October 12, 2022 | Silvers Spring, Maryland, United States | Angelica Sanchez, ANN
Indianapolis, Indiana, has officially been selected to be the location of the General Conference (GC) Session in 2030.
On October 11 at the 2022 Annual Council, delegates listened to presentations from the two bidding cities, as well as a presentation by the GC Session Committee. City representatives from St. Louis, Missouri and Indianapolis, Indiana, shared reasons as to why World Church leaders should select their cities to host the session in 2030.
The representatives from each city presented information regarding their conference centers, surrounding hotels, as well as nearby tourist attractions attendees and their families could enjoy. After the presentations, the GC Session Committee compared the costs and spaces of each venue before opening the floor for comments.
Concerns were raised from the floor by a number of delegates regarding safety concerns in St. Louis. Other delegates asked about space limitations and the impact of the cost differences. One delegate asked the GC Session Committee if they had a recommendation, to which they stated that they unanimously agreed upon recommending Indianapolis, Indiana, to host the 63rd GC Session for several reasons.
Firstly, 10% of the North American Division lives within 300 miles of Indianapolis, making the location ideal for many Adventists nearby. Also, GC Session will have transitioned from the shortened, hybrid session to a full, in-person, 10-day session. Seating up to 70,000 people, Indiana’s Lucas Oil Stadium is large enough to hold the delegates and visitors, while the nearby convention center is spacious enough to host the exhibition hall, auxiliary meetings, and live musical performances. Furthermore, as one delegate pointed out, the location is also close to several historical Adventist centers of interest, including Andrews University and Adventist Heritage Village, both less than three hours away in Michigan.
The final vote resulted in 96.26% of delegates selecting Indianapolis, Indiana, as the host city for GC Session 2030.
Indianapolis was previously scheduled to host the 61st GC Session in 2020. However, due to double postponement as a result of the pandemic, the session was moved to St.Louis, Missouri. Nevertheless, both the convention center’s committee and the GC Session Committee are excited to pick up the planning right where they left off in 2020 to provide the World Church with a remarkable session in 2030.