# General Conference Session (Seventh-day Adventist Church)

The General Conference Session is the official world meeting of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, held every five years. At the session, delegates from around the world elect the Church's World Leaders, discuss and vote on changes to the Church's Constitution, and listen to reports from the Church's 13 Divisions on activities going on within its territory.
The first session was held on May 20, 1863 in Battle Creek, Michigan with 20 delegates in attendance. The early sessions were held every year in a small church. As the Church's membership grew, time between sessions lengthened, meeting places got bigger, and more delegates attended. Today the sessions are held every five years in cities with stadiums that can seat more than 70,000 attendees, which includes the more than 2,400 delegates attending and the visitors from around the world who are watching the session.

## List of sessions

| Session | Date | City | Venue | # of Delegates | Theme | Comments |
| 1. | May 20–23, 1863 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 20 | | General Conference organized |
| 2. | May 18–21, 1864 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 20 | | |
| 3. | May 17, 1865 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 21 | | Work with "colored" people organized |
| 4. | May 16–17, 1866 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 19 | | |
| 5. | May 14–19, 1867 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 18 | | |
| 6. | May 12–18, 1868 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 15 | | |
| 7. | May 18–24, 1869 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 16 | | |
| 8. | March 15–20, 1870 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 22 | | James Erzberger of Switzerland becomes the first delegate from outside the United States |
| 9. | February 7–12, 1871 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 17 | | |
| 10. | December 29, 1871 – January 3, 1872 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 14 | | |
| 11. | March 11–14, 1873 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 18 | | |
| 12. | November 14–16, 1873 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 21 | | |
| 13. | August 10–15, 1874 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 19 | | J.N. Andrews become the denomination's first authorized overseas missionary |
| 14. | August 15–18, 1875 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 18 | | |
| 1st Special | March 31 – April 4, 1876 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 15 | | |
| 15. | September 19–24, 1876 | Lansing, Michigan | | 16 | | First session to be held in another city in Michigan |
| 2nd Special | November 12–13, 1876 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 16 | | |
| 16. | September 20–28, 1877 | Lansing, Michigan | | 20 | | |
| 3rd Special | March 1–4, 1878 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 22 | | |
| 17. | October 4–16, 1878 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 39 | | |
| 4th Special | April 17–23, 1879 | Battle Creek, Michigan | | 29 | | |
| 18. | November 7 – December 1, 1879 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 39 | | |
| 5th Special | March 11–15, 1880 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 28 | | |
| 19. | October 6–12, 1880 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 38 | | |
| 20. | December 1–19, 1881 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 41 | | |
| 21. | December 7–19, 1882 | Rome, New York | Rome SDA Church | 47 | | First session to be held outside of Michigan |
| 22. | November 8–20, 1883 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 65 | | |
| 23. | October 30 – November 20, 1884 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 67 | | |
| 24. | November 18 – December 6, 1885 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 70 | | |
| 25. | November 18 – December 6, 1886 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 71 | | |
| 26. | November 13 – December 12, 1887 | Oakland, California | Oakland SDA Church | 70 | | First Session to be held west of the Mississippi River |
| 27. | October 18 – November 8, 1888 | Minneapolis, Minnesota | Minneapolis SDA Church | 91 | | Jones & Waggoner present Salvation by Faith, see 1888 Minneapolis General Conference, O. A. Olsen becomes first GC president not born in the United States |
