The Lord promised early Latter-day Saints an endowment of power that began at the Kirtland Temple in 1836. It was a time of great spiritual outpourings and the receipt of power from on high. However, the “Kirtland endowment” didn’t explicitly refer to rituals and ordinances. For example, it wasn’t until 1842 that Joseph Smith introduced “the endowment” that gave rise to the ceremony familiar to modern church members. Scott Woodward explains more about what the Kirtland endowment was in this interview.
Learn more about the history of the Kirtland endowment in Episode 55 of the Church History Matters podcast.
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What was the Kirtland Temple Endowment?
The Kirtland Endowment was unique and distinctive from how Church members typically understand a temple endowment today. The word endowment simply means something bestowed, or a gift. In 1831 the Lord commanded a small group of saints in New York to move to Ohio, promising them that “there you shall be endowed with power from on high” (D&C 38:32).
In other words, the Lord was promising them that they would be “gifted” with some type of divine power. From the historical record, there are at least three discernable categories of “power from on high” gifted to the saints in Kirtland, Ohio between January and April 1836, namely:
- An abundant outpouring of spiritual manifestations, such as some saints seeing visions, pillars of light, and angels; speaking in tongues, singing in tongues, and some even seeing Jesus.
- Significant doctrinal teachings revealed related to the salvation of man, such as those now recorded in D&C 137.
- The restoration of temple keys by the angelic messengers Moses, Elias, and Elijah. Each of these three categories represents a substantive gift of “power from on high” and fulfills the Lord’s promise.
What did endowment mean at this time in Joseph Smith’s life?
The word endowment meant in Joseph Smith’s day what it continues to mean in the broader English speaking world today: something bestowed, or a gift. However, confusion can arise for Latter-day Saints because in 1842 in Nauvoo the Prophet Joseph Smith introduced a specific ceremonial temple ordinance he referred to as “the endowment.”
Because adult Latter-day Saints continue to participate in this ordinance in all of our temples today, it is difficult for many of us to hear or read the word endowment and think of anything other than this specific temple ordinance. It becomes doubly difficult to not make this association when we hear the word endowment paired with the temple in Kirtland.
When reading Church history, however, we must remember that the endowment temple ordinance we are familiar with today was first introduced in Nauvoo in 1842—and did not exist in any form in Kirtland in the 1830s.
What’s a timeline of key events leading up to the Kirtland endowment?
Days after Joseph Smith arrived in Kirtland, Ohio in 1831, the Lord told the saints there to “sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power” (D&C 43:16). History shows that this sanctification process took about five years before the promised endowment was finally given.
In the meantime, the Lord commanded the saints in 1833 to build the Kirtland Temple, “in the which house,” he said, “I design to endow those whom I have chosen with power from on high” (D&C 95:8). One year later, the Lord reiterated that he had “prepared a great endowment and blessing to be poured out upon” the Elders of the Church and that they would “receive their endowment from on high in my house, which I have commanded to be built unto my name in the land of Kirtland” (D&C 105:12, 33). Thus, by 1833-1834 it was clear that the endowment of power would not be given until the Kirtland Temple was completed.
I beheld the celestial kingdom of God.
In a meeting with the Quorum of the Twelve on 12 November 1835, Joseph told them regarding the promised endowment:1
If we are faithful, and live by every word that proceeds forth from the mouth of God, I will venture to prophesy that we shall get a blessing that will be worth remembering, if we should live as long as John the Revelator; our blessings will be such as we have not realized before, nor received in this generation.
Joseph Smith, Discourse, 12 November 1835
This season of the outpouring of unforgettable blessings finally dawned in January 1836 as the Kirtland Temple neared completion and would continue intermittently until April of that same year.
Were any ordinances administered as part of the Kirtland endowment?
It is important to remember that the Lord’s promised endowment referred explicitly to gifts of “power from on high,” not ordinances or rituals. However, ordinances were introduced at this time that played a role in preparing the saints for God’s unforgettable blessings.
