27 January 2009

LDS CHQ at the COB: A sampling of Church Acronyms

This is a little off topic for this blog, but working at the Church has opened my eyes to a whole new world of acronyms, almost unfathomable in scope, that even people who have worked here since Brigham Young's time joke about. If you don’t already know, you will soon see that the Church LOVES acronyms…

ACC – Area Controls Committee
ASH – Assembly Hall
AUD – Auditing Department
AVD – Audiovisual Department
BCM – Beehive Clothing
BCS – Bishops Central Storehouse
BFS – Budget and Financial Services Department
BHB – Beehive House
BIC –Born in the Covenant
BLCC – Boundary and Leadership Change Committee
BSH – Bishops Storehouse
BYC – Bishopric Youth Committee
BYP – Brigham Young Park
BYU – Brigham Young University
BYUH – BYU Hawaii
BYUI – BYU Idaho
BYUSC – BYU Salt Lake Center
BYX – BYU Continuing Education
CAB – Church Administration Building
CAC – Church Audiovisual Committee
CAD – Church Auditing Department
CCA – Conference Center Auditorium
CCB – Conference Center Building
CCC – Church Computer Center
CCN – Church Communications Network
CCS – Conference Center Studio
CCT – Conference Center Theater
CES – Church Educational System
CHL – Church History Library
CHQ – Church Headquarters
COB – Church Office Building
CODT – Council on the Disposition of the Tithes
COP – Corporation of the President
COR – Correlation Department
CPB – Corporation of the Presiding Bishop
CSD – Church Security Department
CTR – Choose the Right
CUR – Curriculum Department
CWS – Welfare Square Cannery
D&C – Doctrine and Covenants
DCB – Distribution Center Building
DFCU – Deseret First Credit Union
DGS – Deseret Grain Storage
DI – Deseret Industries
DNB – Deseret News Building
DTA – Director of Temporal Affairs
EFY – Especially for Youth
EGT – Eagle Gate Tower
EQP – Elders Quorum President
FCH – Family and Church History Department
FHC – Family History Center
FHD – Family History Department
FHE – Family Home Evening
FHL – Family History Library
FMAT – Facilities Management Automated Tools
FRD – Finance and Records Department
GAO – General Authority Offices
GMF – General Missionary Fund
GMRV - Granite Mountain Records Vault
GSD – Global Service Desk
GWC – General Welfare Committee
HCB – Humanitarian Center Building
HPGL – High Priests Group Leader
HRC – Human Resource Committee
HTSC – Hotel Temple Square Corporation
IGI – International Genealogical Index
IPD – Investment Properties Department
JSMB – Joseph Smith Memorial Building
LDS – Latter Day Saints
LBSBC – LDS Business College
LDSP – LDS Philanthropies
LDSFS – LDS Family Services
LDSHC – LDS Humanitarian Center
LHB – Lion House Building
MCH – Museum of Church History and Art
MCHX – Museum Annex
MD – Missionary Department
MEC – Missionary Executive Council
MIA – Mutual Improvement Association
MO – Mission Office
MPS – Motion Picture Studio
MTC – Mormon Tabernacle Choir
MTC – Missionary Training Center
NCP – New Church Plaza
NOB – North Office Building
NVC – Visitors Center North
OFP – Office of the First Presidency
OGC – Office of General Counsel Department
OPB – Office of the Presiding Bishopric
OPR – Office of the President
OTS – Orchestra at Temple Square
PAC – Public Affairs Committee
PAD – Public Affairs Department
PAF – Personal Ancestral File
PBO – Presiding Bishopric Office
PEC – Priesthood Executive Council
PFAC – Physical Facilities Advisory Committee
PEF – Perpetual Education Fund
PFD – Physical Facilities Department
PLA – Priesthood Line of Authority
PPI – Personal Priesthood Interview
PRF – Pedigree Resource File
PST – Priesthood Department
QSV – Quorum of the Seventy
QTW – Quorum of the Twelve
RID – Research Information Division
RM – Return Missionary
RSB – Relief Society Building
SHP – Social Hall Plaza
SLC – Salt Lake City
SLT – Salt Lake Temple
SOTW – Savior of the World
SVC – Visitors Center South
TAB – Tabernacle
TCB – Triad Center Building
TCH – Tabernacle Choir Department
TDEC – Temple Department Executive Committee
TFHEC – Temple and Family History Executive Council
TFSC – Temple Facilities and Sites Committee
TPL – Temple Department
TRL – Translation Department
TSC – Temple Sites Committee
TSP – Temple Special Projects
TSQ – Temple Square
TVC – Temple View Center
WEL – Welfare Services Department
WFC – Welfare Finance Committee
WSQ – Welfare Square
YCM – Youth Committee Meeting
YMMA – Young Men Mutual Association
YWMA – Young Women Mutual Association
ZSC – Zion’s Security Corporation


Are there any others you can think of…?

There is an actual acronym finder on the Church Intranet, from which I found some of these. Believe me when I say there are MANY, MANY more. Others I added from my experience in the Church. And others are listed here. Some of the unusual or funny ones listed on the Church Intranet include:

CIA – Central Intelligence Agency (with an actual link to the CIA)
DMZ – Demilitarized Zone (with a link to Wikipedia)
DOT – Department of Transportation (with a link to UDOT)
ISA – International Society of Arboriculture (a worldwide professional organization dedicated to fostering a greater appreciation for trees)
LOL – laughing out loud
BTW – by the way
CD – compact disc
TLA – three letter acronym

7 comments:

John Kendall said...

That is seriously out of control. I'm pretty sure the Military still has us beat, but not by much.

mormonhermitmom said...

Don't forget the church has SAHMs - DH, DD, DS,
Stay at home moms
Dear husband,
Dear Daughter
Dear Son, etc.
LOL

Th. said...

.

"TLA"? Seriously?

green mormon architect said...

Yes, out of control is a good way to put it - it would be interesting to compare with a similar military list...

good additions mormonhermitmom - I knew there were others I had forgotten...

Th. - Even funnier is the TLA acronym even has a link to Wikipedia with it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TLA

Anonymous said...

"Don't forget the church has SAHMs - DH, DD, DS."

Those familial acronyms didn't actually originate out of the church but from the internet in the blogging culture. We can't claim those.

Unknown said...

Is this Orwellian LDS? LDSPEAK?

(posted on the Draper temple thread before...sorry)

Unknown said...

The military has an entire book called the JANAP 119 for its acronyms.

JANAP stands for Joint Army Navy Air Force Publication.

It has hundreds of thousands of listings

Code Words
Nicknames
Exercise Terms
Call Signs
NATO ASCC Reporting Names
Popular Names
Unit and Base Names
Vehicle Names

All of these names are acronyms for real items


Military Acronyms normally are as follows

COMNAVSURFPAC

COM - Commander
NAV - Naval
SURF - Surface
PAC - Pacific

This refers to a man who commands the naval forces in the pacific fleet area (surface forces) there is also a COMNAVSUBPAC, and a COMNAVAIRPAC