LDS Freedom Forum

I didn't know the Salt Lake Temple had a large Assembly Room on the 4th floor (top floor), until now... Does anyone know if this room is still used? and what for? I just thought it was interesting. I found a few references to what it has been used for:

The temple was completed within the year, and the dedication was held on the appointed date-April 6, 1893-forty years after Brigham Young laid the cornerstone. More than 2,250 people crowded the large Assembly Room on the fourth floor of the temple for the first of twenty-three dedicatory sessions that continued over almost three weeks. Many reported having spiritual experiences at the dedications. President Wilford Woodruff offered the dedicatory prayer, and the hosanna shout and original inspirational music were rendered

I recall the day in 1973 when we as missionaries in the Salt Lake Mission Home were privileged to participate in two sessions in the Salt Lake Temple, at the conclusion of which we spent a couple of hours in the Assembly Room in the temple; there the president of the church, Harold B. Lee, instructed us on temples and temple worship and allowed us to ask questions. On that November day, President Lee answered every one of our questions by reading to us from the scriptures—most often from the Doctrine and Covenants.

If so, it would be for rare priesthood assemblies...mainly on the order of Temple presidencies, Mission presidents, GA's, patriarchs, etc...for everyone else they have the conference center, stake center, and tabernacles...

In this old article, there is a picture of the assembly room (about halfway down). You can also see it in the cross-section scale model of the temple on display in the South Visitors' Center at Temple Square.
http://lds.org/ensign/1993/03/in-his-ho ... holy-house

This site also has a photo and description: http://www.moroni10.com/LDS/Temple_Tour ... _Hall.html

The Solemn Assembly Hall makes up the entire top floor of the temple.

There are two rostrums with rows of pulpits: one on the east side is elevated higher for the Melchizedek Priesthood, and another on the west side of the hall for the Aaronic Priesthood. The attendees face the direction of whichever priesthood speaker is addressing them.

The Salt Lake Temple dedication was held in this room. 2,200 hundred people attended the first dedicatory service.

Solemn assemblies are held in the assembly hall on occasion to sustain new general authorities, conduct priesthood business, and to receive counsel from the presiding Church leaders.

The Manti Temple, and possibly other older temples, likewise have solemn assembly rooms. They don't get used often, but they are used for any gathering that qualifies as a solemn assembly, including temple dedications. This also includes special devotionals. One of the stakes I lived in a few years back had a special solemn assembly devotional in the upper room of the Manti Temple on a Sunday afternoon, where a general authority and members of the temple presidency and stake presidency spoke. It was kind of like a special session of stake conference, but without any children. It was just Melchizedek Priesthood holders, and adult women, with temple recommends, etc.) I have to assume that the solemn assembly room of the Salt Lake Temple is used for similar occasions and purposes, and probably on a more frequent basis than other temples, like Manti.

Nauvoo temple has one. It's nice.

I think Washington DC has one - though I may be wrong. I know that Boston temple WAS to have one, but with the local opposition to the size of the temple (and the existence of the temple itself), the Church reduced the size of the building, put the cafeteria into the basement, and designed the cafeteria to be convertible into a solemn assembly room.

BrianM wrote:I didn't know the Salt Lake Temple had a large Assembly Room on the 4th floor (top floor), until now... Does anyone know if this room is still used? and what for? I just thought it was interesting. I found a few references to what it has been used for:

The temple was completed within the year, and the dedication was held on the appointed date-April 6, 1893-forty years after Brigham Young laid the cornerstone. More than 2,250 people crowded the large Assembly Room on the fourth floor of the temple for the first of twenty-three dedicatory sessions that continued over almost three weeks. Many reported having spiritual experiences at the dedications. President Wilford Woodruff offered the dedicatory prayer, and the hosanna shout and original inspirational music were rendered

I recall the day in 1973 when we as missionaries in the Salt Lake Mission Home were privileged to participate in two sessions in the Salt Lake Temple, at the conclusion of which we spent a couple of hours in the Assembly Room in the temple; there the president of the church, Harold B. Lee, instructed us on temples and temple worship and allowed us to ask questions. On that November day, President Lee answered every one of our questions by reading to us from the scriptures—most often from the Doctrine and Covenants.

Yes, I have been in that room as a missionary.
The Washington Temple does have an assembly room. I have been in that one too. Somebody called a meeting of all the stakes in the region and invited members to attend it. While I no longer remember the reason for the gathering, I remember the prayer that was offered and I remember the Spirit of the meeting. There were a lot of people there. So they do have a use, but the general membership doesn't usually know about it.

I was at the assembly room for the L.A Temple Jubilee a couple of years back... big place.

I forgot to add, that our meeting they called together was officially a "Solemn Assembly."

The Logan Temple also has one; I attended an assembly there a few years ago, (2005-ish). Vaughn J. Featherstone was temple president at the time. All the temple workers were invited. It seems like maybe we had a visiting General Authority speak to us (I think it was right around Regional Conference), but don't remember. I do remember a promise fulfilled that Pres. Featherstone brought to our attention. We had a very wet spring there in Cache Valley. We had huge amounts of rain, farm fields had flooded clear up into Lewiston, nobody could get their crops in, and the Blacksmith Fork River had flooded between Millville and Nibley. We had been promised a couple months prior, as a valley, that if we would double our temple attendance, the Lord would bless us.
Just the week before the assembly, the weather became very windy. Within a few days, the excess water had disappeared, between the wind evaporating it and the rest soaking down. The rain let up, the fields dried, and were able to be planted just slightly behind schedule. That was such a miracle to us.

