Organizational structure for Zion Communities in the Latter Days
There are several key elements that are provided in D&C section 94 and 95 that provide useful information about how the organizational structure for Zion communities is to be in the latter days. This combined with the Plat of Zion, the House of the Lord design, and the sections in the D&C on priesthood quorums, provides all of the information that is needed in order to arrive at a very detailed organizational structure that will be necessary in order to proplerly establish zion communities in the latter days. This paper will explore these details.
First buildings
1) In section 94, two of the 24 buildings that are shown in the Plat of Zion drawing, #5 and #17, were commanded to be built first before the other 22: Each are to have two identical courts one above the other with each court having 480 identical seats. Seats in each of the courts correlate with all of the D&C revelations on priesthood quorums and callings:
| Title | Presidencies | total presidents |
| Deacons | 12 | 48 |
| teachers | 24 | 96 |
| Priests | 48 | 192 |
| High priests | 72 | 288 |
| Elders | 288 | 1152 |
| High councillors | 12 | 48 |
| Melchizedek presidencies(Elder, high priest, bishop, | 12 | 48 |
| Aaronic presidencies (deacon, teacher, priest) | 12 | 48 |
| Total | 480 | 1920 |
2) 24 buildings with a specific revealed design, each with 80 identical offices that all have access from the the outer courts public hallway. 24×80= 1920
- 4 “courts” each with 480 “seats” = 1920
In early 1833 the early saints of the Church of Christ were considering building a church and schoolhouse. Joseph had been working on the translation of the Bible and had written about Enoch’s city of Zion that was lifted into heaven. During his translation of the book of Enoch Joseph received a vision of the future “Zion” and in May of 1833 he had Frederick G. Williams who was his scribe at the time record that revelation which today is known as the “plat of Zion”a copy of which is below. The Plat defined a very detailed pattern with 24 large buildings on two 15 acre plus a 15 acre Bishops storehouse area all in the center of the community and 96 villages each with 10 “houses” for a total of 960 “Houses” on 960 ½ acre lots.
The 2nd Building that was also commanded to be built had a large #2 by building # 17. This building was also like #5 to have two identical courts: This was to insure that there is equal status for both the Aaronic block of 12 buildings and the Melchizedek block of 12 buildings. Quarterly conference meetings for the public servants are held in the 4 courts of these two buildings. D&C 94:10 “And again, verily I say unto you, the second lot on the south shall be dedicated unto me for the building of a house unto me, for the work of the printing of the translation of my scriptures, and all things whatsoever I shall command you.11 And it shall be fifty-five by sixty-five feet in the width thereof and the length thereof, in the inner court; and there shall be a lower and a higher court.”
On the May 1833 plat of Zion drawing this was labeled #2. And is building # 17.
Building 5 is in the (12) building 15-acre Melchizedek block and building 17 is in the (12) building15-acre Aaronic block.
On the Joseph Smith Papers web site the Plat of Zion original document is available and if you zoom in on the details you can see a large #1 and an X on the building labeled #5. Likewise, there is a large 2 next to the building labeled #17. See blow up below:
These two buildings were the ones commanded to be built in D&C section 94 June 1, 1936.
The Plat had already been received by revelation and was referred to in section 94:2 “and behold, it must be done according to the pattern which I have given unto you”. Joseph Smith had the plat in front of him when section 94 was given and Frederick G. Williams who was his clerk and present when the revelation was given drew up the Plat and recorded the numbers 1 and 2 as shown below and called “painted square’ in the text on the back of the plat. The early saints went broke building just #5 and never even started #17 or an of the other 22 buildings specified by the plat.
The early saints assumed that all of the features described by section 94 & 95, the plat, and “house of the Lord” design were to be within the 65’ x 55’ “inner court” yielding a building that was much smaller than what was revealed. The outer dimensions of the building can be determined to be 132’ x 88’ using the two different approaches illustrated in the following figure. What the early saints missed was the 16.5’ x 55’ courts East and West of the inner court plus the need for another 16.5’ wide “outer” court all the way around the building for hallways/elevators/ stairways/ bathrooms. The plat specified that the buildings were to all be of equal size and they were to be 132’ in on all sides from the edges of the 15 acere 990’x660’ parcel. Using the Plat specifications combined with the 65’x55’ inner court dimensions specified and repeated 3 times in section 94/95 we can confirm that the buildings are 132’ x 88’.