It may be best to think of the Kirtland ordinances as the vehicles of sanctification to prepare the saints to receive God’s promised gifts of power. In fact it is instructive to note that the heavenly manifestations, doctrinal revelations, and keys of divine power given during that January–April timeframe came most often immediately following the saints’ participation in ordinances.
The first of these ordinances of preparation and sanctification introduced in Kirtland was the washing of the body from head to foot in soap and clear water (and sometimes whiskey).
The second ordinance was the anointing of one’s head with perfumed consecrated oil accompanied by the sealing of promised blessings received under the laying on of hands.
The third ordinance was that of the washing of feet, which Church leaders administered to one another to signify that they were “clean from the blood of this generation” (D&C 88:138), and, according to Brigham Young, “as an evidence that we had borne testimony of the truth of the Gospel to the world.”2
And a fourth ordinance, not unique to the Kirtland Temple but one participated in prior to a series of major manifestations of power there, was that of partaking of the Sacrament of the Lord’s Supper.
A few examples will illustrate the proximity of these ordinances to God’s powerful outpouring of his spirit upon those who participated. Bishop Edward Partridge described an experience of his in the Kirtland temple on 21 January 1836 this way:
Bishop Whitney and his counsel[ors], myself and my counselors met for the purpose of being anointed with Holy oil. Meeting was opened by President Joseph Jr.… Then the presidency proceeded to sanctify the oil, Bro. J. Smith Jr. first anointed his father pronouncing blessings upon him, then all the presidents, beginning at the oldest, rubbed their hand over his head and face which had been anointed. Then Bro. Joseph prayed to the Lord to accept of the anointing and all the presidency with right hand uplifted to heaven said amen. Father Smith then proceeded to take the lead and pour on the oil, then Bro. J[oseph] followed and then in rotation as before described, prophesying on one another’s heads. After [this] Bishop Whitney and his counsel were anointed after the same manner, then myself and my counsel…. After this Hyrum Smith anointed Father Joseph Smith, who anointed the rest of the high counsel of Kirtland. Bro. David Whitmer anointed Bro. Simeon Carter., who anointed the high counsel from Zion.
Then, immediately following this series of anointings, Bishop Partridge recorded:3
Hymns were sung and a number saw visions and others were blessed with the outpouring of the Holy Ghost, and we shouted Hosanna to the most high. The meeting was dismissed by Bro. J.S. conferring the benedictions of heaven upon us.
Note how the ordinance of anointing with oil immediately preceded an endowment of power via visions and the outpouring of the Holy Ghost. In fact it was during one of those visions received on this occasion that Joseph Smith saw and learned what is now recorded in D&C 137.
In his own account, the Prophet wrote that immediately after receiving an anointing himself and having it sealed upon him with a blessing, “The heavens were opened upon us and I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether in the body or out I cannot tell.”
He continued:
I saw the transcendant beauty of the gate that enters, through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire, also the blasing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son,—I saw the beautiful streets of that kingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold—I saw father Adam, and Abraham and Michael and my father and mother, my brother Alvin that has long since slept, and marvled how it was that he had obtained this an inheritance this kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life, before the Lord set his hand to gather Israel and had not been baptized for the remission of sins.
It was at this moment of marveling that the Lord taught the Prophet the following empowering truth:4
Thus came the voice to me saying all who have died with[out] a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it, if they had been permited to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial kingdom of God—also all that shall die henseforth, with a knowledge of it, who would have received it, with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom, for I the Lord judge all men according to their works according to the desires of their hearts.
Joseph Smith, Vision, 21 January 1836
This is one example of how the Kirtland Endowment worked. An empowering truth about salvation was bestowed from on high amidst a vision which came on the heels of an ordinance of anointing with oil.
The heavens were opened, and angels ministered unto us.
