The 61st General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, America’s Center Convention Complex, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 6-11, 2022.[Tor Tjeransen/Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)]

General Conference

Official Church Social Media Reaches Thousands During GC Session

GC Communication Department reaches record breaking numbers in media engagement in GC Session history.

St. Louis, Missouri, United States | Angelica Sanchez, ANN

The 61st General Conference (GC) Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church ended over a month ago, but many are still talking about it, and for good reason. The most recent GC Session, held in St. Louis, Missouri this past June has gone down in Adventist history as the first session with media coverage to break social media engagement records. While digital communication was not an essential component in past sessions, it was vital to the success of this year’s hybrid session. 

“Communication has fundamentally shifted in the last seven years,” said Alyssa Truman, Digital Evangelism Manager for the Adventist World Church. “Especially since the pandemic, we had to reconsider the way we did church. We have truly become a ‘digital first’ world.” The result of this new ‘digital first’ world was a hybrid session which combined in-person and virtual attendance, using social media to bring them both together.

To accomplish this monumental task, effective communication became a top priority in preparation for this year’s session. With more than 80 team members collaborating from around the world, the GC Communication Department made this session accessible, engaging, and transparent for all–a vital goal to reach those who were unable to attend in person. “During the session, we had 4 teams operating around the world in St. Louis, Missouri; Manila, Philippines; a team of contractors in over 10 countries; and division and union communication directors,” shared Daniel Bogdanov, GC Webmaster. “We could not have done it without the bigger team,” Truman added.

The 61st General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, America’s Center Convention Complex, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 6-11, 2022.[Gerhard Weiner/ Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)]

The 61st General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, America’s Center Convention Complex, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 6-11, 2022.[Gerhard Weiner/ Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)]

A major success for the GC Communication Department during GC Session was the task of translating all media content into four languages. For the first time, GC Session was accessible to 80% of the world’s population as all content was provided in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese. Truman noted, “Delivering Session content in several languages allowed us to provide full transparency to the entire GC Session experience.” 

Months prior to GC Session, the Communication Department developed a comprehensive strategy to ensure the worldwide church would be informed about the significant decisions being made during the week’s business meetings. Part of this plan included, all business meetings streamed and translated simultaneously on Youtube for the world church to access at their convenience.​ The church’s official news website, Adventist News Network (ANN), also featured three daily programs throughout the week, allowing different demographics to connect with Session events. These included ANN In-Depth, ANN Video, and ANN Late Night(ish). As a result, the church’s official Youtube channel experienced significant growth. “The English channel grew by over 20,000 subscribers,” stated Bogdanov. Truman added, “The Spanish channel’s subscribers doubled, while the Portuguese channel tripled, and the French channel quadrupled.”

In addition, the church’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts were updated moment by moment throughout Session so followers could find updated content at any time. “Last Session, there was a much smaller social media presence. This time, you would know what was happening instantaneously. You could either go and watch the livestream on Youtube or access Twitter where every single motion and discussion that was happening was live tweeted … These are things that had never been done,” said Truman. 

Members of the Communication team were also at work 24/7 during the week of Session, answering social media comments and questions and offering opportunities for prayer. Together, the GC Communication Department GC Session Task Force released 3772 posts and videos to the world through the Adventist Church’s official social media channels. This content was viewed over 22 million times! In other words, more than 4 million individuals engaged with GC Session content worldwide! Truman details what this means for the world church:, “Many members will never be able to come to a GC Session. However, by having this huge communication strategy, we were able to reach the local level and help to bring an awareness and understanding of church structure.” She added, “Up until four years ago, I was a local church member. I felt like I knew that I was part of a world church family, but I still felt somewhat disconnected from it. I feel like the work done here has brought the world church family closer.”

The 61st General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, America’s Center Convention Complex, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 6-11, 2022.[Tor Tjeransen / Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)]

The 61st General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, America’s Center Convention Complex, St. Louis, Missouri, USA, June 6-11, 2022.[Tor Tjeransen / Adventist Media Exchange (CC BY 4.0)]

Although this Session proved to be a large undertaking for the Communication Department, the accomplishments can only be attributed to the help of God. “We had a prayer team that was praying with us every single day which I believe helped our entire department,” said Truman. 

It seems that prayer worked. This GC Session proved that digital evangelism is a powerful tool essential in spreading the gospel message today. “Social Media can be evangelistic in nature, and digital evangelism is really where we need to start focusing.” She added, “When Jesus came, He was with people where they were at. Social media is where people are at.” As the Adventist Church moves forward, may this session’s communication success compel divisions, conferences, local churches, and church members to maximize their use of social media to reach souls for Christ.

To watch the behind the scenes of the Department of Communication at GC Session, go here

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