Church historic sites and the testifying ‘spirit of place,’ with Gary Boatright Jr. and Benjamin Pykles

Church News

Religion, Christianity, Religion & Spirituality, News

4.9 • 782 Ratings

🗓️ 3 August 2021

⏱️ 37 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

After more than a year of closures due to the global pandemic, historic sites of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are now beginning to reopen. Historic Sites operations manager Gary L. Boatright Jr. and Historic Sites manager Benjamin Pykles join this episode of the Church News Podcast to discuss these sacred spaces, how closures allowed for the opening of virtual tours, and how we can honor “the spirit of place” while visiting these locations. They discuss how touring historic sites in person or virtually can allow the Holy Spirit to testify of the importance these spaces held in the Restoration of Christ’s gospel on the earth and how the Lord continues to guide the Church today.

The Church News Podcast is a weekly podcast that invites listeners to make a journey of connection with members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the globe. Host Sarah Jane Weaver, reporter and editor for The Church News for a quarter-century, shares a unique view of the stories, events, and most important people who form this international faith. With each episode, listeners are asked to embark on a journey to learn from one another and ponder, “What do I know now?” because of the experience. Produced by KellieAnn Halvorsen.

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I'm Sarah Jane Weaver, editor of the church news.
0:12.2	Welcome to the church news podcast.
0:14.4	We are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with leaders, members, and others on the church news team.
0:24.6	We end each church news podcast by giving our guests the last word
0:28.8	and the opportunity to answer the very important question.
0:32.7	What do you know now?
0:34.5	We hope each of you will also be able to answer the same question and say,
0:38.5	I have just been listening to the Church News podcast, and this is what I know now.
0:47.5	After being closed for more than 400 days during the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic,
0:53.5	historic sites of the Church of Jesus Christ
0:55.6	of Latter-day Saints began to reopen this May and June. Those in-person tours were celebrated by
1:01.6	missionaries and church members. They reopened, however, to a new normal in which visitors can
1:07.4	visit these sacred spaces in person, or as was learned during the pandemic through
1:12.1	virtual tours. During this episode of the Church News podcast, we are joined by Gary L. Boatwright,
1:19.6	operations manager of historic sites for the Church History Department, and Benjamin Pichols,
1:24.6	Historic Sites Manager. Welcome to the Church News podcast.
1:29.4	Thank you.
1:30.0	I want to just jump right in today and talk about what is so important about historic
1:35.8	sites, especially in context of the history of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
1:40.9	Brother Boatwright, can you just start by telling us, why is it that as a church
1:45.9	we have preserved these sites and we've made them available for people to visit?
1:51.1	Well, as going back in church history, on April 6, 1830, the day that the church was organized,
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Church News, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Church News and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.