Cool Features in LDS Meetinghouses

[Clark Addison]

I got this idea from the thread on the McDonaldization of LDS chapels, but didn't want to sidetrack it. This will have to be restricted to LDS chapels only, as I'm sure there are buildings in other churches that have tons of cool things. I'll start.

The building I went to throughout my childhood had two "cry rooms" for loud kids during Sacrament Meeting. The rooms were near the back of the chapel, reached through doors in the foyers. They had large windows looking up toward the rostrum, and sound piped in, of course. Later, one of them had one-way glass installed for nursing mothers. When I had young kids, I really really wanted to have these in my church. One of them could have been designated the "college football discussion" room, and all fathers with unruly kids could have taken them there and talked about football while they ignored Sacrament Meeting. This building also had the stage going the long way in the gym, so it was much larger than normal stages.

In Hong Kong, the biggest building when I was there was three floors high (I think three. It may have been four, but I think three). The top floor was the gym, one of the only ones in a building in Hong Kong. It just always felt cool to play basketball on the top floor.

Also in Hong Kong, most of the buildings were just floors rented out in various buildings, so the 3rd floor would have Dentist offices, the 4th floor would have an import business, and the 5th and 6th floors would be the LDS church, or something like that. In most of the buildings, the elevator would naturally open up in a hallway, and you would find the chapel somewhere down the hall. In one of the buildings, though, the elevator opened up right in the chapel. The doors would open, and you would be staring at the pulpit. And the elevator wasn't even in the back wall, it was kind of in a column in the middle, so there were pews going behind it. For the first 15 minutes of Sacrament Meeting, you would hear a "ding" every minute or two and people would disembark the elevator and walk back to some seats.

[falafel]

I got this idea from the thread on the McDonaldization of LDS chapels, but didn't want to sidetrack it. This will have to be restricted to LDS chapels only, as I'm sure there are buildings in other churches that have tons of cool things. I'll start.

The building I went to throughout my childhood had two "cry rooms" for loud kids during Sacrament Meeting. The rooms were near the back of the chapel, reached through doors in the foyers. They had large windows looking up toward the rostrum, and sound piped in, of course. Later, one of them had one-way glass installed for nursing mothers. When I had young kids, I really really wanted to have these in my church. One of them could have been designated the "college football discussion" room, and all fathers with unruly kids could have taken them there and talked about football while they ignored Sacrament Meeting. This building also had the stage going the long way in the gym, so it was much larger than normal stages.

In Hong Kong, the biggest building when I was there was three floors high (I think three. It may have been four, but I think three). The top floor was the gym, one of the only ones in a building in Hong Kong. It just always felt cool to play basketball on the top floor.

Also in Hong Kong, most of the buildings were just floors rented out in various buildings, so the 3rd floor would have Dentist offices, the 4th floor would have an import business, and the 5th and 6th floors would be the LDS church, or something like that. In most of the buildings, the elevator would naturally open up in a hallway, and you would find the chapel somewhere down the hall. In one of the buildings, though, the elevator opened up right in the chapel. The doors would open, and you would be staring at the pulpit. And the elevator wasn't even in the back wall, it was kind of in a column in the middle, so there were pews going behind it. For the first 15 minutes of Sacrament Meeting, you would hear a "ding" every minute or two and people would disembark the elevator and walk back to some seats.

Northshore wards?

[Clark Addison]

North Shore 1st Ward, yes.

[ewth8tr]

The building I went to throughout my childhood had two "cry rooms" for loud kids during Sacrament Meeting. The rooms were near the back of the chapel, reached through doors in the foyers. They had large windows looking up toward the rostrum, and sound piped in, of course.

The nursery room in my home ward in Salt Lake was setup like this with the windows and sound piped in.

[wuapinmon]

The new chapel in Woodstock, Georgia has bathrooms and changing tables in the nursery & primary rooms. This is a good idea.

[happyone]

I got this idea from the thread on the McDonaldization of LDS chapels, but didn't want to sidetrack it. This will have to be restricted to LDS chapels only, as I'm sure there are buildings in other churches that have tons of cool things. I'll start.

