The Rise and Fall of a Tradition: Every Temple gets a Moroni

The tradition of placing Moroni statues on every temple really began with the Atlanta Georgia Temple in 1982. Though the previous three temples to be dedicated, (Tokyo Japan, Jordan River, and Seattle Washington) each had statues, the Atlanta Temple was initially designed to have neither an angel nor a spire.^[1]“Seven New Temples; Now 28 in Use or Planned.” Deseret News, Church News, 5 Apr. 1980, pp. 10–11. By this point, there had been 20 temples built and dedicated. And of those 20, only five of them had Angel Moroni Statues. Three of them did not even have spires, so this new design was hardly a departure from tradition.

Upon the public release of the artists render of the Atlanta Georgia temple A writer for the “Faith & Values” section of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution declared that with the lack of spire and statue the design was not up to “Mormon Temple” standards.^[2]Speed, Billie Cheney. “Mormons Pick Sandy Springs for Temple.” Atlanta Constitution, 5 July 1980, p. 16. 

The review was forwarded to the First Presidency by Church Public Affairs Director for Atlanta, Donald Conkey. Then, on January 1982 a new design was unveiled. The new design now featured a spire and a gold statue of the Angel Moroni at the top.^[3]As retold by Rick Satterfield on ChurchOfJesusChristTemples.org It is by no means certain that public opinion was the factor that brought the spire and statue into being. There is some indication that the Brethren were becoming more acutely aware of the influence the statue could create as an identifier and symbol of a temple.^[4]Roe, Frederick Robert 1920-. Angels: Moroni and his associates / Fred Roe [Bountiful, Utah]: The Author, 1992 May 1992 printing, p 49. (accessed: 5 September 5 2018) The timing can be difficult to discount, however. This Moroni tradition has continued nearly unbroken for thirty years. Between the dedication of the Atlanta Georgia Temple (1983,) and the dedication of the spire-less and statue-less Paris France Temple (2017), three Temples were dedicated without Angel statues: Sydney Australia, Boston Massachusetts, and Freiberg Germany.

Of the three temples without a Moroni at Dedication during this time, the only true stand out was Freiberg Germany.

That the Church was allowed to build a temple in what was then Communist East Germany, came as quite a surprise to the Church Leadership, who had never even been able to get approval to let members leave the country for short trips to the Bern Switzerland Temple.^[9] Boone, David F., and Richard O. Cowan. “The Freiberg Germany Temple: A Latter-Day Miracle.” Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University. That the communist government was actually requesting that the Church Build the temple was an even greater surprise.^[10] Boone, David F., and Richard O. Cowan. “The Freiberg Germany Temple: A Latter-Day Miracle.” Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University.

Just a month after the Angel Moroni Statue was placed upon Atlanta, a second identical statue was lifted by Helicopter into place atop the square tower spire of the Idaho Falls Idaho Temple.^[12]Eaton, Nate. “WATCH: Crews Install Angel Moroni Back on Top of Idaho Falls Temple.” East Idaho News, 12 Apr. 2017.

This placement marked a pair of firsts:

• It was the first time a statue had been placed on a temple after it was dedicated.
• It was the First time a Helicopter had been used to place an Angel Statue.
• Besides being the first temple to receive an Angel Moroni after dedication, it was also the only one of the post-dedication additions that was NOT a copy of Quilter’s 1985 statue.^[13]As mentioned before, both Sydney Australia and Boston received statues after dedication. Boston received a non-Quilter Statue; however, the temple was intended to have a statue when designed.

Since the construction of the Atlanta Temple, statues have been added to seven of the 15 original statue-less temples, Including Idaho Falls. The trend, despite the 1983 placement in Idaho, began in the 2000’s under the direction of President Hinckley. During his tenure he oversaw the placement of 6 more statues on Temples that had been dedicated decades before.

Hinckley’s New Push

Freiberg Germany

It started in Freiberg Germany in 2001. President Hinckley’s challenge to have 100 temples by the end of the year 2000 had already been successful. The Freiberg Germany Temple was then undergoing an expansion that would see the front and spire of the temple moved forward about 45 feet.^[14]Based off before and after measurements of satellite photography in Google Earth. As part of this renovation and expansion an angel Moroni statue would be added to the temple for the first time ever. On 20 December 2001 a 7-foot fiberglass replica of Karl Quilter’s 1982 statue was added to the top of the spire replacing a thin narrow pole of similar height that had stood atop the spire for the previous 16 and a half years.^[15]Freedman, Eugene, and Claire Freedman. “Angel Statue Added to Freiberg Temple.” Church News, Deseret News, 11 Jan. 2002.

Ogden Utah

The next temple to retroactively receive a statue was Ogden Utah Temple 18 November 2002. The Temple was in the undergoing a renovation to the grounds. Amongst the changes to the landscaping, removal of large trees too close to the temple, new plants and new sidewalks, The Church brought in a crane and removed the uppermost 2 portions of the spire, about 10-12 feet worth. These portions of the spire had been gilded, while all the lower sections had been painted a golden color. 30 years and 10 months after the Temples dedication in January of 1972 an Angel Moroni Statue was lifted into place where the upper spire segments had been. This statue, a copy of Karl Quilter’s 1985 statue is 10 feet tall and faces east. After the placement of the statue, the remainder of the spire was painted white.^[16]“Ogden Utah Temple to Receive Improvements, Moroni Statue.” Church News, Deseret News, 13 Sept. 2002.

Tokyo Japan

The top of the Tokyo Japan Temple spire was removed and an Angel added on 10 December of 2004, 24 years and 2 months after the dedication. The spire top, originally a tall thin spire with progressively shorter steps, was removed in its entirety.

In its place, the spire is now capped by a silver half dome. Atop that is a silver-colored inverted pyramid, topped with a fiberglass spire topper from the Hinckley area small temples, and a fiberglass copy of Karl Quilters 1985 statue.

During the 2019 renovation of the temple, the top of the spire was removed again, this time caping the spire with a larger elongated dome, and eliminating the diamond shaped structure entirely.

Golden Anniversaries

Bern Switzerland

2 years later the Bern Switzerland temple reached its 50^th anniversary (also known as a “golden” anniversary). As part of the Celebratory events the section of the spire, a wand like pole at the spires top, was removed, and on 7 September 2005 a copy of Quilter’s 10-foot statue from 1985 was placed atop the spire. The placement came 49 years, 11 months and 27 days after the dedication, just 4 days shy of 50 full years.^[19]Stahle, Shaun D. “Swiss Temple: Dedication a Bold Act of Faith.” Church News, Deseret News, 16 Sept. 2005.

London England

The last temple to have had a belated statue placement was the London England Temple. Coming 3 years after the Bern Switzerland Temple placement, The London Temple also received a statue as part of its 50^th anniversary. In London’s case, an estimated 15 to 20 feet of the spire was removed to form a suitable perch for the Statue. It was lifted into position on 15 December 2008 by helicopter, only the third time that a helicopter had been used for a statue placement. The placement came 50 years, 3 months and 8 days after the original dedication of the temple.^[20]Swinton, Heidi. “Angel Moroni Takes Flight.” Church News, Deseret News, 19 Dec. 2008.