Each building was to have two identical 28’ high “courts… a lower and higher…with each court having “schools” as the “higher part of the inner court” thus creating a two story court. The building also had a podium or ground floor level that is 14’ with the swimming pools/baptismal fonts/offices/rooms that the early saints didn’t have time to build but that were included in both the Nauvoo and St. George temples that were built later. This brings the total height of the 5-story building to 70’.
Each inner court of the building was to be divided into 4 assemblies by curtains and the East and West courts also capable of being divided into 4 rooms for use of the 4 presidencies on each side. The inner court was to have curtains and veils at both ends that could be lifted and lowered as needed. Since the buildings were all described in the revelation as the design for the “house of the Lord” its interesting that the divisions of the inner court creates 4 specific areas that enable the proper presentation of the endowment. There are 4 rooms for up to 72 people each that can be created in the “inner court”; 1) creation room; 2) garden room; 3)world room; 4) terrestrial room and 5) both East and West of the 4 rooms are celestial rooms with a veil between. 20 Baptism/washing and anointing ordinances rooms are included on the ground or podium floor. 24 sealing rooms that are large enough for 12 people are created by the “schools” of the prophets that are the higher part of the inner courts accessible from the hallways of floors 3 and 5.
The buildings are very functional as community buildings with large conference room areas and a 99’ x 55’ assembly area that is large enough for an NBA 94’ x 50’ basketball court or 4 pickle ball courts and 4 ½ Olympic swimming pools that are 82.5’ ft long with 3” both ends for electronic touch pads, and 8’-3’ wide within the podium or first floor with 8’-3” of extra space on both ends of the 99’ length that can be used for pool exit or also for 4 offices at each end for the Agency presidency on the West side of the building and the Regulatory and Trustee Presidencies on the East side.
Once the full size of the building is established correctly then the seating arrangements for the full assembly hall can be set. The “House of the Lord” revelation specifies that on both the West and the East there are to be 4 rows of seats for the 8 presidencies of the quorums. The East and West courts are 16.5’ x 55’ yielding 4.125’ (4’-1.5”) for each row. If the easement for each chair is set at 2’x4’which is a comfortable standard then a seating pattern can be established for the complete assembly hall as follows in the next illustration. The dimensions used in the “Plat” and “House” design are perches and Rods which are 16.5’ and multiples and divisions of that number: 132,66,33,16.5,8.25,4.125, 2.0625: The Courts are 99’ x 55’ and so if we assume rows of 4.125’ long and columns of 2.0625’ wide we can divide the court into 24 rows each 4.125 long and if allocate 2.5’ on each side of the 55’ wide court for narrow hallways (Note 1: the basketball court is 50’ wide and the court 55’ leaving 2.5’ each side) (Note2: there are direct exits to the hallways).
We need 6” in the middle of the court for the curtains or walls and so that leaves 24.75’ for 12 columns that are 2.0625’ wide on both sides of the court. A chair that was 2’x4’ has 3/8” on both sides and .75” extra forward and back. As shown in the illustration there is a need for passage ways at both ends of the seating and between the seating for the 4 presidencies on each end of the court and the side seating. To obtain the exact layout of the court we have to start filling up the court with the number of people needed for each of the quorums.
The largest quorum identified in the D&C is the elders quorum of 96. 12 rows and 12 columns on each side of the inner court yields 288 seats; 3×96=288.
These seats are all within the inner court and so are 12 seats for the High Council on the West end and 12 seats for the deacons on the East end.
The 12 seats in the middle on both the East and the West courts are for the 4 presidencies. There are also 36 seats each side of the presidency seats or 72 total. If we place 24 of the 48 priests on the outside of both sides and 12 of the 24 teachers on the inside that uses up all 72 seats on the East side. That means that all of the 72 seats on the West side must be for the High Priest quorums. The D&C does not tell us how many are in a High Priest Quorum but the Plat gives us a hint in that there are 24 buildings and therefore 24 districts. 72/3=24 and so there are 3 quorums of elders who sit on both sides of the 4 Melchizedek Presidencies on the West side of the Court.
