June 2, 2022 | Silver Spring, Maryland, United States | Ted N.C. Wilson, President, General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Ted Wilson (TW): Greetings, Brothers and Sisters from around the world! Today, I, and my colleagues—Erton Kohler, Executive Secretary of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, and Paul Douglas, our world Church’s Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer, would like to invite you to attend—either in person, or online—the 61st General Conference Session being held at the America’s Center Convention Complex in St. Louis, Missouri. The Session begins this Monday, June 6, and will finish on Sabbath, June 11.
Erton Kohler (EK): We hope you are being blessed by the 40 Days of Prayer leading up to the General Conference Session, and that you will continue to pray as more than 2,000 delegates from around the world will meet together in this very important business session. The Session is the largest, most representative business meeting of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. And yet, it is so much more. It is a time to gather as a worldwide family, to worship, pray, plan, and fellowship together.
Paul Douglas (PD): When the first General Conference Session was held in May 1863, 20 delegates met in a small, wooden church in Battle Creek, Michigan. The delegates represented a few thousand Sabbath-keeping Advent believers, mainly from the Northeast and Midwestern regions of the United States. Today, we are a worldwide family of more than 21 million members spread across 200+ countries! We now hold General Conference Sessions in large stadiums and convention centers where more than 2,500 voting delegates along with tens of thousands of Seventh-day Adventists from around the world gather together for this quinquennial event.
TW: While the venues have changed and the Adventist family has grown exponentially, the commitment to Christ, His mission, His last-day message for a world in need, and the hope of His soon return remain the constant focus of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. This hope is embodied in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and 17 where we read: “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord.” It is this hope, this message, this mission, that drives us forward and informs every decision we make as a worldwide church family.
EK: Although we come from diverse cultures, languages, and backgrounds, we are connected—united together within the body of Christ through a higher calling, a higher purpose, and the biblical mandate He has given to His prophetic, remnant people to share His important messages of love, especially as found in Revelation 12-14.
PD: Following the Biblical mandate to “Let all things be done decently and in order” (1 Cor. 14:40, NKJV), we come together in an organized way, with every part of the world church recognized and represented through voted delegates, each one given a voice and a vote.
And while there are many aspects of this large quinquennial event, it is primarily a spiritual and business meeting of the world Church. During the meetings, world leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church are elected and items affecting the entire Church are prayerfully considered, discussed, and decided by these representative delegates from around the world.
TW: During this 61st General Conference Session, we invite you, whether you will be joining us in person in St. Louis, or online, to pray together for God’s leading in a marvelous way as we move together in planning for His mission and in carrying out His business at this Session. We can be assured that “We have nothing to fear for the future, except as we shall forget the way the Lord has led us, and His teaching in our past history.” (Christian Experience and Teachings of Ellen G. White, p. 204)
EK: Since this will be a hybrid General Conference Session, some of the delegates will be attending through electronic platforms, such as Zoom. However, everyone is invited to watch the livestream of these important meetings by going to gcsession.org/live [https://www.gcsession.org/live/].
TW: Let us plead together for the outpouring of the latter rain of the Holy Spirit, anticipating the soon second coming of Jesus Christ as we move forward together through His Power to reach millions for Him. Jesus is Coming! Get Involved! Let us pray together just now.