On Tuesday, April 13, 2021, members of the General Conference Executive Committee (GC EXCOM) of the Seventh-day Adventist Church voted to hold a Special General Conference (GC) Session on January 18, 2022.
The vote took place on the opening day of the 2021 Spring Meetings, one of the two annual business meetings of the denomination’s top governing body between world session. This year’s meeting took place virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The special one-day, one-item GC Session at the world church headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland, United States is being called for the sole purpose of amending the GC Constitution to allow delegates to participate by digital means in a future GC Session in the event that unforeseen and unavoidable circumstances arise.
Before the vote, Adventist Church undersecretary Hensley Moorooven detailed some of the factors considered in presenting this proposal to the GC EXCOM members. He reminded his listeners that the Church’s constitution stipulates that GC Sessions and all voting must take place in-person and onsite. Additionally, article V, section 1 of the constitution states that postponing a GC Session should not “exceed two years” beyond a regularly scheduled date. Moorooven then explained that amendments to the GC Constitution and Bylaws can only be done by the delegates at a regular or special GC Session. All in all, Moorooven said, the church leaders’ proposal stays within the appropriate provision of the GC Constitution and Bylaws.
