Bonnie H. Cordon remembers sitting in the brand-new Conference Center on April 1, 2000, and feeling nervous for her father.
The late Elder Harold G. Hillam, then a General Authority Seventy, spoke in the Saturday morning session of the first general conference held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City. Sister Cordon, formerly both a Young Women general president and counselor in the Primary general presidency, recalled how vast the new building seemed — so many more people could fit in the 21,000-seat Conference Center than in the 6,000-seat Salt Lake Tabernacle.
“I thought, ‘Oh, how does that feel to stand at that podium and see such a space?‘” Sister Cordon said. “I think I was more nervous for [my dad] than he was nervous.”
Almost 17 years later — March 25, 2017 — Sister Cordon stood herself at the Conference Center podium during the general women’s session. And only then, she said, did she understand how her father felt during April 2000 general conference.
“Little did I know that when you stand at that podium and you’re giving a conference talk, that talk is orchestrated so much by the Spirit and by heaven,” she said. “You realize you’re probably not giving your own talk. You’re giving a talk that the Lord wants you to give. And there’s a great comfort standing at that podium, as if the heavens or even angels are around you.”
Sister Cordon is among hundreds of Church leaders who have felt heaven’s power while speaking in the Conference Center.
Between April 2000 and October 2024, the Conference Center has hosted 1,755 general conference talks. That number doesn’t include talks given outside the Conference Center between April 2020 and October 2021 due to COVID-19 precautions; it also doesn’t include the Saturday afternoon session of April 2007 general conference, which was held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle during its rededication.
Of the 1,755 talks given in the Conference Center:
- 382 were from members of the First Presidency.
- 579 were from Apostles.
- 481 were from General Authority Seventies.
- 227 were from women leaders.
- 43 were from members of the Presiding Bishopric.
- 43 were from members of the Sunday School or Young Men general presidencies.
The Conference Center reached its 25th anniversary on April 1, 2025. In honor of this milestone, Church News is looking back at the building’s history and legacy, and at the impact of general conference over the past quarter century.
Groundbreaking and construction
Plans to build the Conference Center were first announced during April 1996 general conference. The late President Gordon B. Hinckley noted the many people who wanted to attend the proceedings in the Salt Lake Tabernacle — where general conferences were held from 1867 until April 2000 — but were stuck outside due to space constraints.
While no hall could ever be large enough to accommodate the entire Church membership, President Hinckley wished to create a place in which much larger numbers of people could attend general conference in person.
The groundbreaking ceremony was held July 24, 1997 — the 150th anniversary of Latter-day Saint pioneers arriving in the Salt Lake Valley.
Construction was a “bold undertaking,” as President Hinckley later said during April 2000 general conference. A consortium of three large construction companies handled the project, an October 2000 Ensign article reported; and on any given day during the height of construction, as many as 1,000 workers were on site.
“While engineers say that most of what was done in constructing the Conference Center had been done before, rarely if ever had it been done on such a scale,” the article states.
First general conference, dedication
By April 2000, construction on the new Conference Center was ongoing but complete enough to hold general conference. During his opening address, President Hinckley shared how the black walnut tree he’d planted 36 years earlier became the Conference Center’s pulpit.
Additionally, all three members of the current First Presidency — President Russell M. Nelson, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring — spoke throughout April 2000 general conference, as did President Jeffrey R. Holland, the current acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
President Hinckley dedicated the Conference Center during general conference on Sunday, Oct. 8, 2000. In the dedicatory prayer — given at the end of the Sunday morning session — he blessed the building to be “a gathering place for Thy people, where they may assemble to hear the word of the Lord as it is spoken by Thy servants who stand as prophets, seers and revelators and as witnesses unto the world of the living reality of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
Following the dedicatory prayer, the congregation offered the Hosanna Shout. This was the most memorable part of the day for Laurie Stienecker, a member of the Olive Ward in the Mesa Arizona Stake, who attended October 2000 general conference. “The Lord is at the helm of this great work. … We still love the Conference Center today and are so grateful to have been there then,” she said.
Juleen Fuller, a member of the Lehi Utah Cedar Hollow Stake, was also at the Conference Center in October 2000. At the time, she was part of the El Dorado Young Single Adult Ward in Long Beach, California, and carpooled with friends to Salt Lake City for general conference. “There was such a powerful spirit. It felt very special to be there,” she said.
Today, the completed Conference Center is a 1.4-million-square-foot structure, built over an entire city block, with its granite coming from the same deposits used for the Salt Lake Temple during the 1800s, according to the Church’s website.
The 21,000-seat auditorium is one of the largest in the world, big enough to fit a Boeing 747 airplane. Over 100,000 people attend general conference across its five sessions each April and October, according to an October 2018 Liahona article.
Notable announcements and events
A number of significant announcements have been made in the Conference Center between April 2000 and October 2024, including:
- April 2005 — The late Elder Richard G. Scott, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, introduced the missionary guide “Preach My Gospel.”
- October 2012 — President Thomas S. Monson, then the President of the Church, announced that minimum-age requirements for full-time missionaries would be lowered from 19 to 18 for men and from 21 to 19 for women.
- October 2018 — Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles announced that church meeting blocks would be two hours long instead of three and gave an overview of the at-home study guide “Come, Follow Me.”
Additionally, notable events have been held at the Conference Center over the last 25 years, including:
- December 2000 — Grammy Award-winning singer Gladys Knight was the first musical guest to perform with the Tabernacle Choir in the Conference Center, during the choir’s Christmas concert, Church News reported.
- February and March 2002 — During the 2002 Olympic Winter Games hosted by Salt Lake City, the Church launched “Light of the World: A Celebration of Life,” the first theatrical spectacular held in the Conference Center, Desert News reported.
- June 2018 — The Church held its historic “Be One” event, a First Presidency-sponsored celebration marking the 40th anniversary of the 1978 revelation on the priesthood, Church News reported.
April 2000 general conference memories
Church members from all over the world attended April 2000 general conference in the new Conference Center. A quarter century later, many of them still recall the powerful, sacred feelings they experienced during that historic weekend.
Ryan Newell, of the Girona Ward in the Barcelona Spain Stake, said he was 9 years old when his grandmother took him to the Saturday morning session of April 2000 general conference. He especially remembers meeting the late Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
“I felt a confirmation that he was an Apostle of Jesus Christ,” Newell said. “That was one of the first of many experiences I’ve had in my life where the Spirit has confirmed to me that true Apostles are on the earth today.”
Richard Allen, of the Calgary Alberta West Stake, said his son attended his first priesthood session during April 2000 general conference. Allen accompanied his son and was “overwhelmed by the sound of approximately 20,000 Latter-day Saints collectively singing the hymns of Zion.”
Some Church members had a unique view during April 2000 general conference. Alex Morris, of the Midvale Utah Stake, said he worked with choir staging at that time, assisting Tabernacle Choir members and leaders.
“The emotions and Spirit were at a very high level during this historic weekend,” Morris said. “One could never forget being at the conductor’s platform and looking over that vast sea of faces, witnessing the entrance of all the general authorities and then sitting in the audience just soaking in that sacred experience.”