The total # of seats in each court are 4 Aaronic presidencies of 3=12; plus 4 Melchizedek Presidencies of 3=12; Plus 3 Elders quorums of 96=288; Plus 3 High priest quorums of 24=72; Plus 48 Priests; Plus 24 Teachers; Plus 12 Deacons; Plus 12 High Council members;= total of 480 seats in each court.
There are 2 buildings, #5 and #17 each with 2 courts to fill and so 4 courts. 4*480=1920.
On the Back of the Plat the names of the 4 rows of “temples” for both Melchizedek and Aaronic are spelled out by revelation and recorded by Frederick G. Williams in May of 1833. These are also the names for the 4 rows of seats in both courts of each building on both ends of the inner court assembly hall in the East and West courts of building #5 and buildings # 17. On the graphic showing all 24 agencies the Bureaus are numbered 1-8.
“The names of the temples to be built on [the pa]inted squares Nos. 7-8-9 <10-11-12> are to be called the house of the Lord for the presidency of the high and most holy priesthood after the order of Melchisedeck which was after the order of the Son of <God> upon Mount Zion City of the New Jerusalem Nos. 7-8-9 The Sacred Apostolical repository for the use of the Bishops Nos. 4-5-6 The holy Evangelical house for the high priesthood of the holy order of God Nos— 1-2-3 The house of the Lord for the Elders of Zion an ensign to the nations Nos 22-23-24 house of the Lord for the presidency of the high priesthood after the order of Aron, a standard for the people Nos. 19-20-21- house of the Lord<*> the law of the Kingdom of heaven and Messenger to the people <*> for the priesthood high priesthood after the order of Aron) Nos.—16-17-18 house of the Lord for the teachers in Zion Messenger to the church Nos. 13-14-15 house of the Lord for the Deacons in Zion helps in goverment underneath must be written on each house holiness to the Lord”
- (10,11,12) 3 Melchizedek Presidents
- (7,8,9) 3 Bishops (Apostolic Repository)
- (4,5,6) 3 High Priest (evangelists) Presidents (#5 has a X and large 1)
- (1,2,3) 3 Elders (Ensign) Presidents
- (22,23,24) 3 Aaronic (standard) Presidents
- (19,20,21) 3 Priest (Law) Presidents
- (16,17,18) 3 Teacher (Messenger)Presidents (#17 has a large 2 next to it)
- (13,14,15) 3 Deacon (helps in government)presidents
# 5 with the 1 next to it and #17 with the 2 next to it are the two buildings that were commanded to be built first out of the total of 24. #5 is now the Kirkland temple, the early leaders and saints ran out of funds and so never started #17 and so never had enough courts and buildings to provide seats and offices for all of the 1920 public servants that are required in order to successfully operate one of the cities of Zion.
The text was written in 1530 William Tyndall English bible language and so we need to go back to 1530 to figure out what duties and responsibilities all of these 24 Presidents might have had to project forward to modern needs and that would justify a large building (58,080 square ft). The full long names that were revealed by the lord in May of 1833 using the 1530’s language gives us some hints as to what the responsibilities might have been and helps us figure out what the responsibilities might be to meet current needs. The illustration below shows the names used in the revelations but also equivalent modern business terms to define the responsibilities that must be covered by (part time/un-paid/volunteer) public servants of each community in order to serve the various needs of fully functional Zion communities of the future.
- (10,11,12) 3 Public Administration Bureau Presidents
- (7,8,9) 3 Economics Bureau (Community Bank) Presidents
- (4,5,6) 3 District Bureau Presidents
- (1,2,3) 3 Village Bureau Presidents
- (22,23,24) 3 Land and Utilities Bureau Presidents
- (19,20,21) 3 Business Development Bureau Presidents
- (16,17,18) 3 Data Bureau Presidents
- (13,14,15) 3 Regulatory Bureau Presidents
The first building of the 24 to be built was #5, with the large #1 next to it on the plat. This building is what is now known as the Kirkland Temple (Photo below). The early leaders and saints ran out of funds and were never able to complete the building as large as the design required and were not able to start #17 or any of the rest of the 24 buildings. They did complete the two courts that were commanded duplicate courts one above the other but hey made them smaller than specified because they tried to get all of the required seats into the 55’ x 65’ inner court and didn’t understand that the pulpits and associated seats on both sides were separate East and Wests courts. One of the 4 courts that were commanded to be built in section 94 is illustrated below as a photo of the West side of first floor of the Kirkland Temple and below that as a graphic illustrating how it was supposed to be if they had included the 16.5’ East and West courts.
