Seventh-day Adventist Church leadership voted to retain five mid-level officials in their current position as field secretaries at a June 29 business meeting. Delegates meeting in Atlanta's Georgia Dome for the Adventist World Session also voted to retain eight department directors.

Adventist Review: Surgeon General Praises Adventist Commitment to Healthy Living
June 29, 2010
Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., eighteenth surgeon general of the United States Public Health Service, praised Seventh-day Adventists Sunday evening for their commitment to healthy living.

See also:
Adventist Review: Temperance Still Central to Church's Health Message

ANN: Reports highlight South America and Northern Asia-Pacific regions
June 28, 2010
Evangelistic campaigns in places as varied as the bustling streets of Buenos Aires and a floating village in Peru have helped lead to more than 1 million baptisms and hundreds of new Seventh-day Adventist congregations in South America.

NAD News: Dan Jackson Elected President of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in North America
June 28, 2010
Dan Jackson, 61, is the new president of the North American Division of Seventh-day Adventists, elected June 28 by delegates of the world church at their business session in Atlanta, Ga.

See also:
The Baltimore Sun: Seventh-day Adventists elect new president
Adventist Review: Casting a United Vision [an archived interview]
ANN: Jackson to lead church in North America; Ruguri, Biaggi to lead East African, Russian-area divisions
Adventist Review: New Presidents Elected in North American, East-Central Africa, and Euro-Asia Divisions

ANN: Additional Adventist officers elected for international roles
June 28, 2010
Delegates of the General Conference Session on Monday appointed 25 officers to serve as secretaries and treasurers in the 13 international regions of the Seventh-day Adventist Church.

Adventist.org: South American Man Bikes to World Religious Conference in Atlanta
June 28, 2010
George Silva didn't wait until the last minute to embark on his journey to a major religious convention in Atlanta. He began pedaling last August--in Brazil.

Adventist Review: Discipleship, Leadership, and Community Service Training Main Focus of iATL
June 28, 2010
Each day, after a morning of discipleship and leadership training, community service leaders in Atlanta take time to outline and explain outreach efforts, and show delegates the ways they can help by having these young adults actively participate in service programs.

Adventist Review: The Second Time Around: Miclen LaiPang shares his talent at two GC sessions
June 28, 2010
14-year-old violin virtuoso Miclen LaiPang has taken the stage at his second General Conference session, having already performed in St. Louis at just 9 years of age.

Adventist Review: Adventists Race for Health
June 27, 2010
On June 27, 2010, at 7:00 a.m., 330 runners gathered in Centennial Olympic Park in downtown Atlanta, Georgia, for the Adventist Race for Health 5K/10K. Runners ranged from ages 8 to 81, and were divided into categories by age and gender. More than 100 trophies were handed out to runners, many of whom were not Adventists.

ANN: East-Central Africa, Euro-Asia present five-year reports to Session
June 27, 2010
Two reports delivered to the Seventh-day Adventist World Session Sunday illustrated the Seventh-day Adventist Church's work in East-Central Africa and in Euro-Asia.

ANN: Surgeon General Praises Adventist Commitment to Healthy Living
June 27, 2010
Vice Admiral Regina M. Benjamin, M.D., 18th Surgeon General of the United States Public Health Service, praised Seventh-day Adventists for their commitment to healthy living.

Adventist Review: Behind the Curtain
June 27, 2010
Unless something goes terribly wrong, most delegates and other session attendees give little thought to the smooth entrance and exit of platform participants on stage. But this orderliness doesn’t happen by accident.

ANN: Adventist Session elects associate officers
June 27, 2010
The General Conference Nominating Committee selected 21 associate leaders for the Presidential, Secretariat and Treasury departments on Sunday, all of which were approved by delegates meeting in the Georgia Dome at the Seventh-day Adventist denomination's 59th world conference.

ANN: New Adventist Church statements address social, religious issues
June 27, 2010
The Seventh-day Adventist Church released five statements Sunday on hot-button topics including violence against women and children, creation and global poverty.

ANN: Proposed time shift in election of departmental associates defeated
June 27, 2010
 

Seventh-day Adventist Church delegates today defeated a motion that would have altered the timeframe for choosing associate directors of departments at the church's world headquarters.The motion would have moved the appointments from the General Conference Session to the first business meeting afterward, held in October.

See also:
Adventist Review: Proposed Time Shift in Election of Departmental Associates Not Accepted
Adventist Today: General Conference Amendment Suffers Unexpected Setback

Adventist Today: In What Sense is the 2010 GC Historic?
June 27, 2010
General Conference sessions have often been the historical venue for turning points in the Adventist movement. On occasion key issues have evoked considerable passion, while other sessions have been historically a snooze. A quick review of the high points over the last 150 years will serve to place the 2010 GC Session in its larger context. 