The following day, 22 January, Oliver Cowdery recorded that, after Church leaders had anointed one another with oil, “Near the close of the meeting, 2 o’clock in the morning, almost all present broke out in tongues and songs of Zion.”5
In Joseph Smith’s account of this same meeting he adds, “The heavens were opened, and angels ministered unto us…. [T]he congregation shouted a long hosanna: the gift of tongues fell upon us in mighty power, angels mingled their voices with ours, while their presence was in our midst, and unceasing praises swelled our bosoms for the space of half-an-hour.”6
On 6 February, Oliver Cowdery recorded:7
In the evening met with the presidency [and] quorums in the Lord’s house, when their anointing blessings were sealed by uplifted hands and praises to God. Many saw visions, many prophesied, and many spoke in tongues. Closed a little before 12 o’clock.
Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836.
Erastus Snow, who participated in this same meeting, elaborated:8
The number of all that were anointed and blessed in the house of the Lord in Kirtland was about 360, and when all were anointed, the blessings were sealed by the presidency. Then we all (like as did Israel when they surrounded Jericho), with one united voice, gave aloud a shout of Hosannah, Hosannah, Hosannah to God and the Lamb; Amen, amen, and amen. When this was done, the Holy Ghost shed forth upon us; some spake in tongues, some interpreted, others prophesied, some received visions of the judgments that were to be poured out upon this generation. Others saw Zion in her glory and the angels came and worshipped with us and some saw them, yea, even twelve legions of them, the chariots of Israel and the horsemen thereof.
Erastus Snow
On 29 March, Bishop Partridge described another gathering of Church leaders in the temple. “We cleansed our hands and faces and feet after which we had our feet washed in the name of the Lord; this took till about dusk,” he wrote. “We then partook of bread and wine [as] a feast, we prophesied and spoke in tongues and shouted Hosannas. The meeting lasted till daylight.”9
On 3 April Joseph Smith’s history reports:10
In the afternoon, I assisted the other Presidents in distributing the Lord’s Supper to the Church, receiving it from the Twelve, whose privilege it was to officiate at the sacred desk this day. After having performed this service to my brethren, I retired to the pulpit, the veils being dropped, and bowed myself, with Oliver Cowdery, in solemn and silent prayer. After rising from prayer, the following vision was opened to both of us.
Joseph Smith
He then describes a detailed vision of the Savior seen by himself and Oliver Cowdery, followed by three successive visions of angels who imparted keys of power to them in turn.
Each of the above examples illustrates the proximity of the saints’ participation in an ordinance of cleansing or sanctification with a subsequent outpouring of gifts of divine power. Again, the ordinances appear to have prepared the participants to receive the promised power.
Was the restoration of priesthood keys part of the Kirtland endowment?
Yes! In fact, when the various gifts of divine power bestowed during this January–April period are measured in terms of scope and impact, the restoration of temple keys on 3 April 1836 undoubtedly constitutes the culminating climax of the Kirtland endowment. Because of the work those keys make possible in our temples and the billions who will be impacted by that work on both sides of the veil, it is not difficult to see how those keys represent the greatest gifts of divine power bestowed by a benevolent God during the Kirtland endowment.
That year 3 April happened to land on both Easter Sunday—celebrating Christ’s victory over death—and the Passover—celebrating God’s redemption of his covenant people from Egyptian bondage. This auspicious setting perfectly framed that pinnacle moment of the Kirtland endowment when a vision of the resurrected Christ was followed by visions of three past prophets—two of whom, Moses and Elijah, were closely associated with the Passover.
Each of the three prophets who appeared in rapid succession to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery committed unique keys of power pertaining to that ultimate victory of God’s covenant people when they will rule and reign with him eternally in his kingdom.
Stated succinctly, the keys restored in the Kirtland Temple on that occasion were as follows:
- First, the keys restored by Moses, which are referred to as “the keys of the gathering of Israel” (D&C 110:11), enable the directing of those who have been baptized (ie. modern Israel) to gather from among the nations of the earth to build temples, so that the Lord can there reveal his ordinances to them.