Each full court shown below has 480 seats for the public servants that serve one of the 4 demographic divisions of the community. Each public servant has a specific seat in one of the 4 specified court
s, plus a specific office in one of the specified 24 buildings.
There are 4 rows of 3 seats on both sides of the full court for the 8 demographic presidencies and the 24 agency presidents who serve that demographic division.
The photo above is the West side of the Kirtland temple and the detailed graphic below is where the 480 Married Men demographic public servants meet and discuss issues each qtr. It is the first floor full court of building #5. The 480 Married women division public servants meet quarterly in the identical upper court of the same building.
A: Elders (Village presidencies)
1,2,3 on west side is the elder’s presidency of that demographic (married men) each are presidents and when they meet they rotate presiding so there is no hierarchy or seniority based on age or years of service.
President 1 is one of 4 presidents in the presidency of the 1st quorum of 96 elders. (The other presidents meet with their demographic group in the other 3 courts for qtr conference.) There are 96 villages of 1000 people in a “stake” (community) and each village has three agency presidencies of 4. Together they form a board (council) of 12 and also 4 demographic presidencies of 3 that meet quarterly by demographic group ABCD
A married men, B married women, C single women, D single men.
President 2 is one of the 4 presidents in the presidency of the 2nd elder’s quorum of 96 elders in the “stake (community). And President 3 similarly.
In the inner court you see a large number 1, 2,…..96 which indicates the village they serve
And a smaller number 1,2,3. Inculcating the quorum (agency) they serve in. Every one of them are presidents and they all serve in a presidency of 4 but also are in a demographic presidency of 3 that sit together and meet at each quarterly conference. The three full presidencies of 4 form a village board (council) of 12.
All 1920 offices in the community are presidents and all serve in a presidency of 4 where each demographic is represented but also in a presidency of 3 where all are from the same demographic plus all also serve on a board (council) of 12.
Summary for elders:
the elders overall demographic presidency of 3 sit on the west pulpits first row and the 96 demographic village presidencies of 3 sit in the inner court of that demographic court which for the lower court of building 5 is married men. 96 x 3 =288 of the 480 in each assembly court.
The following page is a graphic illustrating where each of the offices is in buildings 1-24 for the 3 village presidencies of 4 occupying 12 offices for each of the three presidencies.
B: high priests (district presidencies)
Seats 4,5,6 on second row up on west side of assembly hall are the 3 demographic High Priest presidents who are also in a presidency of 4 (3 from the other courts) and those Presidencies serve the 3 high priest presidencies who serve the 24 districts of that stake or community (24 x 3=72).
There are 3 quorums of high priests in each stake just like there are 3 quorums of elders.
Each quorum has a unique responsibility and also unique service location just like the elders.
4 has different responsibilities than 5 and 6. www.NewVistas.com under organizational structure details the specific responsibilities and specific village or district that each president serves.
The 24 high priest demographic presidencies of 3 sit on the west side of the assembly hall in the pulpit area both sides of the 4 Melchizedek presidencies.
In the graphic you will see on top left corner three large 1, s that represent the seat for the demographic president of 1 of 24 districts. You will see that there are three seats together labeled 1. These three are the demographic presidency for district 1.
On each square representing a seat you will also notice a smaller number 4,5,6. This represents the quorum or agency that that demographic president is a member of and president of 4 of (the other presidents of that presidency are in the 3 other courts).
There are 24 districts each with 3 demographic presidency’s and so a total of (24×3 =72) high priests on the west stand.
The high priests take up 72 of the 480 seats in each assembly hall.
The early saints when they built the Kirtland temple misinterpreted the instructions provided in section 95 & 95 and they put the pulpits and surrounding seats within the 55’x65’ inner court. Because of this they missed having an East and West court that then provides exactly enough space for equal 2’x4’ seat easements on both sides of the inner court where the elders (96×3=288) sit plus for the high priests on west side (24×3=72) and priests and teachers (24+48=72) on east side. Plus, the 4×3=12 seats for the demographic agency presidencies.
