The Salt Lake Temple Solemn Assembly Hall
The Assembly Hall takes up the entire top floor of the Salt Lake Temple. If you were looking at the temple from the outside, it spans the top two rows of arched and oval windows from the East towers to the West towers. It's a magnificent room with amazing original pioneer-era woodwork and it features four ornate spiral staircases to the mezzanines.
The Assembly Hall is primarily used for solemn assemblies, which are special meetings called to address weighty matters of church business and to enhance members' spirituality. This includes sustaining new general authorities and church leadership or to conduct other priesthood business. The Assembly Hall is also used for special devotionals that are called by the First Presidency or Quorum of Twelve Apostles to give counsel, inspiration and direction to missionaries, general authorities, stake presidents and patriarchs and/or ward bishops. Once a year the temple workers in the Salt Lake Temple have a devotional in the Assembly Room where they are addressed by the Temple Presidency, their wives, and an Apostle.
The Assembly Hall is designed with two rostrums with rows of pulpits on each. The rostrum on the East side is for the Melchizedek Priesthood. The name Melchisedec is inscribed in gold lettering in the wooden arcade reflecting the New Testament spelling. It is elevated higher than the other rostrum symbolizing it being the higher priesthood. This is the direction the congregation faces when being addressed by the First Presidency, The Quorum of Twelve Apostles, The Seventy, a Patriarch or the Temple Presidency. The rostrum on the West side is designated for the Aaronic Priesthood, with Aaronic inscribed in gold lettering in the arcade. The congregation faces this rostrum if they are being addressed by The Presiding Bishopric of the church.
The Salt Lake Temple is one of the few temples that feature a large solemn assembly hall. Some of the others are the Kirtland Temple (which is not currently owned by the church), the rebuilt Nauvoo Temple, and the Saint George, Logan, Manti, Los Angeles and Washington DC temples. Solemn Assemblies are also held outside the temple. For example, when a new LDS Church President is sustained during general conference the session he is sustained in is designated a solemn assembly, to emphasize its importance.
The Salt Lake Temple dedication sessions were was held in this room. 2,200 hundred people attended the first dedicatory service.