The building I went to throughout my childhood had two "cry rooms" for loud kids during Sacrament Meeting. The rooms were near the back of the chapel, reached through doors in the foyers. They had large windows looking up toward the rostrum, and sound piped in, of course. Later, one of them had one-way glass installed for nursing mothers. When I had young kids, I really really wanted to have these in my church. One of them could have been designated the "college football discussion" room, and all fathers with unruly kids could have taken them there and talked about football while they ignored Sacrament Meeting. This building also had the stage going the long way in the gym, so it was much larger than normal stages.

In Hong Kong, the biggest building when I was there was three floors high (I think three. It may have been four, but I think three). The top floor was the gym, one of the only ones in a building in Hong Kong. It just always felt cool to play basketball on the top floor.

Also in Hong Kong, most of the buildings were just floors rented out in various buildings, so the 3rd floor would have Dentist offices, the 4th floor would have an import business, and the 5th and 6th floors would be the LDS church, or something like that. In most of the buildings, the elevator would naturally open up in a hallway, and you would find the chapel somewhere down the hall. In one of the buildings, though, the elevator opened up right in the chapel. The doors would open, and you would be staring at the pulpit. And the elevator wasn't even in the back wall, it was kind of in a column in the middle, so there were pews going behind it. For the first 15 minutes of Sacrament Meeting, you would hear a "ding" every minute or two and people would disembark the elevator and walk back to some seats.

Our chapel has those cry rooms with the one way mirrors. It is fun to watch toddlers look in the mirrors while you are in there. They have no idea someone is behind the mirror looking at them. We also have a room over the stage that is mainly used for storage now, but as a teenager was used as a classroom.

As a teenager, the Nuremberg, Germany chapel had an accessable basement with some interesting nooks and crannies to explore during MIA, or whatever it was called then,

[falafel]

North Shore 1st Ward, yes.

That's just a great building. Those cry rooms are pretty sweet. The gym is very nice, and the kitchen was great.

[Sullyute]

The building I went to throughout my childhood had two "cry rooms" for loud kids during Sacrament Meeting. The rooms were near the back of the chapel, reached through doors in the foyers. They had large windows looking up toward the rostrum, and sound piped in, of course. Later, one of them had one-way glass installed for nursing mothers.

I tease my wife alot. So when we had our first child, my wife would usually take our child back to the "mothers room" during sacrament. One fast sunday when she came back from nursing I told her that she had missed me bearing my testimony. She just laughed it off and I kept pushing it letting her know that I was serious and that it was a rather good testimony. She then gave me the do-you-really-want-to-mess-with-me look and proceeded to tell me that the meeting was piped into the room and she had heard everything. I got stuck doing diaper duty for the rest of the day.

[USUC]

Our chapel has those cry rooms with the one way mirrors. It is fun to watch toddlers look in the mirrors while you are in there. They have know idea someone is behind the mirror looking at them. We also have a room over the stage that is mainly used for storage now, but as a teenager was used as a classroom.

As a teenager, the Nuremberg, Germany chapel had an accessable basement with some interesting nooks and crannies to explore during MIA, or whatever it was called then,

We didn't have one of these cry rooms with mirrors connected to the Chapel. Ours were classrooms at the end of the hallway (across the hall from the Bishop's office) where audio would be piped in. There was an on/off switch in the room where you could adjust the volume. Perfect for smart-ass 10-year-olds to turn on and disrupt Sunday school.

I always though the split level ward houses were cool as a kid. I loved playing on stairs. The two chapels I grew up in were single level.

[thesaint258]

One of my companions swore up and down that the big boxy thing that a lot of older meeting houses had above the pulpit (that looked like it had speakers before they started pumping the organ through the sound system) was actually a secret room where those who had their second endowment could go worship when they didn't live close to a temple. I'd say that's a cool feature.

[venkman]

My first home ward building in Midvale had one of those cry rooms upstairs with glass facing the chapel.

The R.S. room was on the second floor and had it's own fire escape (I guess) entrance. We'd crack the door open with a rock before leaving scouts and come back when the SM left to play b-ball.

