Church Administration Building
Encyclopedia
The Church Administration Building (CAB) is an administrative office building of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), the fourth-largest Christian denomination
in the United States
. Serving as its headquarters
and located in Salt Lake City, Utah
, USA, the building is adjacent to Temple Square
, between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
and the Lion House, on South Temple Drive. It differs from the Church Office Building in that it is much smaller and furnishes offices for the First Presidency
and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It also houses offices for other general authorities
and their personal staff.
Constructed in 1917, the building only permits entry to church officials and their guests. The CAB has been used for meetings between church leaders and several political and community leaders, and has become a historic building for members of the LDS faith.
and at Brigham Young University
, forty miles to the south in Provo
. With the construction of the 2,000-employee-accommodating Church Office Building skyscraper next door, the Church Administration Building was freed up for offices exclusively for general authorities, and it continues to serve as the church's headquarters
today.
The Church Administration Building furnishes offices for the Prophet of the LDS Church, as well as for his counselors in the First Presidency
, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other general authorities
and their personal staff. The building is overseen by the Church Security Department, as only pertinent church officers and their guests are permitted entry.
The CAB has also been a key locale for various events and visitors. As part of the festivities for the 2002 Winter Olympics
in Salt Lake City, the Olympic torch
was passed through the hands of members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the steps of the Church Administration Building. It is also a tradition that funeral processions of past LDS Church presidents pass in front of the Church Administration Building. The building has hosted important visitors, most recently including Michelle Obama
and George W. Bush
.
from the same quarry in Little Cottonwood Canyon
as the stone used for the Utah State Capitol
and the nearby Salt Lake Temple
. The Mt. Nebo Marble Company supplied marble
and travertine
for the interior of the CAB. According to the Utah Geological Survey
, "the company quarried Birdseye marble in the Thistle area of Utah County, and travertine and onyx
at Pelican Point near Utah Lake
in Utah County and in the Cedar Mountains
of Tooele County."
Twenty-four Ionic columns form a colonnade
around the structure, each weighing eight tons. The building's exterior is constructed from 4,517 granite blocks.
Several general authorities have shared stories about experiences in the Church Administration Building that have enriched the legacy of the building and increased its importance among Latter-day Saints. For example, in a lesson about service, perseverance, and humility, Earl C. Tingey
shared how he felt inferior when he got on the elevator in the CAB to take to his office while the elderly then-Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
chose to hobble up the stairs with his cane to his. Another account was shared during a fireside by Thomas S. Monson
. He spoke of the importance of the priesthood by recalling an experience he and his almost-12-year-old son had with then-Church President Harold B. Lee
in the CAB. These stories, including Boyd K. Packer's
obedience lesson learned from President Lee, and F. Burton Howard's
account of when the youth sang "We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
" in order to supplicate Spencer W. Kimball's
audience, all occurred within the walls of the CAB and have served to establish its legacy in Mormondom
.
Christian denomination
A Christian denomination is an identifiable religious body under a common name, structure, and doctrine within Christianity. In the Orthodox tradition, Churches are divided often along ethnic and linguistic lines, into separate churches and traditions. Technically, divisions between one group and...
in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Serving as its headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
and located in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, USA, the building is adjacent to Temple Square
Temple Square
Temple Square is a ten acre complex located in the center of Salt Lake City, Utah, owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . In recent years, the usage of the name has gradually changed to include several other church facilities immediately adjacent to Temple Square...
, between the Joseph Smith Memorial Building
Joseph Smith Memorial Building
The Joseph Smith Memorial Building is named in honor of Joseph Smith, Jr., the founder of the Latter Day Saint movement. It is located on the corner of Main Street and South Temple in Salt Lake City. Previously the Hotel Utah, it is now an administrative building...
and the Lion House, on South Temple Drive. It differs from the Church Office Building in that it is much smaller and furnishes offices for the First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. It also houses offices for other general authorities
General authority
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...
and their personal staff.