C. Bishop demographic presidency (bank presidents).
Seats 7,8,9 on the west side is the Bishop demographic presidency and they are bank presidents. There are three Banks each with a presidency of 4 and together the 4 Presidencies form a board of 12.
Each are from a different bank presidency of 4 but they meet quarterly as a demographic presidency. They don’t have any quorum but are assisted by all of the other quorums (agencies) in performing their duties.
Bishops consume only 3 of the 480 seats in each of the courts or assembly halls.
D. 10,11,12 Melchizedek presidency (agency presidents)
This demographic presidency sits in the most west row of the pulpits on the west side.
The early saints could not Invision a chair system and microphone/speaker sound system that is now easy to build and so they created permanent seats and stands. They also view hierarchy as a required fact and so built seats one above the other. Both so the audience could see and hear but also representing their view at the time that public service was hierarchically organized instead of every service calling being of equal importance and status with everyone a president and in a presidency of 4 (ABCD) and demographic presidency of 3 and each also serving on a board or council of 12. No council presides over any other council, but the early saints and their leaders were definitely stuck on hierarchy even though section 95 & 95, the May 1833 “Plat of Zion” and the “House of the Lord” design taught otherwise.
10,11, 12 have no quorums to assist them and they do not preside over any other presidencies. They have specific duties and responsibilities in their service to the community that are key as are all of the callings.
19,11,12 occupy 3 if the 480 seats in the assembly hall.
E. Demographic high council of 12 (trustees).
Facing the pulpits but within the west side of inner court are 12 seats labeled 1-12. These are the trustees of a demographic (ABCD) of the community and in this case they are the council of 12 from the married men demographic.
Each also are part of a presidency of 4 with the other 3 of each presidency located in the other 3 courts of the 2 buildings.
High council members are numbered 1-12 because each service 2 different agencies of the 24 in a community.
1 services 1 & 13 And has an office alongside the other 3 presidents on the first floor of buildings 1& 13 on the West side. The high council or trustee seats are on the first floor of each building opposite the agency presidency’s. They serve two days a week in each building. In the case of trustee or board seat 1 serves district and agency 1 on Mondays and Wednesdays from 8-8:45 and district 13 and agency 13 on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-8:45.
This high council and board have specific keys and duties but does not preside or supervise any other quorum or agency. The 48 members of the high council (trustees) are chosen and selected by the seventy who go 2×2=4 as an area presidency to set up a new stake by selecting the 48 members (4 councils of 12; 12 presidencies): Once all 48 trustees are selected the area 70 presidency have completed their responsibility of setting up a legally and financially independent “stake” or community. Once selected this new stake high council or trustees select and set up all the community agency presidencies. Board member 1 along with the other 3 presidents in that presidency sets up agency and district 1& 13 presidencies and 2, 2&14 and etc.
Once all of the 480×4=1920 presidents are selected and need replacement, every presidency replicates itself with one of the 4 presidents being replace each year on the birthday of the president who has completed their 4 year term of service. In addition to the 1920 service presidents there are 960 branch presidencies each composed of 4 captains of 10 limited partners and their dependents. These also serve for 4 years. They are originally when a stake is set up selected by the village presidencies but once set up self-replicate by replacing one president of the 4 each year on the departing presidents birthday. The self-replication process is described in detail in a paper on the NewVistas web site. The demographic High council occupies 12 of the 480 seats in the assembly hall.
F. Deacons demographic agency presidency.
13,14,15. Seats on east side facing west.
Each in this demographic presidency is also in a 4-person presidency who serve agency 13 or 14 or 15. Each agency has specific responsibilities and each serve those specific duties.
Presidency 13 has 4 agency offices in district building 13 on the first floor on the west side
The graphic below shows layout of the first floor of building 1 of 24.
In building 13 the deacon’s presidency of 4 would have their agency offices on west side similar to this graphic showing offices in building 1.
On the east side are the 4 offices for presidency of trustee board member 1 and they occupy thes office on Tuesday and Thursdays in building 1 and Monday and Wednesdays in building 13.
