St. Louis, Missouri, Mayor Cara Spencer will welcome thousands of delegates and attendees on Monday, July 7, at 9 a.m. at the Dome at America’s Center for a major international gathering of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Spencer will greet delegates to the 62nd General Conference Session of the church, a 23 million-member Protestant denomination with more than 100,000 congregations in nearly 200 countries. She will also receive a major contribution from world church leaders to support tornado recovery efforts in St. Louis following the May 16 EF3 tornado that damaged thousands of buildings and caused more than $1.7 billion in damage to city neighborhoods.
The General Conference Session runs July 3–12 at the America’s Center. Weekend attendance is expected to exceed 50,000, with programming from early morning until late evening each day. Held every five years, the global gathering elects new leadership, sets policy, and organizes new regions for the fast-growing denomination.
Business sessions occupy the weekday daytime hours, while worship services, inspirational programming, and global reports are featured on Saturdays and in the evenings in the Dome. Hundreds of ministries and supporting organizations are showcasing ministry tools and resources in exhibit booths in the Convention Center.
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventists are staying in city hotels, dining at local restaurants, and visiting cultural sites during the 10-day event. Many restaurants are offering special menu options to accommodate Adventist dietary practices, which emphasize alcohol-free, plant-based meals as part of a commitment to wholistic health.
Founded in Battle Creek, Michigan, during the U.S. Civil War, the 162-year-old denomination is widely known for its global educational and health network, which includes more than 120 colleges and universities and hundreds of hospitals and clinics—from rural facilities in sub-Saharan Africa to world-class medical centers such as Loma Linda University Health in Southern California.
Seventh-day Adventists observe Saturday as the biblical Sabbath and believe in the literal second coming of Jesus. They share core Christian beliefs with other Protestant faiths, including salvation by faith in the atoning sacrifice of Jesus, and operate an international system of outreach, education, and discipleship.
The July gathering is the third time a General Conference Session has been held in St. Louis, following previous sessions in 2005 and a smaller, post-pandemic event in June 2022.
Watch the 2025 GC Session live on ANN’s YouTube channel and follow ANN on X for live updates. Join the ANN WhatsApp Channel for the latest Adventist news.