Constructed in 1917, the building only permits entry to church officials and their guests. The CAB has been used for meetings between church leaders and several political and community leaders, and has become a historic building for members of the LDS faith.
Use and special events
Initially, the Church Administration Building housed all administrative offices of the LDS Church, but as membership grew and leadership and staff expanded, the workers were scattered in office buildings throughout downtown Salt Lake City—some as far away as the Granite Mountain Vaults in Little Cottonwood CanyonLittle Cottonwood Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and “Community Council” designated by Salt Lake County. The canyon is a glacial trough , carved by...
and at Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University
Brigham Young University is a private university located in Provo, Utah. It is owned and operated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , and is the United States' largest religious university and third-largest private university.Approximately 98% of the university's 34,000 students...
, forty miles to the south in Provo
Provo, Utah
Provo is the third largest city in the U.S. state of Utah, located about south of Salt Lake City along the Wasatch Front. Provo is the county seat of Utah County and lies between the cities of Orem to the north and Springville to the south...
. With the construction of the 2,000-employee-accommodating Church Office Building skyscraper next door, the Church Administration Building was freed up for offices exclusively for general authorities, and it continues to serve as the church's headquarters
Headquarters
Headquarters denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the top of a corporation taking full responsibility managing all business activities...
today.
The Church Administration Building furnishes offices for the Prophet of the LDS Church, as well as for his counselors in the First Presidency
First Presidency
In the Latter Day Saint movement, the First Presidency was the highest governing body in the Latter Day Saint church established by Joseph Smith, Jr. in 1832, and is the highest governing body of several modern Latter Day Saint denominations...
, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, and other general authorities
General authority
In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints , a general authority is a member of certain leadership organizations who are given administrative and ecclesiastical authority over the church...
and their personal staff. The building is overseen by the Church Security Department, as only pertinent church officers and their guests are permitted entry.
The CAB has also been a key locale for various events and visitors. As part of the festivities for the 2002 Winter Olympics
2002 Winter Olympics
The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...
in Salt Lake City, the Olympic torch
Olympic Flame
The Olympic Flame or Olympic Torch is a symbol of the Olympic Games. Commemorating the theft of fire from the Greek god Zeus by Prometheus, its origins lie in ancient Greece, where a fire was kept burning throughout the celebration of the ancient Olympics. The fire was reintroduced at the 1928...
was passed through the hands of members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the steps of the Church Administration Building. It is also a tradition that funeral processions of past LDS Church presidents pass in front of the Church Administration Building. The building has hosted important visitors, most recently including Michelle Obama
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States...
and George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
.
Construction
Constructed between 1914 and 1917, the building is built of quartz monzoniteQuartz monzonite
Quartz monzonite is an intrusive igneous rock that has an approximately equal proportion of orthoclase and plagioclase feldspars. The plagioclase is typically intermediate to sodic in composition, andesine to oligoclase. Quartz is present in significant amounts. Biotite and/or hornblende...
from the same quarry in Little Cottonwood Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon
Little Cottonwood Canyon lies within the Wasatch-Cache National Forest along the eastern side of the Salt Lake Valley, roughly 15 miles from Salt Lake City, Utah. The canyon is part of Granite, a CDP and “Community Council” designated by Salt Lake County. The canyon is a glacial trough , carved by...
as the stone used for the Utah State Capitol
Utah State Capitol
The Utah State Capitol is the house of government for the U.S. state of Utah. The building houses the chambers of the Utah State Legislature, the offices of the Governor of Utah and Lieutenant Governor of Utah, along with other supporting offices for the Government of Utah...
and the nearby Salt Lake Temple
Salt Lake Temple
The Salt Lake Temple is the largest and best-known of more than 130 temples of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the sixth temple built by the church, requiring 40 years to complete, and the fourth operating temple built since the Mormon exodus from Nauvoo,...
