General conference (Latter Day Saints)

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In Mormonism, a general conference is a meeting meant for conducting general church business and instruction of all members. General conferences have been a regular part of the Latter Day Saint movement since June 9, 1830, when Joseph Smith, Jr. organized the first general conference in Fayette, New York. It included a gathering of 27 members of the two-month-old Church of Christ.

Originally, general conferences were held every three months, as provided by one of Joseph Smith's early revelations (LDS D&C 20:61). Beginning in 1832, the conferences were held less frequently, usually to conduct special church business or to respond to special church needs.

Contents 1 General Conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints 1.1 Annual and semiannual conferences 1.2 Organization 1.3 Sermons 1.4 Dissemination 2 World Conference in the Community of Christ 3 See also 4 Notes 5 External links

[edit] General Conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

[edit] Annual and semiannual conferences

In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, general conference is a semiannual meeting where general authorities and other church leaders preach sermons and give guidance to the members of the church. General conferences are held on the weekends containing the first Sunday in April and the first Sunday in October. The April conference is known as the Annual General Conference, and includes annual statistical and financial reports not included in the October meeting. The October conference is called the Semiannual General Conference. Both conferences are identified by the number of years since the church was founded in April 1830; thus, the April 2008 meeting was the 178th Annual General Conference, and the October 2007 meeting was the 177th Semiannual General Conference.

Although the schedule varied in the past, currently, each conference consists of two-hour sessions, four general sessions and one other session. The conferences have been held in Salt Lake City, Utah since 1848; in the Salt Lake Tabernacle on Temple Square before 2000 and in the Conference Center after that. General sessions commence at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. (Mountain Time) on Saturday and Sunday. General sessions are open to all church members and guests holding tickets, usually for only one session. The tickets are free of charge (they are used for capacity and order) and members of the church can request them from either their local leaders or by writing to church headquarters. Standby tickets are also available, as frequently many ticket holders are not able to attend. At 6 p.m. on Saturday a priesthood session is held for men and boys (12 years and older) holding the priesthood of the church. Additionally, a women's general meeting is held on the Saturday preceding the Saturday general sessions of the October conference, and a general meeting for young women is held at a similar time before the April conference. These meetings usually last around 90 minutes.

The general sessions are broadcast on KSL television and radio when they occur, KBYU television two hours afterward, and are offered for other non-local stations to broadcast, which many do.

Conference used to be three days with the annual conference always including April 6. However that made an awkward schedule when April 6 fell midweek. Weekday conferences made it difficult for those with work and school commitments. During Spencer W. Kimball's presidency, conference was reduced to two days, Saturday and Sunday.^[1]

[edit] Organization

Normally, a member of the First Presidency conducts each session. However, if part or all of the First Presidency is absent, whoever they request to conduct the Conference may do so, usually the most senior apostle not in the First Presidency. The conducting official introduces the various speakers, which during the course of a conference generally include all members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a selection of others. Virtually every general authority of the church is present, though outside the First Presidency and Twelve only few speak. Non-general authority speakers may include male and female officers of auxiliary organizations.

If the President of the Church is present, he is said to "preside" at the conference whether or not he personally conducts a session. If the president is absent (as in the case of illness), his first counselor presides; if both are absent, the second counselor presides. In the event of the complete absence of the First Presidency, the highest apostle in seniority present would preside. This person would be either the President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles or the most senior apostle present.

During one session of conference — usually the Saturday afternoon general session — the conducting officer presents all the general authorities and general officers of the church for the formal sustaining vote of the membership, and it is usually at this time that any changes among the general church leadership are announced. Normally, the members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve are mentioned by name; those in other positions are mentioned by name only if they are being called or released from a previous or to a new position. The person conducting asks all of those who are in favor of sustaining the current leadership or of the calling of a new leader to raise their hand in a "vote." The counselor then asks that any who are opposed raise their hand. Dissenting votes are rare and the customary declaration at the end of the voting is "the voting appears to be unanimous in the affirmative."

At the first general conference after the death of a church president and the calling of his successor, the session at which the sustaining vote takes place is called a solemn assembly. At a solemn assembly, groups of Latter-day Saints are asked to stand in succession and sustain the new president of the church. Typically, the order is: First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, the Quorums of Seventy, Melchizedek priesthood holders, Aaronic priesthood holders, Relief Society members, members of the Young Women organization, and then all members together.^[2] Then the names of all other general authorities are read, and a sustaining and opposing vote is called for.