- Second, the keys restored by Elias, referred to as “the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham” (D&C 110:12), enable extending to couples through marriage the Abrahamic blessing regarding how they and their posterity will be a blessing for endless generations. In other words, as Elder McConkie once summarized, “Elias restored celestial marriage.”11
- Finally, the keys restored by Elijah, which are described as those that “turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers” (D&C 110:15), enable relationships to be made eternal that thereby the human family may be sealed together into one eternally united family under God.
With all of this in mind, we should not downplay how the gifts of speaking in tongues and seeing angels and visions unquestionably empowered those hundreds of saints who were privileged to experience and witness them in that winter and early spring of 1836.
Conflating the Kirtland and Nauvoo endowments is a considerable anachronistic error and will damage our understanding of both.
But when we speak of the Kirtland endowment we would do well to emphasize the elevated importance of the gifts of these temple keys.
They have already empowered millions in the hundreds of temples built by the Latter-day Saints, and these keys will continue to be exercised by those who hold them until they yet empower everyone who is willing “from the days of Adam even to the present time” (D&C 128:18) to be sealed into the eternal family kingdom of God.
Was the Kirtland Endowment received individually or collectively?
Collectively. Each recorded manifestation of God’s power in the Kirtland Temple was received in a group setting of one kind or another.
Is there a connection between the Kirtland endowment and Freemasonry?
There is no connection between God’s outpouring of gifts of power in Kirtland and the fraternal organization of the Freemasons. Remember, the “Kirtland endowment” was not a ritual the saints participated in, but a series of divine manifestations of power they received from on high between January and April 1836.
It was only later in Nauvoo, on 4 May 1842, that the Prophet Joseph Smith introduced a temple ritual referred to then and now as “the endowment.” This Nauvoo-era ritual did indeed share at least some commonalities with the fraternal rituals of the Freemasons, a fraternity Joseph had joined only two months earlier in March 1842. But again, conflating the Kirtland and Nauvoo endowments as one and the same—or very similar—things is a considerable anachronistic error and will damage our understanding of both.
What are the key differences between the Kirtland endowment and the Nauvoo endowment ceremony?
The Nauvoo endowment, introduced in May 1842, consisted of a ritual of covenant making amidst a dramatic presentation of Adam and Eve’s journey toward Celestial realms. It was a ceremony of instruction where one was taught, the Prophet Joseph explained, “all those plans and principles by which any one is enabled to secure the fullness of those blessings which have been prepared for the Church of the First Born.”12
And it was distinctively a ritual where, according to Brigham Young who participated in that first Nauvoo endowment, participants received crucial “signs, tokens, [and] penalties with the Key words pertaining to those signs.”13
The Kirtland endowment, on the other hand, was neither a ceremony nor a ritual. While it is true that the ordinances of washing with water and alcohol, anointing with perfumed oil, washing feet, and administering the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper were participated in during this time, it is important to remember that these rituals were not the endowment itself.
These ordinances were meant to sanctify the Lord’s people in preparation to receive God’s promised “power from on high” in the form of the outpouring of various spiritual blessings. These collectively were their endowment.
In other words, the Kirtland endowment consisted of God’s intermittent outpouring of spiritual gifts of power during the period of January-April 1836, which categorically consisted of
- Spiritual manifestations
- Doctrinal knowledge
- The conferral of keys of divine power.
Do they do endowments at the Kirtland Temple today?
Immediately following their announcement of purchasing the Kirtland Temple from the Community of Christ in March 2024, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints posted a FAQ document in their newsroom which addressed, among others, the question, “Will the Kirtland Temple be converted into a functioning Latter-day Saint temple?” To which they answered, “No. The Kirtland Temple will be maintained and presented as a historic building that is open to the public.”14
It should be noted, again, that the only “endowments” ever received in the Kirtland temple were those outpourings of divine power which occurred between the months of January to April 1836 as discussed in this article. After this short season, the building continued to function as a meeting place for religious purposes. Then, after threats of violence and other issues that arose in Kirtland in 1837, Joseph Smith along with most Church members left Ohio for Far West, Missouri.
