What do Mormons call the building they meet in?

This is a fair question. Usually it is generated by someone who has seen or heard about a Mormon Temple, and has questions about visiting it. Or perhaps you've heard a friend refer to their Mormon meetingplace as a Stake Center, Ward Building, Church, Chapel, or Meetinghouse.

If Mormons ever deserved to be made fun of for anything, this is it - our inability to name our meetingplaces consistently. I once read a skit written by a member of the church that poked fun at the confusion that ensues from our naming - churches in cities that are named after another city and has a congregation from yet another city meeting in it. My Father was Bishop of the Farmington Ward, which largely lived in Apple Valley but it met in a building called the Bloomington building. With the rapid growth of the church, and the difficulty in building fast enough to house it, names of buildings and stakes and wards sometimes are a little misleading - hence my father's new ward in the wrong city in the wrong building.

Before we get to buildings - we should talk about how the church is sliced up. Our congregations, called wards, are divided up geographically. A group of wards are called a stake. Wards are presided over by a Bishop, and Stakes by a Stake President. Branches and districts, usually found in areas with smaller populations, are corresponding smaller versions of wards and stakes. Each of those are also presided over by a president. Usually wards and branches are named after the city or some other prominent geographically-distinguishing name.

There are two primary types of buildings used by the church. First is the meetinghouse. All meetinghouses are open to the public. It is anyplace that Sunday Services are held. Several congregations could meet there throughout the day. They could also meet in a rented facility. We met in schools and an aerobics room for many years. Sometimes the meetinghouse is referred to as a "Ward Building", a "Church", or a "Chapel". Some of these are incorrect: a church is a group of people - not a place. And "Chapel" generally refers to one particular room in the building where the Sacrament Service is held. The term Stake Center refers to the meetinghouse that has the offices of a Stake Presidency, who preside over a group of wards (that could be spread out across many meetinghouses). But other than the offices of the leadership, the Stake Center is in every other way an ordinary meetinghouse. Sunday meetings usually start in the morning, depending on how many wards (congregations) meet there, they could go all day. Each ward is usually made up of members from a specific geographic area near that meetinghouse.

The other type of building, a Temple, is unique. Temples are sanctuaries that are closed to the public most of the time. Members who meet standards of worthiness use the temples for a number of purposes that we'll discuss some other time on this site. What goes on there is not secret (which is something we have been accused of), but it is kept sacred. Our hope is that everyone will take part in the Temple some day, and enjoy the reverent spirit there; it's purpose is not to be exclusionary, but to be a haven from the world. That's why only people whose lives are in order are supposed to enter there - the Lord commanded us to keep it clean and pure.

If a Temple is ever built or restored in your area, usually it will be opened to the public for tours for a brief period before it is dedicated. I would encourage you to go and take a walk through it if that is the case. It is a singular experience.

The church maintains a number of other operations - ranging from canneries to missions to humanitarian projects - and has buildings to support them. They are the exception not the rule. If you stop in to any of them when they are open, there will almost always be someone who can tell you a little about what they are doing, and also will direct you to the nearest meetinghouse for worship services.

We look forward to seeing you there!