19 thoughts on “The Solemn Assembly”

1. I have yet to figure out what a “solemn assembly” really is. Certainly it’s the term we use for General Conference sessions in which the Church sustains a new president, but that doesn’t seem to be the sort of meeting Young is describing here. (Among other things, it’s difficult to imagine any session of General Conference filling with no talking or whispering.)

   Also, there are “solemn assembly” rooms in multiple temples, and while I can imagine SLC having enough solemn church business to conduct in the temple, I can’t really imagine what church business needs to happen in the temple in places like Manti or D.C., that couldn’t be more practically conducted in a stake center. My dad reports his cohort of missionaries meeting with Harold B. Lee in the Salt Lake solemn assembly room at the end of their training, back when the church was small enough that it was reasonable for the Prophet to schedule regular Q&A sessions with missionaries, but I don’t know if that counts as a “solemn assembly.” At the very least, it doesn’t seem to be what all those podiums are built for.

   What I can figure out is that “solemn assembly” appears in the Old Testament as a translation of a single Hebrew word that mostly seems to mean assembling together and observing a Sabbath-like day of no work at the end of a feast, or for a fast. It appears again in the Doctrine and Covenants, making early gatherings of Saints (particularly in the Kirtland temple) parallel to those sacred Old Testament occasions. But I can’t think of any gatherings we have now that are comparable to what we did in Kirtland. The endowment is the nearest thing, but it’s very different, and I’ve never heard an endowment session referred to as a “solemn assembly.” So, I can’t quite imagine what sort of meeting Bro. Young was attending.

2. I scouted around a little hoping to identify a specific assembly that might have inspired this, in part to answer the very questions you have, Mike. There *was* a solemn assembly in the St. George Temple in December 1954 — there are some newspaper notices that general authorities would not be attending stake conferences scheduled for the weekend of that solemn assembly — but this isn’t that. This is something in the Salt Lake Tabernacle (the participants enter by “many doors”). Could it have been the conference session in 1951 when David O. McKay was sustained? I’m not convinced it was, because the poem speaks of receiving instruction from “spokesmen of the Lord” and doesn’t mention anything about supporting or choosing or sustaining spokesmen.

   Still looking. If I could find a report of the meaning, no matter how bare-bones the report was, that might address the questions.

   It feels like one of those vestigial practices of the past, the more ceremonial and ancient-seeming practices, that survive today in only a diluted form (sustaining a new president). It does feel like we’re lacking some key concept in order to understand Elder Young’s reverence.

3. I got the impression that the dedication of the Washington, DC temple, held in the upper room (now known as the Priesthood Room) was, at the time at least, considered a Solemn Assembly. The big difference for what is described in the poem is that women were present. (Obviously, or I wouldn’t have been there.) I have attended a few other meetings in that room, and the entry (through many doors) is remarkably quiet. But the Washington Temple wasn’t dedicated until 1974, so it’s clearly not the building in question.

4. Until President Benson was sustained I had no idea that a Solemn Assembly was related to sustaining of the prophet. I just knew the term from The Spirit of God, and assumed it was something the early saints had called their meetings, and as time went on was part of the temple. I thought it would be cool to be in a meeting with leaders in the stands on both ends of the hall and to have to turn in my seat to switch whoever was speaking. Cool, but not practical. I suppose they only use one end at a time. It is something that fascinates me.

5. It could also have been in Salt Lake, Logan or maybe Manti. I think four entrances would count as many doors (eight if you count the balcony in Salt Lake, although a staircase isn’t exactly a door).
   In any case, I found a brief description of the Solemn Assembly in St. George that I think belongs here

   “This was a wonderful day in St. George and for St. George.
   “Our President McKay and his counselors and most of the General Authorities of the Church came yesterday and were placed in various homes of the Stake Authorities. What a blessing to a family to have a Prophet of the Living God sleep in the home, eat at the table, and kneel in prayer with them!
   “It had rained and was cold and miserable Saturday, but Sunday morning dawned clean and lovely. As perfect a day as one could imagine for the 7 day of Dec.
   “The General Authorities had met in the Temple with the Stake Presidencies, Bishoprics, Presidencies of Quorums of several stake and wards for Solemn Assembly. There has never been a time when so many prophets have met with so many men holding the priesthood in our Temple her[sic] in St. George. It is a solemn occasion and one which we should always remember.”
   (from The St. George Temple-First 100 years)

   It’s definitely a term that has gained new meanings over the years.

