Perhaps you call it a "podium." Possibly a "lectern" or "rostrum." Or maybe simply "the stand."

Whatever the name, there are a handful of prominent pulpits — historic originals and feel-free-to-touch replicas — on display this weekend in downtown Salt Lake City as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints conducts its 180th semiannual general conference.

"Stand" took a different meaning for the initial Sunday worship services conducted once the first pioneers reached the Salt Lake Valley, as speakers were recorded as having stood on a wagon tongue when addressing the congregation in the outdoor meeting held near where they camped.

The Conference Center pulpit is affectionately know in some circles as "the Hinckley pulpit,"

President Hinckley also requested the design of a series of beehive images across the upper front and sides. The pulpit also features a white leather top surface along with built-in air-conditioning and fan, a clock, a video monitor and a set of sound speakers to provide audio balance for the individual who is talking.

Even when it's not in use, the pulpit remains essentially at the same location, just dropped a dozen feet below the rostrum on the same vertical footprint. It sits on a motorized pylon — one that not only adjusts the pulpit to preset measurements of the speakers' respective heights but also lowers it into permanent storage underneath the main staging area.