At the 2022 Annual Council, Executive Committee members choose the city over St. Louis.
Published on: 10-17-2022
Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, has officially been selected as the location of the 63rd General Conference (GC) Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 2030.
On October 11, as part of the 2022 Annual Council, Executive Committee (GC-EXCOM) members listened to presentations by representatives from St. Louis, Missouri and Indianapolis, Indiana, as each made the case for why world church leaders should select their city to host the session in 2030.
Representatives from the two bidding cities presented information about 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 available at each venue before opening the floor for comments.
GC-EXCOM members raised questions about safety concerns in St. Louis. Other delegates asked about space limitations and the impact of the cost differences. One delegate asked if the GC Session Committee had a recommendation. The committee responded by unanimously recommending Indianapolis, Indiana for the 63rd GC Session, for several reasons.
First, 10 percent of North American Division members live within 300 miles (480 kilometers) of Indianapolis, making the location ideal for many Adventists to drive to the event. The GC Session will also 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 percent 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 because of the pandemic, the session was moved to St. Louis, Missouri. Notwithstanding, both the convention center’s committee and the GC Session Committee said they are excited to resume planning right where they left off in 2020 to provide the world church with a remarkable session in 2030.
The original version of this story was posted by Adventist News Network.
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