How LDS General Conference has evolved over the past two centuries

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — The Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is hosting its 195th annual general conference this weekend, a tradition it has kept since the religion’s birth in 1830.

While the conference itself has taken place nearly every year for just shy of two centuries, the days, locations, and purpose have morphed over the decades.

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class="wp-block-heading">The conference’s evolving purpose

The church was founded on April 6, 1830, and within a few months, church leaders hosted a conference with 27 members present. Matthew Godfrey, senior managing historian for church history outreach, told ABC4 that while general conference “has always been important to the church … there have been different purposes for it over time.”

“In the early years especially — during Joseph Smith’s era, Brigham Young’s era — general conference really was a time to conduct church business. This was especially the case when the church was smaller and didn’t have a lot of members,” Godfrey said.

Godfrey said in the beginning, the meetings focused on mission calls or voting on whether certain scriptures should be accepted, but there was always an element of spiritual instruction, something that has “increased in importance” over time.

“It’s become primarily a place for our leaders to give us instruction in how we should live and explaining more about the gospel to us,” Godfrey said.

General conference was only canceled twice

In its 195-year history, general conference has only been canceled twice. First, in 1846 when the church moved across the United States via handcarts to Utah, and again in October 1957 when there was the Asian flu pandemic.

There were other times when the conference was postponed, like in 1919 due to the Spanish Flu pandemic, or altered, like in 2020 when it went online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Some conferences also looked different in the 1940s with limited attendees due to World War II.

How conference has changed over the years

In the early years of the church, there was no set structure or dates for the conference, with it sometimes being held on a quarterly basis or just as needed, according to Godfrey. That changed in the late 1840s when the church stationed itself in Nauvoo, Illinois.

“That’s when you kind of see them going to more of a twice-a-year type thing, and a lot of times in October or in April,” he said.

The conference also used to span multiple days, often set over April 6, the date the church was founded. In 1977, general conference was standardized to two days in April and October each year, according to the church.

Godfrey noted some other changes, such as the gradual move away from non-church officials speaking at the conference or specialty sessions being replaced by more general instruction. For example, Godfrey said there used to be sessions dedicated to the welfare program, priesthood holders, or women of the church.

As of 2021, the specific sessions were changed to another general session that is open to everyone, rather than “intended for any particular demographic or leadership group,” according to a church announcement.

“It certainly is something that I miss,” Godfrey said. “I miss being able to do that with my family and with my sons and my brothers and my dad. So, I think that’s probably the biggest change that I’ve seen over my lifetime.”

Finally, the way the church announces new temples has morphed over the years. Godfrey said that sometimes the church used to announce new temples in press releases during the year, but now it is a core part of general conference weekend.

“That’s kind of developed over time as well, and I think it’s been a more recent development and some of that really depends too on who is president of the church at the time,” he said. “That really has become a special part of General Conference.”

2025 April General Conference

This year’s April General Conference will take place on Saturday and Sunday, April 5 and 6. Typically, more than 100,000 members attend the Salt Lake City conference in person with millions of others tuning in virtually worldwide.

For those traveling to Salt Lake City, Utah officials recommend public transit as some downtown roads will be shut down before and after the sessions. Many UTA services will be free with a ticket to general conference.

Spencer Mahon contributed to this reporting.