It Has Happened Again

January 23, 2008

The Preamble to the Constitution begins with “We the people of the United States.” Every individual, person, organization, corporation, club, committee, council, or gathering should never forget those first three important words – “We the People.”
With each New Year “we the people” share much about our hopes and Dreams. And if we are fortunate as time passes we see the results of a “Dream.”

Our forefathers had “Dreams.” They were a visionary people who worked hard as they moved toward their accomplishments. History tells their story. In the book “Our Yesterdays – A History of Ephraim, Utah” it states on page 31: “Ephraim’s most recent monument by way of Church edifices is the newly completed West Ward Chapel and South Sanpete Stake House. A majestic red brick building, it is beautifully decorated throughout and completely furnished…it was dedicated Sunday, January 17, 1954.” Much of the time and labor to complete the building was donated by our families and friends. It was part of their Dream and ours too.

The history explains what we know – that the new meeting house on Main Street was located on the site where the former Tabernacle stood. Illustrations in the book show the interior of the Tabernacle which featured a large and beautiful mural of Joseph Smith’s Vision in the Sacred Grove. We learn that it was torn down in early 1950s to make way for a newer building. People wept. From our experiences we know there is still sorrow about the loss of that beautiful Tabernacle.

Now the second building described in “Our Yesterdays” – that “majestic red brick building” treasured by many people now and then – soon will be destroyed! Gone will be that recently remodeled LDS Meetinghouse from Ephraim’s Main Street. History has repeated itself ! Many people who cherish Ephraim and the Sanpete Valley will again be agonizing and trying to come to grips with a senseless loss.

There is anger and shock. There is widespread sadness among many people due to not being allowed to know about plans to destroy the building – those plans of months and months ago – only known to a few people. The authorities involved in the plans only revealed the fate of the building when demolition was close at hand here in January of 2008.

How did this happen? We live in a democracy. Democracy encourages openness. This was not handled in a democratic way. “We the people” were not given the chance to express our opinion, give our input regarding this matter. We pay tithes and offerings which are sacred funds that are used for our buildings and places of worship. We spend our lives in and around our places of worship. We are the church members who are believers and we are loyal. We comprise the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We care about the communities where we live. We love the Lord. Our churches and the sites where our churches are built are sacred and hallowed ground.

Incomprehensible is why Zions Bank would even consider razing our church then want to build a bank on that dedicated, hallowed spot. That ground was dedicated by President Brigham Young and Lorenzo Snow and made sacred and hallowed by all the loving effort of families and friends over past decades. They felt passionate. We share that passion.

Consider this for a moment: Imagine how you would feel seeing a bank on the land at Gettysburg along with a nice, big and busy parking area. Picture the destruction of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia where Dr. King and his father were ministers. Now the church is gone but a brand new bank has been built in its place. However, that will never happen in Atlanta, Georgia. Never! Not so in Utah. What is wrong here in Utah? Now think of Utah’s Cove Fort with its four foot thick walls – would it bother anyone if in its place were a fleet of ATMs under the trees? And what if there were plans to destroy the Lion House in Salt Lake City to make way for a convenient drive-through bank – It would have to be named ZIONS Bank….that would only be fitting.

How do you feel about Ephraim’s West Ward Meetinghouse being torn down? It will happen. We feel deeply hurt that we were kept “in the dark.”

A fact: There are loving, and good people living in Utah’s rural areas. We love our cities. We get the feeling that big city folks and corporations don’t care about us. Our feelings have been ignored and disregarded. No one gave us any time or consideration. When the “majestic red brick building” is destroyed in Ephraim – there will be a whole lot more than a building that is destroyed.

To others our church may just be a building. It may just be something “in the way” of an agenda. It may just be a building with plenty of bricks to use as book ends, or bricks to use for countless planters or BBQ pits. But to us it is a place we lost where we once heard speeches, said good-bye to a loved one at a funeral, had a baby blessed, sang in the Messiah, had Santa Claus visit us as kids at a Ward Christmas Party, met a life long friend, or had an answer to a prayer. (You’ll have to ask officials in Salt Lake what it means to them.) Now it is a place where long kept secrets were told to us too late.

“We the people” need a church on Main Street in Ephraim. We already have a bank on Main Street. “We the people” have been invisible and ignored. Where will it happen next? Sad to say – it will happen again somewhere.