Likewise the deacon’s presidencies who are regulatory agents occupy the 4 offices on the East side of the first floor of building 1 on Monday and Wednesday’s and building 13 on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
G. 12 deacon’s form a demographic board or council of regulatory agents.
In first graphic the 12 are shown on the east side (1-12 yellow boxes)
Notice that like high council there are two smaller numbers in the box indicating the agencies that each deacon serves. 1, 1;13; 2, 2;14; etc.
They sit as a demographic board of 12 in the court but serve as a president in a presidency of 4 serving in the case of 1 agency 1 and 13.
The deacons demographic board of 12 occupies 12 seats out of the 480’in each assembly court.
H. Teachers demographic agency presidency of 3; 16,17,18:
These three form a demographic agency presidency of three and sit on the east side of the court on the 2ndrow facing to the west. Each is a member of a presidency of 4 that serves the community as the presidency of agencies 16,17 and 18. The agency presidencies have their 4 offices on the first floor on the West side of the building opposite the offices on the East side that are alternatively occupied by the Trustees and Deacons who specialize in servicing those particular agencies and the districts that occupy the same buildings.
This demographic Presidency occupy 3 of the 480 seats in that assembly court.
I 24 demographic Teachers, 12 on each side of the agency demographic presidencies.
Referring again to the first graphic in this paper you will see in darker green with a yellow background 1-12 on the left and 13-24 on the right of the agency demographic presidencies. Each of the 24 are part of a presidency of 4 that serves a specific district. In addition to the specific seats in the specific courts for quarterly conferences they also have a specific office in the district building that they serve. 1 serves district 1 in building 1 and 2 serves district 2 in building 2 and etc.
The 4 offices for each Teacher Presidency in each district building are on the first floor of the building on the South side of the building towards the West end. There are 12 offices on this side of the first floor of the building and the teacher’s presidency who serve this district have their offices in the first four offices as described. Each of the Teacher’s Presidencies serve districts 1-24 with regard to agencies 16,17, and 18 services.
They occupy 24 of the 480 seats in this court.
J. 3 demographic agency priest presidents for agencies 19,20,21:
These demographic agency presidents serve with the 3 other demographic presidents in a presidency of 4. They have their offices on the first floor of buildings 19,20 & 21 on the west side of the building.
They occupy 3 of the 480 seats in each court.
K. 48 demographic priests who serve agencies 19,20 & 21; 24 on each side of the middle agency demographic presidencies:
Referring to the first graphic in this paper; the 48 agents for this A demographic are 1-24 on the right side and 25-48 on the left side of the pulpit stand: Each of these demographic presidents is part of a presidency of 4 and together two presidencies service each district as illustrated in the graphic above. They have their offices on the right side of the first floor of each district building and these offices are East of the offices for the teachers. They are called business development agents. They occupy 48 of the 480 seats of each court.
L. 3 demographic agency presidents for agencies 22,23 & 24:
Referring to the first graphic of this paper these demographic presidents have their seats in the middle of the pulpit area on the east end of the building. They serve together as a demographic presidency and with the 3 other presidents in an agency presidency of 4. They have their 4 offices (ABCD) on the West end of the first floor of buildings 22,23 & 24.
They occupy 3 of the 480 seats in each court.
Summary of seats in each of the 4 courts in buildings #5 and #17:
- Agency 1,2,3 presidents and 96 village demographic presidencies: 3+(96 x 3) = 291
- Agency 4,5,6 presidents and 24 district demographic presidencies: 3 +(24×3) = 75
- Agency 7,8,9 demographic presidents of Banks 3 = 3
- Agency 10,11,12 demographic presidents 3 = 3
- High council: 12 demographic presidents who form a board 12 = 12
- Agency 13,14,15 demographic presidency of deacons 3 = 3
- 12 Deacons form a demographic board of deacons 12 = 12
- Teachers’ demographic presidency of agencies 16,17,18 3 = 3
- 24 demographic teachers who each represent 16,17,18 for a district 24 = 24
- Priest demographic presidency of agencies 19,20,21 3 = 3
- 48 demographic priests who each represent 19,20,21 for a district 48 = 48
- 3 demographic agency presidents for agencies 22,23,24 3 = 3
Total: =480
X 4 courts each with 480 =1920
The number of seats in the 4 courts of the 2 buildings is 1920 and so every president of every presidency has a place to sit and or stand to make comments in a specific court in a specific place representing a specific agency or village or district.
