By Gary Thurber

I get asked that question quite often, especially in the weeks before the session is scheduled to begin. People start to calculate in their heads the cost of so many making their way from around the world to St. Louis for the 10-day event. Then they begin to add up all the costs of the exhibitors, the facility costs, production costs … and the number gets big. Some begin to think, “There has got to be a better way to use those funds!”

First, let me tell you the church spends an average of about a dime per member per year on General Conference (GC) Session costs. That’s 50 cents per member every five years for us to come together. Of course, when you have over 20 million members, that too is a big number. So, what happens at the GC Session that makes all the costs and work that goes into it worth it?

There are many reasons one could list, but I will only share my top five.

  1. The GC Session is the only venue in which the church can make decisions as to who will serve as our president, along with all the other elected positions. Delegates from around the world have the final decision on who they feel the Lord would want to lead our movement. This is so important because the delegate group is made up of 50 percent lay people, and the others are front line workers and administrators from around the globe. These important decisions are not left up to a handful of administrators, but rather for the nearly 3,000 delegates to decide.
  2. The GC Session is where we can make decisions together about our policies and our Church Manual. Both are crucial to the mission and ministry of our church. These policies and guidelines define how we work together to fulfill our mission. If good care is not given to this process, we can hinder our ability to spread the everlasting gospel.
  3. The renewal of friendships—and the ability to make new friends—from around the world is priceless. I will never forget the pastors I have met from the other side of the world and hearing their stories of how God is working in their fields. It is absolutely awe inspiring. The GC Session gives us the opportunity to stretch our minds with how expansive our church has become around the globe. These are people I would never meet if we didn’t come together as a world church.
  4. Through the exhibit hall, we are all exposed to the latest ways in which we can reach out to our dying world with our great message of hope—whether it is a new way to use technology, the printed page, the radio wave, the internet, or our health message to touch people’s lives. You truly come home inspired to be more engaged with this end-time movement.
  5. Finally, the GC Session offers a unique opportunity to worship together our Savior and King, Jesus Christ. In a world that is more divided and torn apart than ever, to see people from nearly every country on the planet come together in peace and worship is nothing short of a miracle and proof positive that, in Christ, we are one. Not only are the messages inspiring, but the music is simply amazing. Instrumentalists, vocalists, and choirs from around the world thrill us beyond words with the incredible talents the Lord has given them. Simply worshiping together as a world church would be enough reason for me to hold the GC Session.

What are your plans for attending the GC Session? This is the last time it will be held in Mid-America for quite a while. I urge you to come and experience it. If you are not able to come and listen in on the business sessions during the week, come at least for Sabbath to worship. The auditorium holds 70,000 people, and event planners hope it will be full.

There is nothing else like it! I hope to see you there!

—Gary is the president of the Mid-America Union. Republished with permission from the July/August OUTLOOK magazine opinion article. Photo from GCSession.org/History.