In the heart of downtown St. Louis, Missouri, the America’s Center Convention Complex is rapidly transforming in preparation for the 2025 General Conference (GC) Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

With just days to go before the official start on July 3, 2025, setup crews are working to prepare the 500,000-square-foot venue for an estimated 100,000 delegates, staff, and attendees. 

The arena, which will serve as the main meeting hall, is being fitted with advanced audiovisual equipment to support multilingual programming and international livestreams. 

Jim Hobbs, who has worked with the North American Division in the Central California Conference for approximately eight years, will be one of the audio engineers working during the 10-day event. 

“Twelve hour days are pretty normal. Oftentimes at these events, as a manager for the area, you end up working 18,” said Hobbs. “We do this for one reason, and that’s because we love Jesus.”

The exhibition hall, located on the first level of the convention center, is buzzing with activity as crews outfit hundreds of booths dedicated to ministries, departments, and divisions ready to connect with visitors from around the world. 

“We’ve been working on our booth for over a year and a half,” said Shelly Erhard, director of student visits at Andrews University. “We’ve revamped our booth from last session and collaborated with many different departments across the university to have Andrews University properly represented.” 

Delegates are invited to stop by this booth to receive a free gift. 

Emeraude Victorin, director of Marketing for the Faith and Science Council of the GC, expressed an appreciation for the atmosphere inside the exhibition hall as collaboration between the center’s union workers and exhibit coordinators progresses. 

“Since arriving, everyone has been willing to go above and beyond to help us,” Victorin said. 

Though most of the action is still behind the scenes, one thing is clear: the Seventh-day Adventist Church is preparing to welcome the world to St. Louis.

For more information about the 2025 General Conference session, visit http://www.gcsession.org. Join the ANN WhatsApp Channel for the latest Adventist news.