A shiny 300-foot stainless steel spire pierces the sky in the middle of an older residential neighborhood of one- and two-story homes in this Kansas City suburb.
The spire twists upward from a pink and gray granite building that is the new $35 million World Headquarters of the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.Inside the temple sanctuary, the spire's twists give the appearance of a nautilus shell with a small ribbon of lights and hidden windows illuminating its curves.
The shell symbolizes the relationship between God and humans as it reaches toward the sky but also down toward worshipers, says Alan Tyree, a retired chief administrative officer of the world church.
"It symbolizes the ascent of man and the descent of the spirit of God," he said.
But the spire also is symbolic of a rift in the church. And not everyone agrees it is a fitting symbol.
The sanctuary will begin holding weekly vespers every Sunday after the April 1994 World Conference dedication. Daily noontime peace meditations will begin after the December 1993 peace conference, says church spokesman Roger Yarrington.
The church, which claims 245,836 members in 38 countries, was organized in 1860 in a power struggle that ensued after Mormon founder Joseph Smith was killed by a mob in Nauvoo, Ill., in 1844.
Many Mormons in 1847 followed Brigham Young west to Salt Lake City where The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is headquartered. The LDS Church has more than 8 million members worldwide.
But other Smith followers remained in the Midwest and insisted on the leadership of his son, Joseph Smith Jr.
Headquarters of that reorganized church was established at Independence, Mo.
William D. Russell, professor of history at the RLDS-founded Grace-land College in Lamoni, Iowa, is writing a book on the schism that has taken place in the church between conservatives and the mainstream in recent years.
Russell says Smith's intent was for the temple to be a refuge for Christ upon his return. But the purpose of the new temple will be to host peace conferences and serve as an ensign for peace, he says.
Richard Price, an Independence publisher, was expelled from the church by the church leadership. He says he was expelled for publishing materials in opposition to church leaders and the changes they were making in RLDS doc-trine.
He clings to the more orthodox beliefs and belongs to a restoration branch that considers itself - but is not officially - a part of the RLDS Church. Price has published a 144-page book detailing why the temple should not have been built.
He and some other conservative members believe the temple's design, location and purpose are wrong.
Price says the temple should have followed a design of divine inspiration that Smith outlined in his writings. Price also believes it should have been built on the spot Smith specified in his writings, which is across the street and not owned by the church.
Russell says the infighting in the church over the new temple and its purpose is natural; it's the difference between a 19th and 20th century approach to religion.