BY WILLIAM G. JOHNSSON

Toronto had never seen anything like it.

For 10 furious days the Adventists came to town and took over. They crowded the broad sidewalks in a surging river of humanity, choked hotel lobbies with hugs and animated conversation, made vendors and restaurants think vegetarian.

With some 70,000-80,000 people in town for the Sabbath extravaganzas, it was Toronto’s largest convention ever, estimated to add $50 million to the city’s coffers.

And also the most orderly: security personnel, taxed in directing the huge crowds entering and exiting the SkyDome, nevertheless were freed of the usual incidents of alcoholism and disorderly conduct. “You were the ideal convention,” said mayor Mel Lastman in a stemwinding speech at the closing meeting. “Please come back!”

But should we even think of more of these blockbuster events? Along with others, I have wondered whether it’s time to scale back, to reduce the large outlay in funds and personnel required to stage such assemblies.

Toronto settled that issue for me. The 57th session was a high-energy event that seemed to galvanize everyone who attended. We heard powerful preaching, listened to marvelous music, viewed inspiring reports each evening from around the world. There was a “sweet, sweet Spirit” in Toronto, and we knew it was God’s.

If you had seen the thousands of shining faces streaming from the Dome, if you had felt the warmth of Christian love and fellowship as friends, colleagues, and alumni met and embraced, the issue would be settled for you also.

Here is the point: the people want it. The vast majority of those who came to Toronto came at their own expense. They wanted the experience; and I suspect that very few returned home disappointed.

In a uniquely Adventist manner, the General Conference session gives us a sense of who we are. These sessions started out small and, since they are at heart business meetings, could conceivably still be modest events. But as the church has grown to be a global family, these convocations have expanded in complexity and function. For most of those who now come, the business is secondary, even incidental.

Roman Catholics look to the city on the Tiber, Muslims to Mecca. But we Adventists are a people of the globe; it befits us to have no fixed location for our general assemblies.

I know of nothing in the Adventist Church that comes close to experiencing a General Conference session. Every Adventist needs to attend at least one. You come away—as I came away from Toronto—feeling good about God and proud to be part of this amazing people among whom He is doing wonders today.

This was my fifth session, my fourth as editor of the Adventist Review. For the Review staff, these occasions bring cruel and unusual punishment, since we work around the clock preparing the daily Bulletins, the official record of the sessions. I attended few meetings in the SkyDome, caught only snatches of the business proceedings and other events by means of the TV monitors in our production office. Nevertheless, I left Toronto with a clear impression—this is a church focused on mission. As never before in my experience, the Adventist Church has a clear, confident sense of who we are and why we are here: to tell everyone the good news of a God who loves us and sent Jesus, our Saviour, Lord, and soon-coming King.

With the focus on mission the face of the church is changing—literally and figuratively. Areas like India that have long resisted the call of Christ are suddenly awake and large numbers are flocking into this movement. And with this dramatic change political infighting and jockeying for position have diminished sharply.

Yes, there are many challenges. Explosive growth brings possibilities of both strength and fragmentation. The diminished presence of North America in the leadership of the General Conference raises concerns about this key division’s role in the new configuration. And vast blocs of unreached people in the 10/40 window still await the gospel.

But this is a church with pulsing vitality. This is a powerful, dynamic movement.

Now indulge me a final impression, as I think of the two leading officers of the world church. President Jan Paulsen was born north of the arctic circle, son of an Adventist cobbler. As a lad in occupied Norway, he knew hunger, cold, and loneliness. Secretary Matthew Bediako was born in a village in Ghana, of parents who followed fetish religion. Who said you have to have the right connections to get anywhere in this church? 

Adventists—is this a great family, or what?

The 57th—was this a great session, or what?

Toronto—is this a great city, or what?