The main stage at the floor of the Dome at America’s Center in St. Louis, Missouri, is the place to which all eyes are turned during the 62nd General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church. 

The more than 2,500 on-site delegates and their families, the hundreds of exhibitors, and thousands of guests attending this 10-day event come to watch the church business being conducted on an extensive platform with screens, lights, and decorations. 

For all the proceedings and inspiring moments to take place seamlessly on this main stage, a sophisticated behind-the-scenes operation is run with high levels of attention, efficiency, and committed preparation. These unseen “heroes” manage a highly complex set-up with professional calm, in order to provide the best experience possible for all attendees, as well as for those watching around the world.

Backstage Management 

When someone is going participate in the event on stage, they are escorted by assistants to the left side of the platform, where, behind black curtains, they step into a world of cables, equipment trunks, and simple structures put together to access the front. Although absent of lights and color, the backstage is surprisingly organized: an entrance for musicians; a separate area for visual retouching (also known as make-up); a central space with seating mirroring the platform seats; and a main entrance for speakers, all well signed and coordinated by an experienced team.

The staff responsible for this “silent” service at the 2025 Session is being led by platform director Rick Remmers (NAD), who coordinates five stage managers working in shifts. They receive the program lineup from individuals in GC Secretariat, who make sure information is accurate and updated. With constant headset communication, the team juggles minute-by-minute protocols, while often rehearsing tomorrow's program during today's execution.

Steve Haley, president of the Kentucky-Tennessee Conference in the United States, is serving as one of the stage managers for this Session. He describes the job as making sure everyone is ready to go on stage, fit for the cameras, and at the proper time.

“The make-up retouch is needed because of the bright lights and the magnifying of the cameras,” he explained. “Then, we communicate to participants where they will stand or sit, and the order of entrance.”

After participants temporarily remove their shiny badges so as not to distract the viewers, the next moments are the part Haley enjoys the most: “I have the chance to pray with them before they go in,” he said, smiling. “It is a joy to pray together.”

Sounds and Screens

The music management team has their own work of coordinating hundreds of musicians, who come into the stage on the left side at the proper date and time, for performances or sound checks.

The central control of audiovisual is hidden behind the stage, where technical director Scott Grady and his team of audio technicians, video producers, graphic artists, and content producers strive for "invisible excellence." The goal is for everything to work as intended, so delegates and viewers never notice the machinery enabling their experience.

Grady leads the Audiovisual Broadcast team (AVB), bringing together more than 30 professionals responsible for all the video and audio content of the Session. This is not his first time leading in this capacity, and his expertise is appreciated by colleagues and apprentices alike.

“Scott is our go-to person for all things AV at the Session. He knows what is going on and keeps the team working smoothly,” said Nick Wolfer, production director at NAD. 

“We usually start working in the dome before everybody else,” Grady said. “When we arrived a week ago, this place was empty, and the dome floor was bare.”

By Tuesday, July 1, the America’s Center dome floor had a wide central stage with two levels and two big screens, sided by panels holding back-lit church logos, and a massive LED screen all ready to be used.

Adding up the members of several teams working in multiple phases, close to a hundred people worked on raising the dome stage that delegates and guests get to enjoy.

The novel LED screen, 32 feet tall and 80 feet long (10 by 24 meters) and 12k resolution, is a much-appreciated addition to the 2025 GC Session stage. Not only does it improve the visual appeal of the platform, but it also enriches the content shared in presentations and speeches.

“What before had been a still physical background can now have movement and variation, increasing engagement to the presentations,” Grady pointed out. 

Leaders Behind the Scenes

An unintended advantage brought by the LED screen is that it serves as a sound barrier between the front and the back of the stage.

“This time, no sound from the backstage escapes to the front, whereas in past sessions we would have regular complaints regarding noise in the backstage,” said Chad Stuart, senior pastor of the Spencerville Seventh-day Adventist Church in Maryland, serving as a stage manager for the 2025 GC Session. “It’s unbelievable how much work it takes to set this all up,” he added. “I am privileged to witness what purposeful teamwork accomplishes.”

Among the unique experiences of serving as part of the backstage staff is the opportunity to meet church leaders in situations laden with significance.

“These leaders,” Stuart said, “put to scrutiny in front of the cameras, are very humble and gracious people behind the curtains. They mingle with the staff and are very accessible, even while going through stressful or difficult moments themselves, which can happen in a GC Session.”

Most attendees would not know of the lengthy effort and hard work behind the scenes to produce the seamless flow of music, preaching, reporting, discussing, and deliberating on stage at the Session, all experienced and broadcasted live.

That is why the hidden choreography of the Session’s backstage management team is so vital, as it blends technical mastery with spiritual sensitivity, enabling an unforgettable experience of both solemn governance and inspiring worship to the world church.

For more coverage of the 2025 General Conference Session, including live updates, interviews, and delegate stories, visit adventist.news and follow ANN on social media.