for Project Zion, which is fun. And I am a full time minister with Community of Christ. And I live in Olympia, Washington, with my spouse and our dog.

Carla Long :

So you keep pretty busy. That's what you're saying, really?

Karin Peter :

I do keep pretty busy. I would think with the pandemic that you know, working for the church, things would slow down. But no, it's been busy, busy, busy with zoom and all the other things that we do, yeah.

Carla Long :

I know. Zoom is like everything right now. I got my computer, my daughter says church, so not wrong. Oh, so Karin. Today we're gonna be talking about temple Tuesday, which is something that actually started during the pandemic, I think. And so if people don't know exactly what that is, what isTemple Tuesday?

Karin Peter :

So typical Tuesday are short videos, I'm going to say one to three minutes once a while we we might get one that's longer than three minutes. But normally, I think one to three minutes, though these really short videos posted in the Latter-day Seekers Facebook page, that are little explorations into the Temple and the idea of what it means to be a people of the Temple.

Carla Long :

I think that these are super important because our Temple and community Christ means something very different than other temples in the world. And I'm not just talking about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, temples, there's other temples too. And our temple means something completely different. Do you want to talk a little bit about what we talked about in those Temple Tuesday videos? Like, do we show parts of our Temple? Is it possible to show parts of our Temple? Tell me more?

Karin Peter :

Yes, well, for a while, no, it wasn't possible to show only because the pandemic and so the temple was closed at the beginning of that pandemic. And so we do show places, we started showing places around the Temple outside of the building those kinds of things. And now we are able to go in and to film inside and to do videos around the Temple as well. So yes, you do get to see all the places in the Temple. They're not, we don't have hidden secret places, except maybe, you know, we probably wouldn't want to go into somebody's office and like video what's on their bookshelf or something? We wouldn't do them? Well, we might, I don't know, let me think about that. But we do show places, and we try to give kind of the meaning of that particular place, and the purpose of it and sometimes even a little history behind it. And and then we we pose a question that helps you think about how that purpose of that place where the meaning of that place might be expressed in your own life. And when I when I talk about these different places, they're not always kind of the religious places, you would think that's not always a picture of the cross or a picture of the of the sanctuary. But there's some really less significant places that we've highlighted. Very unusual, I think for this kind of a thing but deeply spiritual. For example, the door handles when you go to enter the temple, both in the front door and into the sanctuary. Have you ever really looked at those, Carla? Yeah, and what shape are they in?

Carla Long :

There's a dove on it.

Karin Peter :

Yeah, they're formed in this beautiful shape of the dove. So when we do Some research on why that is, they talked about the design for one, the Temple's dedicated to peace. And so the dove is a symbol of peace. But the way the design of the handles is it's wide at the top, narrow at the bottom, and they're elongated. And the design was that way so that even children who had small hands could reach up and grasp that and pull it open. So it was more accessible. And so accessibility, the the ability for everybody to be able to come and find place has been a real key element of this as well.

Carla Long :

I love that. I mean, I I was young girl when the temples vision was coming into fruition, but I loved how much thought was put into almost every single piece that went in there from the choosing of the marble. I was a Temple tour guide for two summers. Oh, good for you. I know. So I know a lot more than I probably said. And I always loved exploring those places. And that was one of the reasons I knew there was a peace, there's a dove on those things because I went in those doors many, many, many times. I will also remember I've watched a lot of the temple Tuesday videos, but one of my favorites is when you were talking about when they're they're all happening outside of the Temple.

Karin Peter :

Mm hmm.

Carla Long :

That's when Joey Williams was running up those outside stairs to get to the top.

Karin Peter :

There's a lot of stairs out there.

Carla Long :

There's a surprising amount of stairs and he was so out of breath. I felt so bad for him.

Karin Peter :

And he filmed that so many times that I think he did his aerobics for a month just filming that video.

Carla Long :

Yeah, absolutely. There's so many good ones out there. And I also loved the one near the very beginning also when he was driving, and that you don't think of the temple natatorium on a hill, but they really are on a hill. And when you're driving and you go underneath that stone arch bridge, and you see the Temple and Auditorium in front of you. And I've always always loved that picture of the Temple in the auditorium that it's like seared in my memory. I think it's the you guys do a great job with it. That's what I'm trying to say.

Karin Peter :

Well, Joey is wonderful and super creative. And he enlists help his sister was actually driving for him to do that several times. I think she has helped him on on several of these. But yeah, that's a marvelous one. That was our first Temple Tuesday. So it just it's really meaningful to all of a sudden have the Temple come into view and joy talks about that in that video.