Each also has a specific office in one of the 24 buildings: Each building has 12 offices on each side of the building on the first floor plus 4 offices on the West and East ends of the first floor so that there are a total of 32 offices on the first floor.
There are no offices on the 2nd floor of the building because that is the assembly court. There are 12 offices on each side of the 3rd floor of each building making a total of 24 for the 3rd floor.
There are no offices on the 4th floor of the building because that is the upper duplicate court so that there are two courts in each of the buildings.
There are 12 offices on each side of the 5th floor of each building making a total of 24 for the 5th floor.
Totals: 32 on first floor, 24 on 3rd floor, 24 on 5th floor: 80 offices in each building:
24 x 80 = 1920 offices so that every president serving the community has aspecific private office in a specific building of the 24 “houses of the Lord”.
Thus Providing every public servant of the “stake” or community to have a place to “stand in their place” after proving that they have a “desire to serve” by “learning their duty” and being called, chosen and then sustained by those they serve and are as a result of their call provided by the community a specific seat in one of the 4 courts where they attend and participate in the quarterly conferences; plus provided by the community a private office or a “place prepared” for each by the Lord in a specific one of his 24 “house’s” where they each serve the participants of the community.
The graphic on the next page provides a cross section of the “house of the Lord” which is a 5 story building that is 88’ wide by 132’ long and 70’ tall. The dimensions of the building are derived from the Plat of Zion test plus the 55 x 65’ dimensions for the inner court that are defined three times in sections 94 and 95. The early saints when they built building # 5 which became the “Kirtland Temple” didn’t recognize that there were to be courts East and West of the inner courts that were 16.5’ plus a 6” easement for curtains and veils at both ends of the inner court so that the total length of the full court is 99’. In addition there was to be an outer court all the way around the full court which is also 16.5’ making the building 55’+33’= 88’ wide and 99’ +33’ = 132’ long. Each of the 5 floors was to be 14’ and so 5 x 14= 70’ tall. The higher part of the inner court was not recognized as part of the inner court and so this was not built as part of the Kirtland temple. These are the “schools” or rooms that are adjustable into class rooms for 12 of split into 12 offices each side of floors 3 and 5… the higher part of the inner courts.
The image to the left is part of the original text of a revelation called the “LAW” received by Joseph Smith in the presence of several elders of the church on Feb. 9, 1831. The words to this revelation were changed by Joseph Smith later so that it was more in line with the communalistic approach that they had adopted instead of this agreement and Deed approach that was originally specified. The revelation would have been foreign to them because the group of recent converts that the New York saints had joined in Kirtland were already involved in a very communal system and Joseph because he and his family were so poor was attracted to communalism.
What was specified was that participants were to consecrate all of their properties with a covenant “agreement” and Deed “ownership” which cannot be broken with the Bishop “Bank” and two of the Elders “agents” and |”it cannot be taken from you” and then the Bishop with assistance from the elders was to appoint every participant a Stewardship “sufficient for himself and his family. Later revelations clarified that the stewardship had to be enough to meet the “wants and needs” of that steward.
Instead of setting up the Bishops as community Banks and providing the participant with an agreement and Deed to their investment in the community capital bank and the elders as community agencies, the leaders at the time re-distributed “averaged” the assets and so they never had an increase via the 10 or 20 to one leverage that a bank is able to do with the invested capital of the participants. Because they adopted communalism instead of community capitalism, they were never able to provide the stewardships that were enough to support each participant that were part of the requirement of the revelation.
The early converts to the church were very poor but nevertheless they had assets that they could have invested into a community bank which would then be able to use that capital to provide loans that were 10-20x the invested capital. That leverage is what the community needed in order to purchase enough land and build the housing and create the stewardships that were needed. Banking leverage was known at the time and it would have been possible for Joseph and the Bishops and elders to create a legal community bank that with proper practices would have been able to provide loans to public agencies created by the elders that would buy land and buildings and equipment using loans from the capital bank and then lease those assets out to the stewards. All things would be in common because the community bank is owned b the stewards and the stewards then rent property and equipment and animals and supplies from the community agencies that then use the rental funds to pay back the loans supplied by the community bank.