6. Thanks for that, Seth — I want even more to know why and what that 1954 solemn assembly was.

7. Meetings regarded as solemn assemblies fall into three categories: Temple dedications, general conference sessions for sustaining a new president, and special instruction assemblies. Solemn assemblies can be held in a stake center if no temple with an assembly room is available in the area. The poem doesn’t seem to describe a temple dedication, and the date doesn’t match any then-recent dedication.

   As Mike R mentions, I attended a missionary meeting in the Salt Lake assembly room before I left on my mission in 1978, but those were not solemn assemblies, despite the venue.

   I recall a series of solemn assemblies being held when I was a teenager around the mid-’70s. I remember that some members of my ward in Utah Valley attended in the Salt Lake Temple. I think there were multiple assemblies in Salt Lake, and probably in other temples and stake centers. I have no idea how many or how widespread, but I remember once reading a reference to these 1970s solemn assemblies in a book or an article. I checked a number of likely books, but couldn’t find it. After the assembly, someone in the Bishopric met with the priests and told us about it. He had a written handout summarizing the meeting. A couple of us were interested enough to ask for a copy, but were told that it wasn’t for general distribution. The only thing I seem to recall is that it listed church positions on certain issues such as euthanasia.

   I’ve not been in the St. George Temple, but from photographs it appears that the assembly room is entered only from doors on the east end of the room, where the tower and staircases are. I don’t know if there would be enough doors along that end to qualify as “many.” If it’s talking about the doors into the building, people could have entered through the two main east doors as well as the usual entrance through the annex. Still not “many.”

   Could there have been other solemn assemblies in other temples around the same time? The Salt Lake assembly room has four entrances, and the building has the annex and four direct entrances on the east and west. Talmage mentions the main entrances being used for solemn assemblies. I don’t know if that qualifies as “many doors” either, but it’s more doors that in St. George.

   Maybe “many” is poetic hyperbole, indicating Brother Young’s impression of people pouring into the room from multiple directions.

   There is apparently a SDY biography by Benson Parkinson. That might be a place to check.

8. I know Ben and should have thought to write to him already. He may well have cross referenced SDY’s many poems to events in his life.

9. This is all fascinating. Church positions on issues like euthanasia sounds more like ordinary instruction than special instruction. I wonder if church growth and technological improvements have displaced solemn assemblies with worldwide leadership training broadcasts. It kind of takes the Pentecostal fervor out of it, but it’s probably a more effective way of “getting the water to the end of the row.”

10. I remember that same series of solemn assemblies being held in the mid-1970s in Utah. If you’d asked me 40 years ago what was discussed there, I might have been able to tell you. In fact, the only clear memory I have is that a friend of the family, a man who appeared in the endowment film (the 1969 version, if you believe IMDB), told us that he realized as he was filing into the temple for the Solemn Assembly he realized that he had forgotten his temple recommend, so he just schmoozed his way past the door keepers, and nobody realized that none of them had seen a recommend.

    Then in the latter 1980s we had a meeting one Sunday morning in the solemn assembly room in the Washington D.C. temple. I don’t remember what was discussed there either, but it didn’t strike me that it was anything that couldn’t have been discussed in the chapel on the other side of the parking lot.

11. And, once again on this blog, I find the discussion in the comments at least as interesting as the original post.

    Comment 5 brings to mind the debate regarding church callings being “above” one another. Having GAs stay only with stake authorities does present the appearance of a good old boys club. Why not arrange lodging based on those who can accomodate most easily? Thankfully, I think the Church has moved in that direction in recent decades, with the accomodations usually provided by the local motel.

    The whole thing is archaic, yet fascinating.

12. Well, here’s a little more to add. A little time spent searching through old Improvement Eras shows they were held (or at least reported on) infrequently. There are a few short descriptions of one held in Salt Lake, and a report of the one to sustain Heber J. Grant as President, which most closely matches the description in this post.
    To start with, here are three brief descriptions of a solemn assembly held by President Snow, as a part of his push for tithing. Oddly, if the first account is accurate it wasn’t held in an assembly room. Perhaps there weren’t enough people in attendance to use it.