Those few saints who remained behind continued to worship and meet in the temple for many years. Decades after the death of Joseph Smith the RLDS Church (later the Community of Christ) obtained legal title to the temple and retained continuous ownership until they sold it to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in March of 2024.
Today, the Kirtland Temple stands as a remarkable historical artifact, a monument to the fulfillment of God’s promised outpouring of divine power in 1836.
How does the Kirtland Endowment impact us today?
The Lord clearly intended the Kirtland endowment to have long-term impact on the Church and on the whole earth. He declared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on that climactic April 3rd occasion in the temple that “the hearts of thousands and tens of thousands shall greatly rejoice in consequence of the blessings which shall be poured out, and the endowment with which my servants have been endowed in this house” (D&C 110:9).
This has proven to be true.
As Latter-day Saint we have, and do, and will continue to “greatly rejoice” in consequence of the blessings poured out during the Kirtland endowment—both because of the cherished faith-strengthening accounts that have come down to us from those who participated in that history, and because of those temple blessings which continue to flow to millions of us on both sides of the veil by virtue of those keys restored at the pinnacle of that outpouring.
About the interview participant
Scott Woodward is a Professor in the Department of Religious Education at Brigham Young University–Idaho. He co-hosts the Church History Matters podcast for Scripture Central with Casey Griffiths, and is the author of several articles about Latter-day Saint history and theology.
Further reading
- What Is the History of the Kirtland Temple?
- What is the Latter-day Saint Temple Endowment?
- What Is the Dispensation of the Gospel of Abraham?
- How Is Freemasonry Connected to the Modern Endowment?
- How Did Wilford Woodruff Influence Temple Doctrine?
Kirtland Temple Endowment of Power Resources
- What It Was and Why It Matters (Church History Matters)
- Episode 6: “An Endowment of Power” (Joseph Smith Papers)
- Joseph Smith and the Kirtland Temple, 1836 (BYU Religious Studies Center)
- Endowment of Power (Church History Topics)
- The Development of the Mormon Temple Endowment Ceremony (Dialogue)
Sources
- “Discourse, 12 November 1835,” The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/discourse-12-november-1835/5.
- George A. Smith, “Discourse,” Journal of Discourses 2 (1855): 215.
- “Edward Partridge Journal,” Partridge Family History, http://partridge.parkinsonfamily.org/histories/edward-journal.keys.htm.
- “Visions, 21 January 1836 [D&C 137],” The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/visions-21-january-1836-dc-137/1.
- Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836, MS 3429, Church History Library, also available in Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
- “History, 1838–1856, Volume B-1 [1 September 1834–2 November 1838],” The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-1838-1856-volume-b-1-1-september-1834-2-november-1838/151.
- Oliver Cowdery, Diary, Jan.–Mar. 1836, MS 3429, Church History Library, also available in Leonard J. Arrington, “Oliver Cowdery’s Kirtland, Ohio, ‘Sketch Book,’” BYU Studies 12, no. 4 (Summer 1972): 410–426.
- Erastus Snow, “A Journal or Sketch of the Life of Erastus Snow,” typescript, Special Collections, Harold B. Lee Library, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah.
- “Edward Partridge Journal,” Partridge Family History, http://partridge.parkinsonfamily.org/histories/edward-journal.keys.htm.
- See introductory heading section of D&C 110.
- Studies in Scripture, vol. 3 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 47-62.
- “History Draft, 1 January–30 June 1842,” The Joseph Smith Papers, https://www.josephsmithpapers.org/paper-summary/history-draft-1-january-30-june-1842/13.
- L. John Nuttall, diary entry for February 7, 1877, quoted in BYU Studies 19, no. 2 (Winter 1979): 159n.
- “Frequently Asked Questions Clarify the Transfer of Sacred Sites and Historic Documents,” Church Newsroom, https://newsroom.churchofjesuschrist.org/article/frequently-asked-questions-clarify-the-transfer-of-sacred-sites-and-historic-documents.
One reply on “What Was the Kirtland Endowment?”
I think it’s important to realize that the Kirtland “ordinances” were only performed for and by men. Women were not included.