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70,000 Seventh-day Adventists Expected at 2010 World Session in Atlanta, Georgia
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States … The world session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will bring an international flavor to Atlanta, Georgia in the United States of America. "Atlanta is well known for its rich cultural diversity, heritage, and Southern hospitality throughout the USA," stated Sheri Clemmer, associate session meeting planner for the Seventh-day Adventist Church. When asked why Atlanta was chosen out of other major cities, Clemmer said that, "Atlanta has a long history of hosting national religious organizations and gatherings."
This session gathering will be representative of the more than 25 million-strong Adventist families from around the globe, and will meet under a theme of "proclaiming God's grace."
"Grace is a powerful, living force; it changes and animates us," says General Conference president Pastor Jan Paulsen. "When God's grace reaches into our lives - and into the life of our church - it's impossible to go on with business as usual. It opens our eyes to needs around us; it compels us to go into our communities. By focusing on this theme, we're acknowledging that the experience of grace is absolutely central in the life of each believer, and we're asking: 'How can we as Seventh-day Adventists reflect more clearly its depth, breadth, and transforming power?'"
The Session, to be held June 23 through July 3, 2010, is primarily a business meeting for the global church family. Denominational leaders are elected, church business is attended to, and policy decisions are often made. Because the core "business" of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that challenge will permeate activities at the Atlanta 2010 convocation, Paulsen said.
"Unlike previous sessions, this coming session in Atlanta will be known for its creative use of technology and its strong presence in the media," says General Conference Director of Communication Rajmund Dabrowski.
"We want the Atlanta community to feel and know that the Seventh-day Adventists are in town, and we are hoping this session will break all records for attendance compared to previous sessions," Dabrowski added.
Organized by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the top administrative body in the church’s worldwide system, the quinquennial world session will be the 59th for the denomination since its first General Conference Session in 1863.
The Atlanta convocation marks just the second time Adventist's have held their worldwide gathering in the United States in 20 years. Daily attendance at the event is expected to average more than 35,000 people; on the two weekends, more than 70,000 are expected to attend.
Some 2,400 voting delegates from all over the world will gather at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta to participate in meetings that will determine many of the church's administrative actions for the next half decade. They will receive reports on the church's growth in those parts of the world where the Christian message is "reaching the unreached," and have the opportunity to meet fellow believers and church workers from other lands.
Around the world, Adventist Christians are among the fastest-growing churches today. Adventists are present in 204 of the 230 countries and areas recognized by the United Nations, and communicate in more than 880 languages through publications and oral work. Seventh-day Adventists operate one of the largest Protestant educational networks in the world; with 7,500 elementary through University level schools worldwide, and nearly 1.6 million students enrolled. Of those, 107 are colleges and universities.
Hundreds of personnel will assist Session managers George Egwakhe and Sheri Clemmer, in staging the event. The world church will be working with leaders from its North American Division as well as the Georgia Dome & Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, to handle the massive arrangements involved in bringing delegates and visitors to the event, housing them, and feeding them. As during previous such events, Session participants will become patrons of perhaps the largest vegetarian restaurants to be operating at the time anywhere.
Participants of such world convocations have often favored the international evening programs, which feature reports from all over the world. These reports will be translated into 15 different languages, as well as into American Sign Language for the hearing impaired.
Other special events associated with the Session will aim at creating a global awareness and sensitivity to the world community, which is a part of the Adventist mission to the world. In addition to these special events, there will also be a major exhibit hall that will be set up which include such things as church supplies, children's ministry materials, religious books, kiosks representing the various universities and colleges of the Adventist church, and a large variety of Christian music, and much, much more for session attendees to visit and see.
"As a denomination we believe in grace," stated one Seventh-day Adventist church leader. In continuing to describe how the theme would impact the session, this church leader went on to also say that the theme of grace would be "…a force driving many of the devotions, worship and presentation topics."
Organizers are planning to use the media to bring the Atlanta 2010 event to viewers of Hope Channel and listeners of “Atlanta 2010 Today” podcast, as well as other Web-based media. Regular reports will available to delegates of the session and church believers around the world through the church’s weekly magazine, Adventist Review, and the worldwide press coverage of the Adventist News Network.
