Large Churches

I visited two very large church buildings while in the Washington DC Area. Both were amazing in their own way.

I first visited the Washington DC LDS temple. It's a strikingly beautiful building. I heard people talk about what it looks like from the beltway at night, but until you see it, it's really beyond description. A few years ago, while heading to Legoland with my family, I drove around a bend in the freeway and saw the San Diego temple with its white stone and shining spires, and it was certainly an awe-inspiring sight, but it pales in comparison to the sight of Washington DC temple as seen from the beltway. It really seems to be hovering in the air over the road. It's truly amazing.

Inside, it's a beautiful temple as well. It's a bit dated in its colors and fabrics, but it's beautiful nonetheless. The cut glass windows extending from bottom to top along both sides of the temple are amazing. It's a little different from other LDS temples in that it doesn't have a chapel where you go to wait for the start of a temple session. Instead, people meet outside the dressing rooms, and then proceed directly upstairs where a brass sign with lights shows you which room to go to for the next endowment session. Most temples have seats on either side of a central aisle, but the Washington DC Temple has uninterrupted rows of seats.

Despite its differences, the spirit I felt there is the same as that I've felt in other temples. The same spirit of calm and peace prevails. I'm truly glad I took time out of my busy sightseeing schedule to attend the temple in the DC area.

Adjacent to the temple is a visitors center. They had an exhibit about the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. It was fun to see some things and learn about the choir. It was also neat to remember some of the roots of my own testimony of the restored Gospel--roots tied in part to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

The other "large church" that I visited was the National Cathedral. It was amazing in its own way. I love stained glass, and because of that, the National Cathedral was a treat for me. I took lots and lots of pictures of stained glass. My favorite window turned out to have a piece of moon rock in it.

An additional treat was provided by a small choir that was rehearsing before the afternoon mass. The choir was made up of about 10 children and a dozen adults. Together, they filled the cathedral with heavenly sound. It was amazing to look into the children's faces as they sang. One of the children--the only girl--mesmerized me as I could see how much she was enjoying and feeling the music she was singing.

After leaving, I circled the cathedral looking for the "Darth Vader" gargoyle on the outside, but not knowing where it was, I never did find it...which was sad, since I was wearing a Darth Vader tie that day.