| 28. | October 18 – November 5, 1889 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 109 | | First Session with more than 100 delegates |
| 29. | March 5–25, 1891 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 125 | | |
| 30. | February 17 – March 6, 1893 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 130 | | |
| 31. | February 15 – March 4, 1895 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 150 | | |
| 32. | February 19 – March 8, 1897 | Lincoln, Nebraska | | 140 | | |
| 33. | February 15 – March 7, 1899 | South Lancaster, Massachusetts | South Lancaster SDA Church | 149 | | |
| 34. | April 2–23, 1901 | Battle Creek, Michigan | Tabernacle | 268 | | Major denominational reorganization with the creation of departments |
| 35. | March 27 – April 13, 1903 | Oakland, California | Oakland SDA Church | 139 | | |
| 36. | May 11–30, 1905 | Washington, D.C. | Tent meeting | 197 | | |
| 37. | May 13 – June 6, 1909 | Washington, D.C. | Tent meeting | 328 | | Ellen White's last session. First Session with delegates from each of the world's major continents |
| 38. | May 15 – June 8, 1913 | Washington, D.C. | Tent meeting | 372 | | |
| 39. | March 29 – April 14, 1918 | San Francisco, California | San Francisco Municipal Auditorium | 443 | | First Session to not be held in a church building |
| 40. | May 11–28, 1922 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 581 | | |
| 41. | May 27 – June 14, 1926 | Milwaukee, Wisconsin | Milwaukee Auditorium | 577 | | |
| 42. | May 28 – June 12, 1930 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 577 | | |
| 43. | May 26 – June 8, 1936 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 671 | | |
| 44. | May 26 – June 7, 1941 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 619 | | |
| 45. | June 5–15, 1946 | Washington, D.C. | Sligo SDA Church | 828 | | Last Session to be held in a church building |
| 46. | July 10–22, 1950 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 943 | | |
| 47. | May 24 – June 5, 1954 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 1109 | | First Session to have more than 1000 delegates |
| 48. | June 19–28, 1958 | Cleveland, Ohio | Public Auditorium | 1160 | | |
| 49. | July 26 – August 4, 1962 | San Francisco, California | Exposition Auditorium | 1314 | We Have This Hope | |
| 50. | June 16–25, 1966 | Detroit, Michigan | Cobo Hall | 1495 | Behold He Cometh | |
| 51. | June 11–20, 1970 | Atlantic City, New Jersey | Atlantic City Convention Hall | 1782 | That the World May Know | |
| 52. | July 10–19, 1975 | Vienna, Austria | Stadthalle | 1756 | Now is the Time | First session to be held outside of North America |
| 53. | April 16–26, 1980 | Dallas, Texas | Dallas Convention Center | 1925 | By His Spirit | 27 Fundamental Beliefs Created; now 28 Fundamentals |
| 54. | June 27 – July 6, 1985 | New Orleans, Louisiana | Superdome | 2044 | Christ Our Hope | First Session with more than 2000 delegates |
| 55. | July 5–14, 1990 | Indianapolis, Indiana | Hoosier Dome | 2239 | We Shall Behold Him | Global Mission was launched. 3ABN first broadcast of a General Conference Session |
| 56. | June 29 – July 8, 1995 | Utrecht, Netherlands | Jaarbeurs Complex | 2321 | United in Christ | Second session held outside of North America |
| 57. | June 29 – July 8, 2000 | Toronto, Ontario, Canada | SkyDome | 1844 | Almost Home | Hope Channel first broadcast of a General Conference Session |
| 58. | June 29 – July 9, 2005 | St. Louis, Missouri | Edward Jones Dome | 1903 | Transformed in Christ | 28th fundamental belief added to the 27 |
| 59. | June 23 – July 3, 2010 | Atlanta, Georgia | Georgia Dome | 2244 | Proclaiming God's Grace | |
| 60. | July 2–11, 2015 | San Antonio, Texas | Alamodome | 2566 | Arise! Shine! Jesus is Coming! | |
| 6th Special | January 18, 2022 | Silver Spring, Maryland | General Conference Headquarters | 290 | | Was called for at the GC Spring Meeting of 2021 by General Conference Executive Committee for the sole purpose of amending the GC Constitution to allow delegates to participate by digital means at future sessions. |
| 61. | June 6–11, 2022 | St. Louis, Missouri | America's Center Complex | 2713 | Jesus is Coming! Get Involved! | Originally scheduled from June 25 - July 4, 2020 in Indianapolis, Indiana, but postponed twice, and relocated, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. |
| 62. | July 3-12, 2025 | St. Louis, Missouri | America's Center Complex | TBD | Jesus is Coming, I Will Go! | Future Session |
| 63. | 2030 | Indianapolis, Indiana | TBD | TBD | TBD | Future Session |