Volume 5 Issue 3 | June 2022

This Changes Everything

By Cristina Baker, from Hope in 60 Seconds

I was an outcast. Worthless. Surviving and escaping. My life was hopeless — until I met Jesus, just like the woman at the well. Like her, I wasn’t exactly sure what had happened; I just knew I believed.

I knew something was different, and I wanted to tell everybody about Him. From one day to another, I received revelation in my heart that everything revolves around Jesus. All my life, I had pursued the wrong things for all the wrong reasons. Yet He had been there all along, following me through life, knowing a day would come when I would run into the arms of my Savior.

A moment of surrender made every trial and hard place worth it, because they prepared me to meet Him. In the blink of an eye, I realized that He had actually been with me all my life, loving me in ways that I couldn’t see, protecting me from dangers I didn’t know.

Instantly, He lit my heart on fire for Him; I wanted everybody to taste the living water that had at long last quenched my thirsty soul. The thought of Jesus giving His life for me wrecked me. I was overcome by the power of God moving in my life. Others told me that I would probably end up dead, not even see my thirties, because of the road I traveled. But in one moment, when Jesus stepped into the room, everything changed. That afternoon, I came face-to-face with Jesus — a Man with fire in His eyes who wanted me, chose me, and loved me.

Jesus wants to redeem every moment you have lost in life. He specializes in taking the most broken, lost cases and making them brand-new. Set your eyes on Him today. Trust Him to restore every broken area of your life and the lives of those you know and love. His very presence changes us from the inside out. You don’t need to have it all figured out before you come to Him. By faith, come boldly before Him, reaching out to the One who created you and loves you.

This month, the music department is focusing on African-American Adventist composers. How many can you match with the songs they wrote?

From gcsession.org/history

What Is a General Conference Session?

The General Conference (GC) Session is the forum for electing world church officers and voting changes to the church’s Constitution. Delegates also hear reports from each of the 13 administrative regions of the church. Voting delegates for the session represent world regions both by church population and the self-sustainability of administrative regions. The Constitution states that at least 50 percent of delegates shall be laypersons, pastors, teachers, and nonadministrative employees, of both genders and representing a range of age groups and nationalities. Church members also have the opportunity to reconnect with friends from around the world.

Transformation Over Time

While sessions are now held in arenas, pictures from early sessions show delegates lined along the entrance to a small church. Back then, the movement’s leaders came to the session in Michigan mostly from the midwestern and northeastern United States by train or by horse and buggy. Today, about one third of the movement’s membership now resides in Africa, with another third residing in Central and South America. Brazil now has more Adventists than any other country — 1.3 million.

Session Beginnings

Seventh-day Adventist leaders met in Battle Creek, Michigan, in 1863 “for the purpose of organizing a General Conference,” the minutes from that meeting say. The meeting began on the evening of May 20, during which delegates chose a chairman and a secretary. During the session, delegates drafted a constitution and bylaws. They also established leadership of the conference comprised of a President, Secretary, and Treasurer. Today, the same officer structure remains at all levels of church administration.

Frequency

The time between sessions has lengthened over the years. A session was held every year until 1891. A session was then held every other year until 1905. The sessions then took a four-year break followed by another hiatus during World War I before meeting again in 1918. Afterward, the sessions were held every four years until the Great Depression when a session was held in 1930, but then not again until 1936 and then 1941. Since 1970, sessions have been held every five years, as is mandated by the Adventist Church Constitution.

Meeting Venues

Battle Creek was the site of 26 of the first 31 GC Sessions. The first session held west of the Mississippi River was in November of 1887 in Oakland, California. GC sessions have been held outside the U.S. three times: in Austria in 1975, the Netherlands in 1995, and in Canada in 2000. St. Louis will be the 61st Session, which will meet from June 6-11, 2022.

Recent GC sessions have been held in arenas in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Few other venues in the world offer the necessary amenities for such an event: seating for 70,000-plus attendees, venue support staff who speak English (the official business language of the church), reliable and cost-effective transportation, and food safety for a large group.

1: Autumn Bell 2: Ingrid Edwards, Rondell Gammon, LaQwonna Glaster, Shavonne Roach, Andrea Stepney 3: Bonnie Johnson, Jackie Parris, Dale Patterson 5: Nadia Jenkins, Nioma Jenkins, Samara Orr 6: Cealana Crockett 7: Joyce Gibson 8: Cherlo Cherestal, John Crenshaw, Sandra McGill, Laniqua Smith-Crawford, 10: Millie Bradley 11: Bryan Crowley, Therica Holland, 12: Eliana Campbell, Thembeka Macayaia, Lisa Vannoy 13: Michelle Myles, Orville Williams 14: Natasha Gregory 16: Whitley Cox 17: Tanya Lewis 18: Cindy McGill, Dominique Parham, Sylvia Safford, LaTonya Truett 20: Tahira Ashley 21: Morgan Jackson 22: Sheila Hayes 23: Jadon Nious, Christian Stepney, Janelle Williams 24: Colleen McClellan, Ted Thompson, Kellie Walker 25: Brittany Cantrell, Courtney Cantrell, Aaron Terrell 28: Ryan Hall, Paris Hayes, Patsy Williams 29: Minnie Fleming, Terrence St. Lewis 30: Jacques Moise

💖 Happy 15th anniversary to Tyson and Darlene Bell, and

Happy 45th Anniversary to Henry and Judy Griffith! 💖

Did we miss your June birthday or anniversary? Let us know by emailing [email protected].

Answers: 1C, 2G, 3F, 4A, 5D, 6B, 7E, 8I, 9J, 10H