Sometimes the various buildings owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (often referred to as “the Mormons”) can get confusing to those outside the Mormon faith. There are chapels, where regular Sunday services are held. There are temples, where sacred ordinances are performed. There are also institute buildings.

The LDS institute program is specifically designed for Latter-day Saint students attending college or other post-secondary education. Similar to the seminary program for high school students, institute classes are offered to help older students balance their educations; they provide spiritual learning alongside of the secular.

Institute classes may be offered anywhere. I’ve seen them taught in chapels and in regular campus classrooms. But schools with a significant number of LDS students often have institute buildings near campus. These buildings are places where institute classes, regular church services, and social activities can be held. They can be places where LDS students stop between classes — sometimes to visit, sometimes to eat, and sometimes to study.

The institute building at the University of Utah, the Salt Lake University Institute, has been the largest LDS institute building in the entire world. This is not surprising, considering the large population of Latter-day Saints in Utah. It was recently featured in the Deseret Morning News in Salt Lake City, Utah.

According to the article, the Salt Lake University Institute has the largest institute enrollment in the Church — over 7000 students. The building has 25 classrooms, with nearly 250 classes taught by 29 full-time and 30 volunteer instructors. There are also 14 secretaries and 10 volunteer service missionaries assigned there. In addition, there are four chapels and associated offices that allow university student wards (congregations) to hold their regular meetings there.

Other institute buildings are generally not so large. The one where I attended college, for example, had one classroom, one full-time instructor and program director, and another instructor who divided his time between the institute program and supervising the area seminary programs. There was also a full-time secretary. Several classes were offered throughout each week; most were taught by the full-time instructor, but the other instructor and the secretary also taught classes.

The program I attended was smaller, but the intent behind the classes, program, and the buildings were all the same.

“The mission of this institute of religion I don’t think is any different than any other institute of religion, which is to provide a weekday religious class experience for students attending the University of Utah … to give them a spiritual part to their day or week,” Salt Lake University Institute director Allan Gunnerson said to the Deseret Morning News.

According to the Deseret News, Gunnerson said his hope is to “create a place where students of all faiths can feel accepted, socialize with those who have similar standards and supplement their university education with a spiritual education.” He wants the building to “be one of the locations where students choose to be when not in class.”

“I’m trying to create an atmosphere here where this is kind of the (Student) Union Building No. 2,” said Gunnerson to the Deseret Morning News.

And that’s the same kind of response that many institute directors will give you. An LDS institute building is a place where students can find a safe haven from the rest of the world.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, who was serving as the prophet and the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints at the time of his death on January 27, has said: “We urge all for whom [Institute] is available to take advantage of it. We do not hesitate to promise that your knowledge of the gospel will be increased, your faith will be strengthened, and you will develop wonderful associations and friendships.” (“The Miracle Made Possible by Faith,” Ensign, May 1984, 46.)

More information about the LDS institute program and locations of institute programs worldwide can be found at http://www.ldsces.org/institute/.