Report of the 170th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Sermons and proceedings of 7–8 October 2000 from the Conference Center, Salt Lake City, Utah

“As I contemplate this marvelous structure, adjacent to the temple,” said President Gordon B. Hinckley during the dedication of the Conference Center on Sunday, 8 October, “there comes to mind the great prophetic utterance of Isaiah:

“‘And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

“‘And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem (Isa. 2:2–3).’ …

“I believe that prophecy applies to the historic and wonderful Salt Lake Temple. But I believe also that it is related to this magnificent hall. For it is from this pulpit that the law of God shall go forth, together with the word and testimony of the Lord,” he said.

“This millennial year of 2000 has been a remarkable year for the Church. We have expanded on every front across the world. We have passed the 11 million membership mark,” President Hinckley reported.

“Last Sunday we dedicated in Boston, Massachusetts, the 100th working temple of the Church,” he added. “How deeply grateful are our people.”

Sessions of the general conference were conducted by members of the First Presidency: President Hinckley on Saturday morning, in the Saturday evening priesthood meeting, and Sunday morning; President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor, on Saturday afternoon; and President James E. Faust, Second Counselor, on Sunday afternoon.

Administrative action taken during the Saturday afternoon session of conference affected the Quorums of the Seventy and Sunday School general presidency. One change was made in the Presidency of the Seventy; three members of the First Quorum of the Seventy were given emeritus status; four members of the Second Quorum of the Seventy were released; 20 Area Authority Seventies were released and two new Area Authority Seventies called; and the Sunday School general presidency was reorganized.

This conference was the first to be broadcast with a high definition television (HDTV) signal, using the state-of-the-art broadcast facilities in the new Conference Center. High definition television provides a crisper, better color picture for viewers at home and provides higher quality images for archival storage of broadcasts. Conference sessions were relayed live via satellite to gatherings of members in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Caribbean, and Latin America. More than 1,500 radio and television stations and cable systems carried all or portions of the conference sessions. All sessions were also available at www.lds.org in English in both audio and video formats and in 34 other languages in audio only. Videotapes of the conference were made available through distribution centers for areas of the Church where the broadcast was not received.—The Editors