Carla Long :

Yeah. So I think that this is a really important these are really important videos, but what was the hope behind Temple Tuesday's going into them? Like what what did you want to see happen?

Karin Peter :

Well, originally our thought was, well, so it was during the pandemic, and, and we'd seen you know, all the different things come on Facebook, where you would, you know, dress up as your favorite Disney character and then send out a challenge kind of a thing. And it kind of sparked from that. Wait a minute, we we've been called to live as people at the temple. So what does that look like if we do that in the midst of a pandemic, where we are? So what does it look like to live as a people of the tip of where we are. And so then we thought if we show the images from around the Temple and the Temple complex, and then ask people to kind of discern how they're living that same aspect of Temple ministry, in their own life, and reflect on that, and then share if they want to post a picture or, you know, respond or not just simply watch the video. But the idea was, was twofold. One is that it's important for us as Community of Christ people to be doing what we're called to do. And so this was, I think, a tool to help us recognize that about the Temple in our life. And second, it was a way for people not familiar with Community of Christ, or from other restoration traditions, or other denominations or other faiths background, to see what we meant when we talk about Temple and to explore that with us.

Carla Long :

I really love that and be and I love that you said, become a people of the Temple because I of course, went back to Section 161 of the Doctrine and Covenants in my mind, and I actually just looked it up really fast. I'd like to read it if that's okay. I think it speaks deeply to what you're talking about here. This is section 161:2 a and b, "Become a people of the Temple. Those who see violence, proclaim peace, who feel conflict, yet extend the hand of reconciliation, who encounter broken spirits and find pathways for healing. Fulfill the purposes of the Temple by making its ministries manifest in your hearts. It was built from your sacrifices and searching over many generations. let it stand as a towering symbol of a people who knew injustice and strife on the frontier, and who now seek the peace of Jesus Christ throughout the world." Oh, that almost brought me to tears. They the idea that the Temple if we manifest that in our hearts, and that's what you are all trying to help people do. We can proclaim peace as people

Karin Peter :

Yeah, those words and the kind of the meaning behind the Temple is so much a part of so many of us who experienced life in the church prior to the Temple being built, experienced life in the church, as the Temple was being built, many of us thinking we'd never see it. Because we didn't live near there. Many Latter-day Saints feel that way now who are in, in exploring Community of Christ around the world and might never come to Independence to see the Community of Christ Temple. And so what does that mean, then to take the Temple where I am and have peace, and reconciliation and healing of this spirit, be important in my life in ways that make a difference where I am? It's so critical in our discernment process. Now, as the church looks at what does it mean to move towards Jesus, the peaceful One, we have to really look at what does it mean to live peace, to leave live reconciliation and live spirit and the healing of the Spirit where I am? So all good stuff.

Carla Long :

Gosh, this just got a lot deeper than I was anticipating. actually really fun to talk about. So I think that we've already touched on this, but I don't know if you want to go a little bit deeper about it. But why is Temple Tuesdays and talking about the temple? Why is it missionally important for Community of Christ, what makes this something that people want to grab ahold of, and be like, I want to be part of that!

Karin Peter :

So I think there's there's two things that come to mind immediately. The first is that missionally as a, as a disciple and Community of Christ, I need to be able to say more than what the Temple is and where it is, and what it means I need, I need to be living at where I am, so that when people engage with me, I'm actually walking the path of the disciple as a Community of Christ member. And that's what they encounter. And which brings me to my my second reason we live in a culture that is increasingly disenfranchised from religion and is deeply suspicious of religious read: Christian institutions. If you begin in many places in the Western world to talk about Christianity, people will back away slowly because people have been wounded by Christian rhetoric. And so living peace, reconciliation and healing of the Spirit are ways to live our faith, that highlight the stark contrast between Community of Christ, what we stand for, who he professed to be what we're called to be, and other groups who use Christianity in an exclusionary, divisive and often dangerous kind of way. So missionally, it helps us really identify who we are, and who are called to be. And it really helps us kind of live into that old RLDS Community of Christ kind of thing: What does it mean to be a peculiar people? Well, right now, it means to live peace, reconciliation, and healing of the Spirit. That's what it means in our, in our current global climate.

Carla Long :

It's so true. And I am so proud to be a peculiar person in that way. And I just know that I could be a little better at it. That's a young people's. That's an excellent call for us, Karen. So Temple Tuesdays have been happening since what March or April, something like that. 2020,

Karin Peter :

Somewhere in there. Mmm hmm.

