General Conference Session Postponed Until 2022

The Executive Committee of the global Seventh-day Adventist Church has decided once again to postpone the General Conference session. This will be the second time in less than a year that the session has been postponed. Originally scheduled to take place late June 2020 in Indianapolis, Ind., the committee rescheduled to May 2021 earlier last year. However, in a virtual Zoom session on Jan. 12, 2021, members of the Executive Committee from around the world met to discuss the upcoming conference and came to the difficult decision to postpone yet again. 

Chaired by church president Ted Wilson, the group heard from world division officers, Adventist Risk Management, health professionals, the Office of the General Counsel and more, all recommending that the General Conference be postponed for another year. Director of Health Ministries for the Adventist Church, Peter Landless, said, “We’ve been consulting with international experts, and taking into account the needs and concerns. The GC Health Ministries department believes it is prudent and practical stewardship to postpone the GC Session to 2022, given this difficult time. And it is with a heavy heart one makes this recommendation. However, it is a recommendation that comes because it appears there is no alternative.” 

President Ted Wilson agreed, saying, “This is not a recommendation directly coming from the three senior officers of the GC. This is something that has come from a plethora of information and counselors.” 

In addition to the health and safety issues that the pandemic has presented, there were other challenges. International travel and visas, quarantine, transportation, travel bans and more all added to the doubts as to whether the session could go forward. At the conclusion of the meeting, the motion to postpone the General Conference session to 2022 was voted on electronically by the committee and passed with 185 in favor and nine against. “We have been brought to this point, not because it is something we would like to do, but something we have to do,” stated Landless after the vote was taken. The General Conference session is now scheduled to take place June 6-11, 2022 in Indianapolis, Ind.

Hannah Olin is a sophomore

history education major from

Princeton, Ill.