. The Mt. Nebo Marble Company supplied marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
and travertine
Travertine
Travertine is a form of limestone deposited by mineral springs, especially hot springs. Travertine often has a fibrous or concentric appearance and exists in white, tan, and cream-colored varieties. It is formed by a process of rapid precipitation of calcium carbonate, often at the mouth of a hot...
for the interior of the CAB. According to the Utah Geological Survey
Utah Geological Survey
The Utah Geological Survey is based in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. It also has an office in Cedar City, Utah.It is a division of the Utah Department of Natural Resources and is an applied scientific agency, which creates, interprets, and provides information about Utah's geological environment,...
, "the company quarried Birdseye marble in the Thistle area of Utah County, and travertine and onyx
Onyx
Onyx is a banded variety of chalcedony. The colors of its bands range from white to almost every color . Commonly, specimens of onyx contain bands of black and/or white.-Etymology:...
at Pelican Point near Utah Lake
Utah Lake
Utah Lake is a freshwater lake in the U.S. state of Utah. On the western side of Utah Valley, the lake is overlooked by Mount Timpanogos and Mount Nebo. The lake's only river outlet, the Jordan River, is a tributary of the Great Salt Lake and is highly regulated with pumps. Evaporation accounts...
in Utah County and in the Cedar Mountains
Cedar Mountains
The Cedar Mountains are a mountain range in Mineral County, Nevada and is situated in the Walker Lane region of Western Nevada. It was the site of a magnitude 7.2 earthquake on December 20, 1932.-1932 Earthquake :...
of Tooele County."
Twenty-four Ionic columns form a colonnade
Colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade denotes a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building....
around the structure, each weighing eight tons. The building's exterior is constructed from 4,517 granite blocks.
Legacy
Earl C. Tingey
Earl Carr Tingey has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since 1991. From 2001 to August 2008, he was the senior president of the Quorums of the Seventy....
shared how he felt inferior when he got on the elevator in the CAB to take to his office while the elderly then-Church President Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon B. Hinckley
Gordon Bitner Hinckley was an American religious leader and author who served as the 15th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from March 12, 1995 until his death...
chose to hobble up the stairs with his cane to his. Another account was shared during a fireside by Thomas S. Monson
Thomas S. Monson
Thomas Spencer Monson is an American religious leader and author, and the 16th and current President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . As president, Monson is considered by adherents of the religion to be a "prophet, seer, and revelator" of God's will on earth...
. He spoke of the importance of the priesthood by recalling an experience he and his almost-12-year-old son had with then-Church President Harold B. Lee
Harold B. Lee
Harold Bingham Lee was eleventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from July 1972 until his death.- Early life :...
in the CAB. These stories, including Boyd K. Packer's
Boyd K. Packer
Boyd Kenneth Packer is an American educator and religious leader, and the current president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . He served as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve from 1994 to 2008, and has been an apostle and member of...
obedience lesson learned from President Lee, and F. Burton Howard's
F. Burton Howard
Fred Burton Howard has been a general authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since September 1978. He was a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy from that time until he was given emeritus status in October 2005.F. Burton Howard was born in Logan, Cache County, Utah. He...
account of when the youth sang "We thank thee, O God, for a prophet
We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet
"We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet" is a hymn of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints . It has been sung at most general conferences of the LDS Church since it was published in 1863....
" in order to supplicate Spencer W. Kimball's
Spencer W. Kimball
Spencer Woolley Kimball was the twelfth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints from 1973 until his death in 1985.-Ancestry:...
audience, all occurred within the walls of the CAB and have served to establish its legacy in Mormondom
Mormonism
Mormonism is the religion practiced by Mormons, and is the predominant religious tradition of the Latter Day Saint movement. This movement was founded by Joseph Smith, Jr. beginning in the 1820s as a form of Christian primitivism. During the 1830s and 1840s, Mormonism gradually distinguished itself...
.