ANN: Private security detail guards church leaders
June 27, 2010
Before newly elected General Conference President Ted N. C. Wilson stepped onto the stage to be introduced Friday at the 59th World Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, an entourage of sorts awaited him in the Georgia Dome's service corridor, ready to brief him on his next steps.

Adventist Review: "What Did He Say?" Some 200 translators facilitate cross-cultural communication
June 27, 2010
More than 200 multilanguage individuals from almost all world church divisions are volunteering their time and skills during the 11-day international event to make sure that delegates understand the devotional messages, business meeting information, and general programs. For the first time, translation also will be available for members of the Nominating Committee when considering election candidates for church leadership roles.
 
See also:
ANN: Simultaneous interpretations aid delegates' understanding

ANN: Southern Africa, North America present five-year reports to Session
June 26, 2010
Seventh-day Adventist evangelistic campaigns routinely draw tens of thousands of worshippers to stadiums in Southern Africa, where church membership has grown to 2.5 million members.And in North America, church membership has grown to a record high of more than 1 million, including nearly 50,000 baptized in 2009.

ANN: Church focus on mission still crucial
June 26, 2010
Two decades after the Seventh-day Adventist Church voted to launch a global mission initiative, the need is as great as ever, as Christianity still hasn't reached many parts of the world, church mission leaders said Saturday afternoon.

ANN: Delegates approve Ng as Secretary and re-appoint Lemon as Treasurer
June 26, 2010
World church Treasurer Bob Lemon was re-elected to another five-year term Thursday, and Associate Secretary G. T. Ng was promoted to Secretary on the second day of the 2010 General Conference Business Session.

See also:
Adventist Review: Ng Elected World Church Secretary, Succeeding Bediako

ANN: Membership, financial audits key to Adventist Church growth, leaders say
June 26, 2010
Since the last Session in 2005, the Adventist Church has grown by more than 5 million members, with daily accessions nearing 3,000, reports Matthew Bediako, world church secretary.

Adventist Review: Ted N. C. Wilson Elected General Conference President
June 25, 2010
Ted N. C. Wilson, a general vice president of the General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists and the son of a former church president, was elected June 25 to serve as president of the 16.3-million member global Protestant denomination.

See also:
ANN: Wilson elected president of Seventh-day Adventist world church 
ANN: Behind the scenes of a president's appointment
ANN: New President Wilson reflects on leadership, volunteers and church unity
Adventist Review: What the Spirit Achieves [an interview with Pastor Ted Wilson]
Orlando Sentinel: Seventh-day Adventists elect Wilson as president
Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Ted Wilson elected new president of Seventh-day Adventist Church
Northwest GLEANER/Hope Channel: Ted Wilson's Acceptance Speech [a video link]
Adventist Today: Report: Ted N.C. Wilson Shares His Priorities for the Coming Five Years
Adventist Review: First Couple Share From Their Hearts [a Hope Channel interview transcript]

Adventist Review: The Adventist Mission: A 50-Year Perspective
June 25, 2010
During this past quinquennium, a new record of baptisms for a five-year period was established, and offers the fullest evidence that the mission of the church has not strayed from its commission to “tell the world” about the marvels of the gospel we proclaim.

ANN: Out of this world busyness -- and fun
June 25, 2010 [a perspective piece]
It's out of this world. Well, it's out of my world anyway. This extravaganza we call the General Conference Session; this monolithic Congress Center and vast Georgia Dome; this massive, modern and vibrant city called Atlanta is a world away from the world in which I live.

See also:
Adventist Review: Voices From the Dome: Heather Knight
Adventist Review: Voices From the Dome: Bert Beach
See all Voices from the Dome: Perspective Archive

Adventist Review: Program and Agenda Highlights
June 25, 2010
Elections! It’s perhaps the first word that comes to mind for many who think about a General Conference (GC) session. It’s also among the first agenda items to be acted upon during a session—at least the elections of the three senior officers of the GC.

Adventist Review: A Church on the Move: Looking back on the past five GC sessions
June 25, 2010
With pageantry, parades, and people—lots of people!—General Conference (GC) sessions pulsate with the energy of this global movement. Yet at their heart they are business meetings, during which some 2,400 delegates representing the world church elect leaders and consider items such as changes to the Church Manual or the church’s Fundamental Beliefs.