    A solemn Assembly was held in the Celestial and Terrestrial rooms of the Salt Lake Temple on Sunday July 2, 1899, relative to tithing. (1943)

    A great fast meeting or Solemn Assembly is held in the Salt Lake Temple which is attended by all of the twenty-six leading authorities of the Church. All of the forty stakes, 478 wards and all of the auxilliary organizations of the Church were represented. The total attendance was 623. Just such a gathering of the priesthood was never before held in the Church. (August 1899)

    President Snow saw his work very clearly and took hold of it with great energy after his return home. The word of the Lord to the Saints in the South became God’s message to the entire people, and spread rapidly throughout all the stakes of Zion and into the mission fields. The importance of the journey to “Dixie” grew as the hearts of the Latter-day Saints were moved upon by the spirit of the message.
    President Snow was instructed by the Lord to call the memorable solemn assembly in the Salt Lake Temple. The call for this assembly did not originate in his own mind, but was a command from the Lord who revealed it in vision. The solemn assembly was held July 2, 1899, and was in session from 10 o’clock in the morning until after 7 o’clock in the evening. Such a gathering of Priesthood had never before been held in the Church. All twenty-six of the General Authorities of the Church were there. All the forty stakes of Zion and 478 wards were represented. The spirit of the meeting was that of testimony and the promotion of faith, not one of temporal and business affairs. The renewed tithing revelation was the theme of all the eighteen addresses. Humble, honest obedience to the tithing law became rather a spiritual gift and privilege than a material duty. The solemnity of the occasion was impressed upon the assemblage when President Snow led in the sacred Hosannah shout and pronounced glorious blessings and promises upon the people. (July 1938)

    Interesting details there, I’d be curious to know more. Last is an account of the solemn assembly where Heber J. Grant was sustained as President of the Church. I didn’t know this, but from the account it appears in those days the solemn assembly was for the priesthood, rather than the general membership. If that’s the case, and it hadn’t changed in the 1950’s, I suspect that is what this post describes. Anyhow, here it is:

    The first business of the conference, after the opening exercises, was the presentation of officers of the Church for the support of the people.
    The quorums of the priesthood were present in solemn assembly for the purpose of voting in that capacity for the General Authorities of the Church. The quorums and officers in nine divisions voted in the following order: First Presidency, apostles, patriarchs, presidents of stakes, their counselors and high councilors, high priests, seventies, elders, bishops and their counselors, the lesser priesthood (priests, teachers and deacons).
    They were arranged as follows:
    First Presidency and apostles, in their respective places on the stand; patriarchs, south wing of the stand; presidents of stakes, the counselors, and high councilors, lower stands and left front; high priests, left center of main hall; seventies, right center of main hall; elders, back left of main hall; bishops and counselors, left wing of the stand; lesser priesthood, back of the left north isle ; the remaining portions of the building, including the galleries, were occupied by members at large.
    President Heber J. Grant stated that in voting, each quorum of the priesthood would rise and the members voting would raise their right hands, and then be quickly seated, so that the business of voting might be done as expeditiously as possible. Those wishing to vote in the negative, would vote in like manner.
    The order of voting was as follows:
    1. First Presidency.
    2. Apostles.
    3. Patriarchs.
    4. The Presidents of Stakes, their Counselors, and High Councilors.
    5. High priests.
    6. Seventies.
    7. Elders.
    8. Bishops and their Counselors.
    9. The Lesser Priesthood (priests, teachers, deacons).
    10. All members of the Church present.
    Practically the whole body of the hall was occupied completely by the priesthood, and the scene from the stand, as the many thousands of men stood up, quorum by quorum, to vote, their right hands raised to the square, was the most impressive, stately and dignified religious solemnity that the eye of man ever beheld, not to speak of the scene when the whole audience, upwards of ten thousand in number, covenanted unanimously in like manner to sustain their chosen leaders.
    (July 1919)

13. Seth, this is great. Check your email, please.

14. This really adds to all of the other comments and the oriinal post by Ardis. You did a wonderful job, Seth.

15. I’m looking for Seth’s permission to reformat this as a guest post. The whole conversation is too good to be buried — I wonder how many readers have skipped it because it follows a poem — and I think posting this comment where it’s more noticeable will draw attention to the whole thread.

16. Maurine, thank you. It often amazes me what can be found with a little searching.

17. Really late to the party here, but I remember reading a church magazine (New Era, likely?) probably in the mid-70s that had a photo essay of a young man attending a solemn assembly.

    I was going to describe more of what I remember about it, but it turns out the mighty power of Google makes that (mostly) unnecessary. The article was in the January 1973 New Era, and can be found on the Church Web site, here.

    Unfortunately, it’s short on detail, and a photo essay without photos makes it rather less than satisfying.

18. lindberg, I happen to be at the Library today and scanned the article. Will wait until I’m home to do the wizardry necessary to post it, but will do that tonight or tomorrow morning.

    I wish they had posted full images of pages in the magazines when they put them online!

19. Amen! Maybe someday we’ll get full-page .pdfs. I look forward to it.

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