The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has announced plans to rededicate the Hill Cumorah Historic Site in Palmyra, New York, on Sunday, Sept. 21.
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles will preside and offer the dedicatory prayer. On-site participation is by invitation and requires a ticket, according to an Aug. 25 news release on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
The rededication can be viewed live on Sunday, Sept. 21, at 1 p.m. ET, 11 a.m. MT, at broadcasts.ChurchofJesusChrist.org and for two weeks after.
History of Hill Cumorah
The Hill Cumorah is where Latter-day Saints believe an angel named Moroni delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith an ancient record from which the latter translated the Book of Mormon.
The Book of Mormon was originally written in an ancient language on metal plates, often referred to as gold plates. The final writer of the ancient record, a prophet named Moroni, buried the plates in the hill in about A.D. 420.
About 1,400 years later, Moroni, then an angel sent from heaven, guided young Joseph Smith to the hill and the location of the plates. The angel Moroni first visited Smith on Sept. 21, 1823, and showed him the gold plates for the first time the following day.
After four years of preparation on Sept. 22, 1827, Joseph was allowed to take the plates from the hill and begin work on the translation. Joseph translated the ancient record to English by the gift and power of God.
Today the Book of Mormon is published in more than 100 languages. More than 200 million copies of the Book of Mormon were distributed by summer 2023, the Church News reported.
Historic site
The Hill Cumorah is among 30 historic sites operated by the Church across the United States. These sites highlight the heritage of the Church and help visitors understand significant events in Church history.
The Church acquired the property for the Hill Cumorah in 1928 and has welcomed visitors there ever since.
A monument featuring a statue of the angel Moroni was dedicated on the hill in 1935.
From 1935 to 2019, the hill hosted a pageant celebrating the Book of Mormon and the Church’s history, drawing tens of thousands of visitors annually.
Why discontinue the pageant? The First Presidency determined that in an increasingly worldwide Church, they could not justify the cost of current and future maintenance, security and safety upgrades running into several millions of dollars when only a relative handful of members and visitors would benefit from the experience, the Church News reported in 2021.
Reforestation project
In 2021, the Church launched a long-term reforestation project to help visitors focus more on the Hill Cumorah’s historical and spiritual significance.
All infrastructure — buildings, roads, paths and parking areas — used to support the pageant were removed so the area could naturally return to a forest that resembles what Joseph could have seen in the early 1800s.
In November of 2021, a group of Latter-day Saint missionaries gathered to plant thousands of native tree seeds on the slope of the hill.
As part of the project, a visitors’ center, originally built in 2002, was renovated. The center’s interior features new interactive exhibits, a film and artwork, all sharing stories and messages about the site. The visitors’ center also has three new statues that depict the resurrected Savior visiting His people in the Americas, a scene from the Book of Mormon.
A visitor’s experience on the hill is self-guided to allow individuals and families to move through the site at their own pace. The visitors’ center and many features of the hill are ADA accessible. Admission is free.
Additional information about the Hill Cumorah Historic Site, including a new digital exhibit, is available at ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
