Conferencegoers sing a congregational hymn during the 189th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 7, 2019. Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — The Saturday evening sessions of General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will be discontinued the church’s First Presidency announced on Monday.
The sessions which used to be reserved for church leadership to address the women of the Relief Society (in October), and the church’s priesthood holders (in April).
“This change is being made because all sessions of general conference are now available to anyone who desires to watch or listen,” the church said.
General Conferences of the church have been a yearly occurrence since its organization in 1830. According to the Deseret News, for many years General Conference was held over the course of three days, each with two meetings and occasionally a fourth day was added.
In April 1977 the church condensed the meetings to just two days, twice a year in on the first weekend of April and October.
A General priesthood session was officially added as part of General Conference in 1944, and a general Relief Society meeting was introduced in 1986.
Also announced on Monday is that the church would also hold its October conference in an all-digital format from the Conference Center auditorium in Salt Lake City.
The church first moved the semi-annual gathering to an all-digital format in April of 2020 at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
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