It also had it's own dedicated scout room in the basement with it's own entrance as well.

Finally, there was a room (not sure what it was for) accessible only from the stage of the cultural hall. You'd enter off the stage and then climb up a winding staircase to a small room. The door was always locked, but there was a window above the door (minus the window) that we'd climb through and have our own little hangout room during sunday school.

It was a rad building. Built in 1958, dedicated by David O. McKay (yes, I can still picture the cornerstone).

[Eddie]

I've been able to attend some pretty cool older buildings.

One had a second story cry room that had been glassed in. In fact, it had a whole second story with classrooms. You couldn't get to the cry room from the chapel, you had to go out into the hall and make your way upstairs and then into the room. It was also where the EQ met for priesthood meetings.

This particular building was pretty old and had the gym built as an addition next to the chapel instead of behind it. For overflow for sacrament meetings there was a hand crank on the wall up on the stand and the wall between the chapel and gym would lower into the floor. It only lowered to waist level, so they would always position a deacon in the gym and one boy would pass the sacrament trays over the wall to him to pass to the people there.

Only about half of the wall dropped, so people in the back half of the chapel couldn't see who was in the gym and vice versa.

The hallway on the second story of the building was open overlooking the gym floor. They had some angled slats - probably to keep kids from falling more than anything. This building also had a basement where the baptismal font used to be (it had been a Stake Center when first built). When we were there, the Primary met in the basement - and used 2-3 rooms down there. The rest went up to the 2nd level to classes.

Our current building is also older. Its claim to fame is that every prophet except Joseph Smith, Hinckley, and Monson have spoken there. There was a lot of speculation that Hinckley would show up at some point just to keep the trend alive, but he never did. This chapel doesn't have a cry room, but it does have a balconey with a couple of circular staircases on either end.

They've recently removed some of the bulletin boards and replaced them with some very nice artwork. Its got a basement too - where they banish the youth classes and young women.

I love the older buildings with some character. Sure, it's nice that with some buildings you know exactly where the drinking fountains and restrooms are from the moment you walk in the door. But I'll give up that knowledge for a little character.

[Moliere]

I have many wishes for chapels, however my second biggest wish is for more unique and distinct artwork. Usually most of the artwork in the chapels is something that is purchased from distribution services or physical facilities and that art is great and all, but I wish some chapels would have unique works of art done by local artists. There is plenty of talent out there to commission such works and I'd imagine most artists would do it at a reduced price or even donate the art and consider it a tithing donation. We have a local photographer that has done some incredible shots of the local temple and one of his pictures is hanging in our bishops office. It adds a different vibe to the artwork when you see the signature of one of the local members on the art.

Currently the handbook doesn't allow statues, murals, or mosaics. I'm not a big mosaic fan, but seeing murals in a chapel and statues outside the building would also be pretty cool.

[DrumNFeather]

When my parents moved out of the ward I grew up in (& subsequently the chapel) they gave their own versions of "If these Walls Could Talk" (taken from the H. David Burton talk on the tabernacle). My dad spoke of a police chase that ended with suspect hiding under the clerk's desk in the chapel...and there were several other interesting accounts that had occured in the 30 some odd years they'd lived there.

One thing that really impressed me though was that back when their building was built in the 70s, they contributed not only their money, but their "talents" as it were and helped build the building as well. I suspect you don't see that very often in the states anymore, but I certainly could see and appreciate why it would be hard to walk away from a building you helped build.

[happyone]

... One thing that really impressed me though was that back when their building was built in the 70s, they contributed not only their money, but their "talents" as it were and helped build the building as well. I suspect you don't see that very often in the states anymore, but I certainly could see and appreciate why it would be hard to walk away from a building you helped build.

When I was a wee lad, about 7 or so in 1965, we moved to Lawton, OK and the local ward was building a chapel. The Church called someone to be the the construction supervisor, but the members had to do the actual construction. I vividly remember "helping" my dad put the shingles on the chapel and lay cinder block.

We returned to Lawton several times after that during the course of my Dad's career and it was always special when went to church in that chapel. I always felt that it was mine somehow. I've never felt that way about any other chapel I've attended.