Monday, October 22, 2007

Wedding photos


Melisa and I went up to Kansas City this weekend for a wedding. My sister, Mary Elizabeth, married Matthew Krogmeier on Saturday at Queen of the Holy Rosary Catholic Church in Overland Park, KS. I was able to get a few pictures. Click on the images for larger versions.


Here I am with the bride and our mother Debbie Opel.


Here I am with my father, Bob Matkin.


Who are those lovely ladies? Here I am with my grandmother Mary Ann Smith and my mother Debbie.


Here I am with my stepfather Steve Opel.


Here I am with my mother Debbie before walking her into the church.


Here I am with Steve and Mom at the reception.


Here I am taking a closer look at the cake.

On Friday before the rehearsal, we did some sight-seeing around Kansas City. Melisa found a doll museum for us to visit in Kansas City Missouri, and then we went to Independence Missouri to see the great Temple of the Community of Christ (formerly, the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, the largest group of Mormons that did not follow Brigham Young to Utah).


The Temple, constructed in the 1990s, is a representation of God's creation based upon the design of the nautilus shell. The Temple is dedicated to the pursuit of world peace.

The acoustics are amazing inside the sanctuary; I imagine it must be wonderful to listen to music in that space.

Above, is the pipe organ in the sanctuary. Below, is the stained glass at the end of the spiral on the bottom of the building. It represents the local terrain of the area.

You may be wondering, Why Independence, Missouri? The answer is that the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, Jun., received a divine revelation that Jesus would return to earth in that place and the New Jerusalem would be built there.

Above, is a sculpture of Christ over a grand staircase in the Temple. Below, is an oil painting of the Mormon Prophet Joseph Smith, Jun. We got to see the original, which stayed with the Smith family in Missouri, but were not allowed to photograph it ourselves.



There were works of art throughout the Temple. Above, in the lobby was this powerful sculpture about the suffering of hunger in the Ethiopian famine. Below is a quilt celebrating the creation and the pursuit of peace.

2 comments:

FrGregACCA said...

Comparing the Community of Christ and the Salt Lake City-based LDS is interesting. The CofC has evolved into a Smithite version of the Disciples of Christ or, perhaps better, the United Church of Christ.

Fr Timothy Matkin said...

I don't know much about the other small branches, but yes, the RLDS are now like liberal protestants with the Book of Mormon.