[edit] Sermons

Members of the church regard and sustain the president of the church, the counselors in the First Presidency, and members of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles as "prophets, seers, and revelators," and are counseled to pay close attention to what they teach throughout the year. However, the sermons given at general conference are held in particularly high esteem and they are considered the will of God to the church members at the current time.^[3] The sermons (usually called "talks") are published in the Ensign, the official church English language magazine, the following month (May and November respectively). They are also translated and printed in the Liahona, the church's international version of the Ensign, which is published in multiple languages. Church members are encouraged to read and study the talks, discuss them at home and at church, and quote from them while giving lessons and sermons at church.

A sample of the topics of general conference discourses includes:

• Forgiveness (Faust, April 2007; Hinckley, October 2005)
• Natural disasters and preparedness (Hinckley, October 2005)
• Faith (Sorensen, April 2005)
• The dangers of pornography (Oaks, April 2005; Hinckley, October 2004)
• The first vision of Joseph Smith (Uchtdorf, April 2005)
• Acquiring a testimony of Jesus (McMullin, April 2004)
• Fatherhood (Perry, April 2004)
• The Atonement of Jesus (Hafe, April 2004)
• Fasting (Pratt, October 2004)
• Repentance (Nelson, April 2007; Uchtdorf, April 2007; Oaks, October 2003)
• Eternal life through Jesus (Madsen, April 2002)
• Tithing (Tingey, April 2002)
• Hope in the Atonement of Jesus (Faust, October 2001)
• The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ (Packer, October 2001)

Frequently, special announcements are made at general conference, which may include building sites for new temples or the institution of new policies or programs.

Music is also an important part of the conference in praising and also setting the appropriate spiritual mood. The Mormon Tabernacle Choir along with the organist at the Conference Center generally provide the bulk of the music, with some sort of men's choir at the priesthood session. The hymns are usually selected from the normal repertoire of LDS hymns with occasional arrangements. About half-way through each session the congregation is invited to stand and join in the singing.

Very rarely, soloist artists will perform for conferences. The last to do so, Liriel Domiciano, performed in the 2004 Annual General Conference with the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. She was the first to sing in a solo in general conference since the 1930s.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Dissemination

Although the conference is actually held in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, the church makes it as widely available as possible. It is shown on screens in various buildings on Temple Square, including the Tabernacle and the Salt Lake Assembly Hall. The conference usually airs on the LDS-owned media outlets KSL-TV, KSL (AM), KBYU (FM), and KBYU-TV. The conference usually preempts regularly scheduled programming. The conference is broadcast by satellite to churches throughout the world, either simultaneously or time delayed (to accommodate for differing time zones).

Some pay television (cable and satellite) systems such as Dish Network, DirecTV, and C-band carry it in some markets on the BYU TV station, and it can be heard via the church's website, www.lds.org; these latter, more public methods usually do not carry the priesthood session. Overall, the church delivers the broadcast to 83 countries transmitting to over 5700 church facilities and airing over 18 television and 1700 cable stations. Volunteer language professionals are on hand at the conference to translate the sermons into over 86 languages live during the simulcast. Ninety-eight percent of church members can listen to general conference in their native language. The church intends to provide general conference language translation for 100% of its members by 2010.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] World Conference in the Community of Christ

Main article: World Conference (Community of Christ)

World Conference is the name given to the tri-annual meeting of delegates of the Community of Christ. Originally called General Conferences and held semiannually, or as need arises, they have the same origin as the semi-annual General Conferences of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS).

The World Conference is the highest legislative body in the Community of Christ and is empowered to act for the entire church. Delegates to the conference are elected by Mission Centre conferences. Motions are often debated vigorously and the results are sometimes controversial. World Conferences are traditionally held at Community of Christ World Headquarters, with the legislative and main worship services held in the Auditorium.

[edit] See also

• We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet

[edit] Notes

[edit] External links

• LDS Church Conference Reports (October 1897–present)
• Official General Conference page of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
• Deseret News General Conference page
• Tad Walch, "An LDS Conference Outside the U.S.?", Deseret Morning News, 2007-04-03

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