I’m looking down on an empty auditorium. Mid-week and the delegates have been given time off to shop and sightsee. That could be a welcome break as the only fresh air for many of them, especially those on the nominating committee, has been the early morning and late evening strolls between the hotel and convention center.

I cheated. Last night I took a river trip. Living in the hopeful memory of Mark Twain I caught a one-hour cruise aboard the pseudo-paddle steamer, “Tom Sawyer.” I say “pseudo” as there is a paddle on the back, but it is purely for decorative purposes. The genuine article can be found on the river though, and for a hefty sum you can be one of 400 who take an overnight cruise to re-live yesteryear.

One hour was sufficient for me and a very pleasant break it was from the rigors of the week. Other Adventist visitors to St. Louis must obviously have been out and about as when I talked to Nancy Milton, vice president of marketing communications for the St. Louis Convention and Visitors Commission, she estimated that the extra visitors here would boost the St Louis economy by an extra U.S. $47 million. That is in addition to the actual cost to the church of hiring the convention center, plus the cost of delegate hotel rooms, a figure that Linda de Leon of session management puts at somewhere over U.S. $100 million.

Milton was delighted that the delegates were being given the afternoon off to shop and sightsee. “The Adventists are the largest convention we have ever had,” she told me. “An international convention like this it has really put St. Louis on the world map. This is a very family-orientated destination that they should enjoy.”

Certainly the local residents and businesses, especially those downtown, have heard more than the average number of languages being spoken. Restaurants were pre-warned of the influx, and of the extra demand for vegetarian food. Most seemed to be coping; the Chinese restaurant where I ate last night hastily posting signs for “fried vegetables and tofu.” 

But the Adventist presence here is doing more than generating revenue. A youth impact task force are working with teens to turn graffiti-ridden walls into works of art. Adventist music groups are providing lunch time and evening entertainment. And the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) are working with three local charities to help turn the slogan of “Make Poverty History” into a reality in some of the more deprived areas of the city. 

Adventists have made an impact in another way. I asked Milton if there had been any difficulties with the Adventist presence here. “No problem,” she replied. “We love being the host city.” A meeting of up to 70,000 people where there is no drunkenness, lewd behavior or an increase in crime has to leave an impression. And that, in reality, should be what Christianity is all about.

Inside the dome there may be deep and theological debate on whether “the cross” should appear in the church’s 28th fundamental belief, “Growing in Christ.” Outside the dome the reality of that belief is being seen in action. It is making an impression.