Adventist Review: Proclaim His Grace
June 25, 2010
I first heard the session theme song in October 2009 during Annual Council; and it was love at first “sight.” Its theological foundation is rock-bottom solid; its captivating ring grabbed me instantly; and its dramatic ending brought an uncanny rush of spiritual excitement and expectation—the expectation of something big about to happen, something grand, earthshaking, glorious!

Adventist Today: Report from Atlanta - Who's Who in the GC Presidential Race
June 24, 2010
Fourteen men and one woman make up the top rank of the General Conference leadership: the president, nine vice presidents, assistant to the president, secretary, treasurer and their two deputies.
 
Adventist Review: President's Report: Community of the Spirit
June 24, 2010
When I consider the history of the Seventh-day Adventist movement, it is with a deep sense of awe. John Wesley’s words “What God hath wrought!” come to mind. There is a mystery here, something that cannot be wholly explained by human logic. By Jan Paulsen.


ANN: Survey suggests many in Atlanta unfamiliar with Adventist Church
June 23, 2010
Thousands of Seventh-day Adventist Church officials, delegates and staff are gathering in Atlanta this week for the global Protestant denomination's 59th World Session, filling the Georgia Dome and flooding local hotels. But do locals even know who they are?

Adventist Review: World Church Executives Move Statements, Manual Revisions
June 23, 2010
World leaders of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, in a special Executive Council meeting June 23, voted to advance several statements on hot-button issues including the church’s belief in the biblical account of creation, and its commitment to religious liberty. The leaders also approved two dozen proposed changes to the Seventh-day Adventist Church Manual, due to come to a vote at the church’s 59th General Conference Session, opening here on June 24.

Adventist Today: General Conference Commentary: The Last Five Years Since St. Louis
June 23, 2010
To anyone looking on from the outside, the most notable achievement that has happened to the Seventh-day Adventist Church these past five years is its tremendous growth. More than three million new members have been baptized. Membership has grown from 14 million to 16.3 million.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Seventh-day Adventists meet in Atlanta: 70,000 expected to attend
June 22, 2010
The Seventh-day Adventist Church general conference beginning Wednesday in downtown Atlanta is expected to bring 70,000 people from around the world to elect a president and adopt social positions to guide the conservative Protestant denomination for the next five years.

ANN: Former photocopy manager isn't Adventist, but still loves Session
June 22, 2010
Dick Duenkel isn't a Seventh-day Adventist, but the former national account manager for Xerox keeps volunteering at the church's World Session because he has such a good time.

ANN: Adventist World Session agenda marked by elections, Church Manual revision
June 15, 2010
Next week, more than 2,400 Seventh-day Adventist Church delegates will choose their church's top leadership for the next five years. They'll also vote on myriad other agenda items, ranging from the church's administrative structure to changes in its manual.

ANN: Two new iPhone apps in time for Session
June 8, 2010
Two new iPhone applications (or apps) offer Seventh-day Adventist television programming and local information for the church's World Session, a 10-day spiritual gathering and business meeting set for later this month.

ANN: Website coordinates worldwide prayer for church business session
May 28, 2010
As Seventh-day Adventists from Argentina to Zambia pray for divine guidance leading up to next month's General Conference Session, two employees from the denomination's world headquarters are offering a platform for a coordinated prayer effort.
 
ANN: How are General Conference Session delegates selected?
May 25, 2010
More than 2,400 church representatives will vote on agenda items during the Seventh-day Adventist Church's 59th World Session beginning next month. Who are they, and how are they selected?

ANN: The General Conference Session, delegates and theology
May 17, 2010
As the General Conference Session approaches, it may be important to think for a moment about its contribution to our understanding of the nature of the church and its theological role.

ANN: Countdown to Atlanta: How are church leaders elected?
May 5, 2010
For many Seventh-day Adventists who make the trek to General Conference Session every five years, it's a long-anticipated chance to celebrate the church's culture and values on a global scale. But for thousands of delegates, it's also a voting marathon.

ANN: Follow the Adventist Church's World Session through these media outlets
May 4, 2010
Tens of thousands of Seventh-day Adventists are expected to gather in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the 59th Adventist Church World Session June 23 through July 3. For those wishing to follow news from the Session, the church is offering several media resources for daily coverage of news, features and analysis.

ANN: Adventist World Session offering to benefit ancient Silk Road region
April 13, 2010
The mission offering received at this summer's Seventh-day Adventist World Session will fund new initiatives along an ancient trade route connecting East Asia to Europe.

ANN: Women's ordination issue not on World Session agenda, Adventist president says
April 7, 2010
The issue of women's ordination will not be added to the agenda for the 59th General Conference Session of the Seventh-day Adventist Church, the church's President Jan Paulsen said April 6.