General Conference

Joseph Smith received revelations in 1830 that directed the elders of the Church to conduct business at regular conferences. This included the sustaining of Church leaders, canonization of new scripture, and other matters determined by common consent. The first such conference was held on June 9, 1830, at the Peter and Mary Whitmer farm in Fayette, New York. Soon thereafter, leaders began holding quarterly conferences. Throughout the 1830s and 1840s, missionaries also held local conferences in branches outside of stakes organized in Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois. In 1839, the term “general conference” was adopted to refer to the biannual conference that included Church business and sermons preached by Joseph Smith and other senior leaders. General conference occurred at irregular intervals in Nauvoo, with sessions where Joseph Smith offered some of his most significant teachings.

After 1846, in which no general conference was held, the Church convened twice each year, usually in the spring and fall. A pattern emerged of holding sessions of the annual general conference in April and sessions of the semiannual general conference in October. On rare occasions, sessions were delayed due to extenuating circumstances, such as the influenza pandemic of 1918, or audiences did not gather in person, such as during World War II and the COVID-19 pandemic. Following an influenza outbreak in October 1957, sessions were canceled completely.

From 1867 to 2000, almost all sessions of general conference were hosted in the Tabernacle in Salt Lake City, though some were held in other cities in Utah, such as St. George, Logan, and Provo. In 1980, a session was broadcast from the Whitmer farm in New York to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the founding meeting of the Church. Construction of the 21,000–seat Conference Center in Salt Lake City was completed in 2000. The Conference Center, like the Tabernacle, was designed to allow unobstructed views of the pulpit and provide acoustics of the highest quality.

Advances in technology allowed for wider dissemination of general conference addresses. Proceedings were printed in pamphlet form beginning in 1880. Radio transmissions after 1924 brought live sessions to listeners outside the Tabernacle. The Church invested in satellite technology in the early development of television broadcasting, and by the 1980s, thousands of stake centers throughout the world hosted live conference feeds. By 2010, video streaming via the internet became the most common broadcast channel for general conference. Such evolutions in broadcasting formats invited adjustments to the conference program. For example, for many years, overflow sessions were held to accommodate the increasing number wishing to attend the conference. With the emergence of broadcast technology, overflow sessions with their separate program of speakers were no longer needed. Special interest sessions arose periodically, such as a welfare session from 1940 to 1983, and some Relief Society and Young Women sessions in the 1970s. Formats have changed to meet present needs across the whole history of general conference.

General conference speeches and sermons have greatly affected Latter-day Saint culture and practice. Latter-day Saints have often adopted teachings and quotations into their everyday lives and parlance. Common themes since the mid-20th century have encouraged listeners to believe in Jesus Christ, strengthen marriage and family relationships, offer Christlike service, attend the temple, and honor covenants. Significant announcements delivered at general conference have included procedural and policy changes, construction projects, and locations of new temples.