Carla Long :

And have you had a lot of engagement? Like is the only place they can watch it on Facebook? Are there other places they can watch it?

Karin Peter :

Well, it comes out on Facebook, every once in a while, it'll get picked up by the main Community of Christ page, and they'll post it there out of communications. And then it's wherever people take it. So when it pops up on the Latter-day Seeker main page, if I then share it in my groups, then it goes from there. So it started slow, but we have been increasing with the engagement with this particular experience this expression of Latter-day Seeker ministry as Temple Tuesday. Yeah, it's growing.

Carla Long :

That is so exciting to hear. I love hearing that. And, you know, like, I know that people who are investigating Oh, I know if I want to investigate. Yeah, looking at Community of Christ, if they, if they've never seen the Temple, I mean, there are so many cool stories, just like you're talking about so many beautiful parts of that building. And I, I wonder if Temple Tuesday's could go on indefinitely, I don't know. If you all want them to go on indefinitely, there'd be so many places that you could look at and see and talk about. So that's pretty exciting.

Karin Peter :

Well, it started out it's just this kind of list of ideas. And then you know, we had to get formal so we got ourselves an Excel spreadsheet, we started listing all of the different places that we thought would be a great place to do a short video and then, what part of peace reconciliation healing of the Spirit? Did that really model or manifest? And? And what are some ideas about it, one of them that everybody kind of did research into the building of the Temple. And one of the things we found was that at the very tip of the spire because you know, it goes up in the swirly spire, when the last piece was put in place, by the iron workers, they have a tradition and when the last steel beam is put in place, they all sign it. And then the structure goes up. And they have that's kind of their little celebration in an iron worker land. Well, one of the iron workers, it turns out, his mom had been an RLDS member. And so he signed his mom's name and put it up there, which is just was like, oh, cuz I, in my mind, I see these big burly iron workers with hard hats. And he signed his mom's name that was just really sweet. Yeah,

Carla Long :

I love that story. I love that. That's really cool. And it is up there. That would, that would be a pretty scary job, actually.

Karin Peter :

Yeah, absolutely. So yeah, I forget what we're talking about now. Oh, yeah. engagement with it. Okay. That's good.

Carla Long :

So who who are the people that are involved with Temple Tuesdays? We already mentioned Joey Williams and you. So um, do they show lots of different people on videos and who produces them and who edits and like all that stuff? who's involved?

Karin Peter :

Well, Joey is the workhorse because he does the videos. And even though they're short, he does many different tapings of them to make sure that he's he's got what we're looking for as far as that particular place. But we have a whole team that works on them. So Joey does the filming he's had guests appear Jenny Jackson was on when Black Lives Matter was starting and we needed to take a look at what that meant in our own ministries of peace and reconciliation. And Lach Mackay as it is on the team Robin helped to get it Robin Linkhart helped get it started. Brittany Mangelson does the social media posting editing posting that kind of thing. It came out of a discussion that Neil DeAtley, who's a minister out in Washington, DC area, he and I were just having a conversation on something totally different. And so we continue as part of that team to kind of carry through on what the the main vision of that was. So it's so far it's been Joey and Neil and Lach and Robin and Brittany and myself, however, we have a new host coming on because we are expanding at Temple Tuesday. So this is all you're the first to hear of this outside of the team. So Art Smith, many of your listeners are familiar with Art. And if you are Community of Christ, and are on Facebook, you familiar with art. And art is a member of the Council of 12. He's going to be joining the Temple Tuesday team, and he enjoy will be exploring not just places around the temple, but around the whole complex. So the auditorium and kind of beyond we're hoping maybe Stone Church, some of the other places around the whole complex in that area. And looking at different aspects of that. And so we're excited to kind of see where that goes with Art and what that looks like. And we're going to be trying to be more international and less U.S. focused. So we already know that in French Polynesia, the temple Tuesday gets posted in French, because they either subtitle it, I think they subtitle it. But we're going to try to at least post in French and Spanish and see if we can get some be less us focused. It just seems that we're so us centric all the time. We want to get away from that. So I'm pretty excited about that. And some of the places when you start nosing around in the auditorium. Oh my goodness. It's like there are some really interesting places there. Did you go in that when you were the the guide for the two summers, did you?

Carla Long :

Oh, yeah. For sure.

