Mormon church membership on the rise

Mormons returned to their roots Saturday, holding the afternoon session of their 177th biannual conference in the historic Salt Lake Tabernacle that has been closed since 2005 for renovations and seismic upgrades.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints held its first conference here in 1867, 17 years after settling the Salt Lake valley.

"As we sit here, it brings back a thousand memories as we contemplate the past," the church's 96-year-old President Gordon B. Hinckley said.

Mormons gather twice yearly to hear faith-promoting, inspirational words from church leaders. The two-day conference draws more than 100,000 to the church conference center in downtown Salt Lake City and the proceedings are broadcast on television, radio and the Internet in 89 languages.

Church Presiding Bishop H. David Burton was the administrator supervising the renovation project. He joked that before the work began, Hinckley offered him a gentle, but intimidating warning, "don't you do anything you shouldn't do."

"Today dear President, we present this senior citizen of a building, all attired in a fresh new finish, fitly framed together in its historic elegance — although a bit more comfortable," said Burton, adding that he returns the building to the membership with a "100-year warranty."

Built between 1863 and 1867, the 10,000-seat Tabernacle on Temple Square is the home of the Mormon Tabernacle choir and is famous for its world-class acoustics. It was conceived by then-president Brigham Young and built next to the Salt Lake Temple to hold Sunday services for the growing church.

Church historians say the idea for the Tabernacle's oval shape and 150-foot domed roof was born when Young sliced an egg lengthwise, rather than across. The building is considered an engineering marvel because its arching roof requires no center supports. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 1970.

Renovations reinforced the building with steel and excavated underneath the Tabernacle pipe organ to make way for new offices, dressing rooms, and rehearsal halls for the choir. The building's interior got some fresh paint, technology upgrades and new gold leafing on the organ's pipes.

The original pine pews were replaced with oak ones that provide a few more inches of knee room, Burton said.

"But as you've already discovered, the new benches are just as hard as the old ones were," Hinckley said.