Over 21,000 pack the Conference Center during a session of the 180th Semiannual General Conference
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With another general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints just days away, Church Public Affairs managing director Michael Otterson this week uses the Washington Post “On Faith” space to discuss this worldwide event that originates from Salt Lake City.
Otterson explains that the biannual general conferences are a cultural icon for the 14-million member Church. Roughly 100,000 people will pass through the Conference Center doors in a two-day period — many of whom come from great distances.
Why do they come? To learn how to be better people by listening to counsel from respected and revered (and admittedly imperfect) Church leaders — men and women who are viewed in the same way early Christians viewed the apostles of Jesus.
For people who have come to the Conference Center, or for people who watch it at home on TV or the Internet, or in a live or time-delayed broadcast in some far-flung part of the world, this is a time for listening and thinking. … All will listen to the 20-plus addresses over the weekend for what seems most relevant to them. Many will ponder and pray and find ways to help them be better parents, better husbands and wives, better sons and daughters, better neighbors, better followers of Jesus Christ.
Read the entire commentary at “On Faith.”