The Web site for the 2005 Seventh-day Adventist Church World Session was launched June 12 by the communication department of the Adventist Church world headquarters.
The Web site for the 2005 Seventh-day Adventist Church World Session was launched June 12 by the communication department of the Adventist Church world headquarters. The Web site, found at www.gcsession.org, provides preliminary information about the session, which is the top international meeting of the 12 million-member Adventist Church. The site also features photos and information about the convention facilities and the host city—St. Louis, Missouri, United States.
Even though there are still four years before the opening ceremony on June 29, 2005, planning for the event is already in full swing. Linda de Leon, assistant treasurer for the Adventist Church worldwide and session planner, traveled to St. Louis last week where she met with event coordinators and caterers to plan a vegetarian menu for the thousands of Adventists who will visit the convention each day. She says the sheer logistics of the ten-day event-–which last year attracted some 70,000 visitors to Toronto’s SkyDome—mean that a venue must be chosen more than a decade ahead, and planning begins following the end of the previous session.
The session Web site will play an increasingly important role as the event draws closer, says John Beckett, Web master for the site and assistant director in the church’s communication department. “The site will provide essential information for the delegates and visitors, as well as Adventist Church members around the world who want to be kept up-to-date on agenda items and other pre-session news, ” says Beckett. “As with the Web site for the previous session in Toronto in 2000, the St. Louis site will also provide easy access to news releases and high resolution pictures for the media.” There were more than 5,000 daily visitors to the Toronto Session Web site, says Beckett, and he predicts those numbers will be even greater for the St. Louis event.
Held every five years, Adventist World Sessions bring together delegates representing every region of the world church to review and vote on policy and elect world church leadership. The upcoming St. Louis session is estimated to cost the Adventist Church’s General Conference some US$5 million. It is scheduled for June 29 through July 8, 2005, at America’s Center, a downtown convention facility connected to a 70,000-capacity domed stadium, home of the St. Louis Rams football team.