I was in the salt lake assembly room a few years back, I can't remember the full context. It was a nice meeting. One detail which continues to bemuse me is that they had the windows open.

I also attended a Solemn Assembly in that room in June of 1964. Joseph Fielding Smith presided!

Bob

I remember Elder Pinnock toured our mission and spoke of a meeting in the SLC temple in which the general authorities met. He stated that President Hinckley was newly called to be prophet. Elder Pinnock said he heard President Hinckley mumbling under his breath something to the effect of "what am I doing here ..... I'm no prophet'. Elder Pinnock then said President Hinckley got to the podium and delivered the most amazing spirit led talk he had ever heard. Elder Pinnock told us that, that was what you call humility and he then stated that President Hinckley would do more for this church than any other President since Joseph Smith.
I shared this story with my uncle after my mission and he said that Elder Pinnocks statement is remarkable considering all that Brigham Young had done for the church. The only consolation I can take from this is that quite a number of temples have been built under President Hinckleys watch. Who knows though. Just thought I would share the story.

isn't that the room the brotheren use every Thursday in their meetings with the quorums?

The room called the Holy of Holies is on that floor. The picture above was taken with the Holy of Holies behind the photo, the room is not shown in the picture.

Bob

bobhenstra wrote:The room called the Holy of Holies is on that floor. The picture above was taken with the Holy of Holies behind the photo, the room is not shown in the picture.

Bob

If that is so I've been misplacing the holy of holies for many years as right off of the celestial room.

braingrunt wrote:

bobhenstra wrote:The room called the Holy of Holies is on that floor. The picture above was taken with the Holy of Holies behind the photo, the room is not shown in the picture.

Bob

If that is so I've been misplacing the holy of holies for many years as right off of the celestial room.

the Holy of Holies IS just off from inside the Celestial room, and accessed only from there. The little staircase you sometimes see in pictures of the SLC celestial room leads to it.

Go downtown to the South Visitor's Center. They have a model of the temple showing this room.

Huh?
This is a bit confusing.
Maybe I can clear this up.
From my work in the Sl Temple, my understanding of the Holy of Holies is that it located on the 2nd floor a few steps up from the celestial room on the north side, it is accessed by a small anti room that sits between the two sealing rooms that are on that floor, there is one other sealing room that is accessed from the celestial room, which is on the west side of the room and has a staircase that leads up to it and is located in the central tower. The Holy of Holies has a dome ceiling that can be seen on the 3rd floor and is surrounded by the lockers for the 12 and 1st presidency. The Holy of Holies has a stained Glass window of the 1st vision and the back side of this stained glass can be seen from the old recorders office which is on the north side of the temple, or in other words, on the other side of the 2 sealing rooms and the anti room and Holy of Holies.

Roark wrote:From my work in the Sl Temple, my understanding of the Holy of Holies is that it located on the 2nd floor a few steps up from the celestial room on the north side, it is accessed by a small anti room that sits between the two sealing rooms that are on that floor, there is one other sealing room that is accessed from the celestial room, which is on the west side of the room and has a staircase that leads up to it and is located in the central tower. The Holy of Holies has a dome ceiling that can be seen on the 3rd floor and is surrounded by the lockers for the 12 and 1st presidency. The Holy of Holies has a stained Glass window of the 1st vision and the back side of this stained glass can be seen from the old recorders office which is on the north side of the temple, or in other words, on the other side of the 2 sealing rooms and the anti room and Holy of Holies.

This is my understanding as well.

The Los Angeles temple also has an assembly room. I attended an annual devotional for temple workers there (when I was a temple worker in that temple) years ago.

I would imagine that the room in Salt Lake is used for a similar purpose, as well as many other things.

The following Temples have Priesthood Assembly Rooms:
1. Kirtland Ohio (although no longer owned by the true Church)
2. Nauvoo Illinois (I have seen it when I went through the House of the Lord this past March - it is amazing)
3. St. George Utah (It has the same lettering found on the original Nauvoo Temple Priesthood Pulpits)
4. Logan Utah
5. Manti Utah
6. Salt Lake (the Assembly Room is used at least monthly when all the First and Second Quorums of the Seventy, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and the Council of the First Presidency meet
7. Los Angeles California
8. Washington DC

For more info (and detailed facts) go to http://themormoneagle.blogspot.com/2010 ... thood.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). It is my LDS Church history and whatnots blog.

Hmmm, spent some time thinking about what I remember in 1964. The General Authority speaking to us turned and pointed to a door behind him and mentioned the Holy of Holies. Now, he may have said the door was an entrance, or something to that effect that I've forgotten. Since I have not been in the Holy of Holies in the SL temple, I couldn't tell you if there's another entrance. However, I took the statement to mean the room was behind that door, when he might have meant that door was another entrance or allowed access to the room, down some stairs.

It's been far to many years, 47. I should stick to "written" testimony by the brethren!

Bob

The staircase in the celestial room that leads to a sealing room on an upper floor is not the Holy of Holies itself, but leads to the floor where it is which lies under one side of the assembly room opposite the celestial room. You can see this on the model.

http://www.templestudy.com/2010/05/28/s ... le-square/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

From my understanding of the location of the "Holy of Holies" in the Salt Lake Temple, it is located in the portion that has been cut away to show the Celestial room.

The room at the top of the stairs off the Celestial room is a sealing room.

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