Oh, the places youll go to church: Inside YSA Sunday services at BYU

When BYU is not lecturing or teaching its students, the campus serves as a place where students gather to attend church in its many buildings on Sundays.

The decision to have the campus fulfill multiple uses was a joint decision between The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the university.

Years ago, there was a church use agreement that was created, which would allow all the YSA wards and stakes that are affiliated with BYU to meet on campus, David Jungheim, space management coordinator facilities planning, said. Instead of having to go out near campus and find out where to build enough ward houses and stake centers to accommodate about 172 wards and 17 stakes. So I think this was inspired.

The church services that take place are not designated to one building, but are spread to buildings across campus.

Ive had church in the Library, JKB, MARB, Tanner and McKay building, Shannon McKay, a BYU student, said.

Beyond ensuring a building is an appropriate space for church use, Jungheim said decisions about which buildings church services are held depend on the amount of space available. This helps make sure there is enough room for parts of services such as sacrament meetings, priesthood meetings, Sunday School and Relief Society.

These spaces are so important that they are considered whenever an old building is replaced with a new one.

For example, the arts building and the music building. Theres some requirements as far as how many general use classrooms have to be in the new building so that the university doesnt lose classroom space, Jungheim said. Theres also decisions made of having rooms large enough for sacrament meetings and all the other types of meetings.

While meeting on campus for church is a unique aspect of universities affiliated with BYU, some students experience an adjustment period.

I thought it was really weird and I was worried I wouldnt get anything out of church, McKay said. It just felt weird because I have also had classes in some of the same rooms so it was hard to focus just on church stuff."

It definitely took me a while to get used to, Samantha Cassell, a BYU student, said.

Jungheim said that the responsibilities of his team go beyond coordinating places for individuals to attend church. They also consider providing spaces for interviews, board councils and stake councils. These spaces are often provided by using a professors office, making it as much a faculty experience as a student one.

Ive personally come across emails that were sent to us by professors who changed jobs and changed offices, Jungheim said. And they reach out to us and say, look, I felt blessed to have bishop interviews in my office after hours during the week, and now Im in this new office and I would like to make my new office available for that.

According to Jungheim, much of the funding for campus spaces comes from the church, including the management of 132 pianos placed across buildings to support both church services and the individuals who attend them.

Theyre getting to experience different parts of campus, Jungheim said. And I dont know how many students understand that there is a church use agreement and that it was an inspired decision to save money and to make more efficient and better use of the space thats already available."