Temple, Tabernacle, or Assembly Hall

[mordorbund]

What's the difference between a temple, tabernacle, and an assembly hall (all in the modern sense). I see that we have one of each on Temple Square, and I've seen a few temples in Utah that have an adjoining tabernacle (funny, I don't think I've ever heard of a tabernacle outside of Utah). I always thought that the purpose of a tabernacle was for solemn assemblies that could be held outside the temple, but then there's an assembly hall right there as well.

Any ideas?

[Just_A_Guy]

Wikipedia says the Assembly Hall was originally called the "New Tabernacle", but since the existing Salt Lake Tabernacle was actually the second tabernacle on temple square it created confusion; John Taylor resolved it by dubbing the most recent structure "Assembly Hall" instead.

As for the theological significance of a "tabernacle" - no idea.

[Moksha]

I was going to say that Assembly Hall reminded me of pictures of the Kirtland Temple, but when I examined the pictures I could not longer see it. Perhaps I was thinking of the gameshow Secret Squares rather than Assembly Hall. Nevermind.

I would have always picked Whoopi over Paul Lind.

Here is a fun Salt Lake Web Site : Pictures of Salt Lake City, Utah

[jayanna]

on top of that, one of the temples in my area has a chapel!

[bytebear]

In the 1800s there were no ward chapels. Each community had a tabernacle that essentially acted as a stake center. The Salt Lake Tabernacle was essentially the stake center for the entire church, since General Conference was held there, until just a few years ago. And the assembly hall acted as a stake center.

I recently visited the Logan tabernacle which is several blocks from the temple. Now we have modern buildings that aren't nearly as elaborate, but there are several tabernacles out there, and are mostly historical landmarks and sometimes used for stake conferences and civic activities. The Ogden Temple grounds probably has the most recent tabernacle, built in the 1960s.

With modern building techniques, and the church no longer being founders of cities and towns, stake centers and ward chapels have replaced tabernacles and assembly halls. Temples have also changed, in that they are no longer built with the priesthood assembly hall (the picture with the Hollywood Square pullpits). The Los Angeles Temple was the last temple to have an assembly hall inside it. All temples have a chapel, which is essentially a waiting room before the endowment session begins.

Edited September 28, 2010 by bytebear

[Dravin]

All temples have a chapel, which is essentially a waiting room before the endowment session begins.

Not quite all. The Spokane Temple has you go directly from the dressing room to the endowment room (at least that was my experience), it wouldn't surprise me to find out such is the case for some of the other smaller temples.

Edited September 28, 2010 by Dravin

[jayanna]

The okc temple has no chapel

[bytebear]

Not quite all. The Spokane Temple has you go directly from the dressing room to the endowment room (at least that was my experience), it wouldn't surprise me to find out such is the case for some of the other smaller temples.

Doh! I knew I was going to get corrected when I said "All" since with over 100 temples now, there had to be exceptions.

[rubondfan2]

Doh! I knew I was going to get corrected when I said "All" since with over 100 temples now, there had to be exceptions.

Yeah, I travel a lot and have been able to visit several different temples over the past 5 years or so... It seems that the "small" temples... (there's probably a better term to be used here) do not have chapels, but rather, have you going straight to the session room. A couple off the top of my head that I can think of are:

Columbus, OH

Edmonton, Alberta

Nashville, TN

I saw a couple of others point out other examples in recent posts.

These "smaller" temples also don't usually have clothing rental available and require an appointment to attend a session... at least that is what I have found in my experience.

[bytebear]

I guess this may be interesting to some, but when I visited Logan, Utah, their tabernacle has a basement where they now have a family history center, so I guess tabernacles don't all follow a set floorplan.

[spamlds]

Early in the history of the Church, we didn't build meetinghouses. Sunday worship services were held outside or in member's homes. The first structure the Church built was the Kirtland Temple.

The Nauvoo temple had plans to have a structure adjacent to it that was a domed canvas covering that would facilitate outdoor meetings and provide some shade and shelter. The canvas for this was actually purchased and shipped to Nauvoo, but was used to make covers for wagons used in the exodus from the city.

Temples are sacred edifices dedicated to be the house of the Lord. They are places of Divine manifestation and sacred ordinances. Tabernacles are large meetinghouses that can accommodate large gatherings of more than a single stake at a time. The Assembly Hall is a unique structure that was built on the site of what was once called the "Old Tabernacle." It was the second permanent building completed on Temple Square.

[mordorbund]

Thanks for all the responses. Now, can anyone provide references for their information? (I got the one on the wiki - what about the others?)