The three witnesses to the details of the organizational structure:
The Plat of the City of Zion and the design for the House of the Lord, revealed in 1833, give some specific instructions, with some of them as follows:
- The revelations command that two of the 24 buildings, #5 and #17, are to be built first before the others. In section 94 the buildings are to have two identical courts each. Each court will have 480 identical seats (2’ x 4’ feet easement for each seat ) 4×480=1920 seats in the 4 buildings.
- 24 buildings with a specific revealed design each with 80 identical offices that all have access to from a public hallway. 24×80= 1920 offices
- Seats in assembly hall correlate to all of the D&C revelations on priesthood callings: 12 deacons, 24 teachers, 48 priests, 96 elders per quorum x 3 quorums =288, 72 high priests (24 districts x 3), 12 high councilors; 8 demographic presidencies of 3: Melchizedek Presidency; bishop presidency, high priest presidency, elders presidency: Aaronic Presidency; Priest presidency; Teacher presidency; Deacons Presidency. (12+24+48+(96*3)+72+12+(8*3)=480 seats in each assembly hall (court) x 4 = 1920
Building 5 with two identical courts was one of the two buildings that were commanded to be built. D&C section 94 says, “3 And let the first lot on the south be consecrated unto me for the building of a house for the presidency, for the work of the presidency, in obtaining revelations; and for the work of the ministry of the presidency, in all things pertaining to the church and kingdom.” As part of the 24 building, it was labeled 5, and 1 as the first of the two buildings to be built first.
Building 17 again with two identical courts was commanded to be built along with #5 in section 94: This is 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. 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 15 acre Aaronic block.
On this website, the public service offices have been translated into modern business terms to be clearer to participants. The original names are in Early Modern English (EModE), which was heavily influenced by Mathew Tyndall’s Bible translation. The Book of Mormon, the plat of Zion, and relevant revelations are also written in this language. To coordinate with D&C terms, here are the quorums and their seats in the 4 assembly halls, starting with the lower court in building 5 (for married men division).
Quorum names and modern translation
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.
This graphic illustrates 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 and put the pulpits and surrounding seats within the 55×65 inner court. Because of this they missed the design fact that there is exactly enough equal sized 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 2nd row facing to the west. Each is a member of a presidency of 4 that serve 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.
The following graphic illustrates this concept.
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:
| Details | Number | Total (*4) | |
| A. | Agency 1,2,3 presidents and 96 village demographic presidencies | 3 +(96*3) | 1164 |
| B. | Agency 4,5,6 presidents and 24 district demographic presidencies: | 3+(24*3) | 300 |
| C. | Agency 7,8,9 demographic presidents of Banks | 3 | 12 |
| D. | Agency 10,11,12 demographic presidents | 3 | 12 |
| E. | High council: 12 demographic presidents who form a board | 12 | 48 |
| F. | Agency 13,14,15 demographic presidency of deacons | 3 | 12 |
| G. | 12 Deacons form a demographic board of deacons | 12 | 48 |
| H. | Teachers’ demographic presidency of agencies | 3 | 12 |
| I. | 24 demographic teachers who each represent 16,17,18 for a district | 24 | 96 |
| J. | Priest demographic presidency of agencies | 3 | 12 |
| K. | 48 demographic priests who each represent 19,20,21 for a district | 48 | 192 |
| L. | 3 demographic agency presidents for agencies 22,23,24 | 3 | 12 |
| total | 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.