The meetings are open to the general public. More information can be found at www.gcsession.org.
This session gathering will be representative of the more than 25 million-strong Adventist families from around the globe, and will meet under a theme of "proclaiming God's grace."
"Grace is a powerful, living force; it changes and animates us," says General Conference president Pastor Jan Paulsen. "When God's grace reaches into our lives - and into the life of our church - it's impossible to go on with business as usual. It opens our eyes to needs around us; it compels us to go into our communities. By focusing on this theme, we're acknowledging that the experience of grace is absolutely central in the life of each believer, and we're asking: 'How can we as Seventh-day Adventists reflect more clearly its depth, breadth, and transforming power?'"
The Session, to be held June 23 through July 3, 2010, is primarily a business meeting for the global church family. Denominational leaders are elected, church business is attended to, and policy decisions are often made. Because the core "business" of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ, that challenge will permeate activities at the Atlanta 2010 convocation, Paulsen said.
"Unlike previous sessions, this coming session in Atlanta will be known for its creative use of technology and its strong presence in the media," says General Conference Director of Communication Rajmund Dabrowski.
"We want the Atlanta community to feel and know that the Seventh-day Adventists are in town, and we are hoping this session will break all records for attendance compared to previous sessions," Dabrowski added.
Organized by the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists, the top administrative body in the church’s worldwide system, the quinquennial world session will be the 59th for the denomination since its first General Conference Session in 1863.
The Atlanta convocation marks just the second time Adventist's have held their worldwide gathering in the United States in 20 years. Daily attendance at the event is expected to average more than 35,000 people; on the two weekends, more than 70,000 are expected to attend.
Some 2,400 voting delegates from all over the world will gather at the Georgia Dome in downtown Atlanta to participate in meetings that will determine many of the church's administrative actions for the next half decade. They will receive reports on the church's growth in those parts of the world where the Christian message is "reaching the unreached," and have the opportunity to meet fellow believers and church workers from other lands.
Around the world, Adventist Christians are among the fastest-growing churches today. Adventists are present in 204 of the 230 countries and areas recognized by the United Nations, and communicate in more than 880 languages through publications and oral work. Seventh-day Adventists operate one of the largest Protestant educational networks in the world; with 7,500 elementary through University level schools worldwide, and nearly 1.6 million students enrolled. Of those, 107 are colleges and universities.
Hundreds of personnel will assist Session managers George Egwakhe and Sheri Clemmer, in staging the event. The world church will be working with leaders from its North American Division as well as the Georgia Dome & Georgia World Congress Center in Atlanta, to handle the massive arrangements involved in bringing delegates and visitors to the event, housing them, and feeding them. As during previous such events, Session participants will become patrons of perhaps the largest vegetarian restaurants to be operating at the time anywhere.
Participants of such world convocations have often favored the international evening programs, which feature reports from all over the world. These reports will be translated into 15 different languages, as well as into American Sign Language for the hearing impaired.
Other special events associated with the Session will aim at creating a global awareness and sensitivity to the world community, which is a part of the Adventist mission to the world. In addition to these special events, there will also be a major exhibit hall that will be set up which include such things as church supplies, children's ministry materials, religious books, kiosks representing the various universities and colleges of the Adventist church, and a large variety of Christian music, and much, much more for session attendees to visit and see.
"As a denomination we believe in grace," stated one Seventh-day Adventist church leader. In continuing to describe how the theme would impact the session, this church leader went on to also say that the theme of grace would be "…a force driving many of the devotions, worship and presentation topics."
Organizers are planning to use the media to bring the Atlanta 2010 event to viewers of Hope Channel and listeners of “Atlanta 2010 Today” podcast, as well as other Web-based media. Regular reports will available to delegates of the session and church believers around the world through the church’s weekly magazine, Adventist Review, and the worldwide press coverage of the Adventist News Network.
The meetings are open to the general public. More information can be found at www.gcsession.org.