Assuming that the average $ of assets per household was 1/3 that of the national average there would have been $400 of assets per steward that each would invest into the capital bank and get back an agreement and deed of ownership in the bank that gave them a proportional share of the profits of the community. Assuming that there was by 1834 400 stewards that contributed an average of $400, then the capital of the bank would be $160,000 and it would be able to create and lend out to independent community agencies 20x that amount or $3,200,000. Public agencies could then purchase large plats of land plus build housing and equipment and supplies and rent those assets back to the stewards who in return would pay leases which would cover more than the payment due the bank. The stewards then deposit their increase into the bank and so the bank has even more to leverage and lend out so that the multiple community agencies are able to purchase all of the assets needed by the community including the public buildings and roads and other infrastructure needs. Homes at the time were only $500 and so a community agency could borrow from the bank the $200,000 needed to build the 400 homes needed for the stewards. The stewards could afford to pay the rent on the homes because they would also lease land and equipment and have a productive farm or business that provided enough and more for them to support their family.
The saints were commanded to purchase land in Missouri and land was only $1.25 per acer and so if they used $1,250,000 of the $3.2M they could have borrowed they could have purchased a million acers of land in Missouri, more than Clay, Davies, Caldwell, and Livingston counties combined. If they had purchased this land outright there would not have been issues with neighbors since there were essentially no inhabitants at the time.
Once the land was in place then there was plenty of $ left for community agencies to purchase animals and equipment and supplies and rent these assets back to the participants so that all of the early immigrants that joined the communities would have sufficient stewardships “businesses” to support their families and have more than enough to pay the rent needed by the community agencies to pay back the loans that were provided the community banks.
Public building costs at the time were $5/sq. ft and the public buildings are 88’ x 132’ x5 or around 60,000 sq. feet and so would cost $300,000 to build. With only 400 households and around 2,000 people the early saints would only need one of the 24 building at this stage and so they would use $300,000 of the $3.2M available for their first “temple” that also served them well for schools, offices, swimming pools and recreation as well as meet the needs for their religious ordinances. Assuming $1.25M for land, $200,000 for 400 houses, $300,000 for one public building there would be $1,000,000 left for animals and equipment and $450,000 left for supplies. The result would be a thriving economy that would because of its success be attractive for many more immigrants who flocked to the area because it was a land of opportunity. With 1M acers of land already purchased and in hand and as productivity increased so that land needed per person decreased from 10 acers needed in 1834 to 1 acer, then eventually there would be room for 1 million people or 10 fully functioning NewVista communities. Once communities started to be established more land would be purchased until eventually there would be a full NewVista system composed of 50 communities and with a council of 50.
The Graphic below is a modern interpretation of the plat of Zion showing more detail of how it might be implemented. 50 communities form a complete NewVista system and that system would have a “council of 50” presidencies composed of all of the capital bank presidencies of the communities. This 200-person council would select a presiding presidency for each year by lottery. That presidency then sets up committees that study various issues like raw materials, water, transportation, wilderness, and the general economic trade between the communities and the outside world. Most communities would start in the dilapidated down town areas of existing cities and then spread out into the surrounding sprawl and eventually into the farm lands beyond. The pattern would be followed as closely as possible but would make exceptions for historic sites, graveyards, and wilderness areas such as rivers, streams, swamps, and environmentally sensitive areas. An overall objective of the NewVistas concept is to not distube any new farm land or wilderness area but to build over existing occupied areas of the world starting with areas in cities that have become delipidated and need a renewal so that the areas are vibrant again. NewVista communities would then expand into urban sprawl single family home areas starting first with those areas that are most run down and need renewal. Eventually the community would use the farmland that is already there for farming and move on to create new population centers in other areas of the cities that need reclaiming.
Each NewVistas community functions best when it can have gardens behind the housing and enough land surrounding to supply the majority of the food that it needs. Communities would likely import food to start with until they could purchase farmland nearby or covert former single family home sprawl back to farmland. Wilderness areas, mining, airports, and other remote areas would be purchased and managed by the community as it matured.