Karin Peter :

So before we had the Temple, everything was in the Auditorium. So you think about that, like World Conference, the nursery is on the fifth floor of the auditorium behind the pipe working directly behind the pipe organ, the pipes part, not the organ part thought pipes part. And I didn't realize that's where it was until I was in the nursery because I helped man the child care for a Peace Colloquy went I'm, and all of a sudden, that was the the organ recital, and they start the organ recital. It was like living in the Phantom of the Opera set. It was it was, was awful. And I remember thinking men designed this. Men needed to find a place to stick the children. And this was the only spot they had nobody, no woman would put the nursery behind. I mean, oh my god, I couldn't believe it. So anyway.

Carla Long :

That is crazy. I do remember. So I was working at the temple complex and working in Europe at the same time, blah, blah, blah, I became a bishop. And I was taking a walk around the top, you know, if you might walk like, I don't know how many laps, you get a mile at the very, very top. And I sat down to rest on the stairs, and I looked up, and I saw the bishops conference room, and I never seen them before in my life. And so I'm like, now that I'm a bishop, can I see the room? Is that what it is? It's like a Harry Potter kind of magic thing? I don't even know. So that Auditorium is full of surprises around every corner. I swear it is.

Karin Peter :

It really is. And the other thing we talked about this in our last Temple Tuesday meeting, because that's when we're talking about expanding in this way. And from my this just my perspective, my personal Karin Peter perspective, the auditorium has this can buildings have auras? Or can only people have auras? I'm not really sure. But I think it has kind of this historic, ghostly aura, if you will, in the Auditorium that you can really feel you don't feel it in the Temple because it's too new. But in the auditorium you walk in, and you can just sense the presence of what we might theologically call the communion of the saints, or if we're going to be scriptural, called the cloud of witnesses. But you can just feel that in there. You walk into the chamber, don't turn the lights on, just walk into that chamber and you just like it presses in all around you. The presence of these people, many of them giants of the reorganization, who created that building, and worked in that building, and met for conferences in that building and made decisions that affect us today and allowed us to be who we are today. Yes.

Carla Long :

Absolutely. I mean, it is, it is slightly lesser impressive of a building. Like if you're comparing the two but there, you're right, there is so much history in the Auditorium as well. And I would be really excited to see more about the Temple complex in general, and the stone church, too. I mean, the stone church is a really interesting building as well. And it's definitely part of our heritage.

Karin Peter :

It is that that whole area there on that corner is just fascinating. And we have the the UN a peace Plaza as part of that complex as well. So who knows what we'll see when Joey and Art start filming.

Carla Long :

Yeah, I'm excited about that. Okay. Well, I mean, I feel like you have already touched on this a little bit with the announcement about Art Smith, but and moving into the Temple complex was, is there anything else that's coming up next for Temple Tuesday's that we should know about and get excited about? Besides art, besides the whole complex, that's a lot to get excited about.

Karin Peter :

I think having Temple Tuesday's in other languages, either with subtitles or actually filmed in other languages, that's we're moving in that direction. So I think that's the biggest news that we can have. We want people to know that yes, we hear you. And yes, we're trying to be less US centric, so.

Carla Long :

that is so important. Like, after working in Europe and hearing what it means to people to hear something in their mother tongue, or to be able to understand it is it is so meaningful to people I my very first sermon I ever preached in my entire life. I preached in the Philippines, and I preached half in English and happens Tagalog. And even though my Tagalog was abysmal, and an older woman sat in the back and laughed the entire time. What what it meant to them was I was willing to be vulnerable enough to do it. And I think it just is so meaningful for people. So I'm really, really glad that's happening. That's a really big part a really important part.

Karin Peter :

Yeah, I think that's our big news. And other than that, you can find us on the latter day seeker main page, and we try to share it in other groups and pages as well.

Carla Long :

But check us out. Absolutely. Karin, thank you so much. This has been really informative, and it makes me even more excited about Temple Tuesdays than I was before.

Karin Peter :

Well, great. Thanks so much, Carla.

Carla Long :

Bye, Karin.

Josh Mangelson :

Thanks for listening to Project Zion Podcast, subscribe to our podcast on Apple podcast, Stitcher, or whatever podcast streaming service you use. And while you're there, give us a five star rating. projects I am podcast is sponsored by Latter-day Seeker Ministries of Community of Christ. The views and opinions expressed in this episode. Are those speaking and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Latter-day Seeker Ministries or Community of Christ. The music has been graciously provided by Dave Heinze.