SALT LAKE CITY — The First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced a session change Friday for the April 2020 general conference, inviting all Latter-day Saints age 11 and older to attend the Saturday evening session.
“Rather than having the priesthood session or the general women’s session, the Saturday evening session will be held for all members of the Young Women and Relief Society, and all holders of the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood,” the First Presidency stated in a letter dated Nov. 22.
“We look forward to commemorating with members of the church the 200th anniversary of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ at this historic conference and throughout the year 2020.”
At the conclusion of the 189th Semiannual General Conference in October, President Russell M. Nelson announced the year 2020 would be “different from any previous conference” because it marked exactly 200 years since the faith’s prophet and founder Joseph Smith received what church members refer to as the First Vision, when God the father and his son Jesus Christ appeared to Smith as a 14-year-old boy in upstate New York.
President Nelson encouraged members to prepare by studying Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision.
“The year 2020 will be designated as a bicentennial year,” President Nelson said in his closing remarks. “General conference next April will be different from any previous conference. In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”
The church’s 190th Annual General Conference is scheduled for April 4-5, 2020, and will consist of five sessions originating from the Conference Center, the letter stated.