Conference Session: A chance to reaffirm identity, embrace fellowship and dialogue
For years, the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists has met in session at the University of the Southern Caribbean. At each session, delegates from across the vast territory of Trinidad fill the campus as they transact the business of the church
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For years, the South Caribbean Conference of Seventh-Day Adventists has met in session at the University of the Southern Caribbean. At each session, delegates from across the vast territory of Trinidad fill the campus as they transact the business of the church.
While the necessity of the conference session is often questioned by individuals who are not aware of the operation of the church, policy dictates that annual appropriations should be set aside to take care of the expenses of these sessions since truthfully, no small expense goes into the gathering, preparing and running of a session.
For the South Caribbean Conference, it is the gathering of representatives of over 167 congregations, coming from a membership of over 60, 000 members. While the question looms, I must say that I also value belonging to that church, not just a South Caribbean Conference church; and a healthy world church needs to meet regularly for the following reasons:
Representatives from across the territory are attending the 44th session of the conference. Many of them are retired denominational workers who served the church over several years. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team
Identity
It is easy to think of the Seventh-day Adventist Church as the 1863 movement, especially if you are acquainted with its history. The church began in Battle Creek, Michigan; its administrative headquarters is in Silver Spring, Maryland; and while the Adventist Church has a history, the Caribbean church is based in Trinidad also has a history.
Session is a chance to immerse ourselves in our actual identity. Adventists live in more than 200 countries and speak more than 800 languages. There has been rapid growth on the continents of Africa and South America while fewer than 7 percent of Adventists now live in the United States. But in the South Caribbean Conference we are diverse, we are growing and we represent the miniature version of the world church.
Conference sessions reaffirm the worldwide identity of the church. During these sessions delegates will elect church officials and vote for changes in the constitution. These delegates represent the church’s global makeup and are drawn from the local congregations across the conference. This is because the direction our church is headed is being steered not by a single individual (or a single country), but by a representative community of believers.
You don’t have to be a delegate to experience the thrill of sessions. Because of the political nature of the sessions, members tend to stay away from this beautiful coming together of believers to celebrate the work of God. However, by attending you can feel the pulse of the church as it is—modern and diverse. You have the liberty to attend business sessions and discover what the church as a whole is grappling with. You can learn how leaders in different parts of the constituency are dealing with the same concerns your local church might have, such as improving Sabbath school attendance.
But perhaps the best reason to attend is for the opportunity to listen to the reports and embrace the church and how the Holy Spirit is leading the institution to a glorious future.
Directors from the Caribbean Union Conference were among those who are attending the South Caribbean Conference. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team
Openness/Dialogue
Conference sessions provide the space for dialogue about issues that affect our local churches and the collaborative solutions to deal with these issues.
When you attend you learn about the issues, witness the successes, talk with other believers, and form a passionate opinion about the decisions, methods and approaches of the church. Indeed, attending a session will make you more informed as a member of the church.
Leaders and delegates will be examining and voting on a myriad of items. Some of them will be important but dull. Others will create tremendous buzz. All of the items will be taking place in the open. There probably won’t be many surprises, but the meetings will be accessible, and the votes and decisions will be talked about. All this discussion will be done not only by delegates, but, more importantly, by attendees, by you. To be a healthy church, we need dialogue. We might not always agree, but it’s vital that we can come together and converse.
Members of the technical team were on hand to lend assistance during the registration of delegates. The session is referred to as a digitized session. Image by South Caribbean Conference Social Media Team
Community
It’s a small Adventist world, I sometimes say because if I talk to another Adventist long enough, we’ll discover that we both know the same person. It’s as if there’s a string that connects every Adventist to every other Adventist.
Attending a session both affirms this sense of connectedness and reveals the vastness of the Adventist community. The USC auditorium seats more than 2,000 people and on Sabbath morning the space will be filled with believers from all over. Business affairs will be set aside, differences will be set aside, someone will say a prayer, then hundreds of brothers and sisters will join their voices in a common song. This is it. It’s community. It’s a mountaintop experience. It’s a session.