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Between June 23 and July 3, 2010, Hope Channel will broadcast nearly six hours daily from the 59th General Conference (GC) Session, live from the Georgia World Congress Center and Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
“Jesus is at the core of the variety of nationalities, cultures, and languages that make up the membership of our church,” says Hope Channel president Brad Thorp. “We have a common purpose to take the gospel to the world, but there are times that we must come together for planning, fellowship, and inspiration. The General Conference Session provides that family reunion time. If our viewers aren’t able to travel to Atlanta, they will have to go no further than their TV. Hope Channel wants to make the TV experience as good as being in Atlanta in person.
“A General Conference Session is a unique occasion. There is no moment in the life of the Church which demonstrates so vividly—so tangibly—the extraordinary way God’s Spirit is moving among us,” said Seventh-day Adventist Church president Jan Paulsen in a separate interview. “Through these gatherings we powerfully affirm that we are one people, united in faith, and bound by our shared desire to be instruments of God’s purpose in the world.”
Hope Channel will employ a team of about 100 people in order to provide the GC session programming, using about 25 cameras to gather taped footage as well as to provide live coverage. Viewers will be able to watch the daily morning and evening devotionals, including the colorful reports from the 13 world divisions.
“These reports are important to us as a church family,” says Thorp. “They highlight God’s advancement of His work throughout the world. Jesus gave us a commission to take the gospel to the entire world. It’s important for church members to receive inspiration and celebrate it corporately. Hope Channel will bring it all right into your home.”
Other daily programming during the session includes a one-hour live version of Hope Channel’s news and inspiration program, “World of Hope.” Viewers will get up-to-the-moment interviews of people from around the world sharing their stories of hope.
“The convention and the exhibit hall have lives of their own and we want our viewers to see those aspects of the event,” says Thorp. “Hearing the stories of church family from around the world broadens our horizons and deepens our understanding of our part in the Great Commission as a church family.”
A daily news program produced by the communication department of the Seventh-day Adventist Church will report the actions, issues, and elections during the business session of the church.
The programming from the GC session will be broadcast live for East Coast viewers, with a rebroadcast for West Coast viewers. “This scheduling will allow everyone in North America that has Hope Channel the chance to tune into the GC session,” says Thorp. Other of the network’s global channels will also broadcast the event in a variety of languages.
Hope Channel will also have a major interactive display in the center of the exhibition hall, featuring a media wall displaying each of the network’s 14 channels. Representatives from each channel and media center will be on hand to tell about their programming and how to use Hope Channel for evangelism in different parts of the world. Well-known speakers, musicians, and hosts from various Hope Channel programs will also be available in person to greet viewers.
“Each day we will be producing ‘World of Hope’ from a stage at the Hope Channel exhibit,” says Thorp. “Visitors can become a part of the audience and see how a live production is done.”
The exhibit will also feature the concepts of integration and convergence, demonstrating how Hope Channel and its supporters can work with communities to prepare people for Jesus’ second coming.
“When a church uses an integrated plan of evangelism, utilizing Hope Channel and other resources, they will have a full-time community presence,” explains Thorp. “This will be a perfect opportunity for anyone who is interested in more information on how to establish this type of presence in their community. We will have representatives available to provide information about how to accomplish this type of ministry.”
Hope Channel is the exclusive producer and broadcaster of the GC session.
“We will make our programming available free of charge to other broadcast entities, such as Loma Linda Broadcasting Network and 3ABN,” says Thorp.
